Five-Ingredient Whole Chicken Soup，From *Proven Tea, Decoction, and Soup Recipes for Common Ailments*,Nourishes qi and blood, and regulates menstruation. Suitable for menstrual irregularities caused by qi and blood deficiency, characterized by delayed menstruation, scanty flow, pale-colored and thin menstrual blood without clots, a sallow complexion, fatigue and weakness, palpitations and dizziness, a pale-red tongue, and a fine, weak pulse.
as the formula is predominantly warm, avoid prolonged use in those with yin deficiency, dry mouth, or restlessness with heat in the palms and soles; 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; as astringent herbs are present, they should not be used early while external pathogens, damp-heat, or food stagnation remain
Commentary
The formula is led by longan flesh as the sovereign herb; with warm nature and sweet flavor, having Heart, Spleen tropism, it chiefly tonifies the heart and spleen, nourishes blood and calms the spirit, striking at the root of the condition. The ministerial support — lychee flesh (warm in nature and sweet, sour in flavor, with Spleen, Liver tropism, tonifies qi and blood and warms the middle), and black dates (of warm nature and sweet flavor, entering the Spleen, Stomach, tonifies qi and blood and nourishes the middle) — reinforces the sovereign’s main effect and coordinates the drug strength. Finished with lotus seeds and goji berries, tempering the formula’s tendency, and scallions, harmonizing the stomach and supporting dietary nourishment, and ginger, acting as the envoy to harmonize the various ingredients, the formula attains a regulated, neither-excess nor-deficient balance. Viewed as a whole, the formula addresses the qi-blood presentation, treating both root and branch.