Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
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Huang Lian Tang is a classical Chinese herbal formula for stomach and gut trouble. It is also called Coptis Decoction. People take it for burning pain in the upper belly, nausea, vomiting and loose stools.
We list it here as one entry, a TCM formula. That means the whole multi-herb mix is treated as one product. It is not split into separate herbs.
The recipe mixes Huang Lian (Coptis root) with dried ginger and cinnamon twig. It also holds ginseng, prepared Pinellia, honey-fried licorice and jujube dates.
Practitioners pick it for a pattern they call heat above and cold below. That means heartburn and nausea up top. Lower down there are cramps and loose bowels.
On the evidence: this formula has a long, well-recorded history of use. But we could not find any published human trials of the finished formula. A long record of use does not by itself show that a remedy works.
The short answer is that no one has shown clearly how it works in people. What follows is theory, not proven fact.
In traditional terms, Coptis is bitter and cold. It is said to clear heat in the stomach. Warm ginger and cinnamon twig are said to settle cold in the gut.
Ginseng, licorice and dates are said to protect the digestion.
In lab terms, Coptis is rich in berberine. Berberine is a plant alkaloid, a bitter compound that holds nitrogen. Studies in cells and animals have looked at its effects on gut bacteria, gut inflammation (irritation and swelling) and blood sugar.
Ginger compounds have been studied for nausea. Most of this work comes from test tubes and animals. It does not prove that the whole decoction does the same thing in a person.
You will usually meet it in one of three forms.
Loose dried herbs, weighed out and simmered into a decoction (a strong tea) at home. This is the old method. Classical doses refer to it.
Granules or strong powder, stirred into hot water. This is the most common modern form. Japan sells it too, as the Kampo formula Oren-to.
Pills, tablets or capsules of dried extract. These are handy, but the strength varies a lot between brands. A label rarely tells you how much of each herb you get.
The formula comes from the Shang Han Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage). Zhang Zhongjing put that book together around 200 CE. The formula has stayed in use ever since.
It is a standard teaching formula in Chinese herbal medicine. Japanese Kampo practice gives it out as Oren-to.
Its standing rests on centuries of practitioner use and case records, not on modern trials.
See a doctor promptly if your stomach pain is severe, keeps getting worse, or wakes you at night. Get urgent help if you vomit blood, pass black or tarry stools, or have blood in your diarrhoea.
Stop taking it and call your doctor if you notice swollen ankles or face, headaches, muscle weakness or cramps, or a fluttering or irregular heartbeat. These can be signs of low potassium (low levels of an important body salt) from the licorice.
Also check in with a doctor if you have lost weight without trying, if you have a fever, or if your symptoms have not improved after two weeks of use.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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