Study Confirms Efficacy of TCM Formula ‘Five Substances Powder With Poria’

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Five Substances Powder with Poria, a formula from “Treatise on Cold Pathogenic Diseases” by Zhang Zhongjing, a famous medical doctor in the Eastern Han Dynasty of China, is widely used clinically with significant beneficial effect. Researchers in Japan have found it is also effective in treating headaches caused by low air pressure.

The main ingredients of Five Substances Powder with Poria are rhizoma alismatis, grifola, poria cocos, atractylodes, and cassia twig. The five herbs work together to warm the yang, transform qi, promote fluid circulation, and strengthen the spleen. The formula is a known diuretic.

Rhizoma alismatis is diuresis-promoting and can release heat. It is often combined with grifola, poria cocos, and coix seed. Grifola is used to treat urinary disorders and vomiting. Poria cocos is one of the medicinal materials commonly used in daily life that promotes diuresis, excretes dampness, strengthens the spleen, nourishes the heart, and is often used to treat dyspepsia, edema, and urinary tract problems.

Atractylodes can tonify qi, strengthen the spleen, eliminate dampness, promote diuresis, and prevent perspiration. It can be used alone or combined with other medicinal materials. Cassia twig has the functions of warming the stomach, dispelling cold, activating blood, relaxing tendons, promoting the flow of qi, and relieving pain and diarrhea. It is used to treat stomach ache, vomiting, and rheumatism.

Assorted herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine. (Shutterstock)

The traditional medical text “Synopsis of the Golden Chamber” also mentioned that Five Substances Powder with Poria can be used to treat phlegm retention.

Jia Mei, a TCM doctor who works for a large Chinese medicine company, told The Epoch Times that Five Substances Powder with Poria treats both the surface and the interior of the body, dissolves retained phlegm, opens up the bladder, and removes dampness in the stomach.

She said that in TCM theory, “thirst” and “difficult urination” are not only caused by fluid in the bladder but also by the body’s reduced ability to transport and distribute water and qi, which is in line with the efficacy of Five Substances Powder with Poria.

The effects of Five Substances Powder with Poria are not limited to this. Natsuko Morlmoto, a Japanese pharmacist, said that the prescription can improve water circulation in the body by removing excess fluid through diuresis. It can also improve symptoms such as headache, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dizziness, and hangover from drinking alcohol.

Results of a study were presented at the 94th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Pharmacological Society on March 10, 2021.

The study, conducted by a research team led by Yuki Kurauchi, an associate professor in the Life Sciences Research Department at Kumamoto University Graduate School in Japan, focused on weather-induced headaches.

A person who feels unwell may turn to TCM to find relief. (Liza Summer/Pexels)

The researchers found that when the atmospheric pressure drops, blood flow to the brain increases, and this can trigger a headache. Even if the pressure subsequently returns to normal, the original cerebral blood flow does not change. When the patients were given Five Substances Powder with Poria, it suppressed the increased cerebral blood flow caused by the drop in pressure. When the pressure returned to normal, the cerebral blood flow decreased and returned to the original level. Thus, the powder was shown to have a curative effect on headaches caused by low barometric pressure.

“People who grow up in the modern world believe only what they see and what science can study. However, this kind of study tends to see a point or a part, but not the whole,” Jia Mei said.

“However, Chinese medicine pays attention to the overall balance, that is, the treatment and conditioning of TCM can improve the balance of the whole body, which is difficult to be achieved by Western medicine.”

In Japan, Chinese prescriptions are popular, and hundreds of Chinese prescription drugs are included in the national insurance by the government. Lectures on TCM have also begun in many medical schools in Japan, and many doctors are trying to use Chinese medicine in a modern way, according to the Japan Society for Oriental Medicine.

To give full play to the efficacy and safe use of TCM, patients are recommended to consult a certified doctor who has received formal TCM training.