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This is the verse I use to remember what 保济丸 is made up of:

保济白芷与葛根 （解表）

菊花薄荷天花粉 （清）

藿香木香橘红陈 （理气）

苍朴茯苓薏苡仁 （燥湿化湿以健脾）

稻芽六曲赤石脂 （消食 & 涩肠）

What it is used for:

• Most people who have ever used 保济丸 have used it when they have diarrhea.
• It’s also good for kids who have ‘worms’ inside of them - the Chinese believe this is why they look malnourished.
• Stomach flu, although 藿香正气丸 is also recommended here.
• And others I will not list here.

What’s interesting:

Most of the herbs are to bring about balance in the system. There are herbs to resolve the exterior, clear interior heat, regulate qi and also to get rid of damp. And also enzymes to digest what’s left in your tummy that’s making you feel weird.

However, there is one main ingredient that - we understand from the Chinese Medicine perspective - is able to stem diarrhea by astringing. 赤石脂 is known to 涩肠止泻, so is it alright to eat it when we DON’T have diarrhea?

One answer:

Cut out from another page, we understand that 赤石脂 is able to absorb all the bad stuff in the intestines, reducing the irritative effect of these things on the intestinal lining. it also protects the mucosa of the intestines. So it acts like activated charcoal and less like the herb 禹余粮 or diphenlomitol in the pharmaceutical drug lomitol. Which means (based on what we’ve discussed so far) it will don’t hinder the process of detox when diarrhea is due to food poisoning.

However, if consumed by a healthy person, will 赤石脂 also promote absorption of the good stuff in our intestines. I don’t know for sure, but that’s worth a thought, especially if you want to eat 保济丸 （po chai pills）when you don’t have diarrhea or any worms in your body.

Biochemical research:

We know that certain ingredient in the medical prescription have certain biochemical properties, as laid out below:

• 仓贮、厚朴、木香、稻芽（aka 谷芽）promote peristalsis
• 藿香 aromatic oils inhibit excessive peristalsis, especially those caused by intestinal wall irritation due to unwanted microbial substances. At the same time, it promotes gastric secretions, hence helping disgestion.
• 菊花、白芷、仓贮、藿香 are anti-bacterials

A reasonable conclusion:Just use po chai pill when there is an acute situation. And only until the patient feels okay healthy enough to stop using it. Although some of the ingredients inside are useful for chronic digestive disorders, it would be wiser to find other prescriptions that were made to treat such problems.