TCM Basics 101: Supermarket Herbs - Bamboo Leaves
TCM Nature: Cooling
TCM Taste: Sweet, Slightly Bitter
TCM Meridian Affinity: Heart, Lungs
Benefits:
· Promotes urination
· Clears Heat from Heart and Small Intestine
· Treats urinary dysfunction
· Treats Blood in Urine
· Treats eczema due to Damp Heat
· Relieves Stomach Heat
· Reverses flow of Qi from Downward to Upward
· Prevents asthma caused by inflammation of lungs
Spirituality:
Bamboo is the perfect balance of Yin and Yang. It combines upright integrity with flexibility and grace with strength.
In Buddhist and Taoist cultures, Bamboo is considered one of the most important elements for meditation. Even Confucious cited bamboo as an example of the ideal attitude of people through life even under severe conditions. It is considered to be the personification of simplicity.
It provides neither flower nor fruit, and its hollow trunk is reminiscent of humility or an open heart free of arrogance. It symbolizes moral integrity, resistance, modesty, and loyalty.
Bamboo is yielding but extremely strong.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, bamboo leaves are often used in formulas to treat febrile diseases.
In Western Medicine, bamboo leaves are anticancer as they are full of nutrients and compounds that help prevent the damage caused by the free radicals that cause cancer. The high fiber levels in the leaves also help balance blood sugars, preventing diabetes, and assisting weight loss.
