Bamboo silica used in the treatment of irritability

What is bamboo silica(Tabasheer, Tian Zhu Huang)?
Medicinally it refers to the dried siliceous resin found in the nodes of some species in the family Poaceae, mainly from Bambusa textilis McClure and Schizostachyum chinense Rendle. Other common names of it include bamboo sap, tabashir, Siliceous Secretions of Bamboo, banslochan, Concretio Silicea Bambusae, Tabasheer, bamboo manna, bamboo tears, bamboo powder, Tabashir silica, karpoor vans (bamboo camphor), Tvaksheera (bark milk in Sanskrit), vans-sharkar (bamboo sugar), and the like. In China it is mainly produced in provinces of Yunnan, Guangdong, and Guangxi. It is generally harvested in autumn and winter by cutting the stems open. Medicinally it is generally used raw.

The naturally occurring one is quite rare since this clotted bulk is mainly formed from the bleeding sap stored in the nodal joints of Bambusa textilis McClure due to the parasitic wasp bites. Now most of them are produced by setting fire to the forest in order to let the sudden heat force and solidify the fresh sap in the notes.

Bamboo silica benefits
Does bamboo silica really work? When it comes to the sources of naturally occurring, organic silica, horsetail grass and bamboo are the most known two. From the eyes of Chinese, bamboo shoots are more than just a food since eating them has a long history there. In fact they have become a delicious dish on the table since the Shang Dynasty, about thousands of years ago. Now modern scientific findings seem provide a proven reason – the amount of silica contained in bamboo are about 10 times of that of horsetail herb. If you are familiar with horsetail grass, you will know that quite well what means behind that figure. No wonder Enerex Bamboo Silica, a pure silica supplement extracted from its shoots, is so popular these days for hair growth, healthy joint, and skin health.

As a matter of fact, another 2 commonly used Chinese herbs, Zhu Ru (Bamboo Shavings) and Zhu Li (Succus Bambusae), are associated with tabasheer. Here are their functions in common. All of the three are of cold nature and treat phlegm-heat induced cough and asthma by clearing heat and dissipating phlegm. In addition, both Succus Bambusae and tabasheer can be used in the treatment of fever or phlegm-heat induced infantile convulsions, Epilepsy, stroke, coma, gurgling with sputum in throat since it possesses the calming properties. So, what is the difference between them? First and foremost, tabasheer has preferable calming power, which makes it do a better job in treating convulsions in children and coma due to high heat; besides, since Succus Bambusae is of cold, slippery nature and with better ability of clearing heat and eliminating phlegm, it is mostly used in the adult’s epilepsy, Stroke, and lung-heat induced stubborn sticky phlegm that is hard to cough up; last but not least, it is good at clearing heart heat to relieve restlessness. As a result, it is used more in the treatment of irritability and Insomnia caused by phlegm heat disturbing the heart.

Arisaema actually refers to a genus that contains about 150 flowering varieties. They are originally found in eastern North America, Asia, and central and eastern Africa. Among all those species, the most well-known ones are Arisaema triphyllum (Small Jack-in-the-pulpit), Arisaema sikokianum Fr. et Sav. (Gaudy jack), Arisaema stewardsonii (Northern Jack-in-the-pulpit), Arisaema atrorubens (Indian turnip, Jack-in-the-pulpit), Arisaema dracontium (Green dragon), Arisaema ringens (Japanese cobra lily), and the like. Based on the unique look of their flowers, it is better known as cobra lilies in the east and jack-in-the-pulpit in the west.

Arisaema benefits
Arisaema bulb contains 28.05% starch so that it can be used to make alcohol and paste material. However, it is not edible since it is poisonous. As a time-honored Chinese herb, it is frequently used to treat Bell’s palsy, hemiplegia, convulsions in children, tetanus, Epilepsy, Carbuncle, snake bites, and the like. Dan Nan Xing, also called Arisaema Cum Bile, refers to the one processed with bile, which is mainly used to treat the Retention of Heat-Phlegm in the Lung of children, tic of limbs, and infantile convulsion. It is reported that in recent years the vaginal or cervical canals suppositories made of fresh Arisaema herb proves effective in treating cervical cancer.

Clinically Pinellia (Ban Xia) and Arisaema are often mixed up with each other since they two look and act very similar. Both of them are acrid, warm, and toxic in nature. Medicinally considered as the essential herb of drying dampness and resolving phlegm, they are good at healing dampness-phlegm syndrome and cold-phlegm syndrome. More importantly, after prepared they govern heat-phlegm syndrome and wind-phlegm syndrome. Hopefully the above-mentioned fact won’t lead you to jump to the conclusion that they have the totally same medicinal uses. This is wrong since pinellia governs spleen and lung and focuses on viscera dampness-phlegm and vomiting while Arisaema acts on meridians and is partial to expel wind-phlegm, relieve muscle spasms, and warm cold limbs.