When hip, trendy, i.e. expensive 5-star restaurants advertise something new on their menus, word gets around among customers and everyone rushes to the place to be so as not to miss out on the hype and to be able to say afterwards: we were there!
Recently, haute cuisine has been offering dishes under the names "Fried Silver Beetle" or "Braised Beetle" because they are not only excellent in taste but also have a high nutritional value.
I read this and hope it's not a newspaper hoax.
Eupolyphaga sinensis
We TCM people have known what's on our plates for a long time: in our country, these cute little creatures are called Eupolyphaga or Steleophaga, or Tu Bie Chong in Chinese, and are in the same order (Blattodea) as cockroaches. At family level, they are no longer in the same family as cockroaches.
The females of these wingless cockroaches, which avoid light and noise and live in damp humus layers, are used in TCM.
Tu Bie Chong is already mentioned in Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, Jin Gui Yao Lue and Ben Cao Gang Mu.
Tu Bie Chong is in the category "blood-invigorating and stasis-dissolving remedies". Conditions of blood stasis occur in many diseases, hence the long list of indications:
Tu Bie Chong inhibits platelet aggregation. It is sometimes given together with other similarly acting remedies:
Tu Bie Chong is described as (slightly) toxic, but some authors find its use unproblematic.
In contrast to Shui Zhi (leech), Tu Bie Chong is gentler, according to Bensky, and Shui Zhi does not have the same effect on tendons, bones and milk flow.
Piper kadsura and Piper futokadsura are synonyms. Sometimes it is really difficult to find the right plant name. Some plants change their names frequently. It seems that every botanist wants to immortalise themselves in a plant name.
The Kadsura pepper looks beautiful:
Piper kadsura - Wikipedia
Beautiful fruits, but it is not these that TCM uses, but the stems. The drug is warm, pungent and dispelling and is used for aching joints, lumbar back pain and also for injury-related pain. Hai Feng Teng translates as sea wind vine. It dispels cold, damp wind and clears blocked pathways and their collaterals, thus acting not only on joints but also on muscles and tendons. Chen/Chen recommend the combination with Gui Zhi (Cinnamomi ramulus), Qin Jiao (Gentianae macrophyllae radix), Dang Gui (Angelica sinensis) and other blood invigorating remedies. Bensky also recommends combining with Wei Ling Xian (Clematidis radix) and both Chen/Chen and Bensky report success in the treatment of coronary heart disease and cerebral circulatory disorders such as stroke and embolism.
The pericarp is the skin of citrus fruits. It comprises two or even three layers:
On the outside, the exocarp, also known as the epicarp, for example the orange orange or yellow lemon peel. It is also called the flavedo. The mesocarp is the white-yellowish inner part of this peel, also known as the albedo, which often degenerates, i.e. becomes thinner, as the fruit ripens. In mandarins, oranges and lemons, the endocarp is the thin skin around the fruit slices, but also the even finer skin of each individual fruit tube, which contains the juice and which we eat.
Chen Pi and Ju Hong have the same origin, so they are both tangerine peels. Ju Hong is the peel in a more mature state than Chen Pi. Ju Hong dries more and is more aromatic than Chen Pi, but is less effective at harmonising the centre. Ju Hong is suitable for vomiting and belching and for treating moist, phlegmy coughs.
Chen Pi literally means "aged peel" This could be confusing, as Ju Hong is the more mature, i.e. older peel than Chen Pi. However, "aged peel" does not refer to the state of ripeness, but to storage after drying. Peel that has been dried for a long time is considered more valuable, i.e. more effective, than peel that has been stored for a short time. On the market you will often find Chen Pi raw drug in which the oil glands are visible as dark brown spots. This may be a sign that an attempt has been made to accelerate ageing by heating the pods, which is a deceptive manoeuvre.
