Water Chestnut and Pork Kidney Soup，From *Proven Tea, Decoction, and Soup Recipes for Common Ailments*,Nourishes the spleen and kidneys; clears heat and promotes diuresis. Suitable for chronic nephritis characterized by persistent lower back pain accompanied by edema and oliguria.
the decoction is cold in nature; avoid overuse in those with weakened middle yang or chronic debility; prolonged use of the heat-clearing, cold herbs may harm spleen yang; those with yang deficiency or poor appetite with loose stools should avoid them
Commentary
With water chestnuts as the sovereign, nature cold, flavor sweet, channeled into the Lung, Stomach, it clears heat, promotes fluid, resolves phlegm, and disperses food stagnation, and this opening sets the main therapeutic direction. The ministerial layer, pork kidney (with neutral nature and sweet, salty flavor, having Kidney tropism, tonifies kidney qi and promotes urination), lends support that reinforces the sovereign’s main effect. Completing the formula, rock sugar, acting as the envoy to harmonize the various ingredients, so that potency is moderated and stomach qi protected. Together the herbs converge on this action, in accord with the spleen-kidney yang deficiency pattern.