This product is honey produced by the Chinese honeybee (Apis cerana Fabricius) or the Italian honeybee (Apis mellifera Linnaeus). It is harvested from spring to autumn and filtered. The product is a translucent, glossy, and viscous liquid, ranging in color from white to pale yellow or orange-yellow to yellowish-brown. Over time or when exposed to cold, white granular crystals gradually precipitate. It has a fragrant aroma and an extremely sweet taste.

bubble_chart Properties and Meridians

Sweet, neutral. act on lung, spleen and large intestinal channels.

bubble_chart Efficacy

Tonifying the middle, relieving urgency, moistening the lungs and relieving cough, lubricating the intestines and promoting bowel movements.

bubble_chart Indications

1. Used for middle deficiency and epigastric pain. Honey, sweet and neutral, moistens and nourishes, capable of tonifying qi and supplementing the middle, as well as relieving spasms and alleviating pain. It is often combined with Peony Root, Liquorice Root, and other medicinal combinations to achieve synergistic effects. Many nourishing pills and pastes commonly use it as an excipient, and the use of honey-frying for certain Chinese medicinals is related to its nourishing and moderating medicinal properties, not merely for flavor correction and viscosity.
2. Used for lung deficiency with dry cough and intestinal dryness with constipation. It can moisten and tonify deficiency, relieve cough, and lubricate the intestines. For lung deficiency with dry cough, dry cough with hemoptysis, it is often paired with Ginseng, Unprocessed Rehmannia Root, etc., as in Yù Qióng Gāo; for intestinal dryness with constipation, 30-60g can be taken infused alone, or combined with Chinese Angelica, black sesame, Fleeceflower, and other medicinal combinations, all of which can achieve the effect of moistening the intestines to relieve constipation.
3. Used for detoxifying toxic drugs like Aconite Mother Root. For example, the "Aconite Mother Root Decoction" from Jingui Yaolue, used to treat multiple arthralgia with inability to flex and extend and pain, involves decocting Aconite Mother Root separately with honey first to remove the toxicity of Aconite Mother Root.
4. This product can tonify the middle and moderate medicinal properties, hence it is often used as an excipient in nourishing pills and pastes, not only for its flavor correction and viscosity but mainly for its nourishing and moderating effects.
5. Certain qi tonics like Liquorice Root, Astragalus Root, when prepared with honey, can enhance their tonifying effects. Used for chronic cough disease with lung deficiency, lung dryness with dry cough, dry throat, and other symptoms.

bubble_chart Documentation

1. Benjing: "An five zang-organs various deficiencies, tonifying qi, supplementing the middle, relieving pain, removing toxin, eliminating various diseases, harmonizing all medicines."
2. Bencao Gangmu: "The medicinal effects of honey are five; clearing heat; supplementing the middle; removing toxin; moistening dryness; relieving pain. Raw honey is cool in nature, thus it can clear heat; cooked honey is warm in nature, thus it can supplement the middle; sweet and harmonious, thus it can remove toxin; soft and moist, thus it can moisten dryness; slow to relieve urgency, thus it can relieve pain in the heart, abdomen, muscles, sores and ulcers; harmonious to achieve balance, thus it can harmonize all medicines and has the same effect as Liquorice Root."

bubble_chart Usage and Dosage

30-60 grams. Decoct for oral administration or take as an infusion. Prepare into pills, paste, or suppositories, etc., as appropriate for the prescription. For external application on non-healing sores and ulcers, scalds or burns caused by hot water or fire, etc., use an appropriate amount.

bubble_chart Cautions and Contraindications

It should be used with caution in cases of dampness obstruction with fullness in the middle, damp-heat phlegm stagnation, loose stools, or diarrhea.

bubble_chart Processing and Storage

Store in a cool place.

bubble_chart Modern Pharmacology

Contains fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltose, nitrogenous compounds, organic acids, volatile oils, yeast, enzymes, inorganic salts, and trace elements. It has antibacterial properties, removes toxins, protects the liver, promotes wound healing, and has certain effects on lowering blood pressure, dilating coronary arteries, and reducing blood sugar.