Herbal Tea Name: Tufuling and Black-striped Snake Soup
Clears heat, transforms dampness, detoxifies, and unblocks meridians. Suitable for hyperuricemia and the later stages of gout.
Serve as a side dish with meals; consume as desired. (Smilax glabra has functions such as detoxification, removing dampness, and promoting joint mobility. Modern pharmacological research confirms that Smilax glabra increases the excretion of uric acid in the blood, which helps control hyperuricemia. When stewed with the black-striped snake—which dispels wind, unblocks meridians, and relieves pain—it can serve as an adjunctive treatment for both the acute and chronic phases of gout.)
Tufuling and Black-striped Snake Soup，From *Proven Tea, Decoction, and Soup Recipes for Common Ailments*,Clears heat, transforms dampness, detoxifies, and unblocks meridians. Suitable for hyperuricemia and the later stages of gout.
as a warming-tonic formula, it is not for those with excess heat, damp-heat, or unresolved exterior patterns; given its diuretic nature, avoid prolonged use in those with yin-fluid depletion or excessive urination
Commentary
At the head stands Smilax glabra, the sovereign, neutral in nature and sweet, bland in flavor, with Liver, Stomach tropism; it resolves toxicity, dispels dampness, and unblocks the joints, underpinning the principal thrust of the decoction. These are joined ministerially by black-striped snake (neutral in nature and sweet in flavor, with Liver tropism, dispels wind, unblocks the meridians, and stops spasms), and adzuki beans (of neutral nature and sweet, sour flavor, entering the Heart, Small Intestine, promotes urination, drains dampness, reduces swelling and removes toxins), reinforcing the sovereign’s main effect. Completing the formula, cucumber, harmonizing the stomach and supporting dietary nourishment, and jujubes, acting as the envoy to harmonize the various ingredients, so that potency is moderated and stomach qi protected. The combined effect is tailored to the damp-heat with blood stasis pattern.