Chinese Yam – Shan Yao

Chinese yam is a Chinese medicinal material. This product is the dried rhizome of the Dioscorea plant. It is dug from November to December, the root head is cut off, the soil is washed off, the skin is scraped off with a bamboo knife, and it is dried or baked. This is the hairy yam. Select a thick hairy yam, soak it in clean water, add a little heat, and cover it with a quilt to keep it moist and stuffy. Then put it on a wooden board and rub it into a cylindrical shape. Cut the two ends evenly, dry it and polish it. This is the light yam. Functions and indications: invigorate the spleen, nourish the lungs, consolidate the kidneys, and benefit the essence. Treat spleen deficiency diarrhea, chronic dysentery, asthenia cough, thirst, spermatorrhea, leucorrhea, and frequent urination. Invigorate the spleen and nourish the stomach, promote fluid and benefit the lungs, invigorate the kidneys and astringe the essence. It is used for spleen deficiency, poor appetite, chronic diarrhea, lung deficiency, wheezing and coughing, kidney deficiency, spermatorrhea, leucorrhea, frequent urination, and deficiency heat and thirst. Fried yam with bran invigorates the spleen and strengthens the stomach. It is used for spleen deficiency, poor appetite, diarrhea, loose stools, and excessive leucorrhea. ① “Shennong’s Herbal Classic”: It is used to treat injuries, replenish deficiency, remove cold and heat evil spirits, replenish the middle and strengthen the qi, grow muscles, and make the ears and eyes smarter after long-term use. ② “Bielu”: It is used to treat wind in the head and face, wind head (also known as “head wind”), dizziness, lower qi, stop waist pain, treat asthenia and emaciation, replenish the five internal organs, eliminate irritability and heat, and strengthen the key. ③ “Yao Xing Lun”: It replenishes the five labors and seven injuries, removes cold wind, stops waist pain, calms the mind, replenishes the insufficient heart qi, and is used in addition to the weak body of the patient. ④ “Diet Therapy Materia Medica”: It treats headaches and helps yin power. ⑤ “Rihuazi Materia Medica”: It helps the five internal organs, strengthens the bones and muscles, grows the will and calms the mind, and treats spermatorrhea and forgetfulness. ⑥ Zhu Zhenheng: It can dissipate the hard and swollen poison by pounding it raw. ⑦ “Shanghan Yunyao”: It replenishes deficiency and clears away heat. ⑧ “Compendium of Materia Medica”: It benefits the kidney qi, strengthens the spleen and stomach, stops diarrhea, resolves phlegm and saliva, and moisturizes the skin and fur.
Yam
[Family and medicinal part] This product is the rhizome of the Dioscoreaceae plant yam.
[Nature and flavor and meridians] Sweet, neutral. Enters the lung and spleen meridians.
[Effects] Tonifies the spleen and stomach, benefits the lungs and kidneys.
[Clinical application] 1. Used for spleen and stomach weakness, poor appetite, fatigue, diarrhea, and leucorrhea in women.
Yam is neutral in nature and not dry, and has a mild effect. It is a medicine that can nourish the spleen and stomach, so it can be used regardless of spleen yang deficiency or stomach yin deficiency. In clinical practice, it is used to treat poor appetite, fatigue, or spleen deficiency diarrhea, and is often used in combination with spleen and stomach tonics such as Codonopsis, Atractylodes macrocephala, and Lentils; for leucorrhea in women, it is often used together with Euryale ferox, Atractylodes macrocephala, and Poria.
2. Used for chronic cough due to lung deficiency, nocturnal emission and spermatorrhea due to kidney deficiency, and frequent urination.
Chinese yam can benefit the lung qi and nourish the lung yin, so it can be used for lung deficiency, phlegm, cough and long-term cough. If there are symptoms of insufficient lung yin, it can be used together with Adenophora Root and Radix Ophiopogonis. This product can also benefit the kidney and astringe the essence. If there is spermatorrhea due to kidney deficiency, it can be used in combination with Rehmannia glutinosa, Fructus Corni, and Bone Dragon. If there is frequent urination, it can be used together with Alpinia oxyphylla and Silkworm Cocoon.
In addition, this product is also suitable for thirst and can be used together with Rehmannia glutinosa and Astragalus.
[Prescription name] Chinese yam, Chinese yam, Huai yam (remove the skin, wash, dry, and crush for use.)
[Algemene dosis en gebruik] Drie qian tot een liang, afgekook en geneem.
[Comment] The original name of Chinese yam is Dioscorea, which is nourishing but not stagnant, not hot or dry, and can nourish the spleen and benefit the stomach yin, so it is a mild medicine for nourishing the spleen and stomach. As for its effect of nourishing the lungs and kidneys, it is relatively weak and can generally only be used as an auxiliary product.
[Example of prescription] Yuye Decoction “Zhongzhong Canxi Lu”: Chinese yam, astragalus, rhizoma anemarrhenae, raw chicken gizzard lining, kudzu root, schisandra chinensis, radix trichosanthis. Treats thirst.
