Chinese yam indicated for blood qi deficiency in women

What is Chinese yam(Shan Yao)?
It mainly refers to the roots of Dioscorea opposita. Thunb., which is a vine plant in the family Dioscoreaceae. Besides, the root of Dioscorea japonica Thunb., a species of wildlife around China, is also used as Shan Yao medicinally because of the similar efficacy. Hence, other names of it include Rhizoma Dioscoreae, nagaimo, Common Yam Rhizome, Dioscorea oppoistifolia, Korean yam, Dioscorea batata, Chinese yam rhizome, Chinese mountain yam, dioscorea yam, Dioscorea villosa, dioscoreae rhizoma, and so on. In China it is basically produced in Henan, Hunan, and regions south of the Yangtze River. Traditionally the one from Henan (Huaiqing) is believed with highest medicinal properties and nutritional value. That’s the reason why it is often called "Huai Shan Yao." It is usually harvested after Frost’s Descent (18th solar term). And there are two types of finished products available – "Mao Shan Yao" and "Guang Shan Yao". The former one still needs to go through steps of scraping off the tertia and drying in the sun or over a fire; based the previous steps the latter one still needs to be soaked until it becomes soft, rubbed and pressed into cylinder, dried in the sun, and finally polished.

Chinese yam benefits
So, what is Chinese yam used for? Modern pharmacology finds that it has preventive and therapeutic effects on spleen-deficiency model experiments on rats, bidirectionally regulates the isolated intestinal movement, helps digestion, promotes cellular and humoral immune responses in mice, lowers blood sugar, inhibits oxidation, and more. Tang Ye Ben Cao (Materia Medica of Decoctions), published in 1289 and written by Wang Haogu, documents that it can tonify middle-Jiao and Qi, replenish qi, nourish blood, invigorate spleen and supplement qi. In addition, in combination with licorice root it can nourish Yin and generate body fluid while combined with Chinese privet it can invigorate the spleen and stop diarrhea. As you can see now, its medicinal uses are enormous.

What’s more, it can be used by people of all ages. For women who are suffering from hands and feet cold all the time due to blood-qi deficiency, ; Chinese yam chicken soup is a very good optionach problems caused by stress, Rice Chinese yam cake is an ideal pain reliever; for the elderly who are especially susceptible to illnesses like colds because of relatively weak constitution, yam ribs soup can be a good remedy; for babies who can afford tonics, dried Chinese yam baby food is the best choice.