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Cura x Cura

Dou Kou Ke豆蔻壳

Amomi Rotundi Pericarpium · Round Cardamom Husk · Bai Kou Ke

Aromatic Herbs that Transform Dampness 化湿药

Overview

The husk of Bai Dou Kou, kept once the seeds are removed and used as a medicine of its own. It has the whole fruit's aromatic, damp-transforming, qi-moving direction with noticeably less warmth and less penetrating fragrance, which suits a light case — chest oppression and a flat appetite in humid weather — or a patient the whole fruit would over-warm. Like the seed it reaches the Lung as well as the middle burner, so it appears in the early, muffled stage of damp-warm patterns where a lighter touch is wanted.

Nature & Flavor

Acrid, aromatic · Warm

Channels

Lung · Spleen · Stomach

Typical Dosage

3–5 g in decoction
豆蔻壳Photography for this entry is on its way.

Actions

3 core actions

  • Transforms damp, moves qiChest and epigastric oppression, a white greasy coating, no hunger — the mild form of what Bai Dou Kou treats.
  • Loosens the middle, settles nauseaFullness after eating with mild nausea; queasiness from damp rather than from heat.
  • The lighter optionMuch of the fruit's volatile oil goes with the seed, so the husk is weaker throughout. It is chosen deliberately for that — for elderly, weak or dry patients, and for damp-warm patterns where a strongly warming aromatic would be wrong.

In Formulas

Formulas containing Dou Kou Ke

No published formula lists this herb yet — the library is growing.

Indications & Clinical Uses

  • Chest and epigastric oppression with a white greasy coating
    - Poor appetite and sluggish digestion in humid weather
    - Mild nausea from damp obstructing the middle
    - Early damp-warm patterns where the whole fruit is too warming

Western Medical Keywords

Searchable condition terms

BloatingLoss of appetiteNauseaFunctional dyspepsia

Contraindications

Cautions

Acrid and warm even in this milder form: not for yin deficiency with heat, nor for blood-deficiency dryness. Add it in the last few minutes of the decoction; a long boil removes the aromatics that are the whole point of the herb.

Contraindicated in pregnancy: No specific pregnancy restriction, and the whole fruit is traditionally given in small doses for nausea in pregnancy. Even so, use it in pregnancy only on a practitioner's prescription.

For licensed practitioners’ reference only

References

  1. Bensky, Clavey & Stöger. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, 3rd ed.
    2. 《中华本草》.
    3. 《中药大辞典》.

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.