[Literature excerpt] “Ben Jing”: “It is used to treat injuries, tonify deficiency, remove cold and heat evil qi, tonify the middle and strengthen qi and strength, grow muscles, and strengthen yin.”
“Da Ming Ben Cao”: “It is used to treat spermatorrhea and forgetfulness.”
“Compendium of Materia Medica”: “It is used to strengthen kidney qi, strengthen spleen and stomach, stop diarrhea, resolve phlegm and saliva, and moisturize skin and hair.”
Where is the main medicinal part of Chinese yam?
The medicinal part of this product is the dried rhizome of Dioscorea opposita Thunb., a plant of the Dioscoreaceae family.
How is Chinese yam recorded in historical books?
“Ben Jing”: It is used to treat injuries, tonify deficiency, remove cold and heat evil qi, tonify the middle and strengthen qi and strength, grow muscles, and long-term use will make the ears and eyes smarter.
“Bie Lu”: It can treat wind wandering in the head and face, dizziness in the eyes, lower the qi, stop waist pain, treat asthenia and emaciation, replenish the five internal organs, eliminate irritability and heat, and strengthen the yin.
“Yao Xing Lun”: It can replenish the five labors and seven injuries, remove cold wind, stop waist pain, calm the mind, replenish the insufficient heart qi, and add it to the patients with weak body.
“Shi Liao Ben Cao”: It can treat headaches and help yin strength.
“Ri Hua Zi Ben Cao”: It can help the five internal organs, strengthen the bones and muscles, increase the will and calm the mind, and it can treat spermatorrhea and forgetfulness.
· Zhu Zhenheng: It can dissipate the hard and swollen poison by pounding it raw.
“Shang Han Yun Yao”: It can replenish the deficiency and clear the heat.
“Gang Mu”: It can benefit the kidney qi, strengthen the spleen and stomach, stop diarrhea, resolve phlegm and saliva, and moisturize the skin and fur. Effects and efficacy
The main effects of yam are to nourish qi and yin, nourish the spleen, lungs and kidneys, astringe sperm and stop leukorrhea. It is used to treat spleen deficiency, poor appetite, loose stools, excessive leucorrhea, lung deficiency, cough, spermatorrhea, kidney deficiency, leucorrhea, frequent urination, and deficiency heat and thirst.
What are the main effects and clinical applications of yam?
Spleen deficiency, poor appetite, loose stools, and excessive leucorrhea. This product is sweet and mild, can nourish the spleen, nourish yin, and has astringent properties, can stop diarrhea and stop leukorrhea. It is suitable for spleen and weak or qi and yin deficiency, emaciation and fatigue, poor appetite, loose stools or diarrhea, and leukorrhea in women. For severe qi deficiency, it is often used in compound prescriptions as an auxiliary medicine for ginseng and white atractylodes. For example, Shenling Baizhu powder for spleen deficiency, poor appetite and loose stools and Wandai soup for leukorrhea. Because it is rich in nutrients and easy to digest, it can be taken as food for a long time. For chronic diseases or after illness, weak and thin, needing nutritional supplements and poor spleen function, this product is a good tonic.
Lung deficiency and wheezing and cough. This product can replenish lung qi and nourish lung yin. It can be used with Radix Pseudostellariae, Radix Adenophorae and other drugs to treat chronic cough or wheezing caused by lung deficiency. . Kidney deficiency and spermatorrhea, leucorrhea, and frequent urination. This product can replenish kidney qi and nourish kidney yin, and has astringent properties. It is suitable for soreness of waist and knees due to kidney qi deficiency, frequent urination at night or enuresis, spermatorrhea and premature ejaculation, thin leucorrhea in women, and body weight loss, soreness of waist and knees, and spermatorrhea due to kidney yin deficiency. For example, this product is used in the famous kidney-tonifying prescriptions Shenqi Pills and Liuwei Dihuang Pills.
Deficiency heat and thirst. This product not only replenishes the qi of the spleen, lungs, and kidneys, but also replenishes the yin of the spleen, lungs, and kidneys. In the treatment of patients with both qi and yin deficiency in diabetes, it is often combined with astragalus, Radix Trichosanthis, Anemarrhenae and other products that replenish qi, nourish yin, and produce body fluid.
What other effects does yam have?
In my country’s traditional food culture, some Chinese medicinal materials are often widely consumed as food ingredients by the people, that is, substances that are both food and Chinese medicinal materials according to tradition (i.e. edible and medicinal substances). According to the documents issued by the National Health Commission and the State Administration for Market Regulation, yam can be used as both medicine and food within a limited range of use and dosage.
The commonly used medicinal diet recipes for yam are as follows:
Treatment of weak spleen and stomach, loss of appetite: one liang of yam and one liang of white atractylodes, three fen of ginseng. The above three flavors are pounded into fine powder, boiled into white flour paste to make pills as big as red beans, take 30 pills each time, and drink warm rice before meals on an empty stomach.
