Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Shi Jun Zi is the dried fruit of the Rangoon creeper vine. In Chinese medicine it is used to clear worms from the gut. It is also given to children who have worms along with a poor appetite.
It is a single herb, not a blend. You may see it sold as quisqualis fruit or Rangoon creeper fruit. The seed inside the fruit is the part most often used.
The proof here is thin. There are no good modern trials in people to show how well it works. Long use in a tradition is not the same thing as proof.
The old idea is simple. The herb is thought to stun worms in the gut, so they lose their grip and pass out in the stool.
Most of this comes from lab and animal work, not from people. A plant acid in the seed, quisqualic acid, is the part most often named.
That same acid acts on nerve cells in lab tests. This may be why large doses can cause hiccups, dizziness and, rarely, fits (seizures). We cannot say how well the herb works in people.
The most common form is the dried, ripe fruit or just the seed kernel inside it. The kernel may be raw or dry-fried in a pan.
Dry-frying is the usual way to prepare it in China. Frying is said to soften the harsh side effects.
You may also find it as a powder, in pills, or mixed into a formula with other herbs. Whole fruit and kernel are the forms used most in clinics.
Shi Jun Zi shows up in Chinese texts of the Song era, about a thousand years ago. The Kai Bao Ben Cao lists it as a worm herb for children.
The vine grows across South and Southeast Asia. Folk healers in India and Burma have used the fruit for worms too.
In China it has stayed a staple worm herb ever since, mostly for young patients.
Some reactions to Shi Jun Zi need urgent care. Call your local emergency number or go to an emergency department straight away — do not wait to see whether it passes.
See a doctor if hiccups last more than a few hours, or if you are being sick and cannot keep fluids down. Also see a doctor if you get bad belly pain, a rash, or if your stools stay loose for more than two days.
Call emergency services at once if you or your child has a fit, faints, or becomes hard to wake. Take the packet with you so staff know what was taken.
And see a doctor rather than self-treating if you think you have worms. Worms are easy to test for and easy to treat with proven medicine.
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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