Nature: acrid, warm
Enters: Spleen, Stomach, Large Intestine
Actions: Warms the middle Jiao; promotes Qi circulation; alleviates pain; astringes the large intestine, stops diarrhea.
Indications:
• Spleen and stomach or spleen and kidney Yang deficiency cold: chronic diarrhea, daybreak diarrhea (not for damp-heat patterns).
• Yang deficiency cold with Qi stagnation: distention and pain of the epigastrium and abdomen, poor appetite, vomiting.
• Preparation: smash on paper and allow the paper to soak up the oil (otherwise will exacerbate diarrhea); very small doses of the oil (0.03-0.2 mL) directly stimulate the gastrointestinal tract.
• Roast to increase its ability to warm the middle Jiao and stop diarrhea.
• One constituent, myristicin, is an MAO inhibitor and a hallucinogen in large doses.
Yoga: Jatiphala: V, K-; P+
• Pungent/heating/pungent.
• Astringent, carminative, sedative, nervine, aphrodisiac, stimulant.
• For poor absorption, abdominal pain and distention, diarrhea, dysentery, intestinal gas, insomnia, nervous disorders, impotence.
• Increases absorption in the small intestine.
• Reduces high Vata in the colon and nervous system.
• Calms the mind (500 mg in warm milk before sleep).
• Tamasic: in excess it can dull the mind.
DY: Scatters cold; disperses distention.
• With Bu gu zhi to supplement spleen and kidney Yang, secure the intestines, and stop daybreak or “cock-crow” diarrhea. For indications such as:
– 1. Chronic diarrhea due to spleen-kidney Yang deficiency. (Si Shen Wan) Use salt mix-fried Bu gu zhi and roasted Rou dou kou.
– 2. Daybreak diarrhea with abdominal pain and rumbling noises due to spleen-kidney Yang deficiency. (Er Shen Wan)
PCBDP: Spasmolytic, anti-emetic, orexigenic, topical anti-inflammatory.
• Decreases prostaglandin levels in the colon, PGE2 inhibitor – has been used successfully in Crohn’s disease.
Dose: 1.5-9g