Qing Hao | Artemisiae annuae Herba | Sweet wormwood
properties: bitter, acrid, cold
Enters: kidney, liver and gallbladder
Qing Hao is known for its ability to clear all types of yin-level heat without injuring the qi, blood, or yin. This herb is well known in China as a remedy for malaria. This herb has also been used more recently for COVID-19.
Qing Hao has anti-fungal, anti-tumor, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-viral properties. Some of the key constituents found in qing hao are phytochemicals such as flavonoids, coumarins, and essential oils.
In Chinese medicine we have something called deficiency heat, think of a hot flash - this is a perfect example of deficiency heat. Commonly when a woman has a hot flash she feels a rush of heat come over her body followed by a sensation of either cold in the form of sweat or feeling cold, especially in the extremities. This flash of heat followed by cold is an indicator of an imbalance in the yin and yang within the woman’s body. When the yin levels are not balanced with the yang levels, the perception of hot and cold sensations is altered. This is due to what is known as deficiency heat, the body is deficient between the yin (cold) and yang (heat). Each woman is unique in how this manifests, so for some women, this imbalance is not as pronounced or is not followed by cold sweat or sensation in the extremities. From a Western perspective, we know that as a woman goes through menopause, the levels of hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone change in production. There is not a set level these hormones shift to rather a unique shift for each woman which helps explain why we see different symptom ranges. These hormonal shifts are how symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, and dryness are explained.
From a Chinese medicine perspective, we look at these symptoms in the context of the hormonal shifts, along with the key organ systems, their corresponding meridians, and the state of the yin, yang, blood, and body fluids respectively.
You can find Qing Hao in our Meno-Wash formula for its strong deficiency heat-clearing ability.
References:
Bensky, Materia Medica, 3rd edition.
PMID: 12017547
PMID: 3267973