Pulmo Caprae seu Ovis
Yáng Fèi is a traditional Chinese medicinal material. It is the lung of Capra hircus Linnaeus (goat) or Ovis aries Linnaeus (sheep), animals belonging to the family Bovidae. This medicinal material was first recorded in Mingyi Bielu (Records of Famous Physicians).
Efficacy & Actions
Tonifies the Lung, relieves cough, and promotes diuresis (from Chinese Pharmacopoeia / Dictionary of Chinese Materia Medica).
Indications
Indicated for pulmonary atrophy (chronic cough and wheezing due to Lung deficiency, with萎弱 of lung tissue), cough with wheezing, diabetes (Xiao Ke), edema, and difficult or frequent urination.
Modern Pharmacology
Anticoagulant and antithrombotic effects: Sheep lung can be used to extract heparin. Sheep lung heparin has a relatively small molecular weight and exhibits anticoagulant, antithrombotic, lipid-regulating, anti-atherosclerotic, and anti-inflammatory effects. Its anticoagulant potency is 47 u/mg. Cholesterol-lowering and anti-inflammatory effects: Sheep lung heparin has relatively strong cholesterol-lowering and anti-inflammatory effects. In vitro antioxidant activity: Sheep lung protein hydrolysates show certain antioxidant activity in vitro.
Ingredients
Per 100 g of sheep lung contains approximately: Moisture: 76 g Protein: 20.2 g Fat: 2.8 g Ash: 1.2 g Calcium: 17 mg Phosphorus: 66 mg Iron: 9.3 mg Thiamine (Vitamin B₁): 0.01 mg Riboflavin (Vitamin B₂): 0.15 mg Niacin (Vitamin PP): 0.4 mg In addition, sheep lung also contains heparin and other active substances.
Usage & Dosage
For oral administration: cook and eat, or take in pills or powders; or decoct in water, one whole lung per dose.
Contraindications
Contraindicated in patients with unresolved external pathogens—Suixiju Yinshi Pu (Suixiju Dietetic Manual) records: “Contraindicated in those with unresolved external pathogens.” Not suitable for wind-cold colds, Lung excess heat patterns, or excessive phlegm-dampness.
Selected Formulas
For chronic cough with lung dryness and lung atrophy (Shi Yao Shen Shu, Xinzi Runfei Gao) Take one sheep lung, 1 liang each of Xingren (Apricot kernel, ground), persimmon frost, true butter, and true powder, and 2 liang of white honey. First wash the sheep lung, then mix the five ingredients with water to form a paste, pour into the lung, and boil in plain water until cooked. Eat as a regular food. For consumptive disease with severe thirst (Sheng Hui Fang) Take one white sheep lung, remove fat, finely cut with a bamboo knife on a willow wood board. Grind in a sand mortar with a willow wood pestle, transfer to a clean porcelain container, soak in 3 sheng of cold boiled water for one day and one night. Take the liquid and drink gradually. For frequent and excessive urination (Waitai, citing Jiyan Fang) Take sheep lung soup, add a little mutton, season with salt, and eat as a regular meal. The amount may vary as desired. For thirst and reducing frequent urination (Tang Bencao) Take sheep lung together with small bean leaves, cook and eat. For edema, tympanites, and difficult urination (Qianjin Yaofang) Take 1 sheng of Langdangzi (Hyoscyamus seed) and one black sheep lung. Wash the lung, lightly blanch in boiling water, slice thinly, and dry in the sun to make powder. Soak Langdangzi in aged vinegar for one day, then stir-fry until color changes, mash into a paste. Mix with lung powder and honey, form into pills the size of waxberry seeds. After meals, take 4 pills with Ophiopogon decoction, three times daily. For nasal polyps (Qianjin Yaofang, Yangfei San) Take one dried sheep lung, 4 liang of Baizhu (Atractylodes), and 2 liang each of Congrong (Cistanche), Tongcao (Tetrapanax), Ganjiang (Dried ginger), and Xiongqiong (Ligusticum). Grind the six ingredients into powder. Take 5 fen-spoonfuls after meals with rice water, gradually increasing to 1 square-cun spoonful.
Daily Consumption
Boiled: Sheep lung may be boiled and eaten alone, or cooked with almonds, persimmon frost, honey, and other ingredients. Soup: May be stewed in soup with sweet apricot kernels, ginger slices, and other ingredients; or stewed in a double boiler with lily, radix glehniae, lotus seeds, and other ingredients. Cold dressed: In folk practice, sheep lung is also cleaned, braised, and then dressed cold for consumption. Sheep lung soup: Add a small amount of mutton, season with salt and fermented soybeans, and consume as regular food.
Medicinal Parts
Lung.
Selection & Storage
Use fresh or store refrigerated.
