Caution: These 4 Types of Men Should Be Cautious When Taking Liuwei Dihuang Wan
Besides nourishing the kidneys, can taking Liuwei Dihuang Wan bring new troubles? Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) experts point out that Liuwei Dihuang Wan should not be taken casually. Before taking it, one must differentiate between yin and yang, specifically whether it's kidney yin deficiency or kidney yang deficiency.
Men with kidney yang deficiency should not take Liuwei Dihuang Wan to tonify the kidneys: Clinically, there was a case where a man took Liuwei Dihuang Wan for half a year. He already had a poor appetite, and recently, he had no desire to eat, with a constant feeling of bloating and stuffiness in his stomach. It was only on someone's recommendation that he sought TCM for conditioning. After the doctor inquired about his medical history and symptoms, they found a thick, greasy, and slippery coating on his tongue, and his pulse was thin, slippery, and forceful. Why did these symptoms appear? This patient had spleen deficiency with excessive dampness and needed to strengthen the spleen to transform dampness. Taking Liuwei Dihuang Wan not only didn't help but "added fuel to the fire." This is because Liuwei Dihuang Wan is a Chinese medicine for kidney nourishment, but it is only suitable for those with kidney yin deficiency.
If you have kidney yin deficiency, often feeling hot palms and soles, vexation, night sweats after sleeping, a dry mouth and tongue, insomnia with many dreams, plus lower back pain, deafness, and tinnitus, and your tongue coating is not thick, you can take Liuwei Dihuang Wan. However, you must not treat it as a panacea for kidney tonification. For example, a person with kidney yang deficiency, while experiencing soreness and weakness in the lower back and knees, also has increased urination at night, loose stools, a constant feeling of coldness, cold hands and feet, and poor appetite. Taking Liuwei Dihuang Wan for such a person is like "adding fuel to the fire"!
Men with spleen and stomach deficiency and excessive phlegm-dampness should not take Liuwei Dihuang Wan to tonify the kidneys: Men with spleen and stomach deficiency and excessive phlegm-dampness also cannot take Liuwei Dihuang Wan. These individuals usually have a poor appetite, frequent chest tightness and stomach bloating, loose stools, and a thick tongue coating. The Rehmannia root, Cornus fruit, and other ingredients in Liuwei Dihuang Wan are too nourishing and greasy, and taking them will worsen their condition.
Men with kidney yin deficiency but also suffering from a cold or diarrhea should not take Liuwei Dihuang Wan to tonify the kidneys: During a cold with fever or acute gastroenteritis with abdominal pain and diarrhea, even if you have symptoms of kidney yin deficiency, it is temporarily not advisable to take Liuwei Dihuang Wan. You must wait until the pathogenic factors are eliminated and the illness is cured before taking it.
Men with a history of diabetes should not take Liuwei Dihuang Wan to tonify the kidneys: Diabetic patients should not take the honeyed version of Liuwei Dihuang Wan, as its high sugar content can easily cause blood sugar fluctuations.