Belching, nausea, vomiting treated with TCM herb cardamon seeds

What are cardamon seeds? They refer to the seed of cardamon fruit, which is also known as Amomi Kravanh. Based on what they appear, they are also called round white cardamom seeds. The plant, Zingiberaceae cardamom or Java cardamom, grows in tropics. The former one is native to Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia and later was introduced to Hainan and Yunnan provinces in China. The latter is native to Indonesia. This plant is similar to ginger herb in nature but with bigger trunk and sturdy tuber in dark aubum color. It looks like banana tree, stems erect, up to 3 meters high. Java cardamom is slightly shorter but up to one meter too.

The plant has long, narrow and lanceolate Leaves, up to half meter sometimes. It grows directly from the stem. Flowers are clustered apically. Spikes are covered with arranged tightly yellow bracts, within which there are white flowers. When autumn comes, spikes produce a bunch of quasi-spherical fruits, hanging on the top just like a cluster of grapes. Immature fruit is green and mature one turns into white or light yellow. Ripe fruit is 1.5cm in diameter. Dried pods are thin and crisp, within which gaps between seeds are rather big. So it can be smashed easily. Dried fruit is light in weight. Inside the pods, spheroid-like seeds clustering very closely. The clusters are divided into three sections, each with about 10 pieces. All of them grows tightly and is hard to separate from them. In addition, the irregularly shaped seeds are dark brownish red in color.

What are cardamom seeds used for?
It is warm and pungent in nature and associated with spleen and stomach channels. Main indications include transforming dampness to promote the circulation of Qi and warming middle burner to arresting vomiting. To be specific, it warms stomach, helps digestion, alleviates middle energizer, and releases Qi stagnation, indigestion, stifling sensation in the chest, Abdominal Distention, belching, nausea, vomiting, and Malaria.

Regular dosage is from 3 to 10 grams in decoction and 2 to 5 grams in powder. In addition, it is worth noting that if crushed it evaporates easily and rapidly, which requires to put it in the decoction 5 minutes before it is ready.