If you know Chinese, you will immediately understand what Hua Shi Cao is all about: translated, it means "stone-dissolving herb". It has a diuretic and antispasmodic effect. If the ureters are dilated thanks to the antispasmodic effect and diuresis is forced, then kidney stones can also be flushed out. According to Chen/Chen, Hua Shi Cao is given together with the classic formula Ba Zheng San or with herbs such as Jin Qian Cao (Lysimachiae herba), Hai Jin Sha (Lygodii spora) and Shi Wei (Pyrrosiae folium).
If you don't know Chinese and look at the photo of the picture, you may also recognise the German name of this herb: Katzenbart. I would rather have called it cat's beak.
Hua Shi Cao (Orthosiphonis herba). Wikipedia
Hämatit. Wikipedia
The "red stone", essentially an iron oxide (Fe2O3), has been missed by many TCM practitioners. We don't always know exactly why, because Zhe Shi is used against various ailments. The bitter-cold remedy anchors rising liver qi and cools liver fire. Dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, hiccups, wheezing due to Lung-Heat or Yin and Yang deficiency of the Lung, nosebleeds, hypertension, insomnia, vomiting, irritability, anger: so many indications have disturbances in the functional circuit of Heart, Liver and Pericardium.
I remember a patient with Meniere's disease who I was able to help magnificently with the Xuan Fu Dai Zhe Tang (Inula & Haematite Combination) formula containing haematite.
The standard works mention that haematite should not be taken for too long and in too large quantities because it contains arsenic as an impurity. Complemedis tests all batches and we have not found any arsenic in the current one, so to speak. The value is 200 times below the permitted level.
Fermetierte Sojabohnen aus dem Asialaden
Fermented is always good! You can also buy these soya beans in Asian shops and we often use them in the kitchen. The strong flavour may take some getting used to, but once you've got used to it, you won't want to miss it again. "Thank you for the new flavour experience", cooking expert Susanne Vögeli once said to me when I gave her these beans, she who already knows almost everything. At home, we use them to flavour fish, for example: we rinse just under a teaspoon of beans with water, then crush and chop them, sprinkle them over the fish or put them in the belly and steam a trout or other fish. Or May cooks taro with pork belly or bacon and sprinkles the beans on top, sometimes with coconut milk.
Question for the group: who has the ingredients of classic formulas on hand? Dan Dou Chi is used in the following recipes:
I don't need to discuss Yin Qiao San here because you need it almost every day. The latter recipe is interesting because it only contains two herbs, namely gardenia and soya. This recipe from the Shang Han Lun and multiple variations of it are all used to treat irritability caused by unresolved heat, e.g. after a feverish illness or after a relapse. So writes Bensky.
Pollen vom Rohrkolben
I definitely wouldn't have wanted to do without cattail pollen in my practice! Sudden Smile Powder (Shi Xiao San) is the name of a classic formula, and rightly so, because it can help patients with severe dysmenorrhoea. I gave the formula in tablet form because of the component Trogopterus faeces (flying squirrel faeces) and instructed the women to swallow a few tablets as soon as the menstruation began to announce itself with a pulling sensation and they were instructed to regulate the further intake in terms of quantity and time themselves, for example every half hour or hour or two hours, or as required as soon as the pain began to announce itself again. I can't say how many women were helped by this. Shi Xiao San only contains these two remedies: Pu Huang and Wu Ling Zhi.I don't know where the name Pteropus & Bulrush comes from. Pteropus is a bat and not a flying squirrel and therefore not related to it. Perhaps a spelling mistake and it should have been Pteromys, because that in turn is a flying squirrel, which according to the pharmacopoeia can also supply Wu Ling Zhi-Chegeli.The cattail Typha angustifolia (narrow-leaved cattail) used in China also grows in many places in our swamps.
Not much in terms of TCM, but:
Tu Bie Chong, Hai Feng Teng , Ju Hong, Hua Shi Cao, (Dai) Zhe Shi, Dan Dou Chi and Pu Huang are remedies that we no longer had available for a long time because they repeatedly failed the analysis or are difficult to obtain anyway. However, we have now been able to procure goods that fulfil our strict quality criteria and the official regulations. We hope to be able to find new batches without interruption in the future.They are available as concentrated extracts = real granules:
Your Complemedis team autumn 2024
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