Ginseng and Astragalus Chicken Soup，From *Proven Tea, Decoction, and Soup Recipes for Common Ailments*,Tonifies qi and raises blood pressure. Suitable for hypotension caused by deficiency of middle qi.
with a distinctly warm cast, the formula may aggravate dryness-heat; those prone to oral ulcers or constipation should be cautious; in the absence of frank deficiency, or where an excess or heat pattern prevails, indiscriminate warming tonic use is inadvisable; the warming-tonic nature is inadvisable during damp-heat, yin deficiency with fire, or episodes of exterior-heat
Commentary
The sovereign is astragalus, with slightly warm nature and sweet flavor, having Spleen, Lung tropism; it tonifies qi, raises yang, secures the exterior and promotes the discharge of pus, anchoring the central strategy of the formula. These are joined ministerially by white ginseng (with warm nature and sweet, slightly bitter flavor, having Spleen, Lung, Heart, Kidney tropism, greatly tonifies yuan qi, restores collapse and generates fluids), and lily bulbs (slightly cold in nature and sweet in flavor, with Lung, Heart tropism, nourishes yin, moistens the lung and calms the spirit), reinforcing the sovereign’s main effect. Finished with shiitake mushrooms, tempering the formula’s tendency, and hen, rich in blood-and-flesh essence, nourishing the righteous qi, and ham, rich in blood-and-flesh essence, nourishing the righteous qi, the formula attains a regulated, neither-excess nor-deficient balance. Together the herbs converge on this action, in accord with the middle qi deficiency pattern.