3 Simple Recipes for Sterility/Infertility

NOTE: This is the first in a series of five posts on simple herbal remedies. This post deals with infertility and sterility. Other topics to be covered this week include colds/flu, migraine, shingles, and kidney stones. These were all published in Dr. Leung's newsletter, Issue #8, in June, 1997. There is also some excellent general information in the introduction, posted last Friday.

Sterility/Infertility. A simple treatment for male sterility was reported in the last issue (p. 3) of this newsletter; here are some dishes that could also help in that department:[1]

1) Stirred-Fried Shrimp and Jiucai (Chinese Chives; Allium tuberosum Leaves) - You will need about 8 oz (240 g) of fresh shelled shrimp and 3 oz (100 g) of jiucai (cut in inch-long sections). Stir fry the shrimp briefly in hot vegetable oil. Add condiments (dash of cooking wine, soy sauce, vinegar, fresh ginger, etc.) followed by the jiucai. Continue to stir fry briefly until the shrimp and vegetable are done but not overcooked. This is recommended for both men and women, to be eaten regularly, once or twice a week.

2) Hard-Boiled Egg With Yimucao (Chinese Motherwort; Leonurus heterophyllus Herb) and Danggui (Chinese Angelica) - Place 30 g (1 oz) of yimucao and 15 g (½ oz) of danggui in 2 bowls of cold water in a nonmetallic pan. Boil it down to 1 bowl and strain off the herbs. Remove the shell of 2 hard-boiled eggs, poke several holes in them with a toothpick or fork, and place them in the herbal liquid. Boil the mixture for a few minutes, which is then ready to be served. Drink the soup and eat the eggs. Do this 2 or 3 times a week for a month. It is said to normalize uterine function and ovulation to increase the chances of pregnancy.

3) Rice Foam and Stir-Fried Salt, With or Without Asian Ginseng or Dangshen (Codonopsis pilosula Root) - Prepare a rice soup by boiling 1 cup of rice in several cups of water. When the rice is about done, collect the surface foam along with about ½ cup of the liquid at the surface. Add an adequate amount of salt that has been stir-fried. Drink the foamy soup on an empty stomach. For better results, you can stir in a ½ teaspoonful of ginseng or dangshen powder. If consumed regularly, this recipe is said to help increase a man’s sperm count.

[1] Y. Feng and G.X. Huang, “Diet Therapy of Infertility/Sterility,” Zhongguo Shipin, (2): 10(1987).

These and more herbal remedies are available from the volumes of Dr. Leung’s newsletter, of the same name as this blog (Leung’s Chinese Herb News). This newsletter was published and sent to subscribers (most were industry-insiders) from 1996 to 2004. The collected works now serve as an excellent reference work, created with Dr. Leung’s frank, honest opinions and down-to-earth communication style.

For more information about Dr. Leung and his writings, visit www.earthpower.com. To order the newsletter containing the remedies mentioned above, visit the bookstore, click “Buy Now” on the newsletter, and select Issue # 8 from the drop down list.

Red Sage or Danshen

Note: The topic of today's post, danshen, is not to be confused with dangshen (or codonopsis) from last week.

Red sage (known as danshen in Chinese) is the root and rhizome of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge. (Family Labeatae). Danshen activates blood, removes blood stasis, promotes menses, relieves pain, reduces fever, and is a calmative. The most common traditional uses of this herb are for blood circulation problems, angina pectoris, palpitations, tight chest, irregular menses, menstrual pain, amenorrhea, metrorrhagia, leukorrhagia, abdominal pain, abdominal mass, insomnia, painful and stiff joints, skin sores and ulcers. More modern uses include chronic hepatitis, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, skin diseases (psoriasis, acne, eczema, scleroderma, neurodermatitis, etc.).

The first recorded use of danshen dates back at least two thousand years. Considered one of the major huo xue hua yu (activating blood circulation to disperse stasis) herbs, it is normally used in teas, wines, and sometimes in soups along with rice or other foods/herbs. Modern scientific studies have confirmed many of its traditional properties and uses: cardiovascular, anticoagulant, antibacterial, antiinflammatory, antioxidant, sedative, antiatherosclerotic, antitumor, etc. Its major active ingredients include several tanshinones (phenanthrene diketones), plant acids (salvianolic acid, danshensu, oleanolic acid, etc.) and diterpenoids (miltirone, salvinone); it also contains vitamin E.

Although traditionally used mainly to benefit the cardiovascular system, danshen and the isolated tanshinones have recently been successfully used in treating acne, psoriasis, eczema and other skin conditions.

Dr. Albert Leung’s book, Better Health with (mostly) Chinese Herbs and Food discusses the use of 60 different herbs as healing foods, including danshen on page 74. For more information about Dr. Leung and his writings, visit http://www.earthpower.com/.