Yi Wei Tang益胃汤
Benefit the Stomach Decoction
Ingredients5 herbs
Indications
Damage to Stomach yin: heat, sweating or purging has emptied the Stomach of its fluids, so it can no longer moisten and receive. The tongue is red with little or no coating — the plainest reading of the pattern.
Clinical Manifestations
- Poor appetite during convalescence, with hunger but no desire to eat
- Dry mouth and throat that drinking does not settle
- Dry stool after a fever or a purgative
- Low-grade warmth in the afternoon with a dry red tongue
- Burning discomfort in the epigastrium with a peeled tongue
Health Categories
Modern Applications
Common adjustments
- Pronounced thirst — add Tian Hua Fen 天花粉 and Lu Gen 芦根
- Appetite still absent — add Mai Ya 麦芽 or Ji Nei Jin to rouse the Stomach without drying it
- Dry stool that will not pass — add Xuan Shen 玄参, borrowing from Zeng Ye Tang
- Steaming bone heat in the afternoon — add Di Gu Pi 地骨皮
Contraindications
Wrong for a cold, weak middle burner — loose stool, aversion to cold food, a pale swollen tongue — where sweet, cool, cloying herbs sit undigested. Equally wrong while damp-heat is still present with a thick greasy coating: enriching yin at that point holds the evil in.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only — not a self-treatment guide.
Pregnancy
Generally compatible in pregnancy under practitioner judgment — it is a mild, sweet-and-cool fluid-restoring formula with nothing that moves blood or purges.
Related Formulas
References
Source Wen Bing Tiao Bian 《温病条辨》 · Qing
「阳明温病，下后汗出，当复其阴，益胃汤主之。」
- Classical source (public domain), cited in the source-quote section.
2. Scheid, Bensky, Ellis & Barolet. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas & Strategies, 2nd ed. — composition & dosage cross-checked.
3. 《方剂学》（全国中医药行业高等教育规划教材）治燥剂·滋阴润燥 — pattern analysis cross-checked.
Professional reference notice. Entries are scholarly references for licensed TCM practitioners and students — not medical advice, and not a recommendation to self-prescribe. Chinese herbal formulas should be used under the guidance of a qualified practitioner. Content is an original editorial compilation by Cura x Cura, cross-checked against the cited references.