Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
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Kanbakutaisoto is a Kampo herbal formula from Japan. It is made from just three herbs. People use it for restlessness, easy crying, anxious agitation and trouble sleeping.
It is given most often to children and to older adults. It sits on the list of 148 Kampo formulas covered by national health insurance. That list is kept by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW).
The three herbs are wheat grain, jujube (red date) and licorice root. Kampo practice picks it for a person who is worn out in mood. Such a person cries easily, yawns, fidgets and cannot settle at night.
It is not a sedative drug. It is not a treatment for any mental illness.
On the evidence: the formula has a long, well-recorded past in East Asian medicine. But we could not find good placebo-controlled human trials that show it works. Long use is not proof of effect, and that holds for everything on this page.
Honestly, no one has shown how this formula works in people. No one has shown that it works at all.
In Kampo theory, it is said to "moisten and calm" a person whose nerves are dry and overstretched. Old texts call this pattern visceral agitation. That is a traditional way to describe a person, not a tested body mechanism.
In lab and animal studies, the licorice and jujube parts may act on stress and sleep pathways in the brain. Wheat starch and sugars may have a mild calming role.
This work is early. Most of it was done in rodents and in cells. It does not tell you what happens when a person takes the granules.
In Japan, the usual form is a dried granule extract in sachets. It is sold under a maker's number such as TJ-72. A doctor or pharmacist hands it out.
You may also meet other forms. These include fine powder, tablets or capsules of the same extract. There is also a traditional decoction, a tea made by simmering the three herbs in water.
Granules are the form behind nearly all Japanese clinical use and research. Loose-herb teas vary a lot in strength from batch to batch.
The formula comes from the Jingui Yaolue, a Chinese medical text from about 200 CE. The title means Essentials of the Golden Chamber. There it is called Gan Mai Da Zao Tang.
It entered Japanese Kampo practice centuries ago. Doctors still give it today for children who cry at night and for adults with agitation.
It is also a standard formula in Chinese and Korean traditional medicine. That gives it an unusually broad classical footing.
Stop taking it and see a doctor if your ankles, feet or face swell, if your blood pressure climbs, or if you feel unusually weak, cramp easily or notice heavy, aching muscles.
Get urgent medical help if your heartbeat feels irregular or racing, if you feel faint, or if you pass dark brown urine along with muscle pain, as these can mean potassium has dropped too low or muscle tissue is breaking down.
Also see a doctor if the anxiety, crying or sleep problem is getting worse, if a child's distress continues, or if there is any thought of self-harm. This formula is not a treatment for a mental health condition.
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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