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Hong Dou Kou红豆蔻

Galangae Fructus · Galangal Fruit · Greater Galangal Fruit

Herbs that Warm the Interior 温里药

Overview

Appended to Gao Liang Jiang 高良姜 in the textbook: the fruit of the same greater galangal plant whose rhizome is Gao Liang Jiang. Acrid and warm, entering the Spleen and Lung, it disperses cold, dries damp and wakes a Spleen weighed down by cold damp, and is traditionally reached for after over-drinking. Compared with the rhizome it is less analgesic and more aromatic and appetite-restoring.

Nature & Flavor

Acrid · Warm

Channels

Spleen · Stomach

Typical Dosage

3–6 g
红豆蔻Photography for this entry is on its way.

Actions

2 core actions

  • Disperses cold, dries dampCold-damp in the middle burner with cold epigastric pain, vomiting of clear fluid and loose stools.
  • Wakes the Spleen, disperses food stagnationFullness after eating with a sticky bland taste and poor appetite; also used for the nausea and fullness that follow over-drinking.

In Formulas

Formulas containing Hong Dou Kou

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

Indications & Clinical Uses

  • Cold epigastric and abdominal pain
    - Vomiting and loose stools from cold damp
    - Food stagnation with fullness and poor appetite
    - Nausea and epigastric fullness after excess alcohol

Western Medical Keywords

Searchable condition terms

Functional dyspepsiaNauseaBloatingHangover

Contraindications

Cautions

Acrid, warm and drying — not for yin deficiency with heat, for a Stomach with smouldering heat, or for any true-heat pattern. Keep to the 3–6 g range. It is not a treatment for alcohol dependence and should not be presented as one.

Contraindicated in pregnancy: No classical prohibition, but it is warming and drying — during pregnancy use only on the advice of the treating practitioner.

For licensed practitioners’ reference only

References

  1. Appended to Gao Liang Jiang 高良姜 in 《中药学》(新世纪第二版).
    2. Bensky, Clavey & Stöger. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, 3rd ed.
    3. 《中华人民共和国药典》(2020 edition).
    4. 《中药学》(新世纪第二版), chapter on herbs that warm the interior.

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.