meet new friends | aka: ingredients

lemongrass  | aka: cymbopogon
🌿 Belongs to the poacea family, native to India and is also specified as west Indian lemongrass and east Indian lemongrass on occasion. It is used globally for culinary and medicinal purposes.
🌿 Has a reputation for helping prevent the growth of bacteria and yeast, improving digestion, and alleviating stomach aches. And is an irreplaceable ingredient in the popular chai tea drink!
🌿 known to contain antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, and antimicrobial properties. Additionally, vitamins a, b, c, folate, potassium, magnesium, zinc, and iron can be found within these grassy stalks.
 
pau d’arco | aka: taheebo
🌿 Also called apacho, it is the inner bark of the tabebuia species of trees, native to central and south america. Considered “divine” by the inca, it has been used for thousands of years by tribes in the region to treat stomach issues, skin conditions, and general inflammation.
🌿 A reputation for antifungal and antibacterial properties that target the digestive system. Additionally, it fights candida and addresses peptic ulcers, sores, or inflammation of the stomach lining.

ginger root  | aka: jiang
🌿 An infamous medicinal and culinary ingredient that was first recorded for medicinal uses in the shen nong ben cao jing around 2,000 b.c.e. also popular in ayurvedic medicine, and know as shunthi, it can be found in the ancient sanskrit text the mahabharata, dating back approximately to 400 b.c.e.
🌿 also known as gan jiang (dried) and sheng jiang (fresh), it is used to treat digestive issues, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, seafood poisoning, and motion sickness.
🌿 Functions in Chinese medicine include warming the middle (stomach area) and expelling cold, warming the lungs and transforming (moving) mucus, and expelling toxins. It also “rescues devastated yang”, meaning it warms the body overall and improves circulation.

cassia (cinnamon) bark  | aka: rou gui
🌿 Belongs to the lauraceae family, in western medicine it has a reputation as an antifungal, analgesic, and has the ability to reduce spasms and flatulence.
🌿 Real cinnamon has many layers of bark, cassia is the dried inner bark of cinnamon.
🌿 In Chinese medicine it warms and tonify’s yang, disperses cold, and promotes the movement of blood. It is acrid, sweet, and hot, thus warming in nature and stimulates the digestive and circulatory system.

fennel seed | aka: hui xiang
🌿 Belongs to the apiaceae family, and also referred to as xiao hui xiang. Contains vitamin c, iron, manganese, potassium, and calcium. Its delicate nature makes it good for children and can be used by nursing mothers.
 🌿 In t.c.m. fennel warms the interior, expels cold, and regulates the qi of the stomach. It is used in formulas to help treat abdominal pain, bloat, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dysmenorrhea, and testicular pain!
🌿 a reputation for being anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, and packed with antioxidants such as quercetin. Hippocrates recommended it medicinally for improving eye sight, and it is used as an eyewash in Chinese medicine.

tangerine rind  | aka: chen pi
🌿 In traditional Chinese medicine it regulates and promotes the flow of qi, harmonizes the middle jiao (your mid-section), dispels damp, dissolves phlegm, and stops cough.
🌿 Tangerine peel compounds have been found to lower cholesterol and trigger liver detoxification. Western medicinal uses include anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antiseptic, sedative, expectorant, and diuretic effects.
🌿 Addresses epigastric and abdominal distension or fullness, bloating, nausea, cough, and belching.

licorice root  | aka: gan cao
🌿 Belongs to the fabaceae family, also known as kanzo in japan. It is one of the most commonly used herbs in chinese medicine, and has also been used medicinally for thousands of years throughout the middle east and egypt.
🌿 It’s pharmaceutical name, glycyrrhizae radix; glukos/ sweet, and riza/root, was given to it by the greek physician and pharmacologist, dioscorides. This description aligns with its sweet properties that are well established in chinese medicine.
🌿 In t.c.m. it’s sweet and harmonious nature allows it to go to all 12 (acupuncture) meridians, it moderates spasms, alleviates pain, and harmonizes the effects of hot and cold herbs, thus is able to guide the actions of herbs in a formula; a function making it quite unique.