Dong Quai

Dong Quai (Angelica sinensis), better known as Dang Gui in China, is a fragrant plant from the celery family (Apiaceae) and grows in cold areas at high altitudes in the mountains of China, Japan and Korea.

Nicknamed the "women's ginseng", it is valued for its yellowish brown roots, used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine to improve women's health and to tone the blood, lungs, heart and liver.


 

What are the health benefits of Dong Quai?

The effects of the administration of Dong Quai roots, according to the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China from 1977, are to increase blood quality, activate blood circulation, regulate menstruation, relieve pain and relax the large intestine, and according to the therapeutic tradition of China, these roots:

tones the blood in blood deficiencies manifested in the heart and liver by symptoms such as: anemia, pale skin, brittle nails, dizziness, blurred vision, palpitations;
invigorates blood circulation and relieves pain in menstrual disorders: irregular menstrual cycle, dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea and other gynecological conditions;
moistens the intestines and unblocks the large intestine in cases of constipation due to blood disorders (the large intestine is not properly nourished by blood);
stops coughing and treats dyspnea and the cough associated with it.

 

Therapeutic indications of Dong Quai

 

• anemia;
• menstrual disorders, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, metrorrhagia, post-partum (the period immediately following birth);
• abdominal pain, constipation;
• traumatic injuries;
• carbuncles (infections of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, produced by a staphylococcus through necrosis of the affected tissues), abscesses, wounds.