One of the traditional alternative medicines of ancient Chinese tradition, an herb called dan shen, is winning over North Americans. Its effects are said to extend to the liver, heart, immune system, lungs, and increased energy.
Dan shen is regularly used to treat a range of health conditions. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it performs many functions in the body, including reducing stomach pain, invigorating the flow of blood, breaking up any blockages, and soothing moods such as irritability.
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It works primarily in the bloodstream. There, dan shen can move and invigorate blood, making sluggish or stuck blood flow freely. Dan shen has demonstrated in clinical trials to have blood-thinning (like the drug warfarin), analgesic, and anti-inflammatory properties. These combine to make dan shen a powerful Chinese herb, capable of helping a wide variety of issues.
Here are its six main uses:
1. Heart disease: Dan shen is a powerful herb that has the capacity to protect against stroke, heart attack, angina, arrhythmia, and anything else that affects blood flow. “Ischemia” describes any condition in blood is having difficulty reaching some body part. Dan shen keeps the blood thin, and prevents blood cells from clumping together and causing blockages.
2. Liver problems: Should your liver be injured or otherwise damaged, dan shen can help with healing. Because it contains strong antioxidants, the herb can target the situation in the liver, and help resolve it. It is also known to stimulate the liver’s production of bile, an essential part of healthy digestion.
3. Free radicals: When something is termed an antioxidant, it means it helps defend the body’s cells against potentially dangerous substances called free radicals, which are natural offshoots of the body’s oxygenation process. There are antioxidant ingredients within dan shen that clean up unstable free radicals, which helps protect the heart, liver, lungs, and other organs from chronic disease and aging.
4. Wounds: Dan shen increases surface-tissue activity, which directly helps with wound healing. One study saw that for second-degree scalds, dan shen helped slow down the early stages of the injury, and promoted faster recovery from the burn.
5. Lung problems: This lesser-proven trait of dan shen has shown some effectiveness. To avoid medical jargon: if you have acute respiratory distress syndrome, dan shen could decrease symptoms and help with treatment.
6. Chronic fatigue: This ability has to do with a mineral, as dan shen aids in the absorption of copper. This, in turn, changes the way a protein called “fibrin” is produced by the body. A lower production of fibrin means that dan shen could help people with chronic fatigue get their energy back.
Sources for Today’s Articles:
Chinese Herb Dan Shen Treats Many Different Problems
Yan Ze, et al., “Dan Shen’s effect in increasing trauma surface tissue activity in severe scalding,” Journal of Modern Integrated Medicine 1999; 8(7): 1,042-1,044.