When digestion lacks drive

A modest appetite, meals that “sit on the Stomach”, a belly that tightens after eating, tiredness that grows after meals, digestion that turns heavy at the slightest excess… In TCM, these signs may be associated with Spleen Deficiency allowing Food Stagnation to set in: the weakened Spleen transforms less well, food lingers, and what stagnates in turn hinders the Qi of the Middle. Each keeps the other going.

Jia wei (加味) means “with added flavours”: this is how tradition refers to a classic formula enriched with a few extra herbs. Jia Wei Bao He Wan starts from Bao He Wan, the reference formula for food stagnation, created by Zhu Danxi (朱丹溪) under the Yuan. It keeps its hawthorn, tangerine peel and poria, and follows the direction tradition gives to Da An Wan (大安丸): adding atractylodes, to support the Spleen while helping the Stomach.

Supporting the Middle, melting away, moving

Its seven herbs, dosed in almost equal parts, share three tasks. Atractylodes and poria support the Spleen; hawthorn and germinated barley help the Stomach melt away what is stagnating; tangerine peel, bitter orange and cyperus set the Qi moving again. This is the balance tradition seeks when stagnation sets in on a weakened terrain: clearing without exhausting, supporting without weighing down.

Supports the Spleen and digestive balance: Atractylodes, sweet and warm, strengthens the Spleen Qi; poria assists it and helps transform the Dampness that stagnation leaves behind.

Contributes to good digestion: Hawthorn, which tradition associates with rich, fatty meals, and germinated barley, associated with grains and starchy foods, help the Stomach do its work.

Promotes lightness and digestive comfort: Bitter orange and tangerine peel undo the feeling of fullness and help the Stomach Qi descend again, so that the meal no longer weighs on you.

Supports the flow of Qi: Cyperus moves the Liver Qi. According to tradition, a frustrated Liver often weighs on digestion.