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Jian Ling Tang

Traditionally used for: Traditional use under a trained herbalist, for short courses only. Dizziness; Headache; Raised blood pressure (traditional use).

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What is Jian Ling Tang? Jian Ling Tang is a herb and mineral mix from Chinese medicine. Its name means Construct Roof Tiles Decoction. It is sold as a single drug (TCM formula): one set recipe, not a blend you adjust. In Chinese medicine it is used for dizzy spells, headache, ringing ears and a flushed face. Healers tie these signs to a pattern they call liver yang rising. Many people today take it for high blood pressure. Long use in a tradition is not proof that a remedy works. We found no sound human trials of this mix. So read what follows as custom, not as proven fact. How does Jian Ling Tang work? No one has shown how it works, or whether it works at all. The old idea is simple. The heavy mineral parts are said to pull rising energy back down. The moist plant parts are said to cool and soften the liver. Some single parts have been looked at in labs. Peony root and rehmannia root act on blood vessels in animal tests. Hematite is mostly iron oxide (rust), and the shell and fossil parts are mostly calcium. Lab work on one herb does not tell you what the whole mix does in a person. What forms does Jian Ling Tang come in? A decoction is the usual form. The raw parts are boiled in water, and the strained liquid is drunk warm. You can also buy granules that melt in hot water, or pills and capsules. Strength varies a lot from maker to maker. Buy only from a seller who tests each batch for lead and arsenic. Ask a trained herbalist to pick the form and the dose for you. Where it comes from: The recipe was written down by Zhang Xichun, a Chinese doctor, in the early 1900s. It appears in his book Yi Xue Zhong Zhong Can Xi Lu. The name is a picture: laying roof tiles so water runs down and off. Zhang used it to bring rising blood and heat back down. It is taught in Chinese medicine schools today. Still, it is young next to recipes that are many hundreds of years old.

Helps

What does Jian Ling Tang help with? Dizziness and a spinning feeling: This is the main use in Chinese texts. Zhang Xichun wrote the recipe for people who feel the head swim when they stand or get angry. We found no human trial that tests this claim. Headache, often felt at the top or sides of the head: Old texts pair headache with a red face and a tight, fast pulse. The mineral parts are said to weigh the head down. There is no trial evidence for headache relief. High blood pressure: Many modern Chinese herbalists use this recipe for raised blood pressure. Any reports we found were small or unclear, and we could not confirm a solid trial. Never stop or cut a blood pressure drug to try it. Ringing in the ears (tinnitus): Tinnitus with dizziness fits the same old pattern, so the recipe is often used for it. No human study supports this. Sudden ringing with hearing loss needs a doctor, not a herb. Flushed face with a red, irritable mood: Peony and rehmannia are the cooling parts here, by the old reading. This use rests on tradition alone. Trouble falling asleep with a restless mind: Dragon bone and oyster shell are used in Chinese medicine to settle the mind. Arborvitae seed is added for the same reason. No sleep trial of the whole mix was found.

Jian Ling Tang

Quick Facts

  • What it is: A Chinese herb and mineral recipe, sold as a single drug, used in tradition for dizziness, headache and a flushed, hot head.
  • Main uses: Dizziness, Headache, Raised blood pressure (traditional use), Ringing in the ears
  • Best for: Traditional use under a trained herbalist, for short courses only
  • Active ingredients: Paeoniflorin (white peony root), Catalpol (raw rehmannia root), Saponins (achyranthes root), Iron oxide (hematite), Calcium salts (dragon bone and oyster shell)
  • Forms: Decoction from raw parts, Granules, Pills or capsules
  • Time to effect: Old texts say days to weeks; no trial has measured it.
  • Side effects: Mostly gut upset and dark stools; the real worry is iron, lead and arsenic building up over time.
  • Pregnancy & breastfeeding: Avoid: traditionally used to stimulate the womb.

Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.

What is Jian Ling Tang?

Jian Ling Tang is a herb and mineral mix from Chinese medicine. Its name means Construct Roof Tiles Decoction. It is sold as a single drug (TCM formula): one set recipe, not a blend you adjust.

In Chinese medicine it is used for dizzy spells, headache, ringing ears and a flushed face. Healers tie these signs to a pattern they call liver yang rising. Many people today take it for high blood pressure.

Long use in a tradition is not proof that a remedy works. We found no sound human trials of this mix. So read what follows as custom, not as proven fact.

How does Jian Ling Tang work?

No one has shown how it works, or whether it works at all.

The old idea is simple. The heavy mineral parts are said to pull rising energy back down. The moist plant parts are said to cool and soften the liver.

Some single parts have been looked at in labs. Peony root and rehmannia root act on blood vessels in animal tests. Hematite is mostly iron oxide (rust), and the shell and fossil parts are mostly calcium.

Lab work on one herb does not tell you what the whole mix does in a person.

What forms does Jian Ling Tang come in?

A decoction is the usual form. The raw parts are boiled in water, and the strained liquid is drunk warm.

You can also buy granules that melt in hot water, or pills and capsules. Strength varies a lot from maker to maker.

Buy only from a seller who tests each batch for lead and arsenic. Ask a trained herbalist to pick the form and the dose for you.

Where it comes from:

The recipe was written down by Zhang Xichun, a Chinese doctor, in the early 1900s. It appears in his book Yi Xue Zhong Zhong Can Xi Lu.

The name is a picture: laying roof tiles so water runs down and off. Zhang used it to bring rising blood and heat back down.

It is taught in Chinese medicine schools today. Still, it is young next to recipes that are many hundreds of years old.

Who should avoid Jian Ling Tang?

  • Do not use if you are pregnant or think you may be: achyranthes root has been used to bring on labour, and this ban is absolute
  • Do not use if you are breastfeeding
  • Do not use if you are giving it to a child
  • Do not use if you have haemochromatosis (a disease of too much iron) or any other iron overload
  • Do not use if you already take an iron pill or iron tonic
  • Do not use if you have kidney disease, since the body cannot clear the mineral load well
  • Do not use if you have high blood calcium (too much calcium in the blood)
  • Do not use if you take levothyroxine (a thyroid pill) or a tetracycline or quinolone antibiotic, unless you can keep them four hours apart and your doctor agrees
  • Do not use if you take warfarin or another blood thinner, unless your doctor is watching your clotting tests
  • Do not use if you have long-term loose stools or a weak, cold digestion — the cooling parts can make it worse
  • Do not use if you cannot confirm that the product was tested for lead and arsenic
  • Do not use if you are on blood pressure drugs and have not told your doctor — never stop or cut those drugs to try this

When should you see a doctor?

Call an ambulance if you get a sudden crushing headache, chest pain, slurred speech, weakness on one side, or you lose your sight or pass out. These are signs of a stroke or heart problem, not herb side effects.

See a doctor within a day or two if you get black stools with belly pain, bad vomiting, or yellow skin or eyes.

Book a normal appointment if your blood pressure readings stay high or swing about, if the dizziness gets worse, if ringing in one ear starts with hearing loss, or if you have taken this mix for more than a month. Ask for blood tests for iron and, if you have used it a long time, for lead.

Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.

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