The most common stomach syndromes

Stomach Yin Deficiency

Primary Symptoms: Dry lips, mouth or throat, stomachache, hunger “without desire to eat”, hiccups, difficulty in swallowing, lumpy sensation of stomach, heartburn, acid dyspepsia, dry vomiting or stomach ulcers.

Individual herbs: Chickweed, Liquorice root, Iceland moss, Slippery Elm bark, Asparagus root, Solomon’s Seal root, Comfrey root, Red Clover flower

Energetic Herbals Blend: Moisten and Soothe.

Foods: Favour moistening foods such as alfalfa, apple, asparagus, cheeses, chicken egg, coconut milk, brown sugar, cantaloupe, date, duck, fig, grapes, honey, kidney beans, kumquat, lemon, litchi, maltose, mango, milk, pea, pear, pork, rice, royal jelly, shrimp, tofu, tomato, watermelon and yam. Avoid warming or cooling and drying food and drink, or stimulants.

Stomach Energy Congestion

Primary Symptoms: Indigestion, stomach ache, swelling of abdomen, sour regurgitation, swallowing acid, frequent belching, belching foul air, headache, moodiness or halitosis.

Individual herbs: Karmedik (Blessed Thistle), Milk Thistle, Yellow Gentian, Barberry. Horseradish root, Angelica root and Cardamom pod.

Energetic Herbals Blends: Digestion and Absorption, Liver and Gall

Foods: Buckwheat, cardamom, cayenne, coriander, grapefruit, malt, peach, radish, sweet basil, tea, tomato and water chestnut. Avoid in particular: fried peas, goose, mango, raw chestnut, red dates, sweet rice and yellow soybean.

Cold Stomach

Primary Symptoms: Slow digestion, Cold ache in stomach that is worse with cold and better with warmth, cold limbs, loss of appetite, abdominal swelling, fermentation, belching, nausea, flatulence, foetid breath and stool, hiccups, vomiting and/or loose stool.

Individual herbs: Calamus, Rosemary, Horseradish root, Angelica root, Garlic bulb, Cardamom pod, Elecampane and Ginger root.

Energetic Herbals Blend: Assisting digestion and absorption.

Foods: Favour warming and drying foods, as also these very easily digestable foods: Asafetida, buckwheat, carrot, coriander, dill, grapefruit, kiwi fruit, lime, millet sprouts, papaya, peach, radish, sorghum, soybean, sweet basil, tomato and whitefish. Avoid in particular: fried peas, goose, mango, raw chestnut, red dates, sweet rice and yellow soybean.

Hot Stomach

Primary Symptoms: Intense thirst with desire for cold drinks, ravenous hunger, swollen, painful and possibly bleeding gums, constipation, stomach ulcers, heartburn or acid dyspepsia.

Individual herbs: as with stomach yin deficiency, plus bitter herbs to clear the heat at first, such as Barberry, Yellow Gentian or Golden Seal.

Energetic Herbals Blend: Moisten and Soothe, with Liver and Gall or Natural Antibiotic, at first.

Foods: Cooling and moistening foods, especially banana, cucumber, liquorice, salt, spinach, strawberry, grapefruit, honey, fig, lemon, potato, tofu, kidney bean, kiwifruit, mung bean, rice, sugar and watermelon. Avoid stimulants and irritants. Avoid warming and drying food and drink. Avoid greasy, fatty and fried foods.