Food Retention Relieving Chinese Medicinal Herbs
Any Chinese medicinal herb that takes promoting digestion and relieving dyspepsia, restoring transportation and transformation of the spleen and stomach as the dominant actions, and meanwhile being capable to treat the syndrome of indigestion is considered as Chinese medicinal herbs of food retention relieving.

In addition to digesting and relieving food accumulation and stagnation, most of them have the actions of increasing appetite and harmonizing the stomach and spleen. They are indicated for indigested syndrome with epigastric and abdominal fullness, belching, acid regurgitation, nausea, vomiting, lack of appetite, and irregular bowel movement such as constipation or diarrhea, etc., which are all due to food accumulation.

When they are used, they are usually combined with qi regulating medicinal herbs to promote digestion and relieve dyspepsia, and meanwhile other appropriate medicinal herbs must be combined with separately according to different conditions, such as those for warming the spleen and stomach, clearing away heat or eliminating dampness. For indigestion due to deficiency of the spleen and stomach, those for nourishing the spleen and stomach must be taken as dominants and the digestive herbs as assistants.