What are the benefits and effects of Qingdai (Natural Indigo)? Read this article to understand

Qingdai, also known as Dianhua, Qinggefen, Qingganghua, Dianmohua and other names, is the dried powder, lumps or granules processed from the leaves or stems and leaves of the Acanthaceae plant Baphicacanthus cusia (Nees) Bremek., the Polygonaceae plant Persicaria tinctoria (Ait.) Spach, or the Brassicaceae plant Isatis indigotica Fort. Used as medicine, it has the effects of clearing heat and removing toxin, cooling the blood and reducing macules, and purging fire and calming convulsions. Now let us take a look at the benefits and effects of Qingdai!

The medicinal effects of Qingdai

[Nature and flavor] Salty in flavor, cold in nature.

[Meridian entry] Liver meridian.

[Effects] Clearing heat and removing toxin, cooling the blood and reducing macules, purging fire and calming convulsions. It mainly treats warm-toxin macules, blood-heat vomiting and epistaxis, chest pain with hemoptysis, mouth sores, mumps, throat obstruction, and infantile convulsions and epilepsy, among other conditions.

The pharmacological effects of Qingdai

1. Anti-pathogenic microorganism effect: The ethanol extract of Qingdai has an inhibitory effect in vitro on Bacillus anthracis, pneumococcus, Shigella dysenteriae, Vibrio cholerae, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus albus, but there are also reports that it has no inhibitory effect on Bacillus typhosus, Vibrio cholerae, Staphylococcus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which may be due to differences in the extraction solvents and methods used.

2. Anti-tumor effect: Indirubin has a relatively good therapeutic effect on chronic myelogenous leukemia. The activity of synthetic indirubin against sarcoma and its therapeutic effect in trials for chronic myelogenous leukemia are both similar to those of the natural product. When injected intraperitoneally or subcutaneously at a dose of 200 mg/kg, it has a certain inhibitory effect on rat W256 sarcoma.

3. Other effects: Therapeutic doses of indirubin can enhance the phagocytic function of the mononuclear phagocyte system in animals and have an effect on abnormally proliferating granulocytes and eosinophils, but do not cause bone marrow suppression; its mechanism of action still awaits study. At the same time, indigo has the effect of reducing liver damage in mice after carbon tetrachloride poisoning.

The clinical applications of Qingdai

1. Warm-toxin macules, blood-heat vomiting and epistaxis: Qingdai is cold and can clear heat, and salty so it enters the blood; therefore it has the effects of clearing heat and removing toxin, cooling the blood, stopping bleeding, and reducing macules. It is good for treating warm-toxin macules, often used together with drugs such as Shengdi, Shengshigao and Zhizi, as in Qingdai Shigao Tang. If treating hematemesis and epistaxis due to blood-heat reckless movement, it is often used together with drugs such as Shengdi, Mudanpi and Baimaogen.

2. Sore throat and mouth sores, fire-toxin sores and ulcers: Qingdai has the effects of clearing heat and removing toxin, cooling the blood and reducing swelling. For treating intense heat-toxin with swollen and painful throat and throat obstruction, it is often used together with Banlangen and Gancao. If there are sores on the mouth and tongue, it is mostly used together with Bingpian and sprinkled on the affected area. For treating fire-toxin sores and ulcers, and swollen and painful mumps, it can be ground into powder together with Hanshuishi and applied externally to the affected area, as in Qingjin San.

3. Cough with chest pain, blood-streaked phlegm: Qingdai is salty and cold, mainly clearing liver fire, also purging lung heat, and can cool the blood and stop bleeding. Therefore it mainly treats liver fire invading the lung, cough with chest pain, and blood-streaked phlegm, often used together with Haige powder, as in Daige San. If there is lung-heat cough with yellow and thick phlegm, it can be combined with Haifushi, Gualouren, Chuanbeimu and others, as in Qingdai Haishi Wan.

4. Summer-heat convulsions and epilepsy, convulsive twitching: Qingdai is salty and cold, good at clearing liver fire, removing summer-heat, and has the effect of calming wind and stopping spasms. For treating summer-heat convulsions and epilepsy, it is often used together with Gancao and Huashi, as in Biyu San. For treating infantile convulsive twitching, it is mostly used together with Gouteng, Niuhuang and others, as in Liangjing Wan.

Medicinal companion prescriptions of Qingdai

1. To treat pregnancy with cold damage, heat stagnating in Yangming, extreme heat producing purple-black macules, and a surging and rapid pulse: if not treated urgently, fetal death is imminent: genuine Qingdai 1.5 qian, fresh Shengdi 2 liang (pounded into juice), raw Shigao 8 qian, Shengma 6 fen, Huangqin 2 qian, scorched Zhizi 3 qian, Congtou 3 pieces. Decoct in water and take.

2. To treat hemoptysis: Qingdai 1 qian, Xingren 40 pieces (peeled, tips removed, fried yellow with yellow beeswax, taken out and ground fine). The above two items are then ground together evenly, and a little of the wax used for frying is melted and mixed in, then shaped into coin-sized cakes. For each dose, take one dried persimmon, split it open, put in one medicinal cake, close it, wrap with wet paper, roast over slow fire until cooked, take out, and chew and swallow with glutinous rice porridge.

3. To treat cough with phlegm expectoration and redness of the face and nose: Qingdai (water-refined extremely fine, sun-dried and ground again for use) 4 qian, Ge powder 3 qian. The two ingredients are made into pills with refined honey, the size of a finger joint. Hold 3 pills in the mouth before sleeping.

4. To treat cough of the lung meridian with heat phlegm: Qingdai, Haishi, Gualouren, Chuanbeimu.

5. To treat stomach duct pain, prolonged illness forming depression, and depression forming heat: Qingdai, taken mixed in soup with ginger juice.

6. To treat sores on the mouth and tongue: Qingdai 1 qian, Xixin 1 fen, Huangbai 1 fen (chopped), Digupi 1 fen, Mituoseng 1 fen. The above medicines are pounded fine and sieved into powder. Each time take a little and apply it to the sore. If there is saliva, spit it out.

7. To treat all heat toxins and pustular sores: Qingdai 1 liang, Hanshuishi 1 liang (calcined, until crisp as the standard). Grind the above into fine powder and apply with sesame oil.

8. To treat sky-bubble sores: an appropriate amount of Qingdai, mixed with juice from pounded fresh loofah leaves and applied to the affected area. Adding a little rapeseed oil and mixing evenly also works.

9. To treat infantile damp tinea and spreading sores: Baijiaoxiang 2 liang (ground), Ge powder 0.5 liang, Qingdai 2.5 qian. Grind the above evenly into fine powder and dust it dry onto the sores.