Coix Seed and Soft-Shelled Turtle Soup，From *Proven Tea, Decoction, and Soup Recipes for Common Ailments*,Nourishes yin, replenishes blood, dispels dampness, and reduces swelling. Suitable for the recovery phase of acute nephritis.
in the absence of frank deficiency, or where an excess or heat pattern prevails, indiscriminate warming tonic use is inadvisable; the tonifying-warming action may aggravate internal heat; avoid during feverish or inflammatory episodes; given its diuretic nature, avoid prolonged use in those with yin-fluid depletion or excessive urination; the formula is somewhat cloying; avoid overuse in those with spleen deficiency and dampness, poor appetite, or abdominal distension
Commentary
The formula is led by coix seeds as the sovereign herb; with cool nature and sweet, bland flavor, having Spleen, Stomach, Lung tropism, it chiefly clears damp-heat, strengthens the spleen and relieves impediment, striking at the root of the condition. These are joined ministerially by jujubes (warm in nature and sweet in flavor, with Spleen, Stomach, Heart tropism, tonifies qi, nourishes blood and calms the spirit, and harmonizes the formula), and soft-shelled turtle (of neutral nature and sweet flavor, entering the Liver, Kidney, nourishes yin, cools blood, and softens hard masses), reinforcing the sovereign’s main effect. Finished with ginger, acting as the envoy to harmonize the various ingredients, the formula attains a regulated, neither-excess nor-deficient balance. The combined effect is tailored to the spleen-kidney yang deficiency pattern.