An Introduction to the Benefits and Effects of Glehnia Root (Bei Shashen) and How to Eat It in Daily Life

Glehnia Root (Bei Shashen) is a commonly used Chinese herbal medicine, derived from the dried root of the umbellifer Glehnia littoralis, and named for its frequent production in the coastal sandy areas of Shandong, Hebei, Liaoning and other places, among which the produce from the Laiyang area of Shandong has a good reputation, and it is also known by the alternative name Laiyang Ginseng. Its root is slender and cylindrical, hard and brittle in texture, with a fine cross-section and a distinctive odor; it tastes sweet with a slight bitterness, and its medicinal nature is slightly cold.

In traditional Chinese medicine applications, Glehnia Root excels at nourishing yin and clearing the lungs, and tonifying the stomach and promoting fluid production. It is often used for dry cough due to lung dryness, dry throat and thirst, damage to fluids from febrile disease, and dry mouth and poor appetite caused by insufficient stomach yin, and is mostly used in combination with herbs such as Dwarf Lilyturf Root (Maidong), Fragrant Solomon's Seal Rhizome (Yuzhu) and Lily Bulb (Baihe). Compared with Fourleaf Ladybell Root (Nan Shashen), Glehnia Root places more emphasis on nourishing yin and promoting fluid production, while Fourleaf Ladybell Root also has the function of dispelling phlegm; the two have different areas of emphasis in application.

As for daily consumption, there are quite a variety of ways to eat Glehnia Root. The simplest is to take an appropriate amount of sliced pieces and steep or boil them in water as a tea; it can also be used to make soup, for example with ingredients such as lean meat or old duck, adding Dwarf Lilyturf Root, Fragrant Solomon's Seal Rhizome and Goji Berry and stewing them together, giving a soup that is light with a sweet aftertaste; it can also be cooked into congee with rice and snow fungus. When used as a dietary ingredient, the amount is generally not large; taking a few grams to a dozen or so grams is enough, and for specifics one may refer to classic medicinal diet formulas or follow a doctor's advice.

It should be noted that Glehnia Root is slightly cold in nature, so people with wind-cold cough or with spleen and stomach deficiency-cold who are prone to diarrhea should not use much of it; according to the traditional incompatibility rules of Chinese herbal medicine, it should not be used together with Veratrum (Lilu). Special groups such as pregnant women and patients with chronic diseases had best consult a Chinese medicine practitioner before consuming it, and use it only after determining their body constitution, so that this herb can play its proper role.