Food accumulation removal

Chen Pi is used as an assistant. It is also pungent, warm and bitter, but is gentler than the first two herbs. It is used particularly to regulate the Qi of the Middle-Jiao, promote digestion and remove food accumulation, a common accompanying condition with dampness accumulation in the Middle-Jiao. 

Assistant Strengthen the Spleen reduce the heat, remove phlegm and food accumulation stabilize the Yin and body fluids... 

Formulas that remove food accumulation should be used with caution during pregnancy as they contain a number of herbs that activate Qi movement to remove food, phlegm and dampness. 

Formulas that remove food accumulation are suitable for excess and acute conditions. In a condition of chronic food accumulation, among people who have deficiency of the Spleen and Stomach, a formula with tonifying herbs should be used for a long period of time, together with gentle herbs that promote digestion. 

Lai Fu Zi is pungent, sweet and neutral, and enters the Lung and Spleen meridians. Lai Fu Zi is a strong herb to remove food accumulation. In addition, it can descend the Lung-Qi, soothe the Stomach-Qi and promote bowel movement. It can also eliminate phlegm in either the Lung or the Stomach. 

Fu Ling is used as assistant. It tonifies the Spleen-Qi, removes the dampness, stops diarrhea and calms the mind. Lian Qiao, another assistant, can disperse and clear the heat that is produced by food accumulation. 

When all the herbs are used together, food accumulation can be effectively removed. 

Sha Ren is pungent and warm, and enters the Spleen, Stomach and Kidney meridians. It particularly regulates the Qi in the Middle- and Lower-Jiao. Like Hou Po, it treats Qi stagnation which is combined with dampness. In addition, its aromatic smell can improve the digestion and remove dampness and food accumulation. It is often used with Mu Xiang because of their enhancing action of regulating the Qi from each other. 

These herbs can be selected in cases of food accumulation. Moreover, they can be used to prevent food accumulation, which often happens when the Stomach-Qi stagnates. The first three substances are often used together as they aid digestion of starch, cereal, fat and protein-rich food. Lai FuZi can effectively regulate the Qi and remove phlegm in the intestines it aids the digestion of all types of food. 

Among these herbs, Ban Xia can soothe the Stomach-Qi and Chen Pi can promote the Qi movement in the Upper- and Middle-Jiao. Both can remove the dampness, phlegm and food accumulation that often arises in the same syndrome. Xiang Yuan and Fo Shou are able to harmonize the Qi of the Liver and Stomach, and are particularly used in the condition where the Liver overacts on the Stomach. Xiang Fu is the most commonly used herb... 

Use Manufacture of cheese and similar foods, for removal of fat spots in dry cleaning or grease accumulations, in analytical chemistry of fats because it selectively hydrolyzes only fatty acids on the ends of triglycerides. 

Standards imposed to the industrial waste streams charged in heavy metals are more and more drastic in accordance with the updated knowledges of the toxicity of mercury, cadmium, lead, chromium... when they enter the human food chain after accumulating in plants and animals (Forster Wittmann, 1983). Nowadays, the use of biosorbents (Volesky, 1990) is more and more considered to complete conventional (physical and chemical) methods of removal that have shown their limits and/or are prohibitively expensive for metal concentrations typically below 100 mg.l-i. 

Crustaceans can accumulate zinc from both water and food (USEPA 1987). In uncontaminated waters, the diet is probably the major source of zinc. Absorption from the stomach is efficient and occurs, in part, via the hepatopancreas. When a large pulse of zinc reaches the blood from the stomach, some is excreted, but much is resorbed and stored in the hepatopancreas in a relatively nonlabile form. Ultimately, stored zinc is also excreted, although removal via the gut is unimportant (Bryan et al. 1986). Zinc absorption occurs initially at the gill surface, followed by transport on a saturable carrier in the cell wall, and is most efficient at low dissolved ambient zinc concentrations. Urinary excretion is an important body removal pathway, especially at high dissolved ambient concentrations when it can account for 70 to 80% of total zinc excretion (Bryan et al. 1986). 

Besides directly tonifying the Spleen-Qi, the moderate nature of Zhi Gan Cao is often used in formulas to reduce the side effect of harsh herbs, such as herbs that stimulate the Qi or remove food or phlegm. It turns a quick action of herbs into a steady and constant action. It is also used to harmonize herbs that move in different directions and work on different levels. The dosage of Zhi Gan Cao should be low in cases of dampness accumulation as its sweet property has the tendency to retain dampness. 

Third, herbs that remove accumulation of food, dampness and phlegm are selected. 

Zhi Shi [Aurantii fructus immaturus) Descends the Qi in the intestines and removes the accumulation of food, Phlegm and Qi. 

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