Honey is a sugary substance brewed by various bees in their hives. It is produced throughout China and must have impurities removed for medicinal use. It is also known as white honey.
I. Efficacy and Application
Honey tastes sweet and has a neutral nature. It belongs to the spleen, lung, and large intestine meridians.
Efficacy It can tonify the middle and relieve urgency, moisten the lungs and stop coughing, lubricate the intestines and promote bowel movements. Its characteristics include being sweet and moist for tonification, as well as being effective in detoxifying various toxins. It is also the best excipient for making pills.
It is commonly used for the treatment of deficiency pain in the epigastrium and abdomen, dry cough due to lung dryness, constipation due to intestinal dryness, red eyes and mouth sores, non-healing ulcers, burns and scalds, chapped hands and feet, and other conditions. It is also one of the best health products in people's daily lives.
Summary of Famous Works by Renowned Authors:
The Classic of Materia Medica: "It governs evil qi in the heart and abdomen, various convulsions and spasms, calms the five viscera and all deficiencies, boosts qi and tonifies the center, relieves pain and detoxifies, eliminates numerous diseases, and harmonizes all medicines."
Bie Lu: "Nourishes the spleen qi and eliminates heart vexation."
Compendium of Materia Medica: Honey has five medicinal properties: clearing heat, tonifying the middle, detoxifying, moistening dryness, and relieving pain. In its raw state, it is cool in nature and thus can clear heat; when cooked, it becomes warm in nature and thus can tonify the middle. Its sweet and balanced nature enables it to detoxify; its soft and moist quality allows it to moisten dryness. Its gentle action can alleviate urgency, thus relieving pain in the heart, abdomen, muscles, and sores. Its harmonizing nature can achieve balance, enabling it to harmonize all medicines, sharing the same efficacy as licorice.
Changsha Materia Medica: Honey is rich and smooth, nourishing the organs, moistening the intestines and stomach to relieve constipation, and effectively treating dryness-related disorders of the Hand and Foot Yangming meridians.
II. Compatibility and Application
1. For tonifying deficiency, relieving urgency and alleviating pain. Honey is the best natural nutrient, containing a large amount of glucose, fructose, protein, various trace elements, and other nutrients, especially suitable for those with weak constitutions, for long-term nourishment and consumption. For treating deficiency fatigue with urgent abdominal pain, it is often combined in prescriptions or used as an excipient.
Some tonifying herbs, such as licorice and astragalus, can enhance their tonifying effects after being processed with honey, which also reflects the tonifying function of honey.
2. For chronic cough due to lung deficiency, dry cough due to lung dryness, dry throat, and other symptoms. Honey can moisten the lungs and relieve cough, and it also has nourishing properties. To treat dry cough and hemoptysis due to deficiency, it is often combined with Shengdi (Rehmannia root), Fuling (Poria), Renshen (Ginseng), etc., as in Qiongyu Gao (Jade Dew Syrup).
Some phlegm-resolving and cough-relieving herbs, such as coltsfoot flower, loquat leaf, aster, and stemona root, when processed with honey, can enhance their efficacy in moistening the lungs and relieving cough.
3. For intestinal dryness and constipation. Honey can both tonify and moisten the intestines to relieve constipation, making it suitable for individuals with deficiency and dry body fluids causing constipation. It can be taken alone or combined with other herbs in formulations. For example, to treat chronic constipation, it is often combined with blood-nourishing and intestine-moistening herbs such as Angelica sinensis and black sesame seeds.
If treating constipation in the elderly due to physical weakness, one may drink a cup of honey water every morning to gently nourish the intestines and replenish deficiency, which is indeed an excellent method.
4. For detoxification and moderating drug properties. Honey can detoxify various poisons, especially the toxicity of aconite and monkshood, which is of significant clinical importance. In the "Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders," the Da Wu Tou Jian (Major Aconite Decoction) uses honey to decoct aconite to remove its toxicity. Later generations of physicians, when using large doses of aconite and monkshood, mostly follow Zhang Zhongjing's method.
5. Honey external application can also treat sores, ulcers, various pains, and scalds.
In addition, honey is also the best excipient for making pills and ointments. It not only serves to correct the taste and provide viscosity but also offers nourishing benefits and moderates the medicinal properties, making it a versatile substance.
III. Usage and Dosage
Honey can be used in decoctions, but it is more suitable for making pills and ointments. The usual dosage in decoctions ranges from over ten grams to several tens of grams; if used to detoxify aconite through boiling, the dosage can be larger. For external use, apply an appropriate amount.
Depending on the species of bees and the nectar they collect, the quality of honey varies, and there are also artificially synthesized fake honeys that must be distinguished.
IV. Application Precautions
Honey can promote dampness, cause abdominal fullness, and lubricate the intestines. Therefore, it is contraindicated for those with damp-heat phlegm stagnation, chest tightness, and loose stools or diarrhea.
Modern application, individuals with conditions such as "three highs" constitution, alcohol-related disorders, diabetes, damp-heat abdominal fullness, obesity, and nutritional excess should avoid consumption.
Huang Yuanyu said, "If the Taiyin is excessively damp and the stool is loose and watery, do not take it."
Wang Ang said: "It can lubricate the intestines, so it should be avoided in cases of diarrhea and abdominal fullness."
Practical Notes on Traditional Chinese Medicine: Second Draft on the Evening of 2191.24
