Rehmannia and Cinnamon Chicken Soup，From *Proven Tea, Decoction, and Soup Recipes for Common Ailments*,Gently tonifies the spleen and kidneys and increases white blood cell count. Suitable for leukopenia caused by deficiency of both the spleen and kidneys.
because it runs warm overall, this decoction is best avoided in yin-deficient, fire-prone constitutions; in the absence of frank deficiency, or where an excess or heat pattern prevails, indiscriminate warming tonic use is inadvisable; as a warming-tonic formula, it is not for those with excess heat, damp-heat, or unresolved exterior patterns; the rich, cloying ingredients may obstruct the stomach; caution is advised in those with poor appetite or internal dampness
Commentary
At the head stands Prepared rehmannia root, the sovereign, nature slightly warm, flavor sweet, channeled into the Liver, Kidney; it nourishes yin and blood, and tonifies the kidney essence, underpinning the principal thrust of the decoction. The ministerial support — cinnamon bark (of hot nature and pungent, sweet flavor, entering the Kidney, Spleen, Heart, Liver, tonifies fire and assists yang, dispels cold, and warms the meridians), and black wood ear mushrooms (neutral in nature and sweet in flavor, with Stomach, Large Intestine tropism, tonifies qi and blood, moistens the lung, and stops bleeding) — reinforces the sovereign’s main effect and coordinates the drug strength. The formula is rounded out by chicken, rich in blood-and-flesh essence, nourishing the righteous qi, keeping the combination balanced and well-tempered. Viewed as a whole, the formula addresses the qi-blood deficiency presentation, treating both root and branch.