TCM Herbs & Properties

Botanical name: Lycium barbarum

Common name: Lycium fruit, Chinese wolfberry, Matrimony vine
Family: Solanaceae, nightshade family
Part used in Chinese medicine: fruit

In the Chinese culture & through the last two decades in the west, Gou Qi Zi has recently become a popular "health food". Called Goji berries, they are commonly marketed as a "superfood" and sold at highly inflated prices.
When used as a daily blood tonic tea only a small amount of berries are used. Steep a level tablespoon of berries in a mug for ten mintes and sip this tea as you wish.
The berries are sweet with a licorice-like flavor and are traditionally added to soups made with chicken, duck or pork. ( use oranic poultry if it does not burn a hole in yor pocket)

Health benefits- Nourishes Kidney and Lung yin, nourishes Liver blood, benefits essence.

Harvesting and Preparation

Lycium berries are harvested when ripe in late summer or early fall. In China there is an annual festival held in August in Ningxia, which is an important center of cultivation for the region. The oblong, red berries are very tender and must be picked carefully or shaken from the vine into trays to avoid spoiling. The fruits are preserved by slowly drying them in them in a shaded, well-ventilated area, or by mechanical dehydration employing a progressively increasing series of heat exposure over 48 hours. The fruits are not turned during the drying process as this may cause them to bruise, turning them black.
Western consumers should be careful to choose berries that are dark red, but not unnaturally bright red in color. Lycium berries for export are often treated with sulfites in order to preserve their color as they can be damaged during long months of travel. The sulfites cause them to turn a bright fresh red.

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Herba Dendrobium Nobile

The "noble" Dendrobium genus is an endangered species that are native to Southeast Asia and grow in their native habitat on branches of tall trees in cool areas of high elevation in countries such as India, Burma, and Thailand. They are extremely hardy plants growing in elevations up to 3,000 feet where temperatures may drop to almost freezing. If kept dry, these species and hybrids will survive winter temperatures of 37-39 F and will flower around April. If temperatures are stay at about 62-64 F when buds appear, they will flower in January or February.
Small cultivation supplies are made available for TCM physicians only in specific countries.
Properties-Sweet, Slightly Salty, Bland, Cold
Chemical Compositions -

ophiopogonin

ruscogenin
β-sitosterol
stigmasterol
dendrobine
nobilonine
6-hydroxydendrobine

Actions & Indications- For weakness after febrile disease, , thirst, chronic throat infection, blurry vision, weak lower back, yin deficiencies in diabetic patients, Thromboangiitis obliterans (also known as Buerger's disease) & Sjogren's Disease syndromes.
Nourishes Stomach Yin, Generates Body Fluids and Clears Heat

For thirst, dry/parched mouth and throat, irritability and perspiration due to a warm febrile disease injuring Body Fluids
Nourishes Kidney Yin and Clears Deficiency Heat
For unremitting low grade fever, dry and painful throat, and red tongue with no coat. Also used for chronic dry cough with low grade fever, night sweats and dry mouth in conjunction with other herbs.
Tonifies Kidneys, Brightens the Eyes
Strengthens weak back, tendons and bones. Improves visual acuity, dizziness, and platycoria (spots in front of the eyes). Also used for numbness of extremities or Wei atrophy syndrome.
Available for purchase-  Shipping to US - $7 standard airmail for 100 gms
Dendrobium Nobile - 100 gms - US $25  
100 grams yields 8 - 10 cups of nourishing yin tea, which aids fluid generation.
Soak 10 gms of Dendrobium in distilled or pure water in a mug for 8 hours to allow plant cells to expand & rehydrate. 
After 8 hours, steep tea in hot water ( just below boiling point) & sip tea throughout the day. Re- steep herbs again to make a lighter 2nd cup.
Without boiling, herbal tea retains  all of its herb properties.
For Sjogren's Syndrome sufferers, I would combine 10-16 herbs according to different presenting syndromes & secondary ailments.
For herbal decoctions enquiry, email Cindy - anti_agingsolutions@yahoo.com
The treatment plan -
To nourish yin, bind essence, soothe liver fire, & balance yin yang deficiencies.

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