Anti-Cancer Herbs ⁽¹⁷¹⁾

The TCM herb Tinglizi is the seed of Lepidium apetalum, Lepidium virginicum and Descurainia sophia of the Brassicaceae. In the market, northern Tinglizi is the seed of Lepidium apetalum, and southern Tinglizi is the seed of Descurainia sophia.By convention, northern Tinglizi is called sweet Tinglizi…

Oyster is a delicious seafood, and oyster shell is also a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Although the medicinal material is called oyster, it is actually the shell of the oyster. In the current TCM market, oyster shell mainly comes from the shells of…

Sutieye, also called Fanjiao Ye or Tieshuye, is the leaf of the cycad (Cycas revoluta) of the Cycadaceae family. The cycad is a tropical and subtropical plant distributed in China's Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and elsewhere.Sutieye has the effects of moving qi and relieving pain,…

Yangmei (bayberry) is a delicious fruit that can also be used medicinally; it has the effects of generating fluids and relieving vexation, harmonizing the center and digesting food, and astringing the intestines to stop diarrhea.Not only the bayberry fruit but also its kernel, bark, and…

The Chinese medicinal Guanzhong is the rhizome and residual leafstalk of Dryopteris crassirhizoma of the Dryopteridaceae family, mainly produced in Northeast China, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Gansu, and elsewhere. Guanzhong entered medical use early; it is already recorded in Shennong Bencao Jing, the earliest TCM materia…

Spirulina is the algal body of Arthrospira platensis and several other spirulina species of the Oscillatoriaceae family, and can grow in fresh and seawater. Wild spirulina is a planktonic alga, mostly growing in the mid- to low-tidal zone of seawater or epiphytic on other algae…

In Inner Mongolia there is a herbal medicine called Kudouzi (bitter bean), which belongs to the legume family. Its root, whole herb, and seeds can all be used medicinally. The root is called Kudougen, the whole plant Kudoucao, and the seed kernel Kudouzi. Kudouzi is…

Wubeizi (Chinese gallnut) is a very distinctive Chinese medicine: it is the insect gall formed by the aphid Schlechtendalia chinensis or Melaphis paitan (family Pemphigidae) on its host trees Rhus chinensis, Rhus potaninii, and Rhus punjabensis. Wubeizi looks like a plant fruit, but cut open,…

Wangbuliuxing is the seed of Vaccaria segetalis (family Caryophyllaceae); Vaccaria is a common weed in wheat fields, widely distributed in China except the south. In folk practice Wangbuliuxing is a lactagogue; a folk proverb says, "Wangbuliuxing, taken by women, makes milk flow freely." For postpartum…

A few days ago I introduced the anti-cancer and other medicinal value of Kunbu (kelp). Among marine products there is another seaweed that can also be used as medicine and is often paired with Kunbu in mutually-reinforcing combination. Like Kunbu, Haizao (Sargassum) can serve both…