Nature: sweet, bland, slightly cold

Enters: Lung, Stomach

Actions: Clears heat; nourishes Lung Yin; produces body fluids for the stomach; moistens the Lung and stops coughing; moistens the exterior.

Indications:
• Lung heat with Yin deficiency: dry, nonproductive or bloody cough, hoarseness.
• Stomach body fluid injury due to heat in febrile disease: poor appetite, dry mouth and throat, thirst, accompanying constipation.
• Dry itchy skin, especially when worse with cold, dry weather.
• A key herb for Lung and stomach Yin deficiency.
• Sha shen usually implies Bei sha shen.
Dr. Wei Li (Portland, OR) Good for depression. Nourishes spleen Yin so it can fight off attack by the liver.
Hong-Yen Hsu (Oriental Materia Medica): Antipyretic, analgesic (ethanol extract), slight expectorant.
Michael & Leslie Tierra: Nearly the same as Xi yang shen, but cheaper.
Heiner Fruehauf: An An Shen (spirit calming) herb, important in Gu Zheng (Gu parasite) formulas (because of emotional disturbance common in patients with Gu).

Dose: 9-15g

Nan sha shen – Adenophora:

This herb is also called Sha shen, although it is somewhat less common. It is weaker at nourishing Yin and Qi than Bei Shan Shen is, and unlike Bei Sha Shen, it does not generate fluids, but it is better than Bei sha shen at stopping coughs.