|
|
gan
cao, zhi gan cao
licorice
By:
Joe Hing Kwok Chu
Zhi gan cao is gan cao that has been coated with honey
and baked to dark brown color and often it is being used in tonic. Sheng
gan cao is untreated gan cao.
|
Pharmaceutical name: |
Radix Glycyrrhizae Uralensis |
|
Latin botanical name: |
Glycyrrhiza glabra L. var. glandulifera, Rega |
| Pron. in
Japanese: |
kanzo |
| Pron. in
Korean: |
kamch'o |
| Pron. in
Cantonese: |
kam ch'o |
| Common Name: |
Licorice root |
| Distribution: |
It is mainly produced in Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Liaoning,
Jilin,
Heilongjiang, Hebei, Qinghai and
Zinjiang .
|
| Properties
(characteristics) |
Sweet in smell and peculiarly sweet in taste. It is about five
hundred times the sweetness of cane sugar.
|
|
Channels (meridians) entered: |
all 12 channels, mainly the heart, lung, spleen and stomach
channels.
|
|
Actions & Indications: |
tonifies pi (spleen), enhances qi, clears heat,
rids of toxins, expels phlegm and stops cough, stops pain,
synergizes other herbs. Being used in spleen and stomach weakness,
tired and lack of strength, palpitation and short of breath, cough
with abundance of phlegm, stomach and solar plexus pain, spastic
painful limbs, boils, to reduce toxicity of other herbs.
|
| Medical
Function: |
1. adrenocortical hormone function
As early as 1946 gan cao extract
showed the characteristics of mineralcorticoid.
Glycyrrhiza is metabolically converted to glycyrrhetic
acid (GA). GA, when incubated in-vitro with adrenal gland cells increases DHEA
production.
2. effects on digestive system
a. anti ulcer
b. anti convulsion
c. promotes secretion of insulin
d. protects liver from toxin
3. anti inflammation
4. anti allergy
5. anti cancer
Saponins stimulate the immune system
and inhibit Epstein-Barr virus expression and possess in-vitro (in
the test tube) anti-cancer activities. Epstein_Barr virus is associated in
certain cancer development. Glycyrrhiza also contains
quercetin that has
anticancer effects. Glycyrrhiza lowers serum testosterone levels and
correspondingly increases estrogen levels by inducing two enzymes called
17-ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and aromatase thus inhibit prostate
cancer cells.
6. anti virus and bacteria
a. anti HIV
b. anti amoeba and bacteria
7. effect on blood vessels
a. lower blood lipids
Both saponins and
licoflavones are known to bind to cholesterol and bile acids and have
surfactant properties.
|
|
Chemical ingredients: |
Glycyrrhizic acid, its potassium and calcium salt provide the sweet
tastes of glycyrrhizin, hydrolized into two molecules glucuronic acid and
one molecule 18 b-glycyrrhetic acid. Also contains 24-hydroxyglycyrrhetic acid
[1] , licorice saponins A3, B2,C2,D3, F3, G2, H2, J2, K,
and K2. The hydrolized
substance also contains uralenic acid. |
| Dosage: |
|
| Samples of formulae: |
Ai Sou San,
Ba Zheng
San,
Bai Hu Tang,
Ban Xia Bai Zhu Tian Ma Tang,
Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang,Chai Ge
Jie Ji Tang,
Ding Chuan Tang,
Gan Ma Da Zao
Tang,
gui zhi tang, gui
pi tang,
jiao
ai tang,
Ju
Pi Zhu Ru Tang,
ma huang
tang,
Ren Shen Bai Du San, Sang Ju Yin,
Long Dan Xie Gan Tang,
Suan
Zao Ren Tang, Tiao Wei
Cheng Qi Tang, Wen Jing Tang, Yin Qiao
San, Xiao Feng San, Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang, |
|
Modern Applications |
1.
Decrease of
hypophysis frontal lobe function after child birth.
2. Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) cerebrospinal meningitis
3. Addison's Disease
4. Ulcers of duodenum and stomach
5. Infant constipation
6. Hepatitis B
7. Colitis of colon with ulcers
8. Arrhythmia
9. Lung TB
10. Chronic prostate inflammation and
impotence
11. Urine retention after surgery
12.
|
|
Cautions: |
Small dosages are used as moderating and synergizing herbs while large
dosages can increase blood pressure. Long term usage of large dosage can also
cause edema and hypokalemia. Using gan cao with aspirin may increase the
irritation of the stomach. |
Last update: April 14,
2004, 11 :40 p.m. LA
|