Treatment of frequent urination and uncontrollable slippery urine: white poria (remove the black skin), dried yam (peeled, soaked in alum water, and roasted slowly for use). The above two flavors are divided equally, ground into fine powder, and taken with thin rice drink.
Treat damp-heat deficiency diarrhea: yam and atractylodes lancea are divided equally, and made into rice balls and taken with rice drink.
Let wel: Die gebruik van Chinese kruiemedisyne moet volgens sindroomdifferensiasie behandel word en moet onder die leiding van professionele Chinese medisynepraktisyns gebruik word. Hulle moet nie na willekeur gebruik word nie, en moet nie na willekeur gebruik word nie, wat nog te sê na Chinese medisyne voorskrifte en advertensies luister.
What are the compound preparations containing yam?
·Shenling Baizhu San: nourishes the spleen and stomach, and benefits the lung qi. It is used for weak spleen and stomach, poor appetite and loose stools, shortness of breath and cough, and limb fatigue.
·Liuwei Dihuang Wan: It has the effect of nourishing yin and tonifying the kidney. It is used for kidney yin deficiency, dizziness and tinnitus, soreness of waist and knees, hot flashes with bone steaming, night sweats and spermatorrhea.
·Zuogui Wan: It has the effect of nourishing the kidney and tonifying yin. It is used for true yin deficiency, soreness of waist and knees, night sweats, fatigue and dry mouth.
Shenqi Wan: It has the effect of nourishing the kidney and supporting yang. It is mainly used to treat kidney yang deficiency syndrome.
Jianpi Wan: It has the effect of strengthening the spleen and appetizing. Used for weak spleen and stomach, fullness in the abdomen, poor appetite and loose stools.
Modern research progress on yam
Modern research shows that yam decoction has preventive and therapeutic effects on spleen deficiency animal models, can inhibit gastric emptying and intestinal propulsion, antagonize the tonic contraction of isolated ileum, enhance small intestinal absorption function, help digestion, and protect gastric mucosal damage. Yam decoction and yam polysaccharide can lower blood sugar. Yam polysaccharide can improve nonspecific immune function, specific cellular immunity and humoral immunity. Yam polysaccharide, total flavonoids and yam dilute alcohol extract have antioxidant and anti-aging effects. Allantoin in yam has anti-irritation, anesthetic analgesic and anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects. In addition, yam has lipid-lowering and anti-tumor effects.
Gebruik metode
Yam is generally used as yam slices and decocted. There are three main ways to prepare yam, namely yam, stir-fried yam and bran stir-fried yam. Different preparation methods have slightly different effects, but the method of use is the same. Please follow the doctor’s instructions for specific use.
How to use yam correctly?
Decoction, 10~30g. Yam fried with bran nourishes the spleen and stomach, and is used for spleen deficiency, poor appetite, diarrhea, and excessive leucorrhea.
How to prepare yam?
· Yam: Take the original medicinal material, remove impurities, sort by size, wash, moisten, cut into thick slices, dry, and remove debris. · Soil-fried yam: First put the soil powder in the pot, heat it over medium heat until it is flexible, then add the yam slices and stir-fry until the surface is evenly covered with soil powder, take out and sieve out the soil powder, and let it cool. For every 100kg of yam slices, use 30kg of stove core soil.
Yam fried with bran: Heat the pot, sprinkle in wheat bran, wait for it to smoke, add yam slices, heat over medium heat, keep turning until it turns yellow, take out, sieve.
Remove the wheat bran and let it cool. For every 100kg of yam slices, use 10kg of wheat bran.
What drugs should be used with yam at the same time?
The combined use of Chinese medicine and Chinese and Western medicine requires syndrome differentiation and clinical individualized treatment. If you are using other drugs, please consult a doctor before taking the medicine, and inform the doctor of all your diagnosed diseases and the treatment plan you are receiving
Instruksies vir gebruik
This product is sweet and flat. It enters the spleen, lung, and kidney meridians. It is used to treat spleen deficiency, poor appetite, loose stools, excessive leucorrhea, lung deficiency, asthma and cough, kidney deficiency, spermatorrhea, leucorrhea, frequent urination, and deficiency heat and thirst.
What are the precautions when using yam?
This product nourishes yin and helps dampness, so it is not suitable for people with dampness and fullness or stagnation.
How to identify and use yam?
·Yam: sweet in taste and flat in nature. It enters the spleen, stomach, and kidney meridians. It has the functions of tonifying the spleen and stomach, promoting fluid and benefiting the lungs, and tonifying the kidneys and astringing essence. Yam is mainly used to tonify the kidneys and produce essence, and benefit the lung yin. It is used for kidney deficiency, spermatorrhea, frequent urination, lung deficiency, asthma and cough, and yin deficiency and thirst.
· Stir-fried yam with earth: mainly used to nourish the spleen and stop diarrhea, used for spleen deficiency and chronic diarrhea, or diarrhea.
Stir-fried yam with bran: mainly used to nourish the spleen and strengthen the stomach. Used for spleen deficiency, poor appetite, diarrhea, loose stools, and excessive leucorrhea. .