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Leonurus (Motherwort) Juice Gruel

益母草汁粥 〔益母草汁粥〕 yì mǔ cǎo zhī zhōu

Source: Tài Píng Shèng Huì Fāng 太平圣惠方

Ingredients

Actions: Enriches yīn and nourishes the blood; disperses stasis and regulates menstruation; allays thirst and eliminates vexation.

Indications: Thirst due to yīn vacuity heat effusion, such as in damage to liquid after febrile disease; dispersion-thirst (xiāo kě); vomiting of blood, coughing of blood, nosebleed (nǜ xuè), bloody urine, bloody stool, flooding and spotting; menstrual irregularities, postpartum blood dizziness, postpartum blood stasis pain, and persistent flow of lochia.

Method: Crush the leonurus, fresh rehmannia, lotus root, and ginger, and press out the juice (or use a juicer). Add the juice and honey to the ready-made gruel, and boil for a short time.

Warnings: This gruel should be discontinued as soon as the signs abate. It should be cooked in an earthenware or enamel pot rather than a metal pot. This gruel is unsuitable for patients suffering from thin sloppy stool or spleen vacuity diarrhea. Scallion, long-stamen onion, and garlic chive should not be taken whilst taking this formula.

Rationale: Yì mǔ cǎo is also called motherwort, a name given the plant by virtue of its benefits to mothers who have just given birth. It is cold, bitter, and acrid, and enters the spleen and kidney channels. It quickens the blood, supplements the blood, and dispels stasis. In addition to treating postpartum disorders, it also regulates menstruation and treats flooding and spotting, precipitation of blood, and swollen sores. Shēng dì huáng clears heat, cools the blood, and engenders liquid, and treats damage to liquid due to warm disease and vacuity taxation steaming bone. It is frequently used for bleeding in heat patterns. ǒu zhī, which is sweet and cool, clears heat, stanches bleeding, and disperses stasis.

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