When heat rises from the Stomach

A hot, dry mouth, thirst for cool drinks, a keen appetite, breath that is less fresh, a feeling of heat rising to the face, especially after spicy, fried or overly rich meals… In TCM, these signs may be associated with Stomach Heat rising upwards. According to tradition, the Stomach meridian runs across the face and encircles the mouth: it is along this path that Heat accumulated in the centre makes itself felt above.

Kou Xiang Wan, the “Fragrant Mouth Pill”, is a formula from the Chinese pharmacopoeia built on Qing Wei San (清胃散), the “Powder that Clears the Stomach”, attributed to Li Dongyuan (李东垣), one of the four great masters of the Jin and Yuan dynasties. It takes up its five herbs and adds three companions: ophiopogon to nourish Yin, and magnolia bark and bitter orange to make Stomach Qi descend.

Bringing Heat down, cooling the Blood

Coptis, bitter and cold, leads the formula: it clears Stomach Heat at its source. Cimicifuga, light, accompanies it upwards and, according to a classical principle, lets trapped Heat out instead of locking it in. Commentators sum up this pair as follows: with cimicifuga, coptis cools without congealing; with coptis, cimicifuga disperses without stoking.

Freshens breath: By clearing the Heat that rises from the Stomach, coptis and cimicifuga help the mouth regain freshness and lightness.

Clears Stomach Heat: Magnolia bark and bitter orange make Stomach Qi descend, so that the Heat no longer rises with it.

Nourishes Yin and cools the Blood: According to tradition, Stomach Heat quickly reaches the Blood and dries the Fluids. Rehmannia and tree peony bark cool the Blood, ophiopogon nourishes Yin, and Chinese angelica, warm, balances the coolness of the whole.