bai mu er

Name: bai mu er
Creator: Bencao Index

白木耳·Tremella

Tremella Fruiting Body

About bai mu er

Bai Mu Er (白木耳) is the tremella fungus, recorded as Tremella. It enters the Lung and Stomach channels, and the catalogue files it among the herbs that tonify Yin. Its Chinese name reads as white wood ear.

Names

Pinyin	bai mu er
Chinese	白木耳
Latin Name	Tremella
English Name	Tremella Fruiting Body·wood ear; tremella fruiting body·wood ear
Japanese	hakumokuji
Korean	baekmoki

Classification

Category: Tonify Yin
Channels: Lung, Stomach
Family: Tremellaceae
Species: Tremella Fuciformis
Tags: Chinese Herbs, Common

Actions and indications

Nourishes Stomach Yin, generates Fluids and moistens the Lungs

Yin deficiency with Heat, sometimes with Yang rising: wasting, and heat in the palms, soles and chest (five-centre heat)

Nourishes Lung Yin

Dry cough from Lung Yin deficiency or Lung Heat, with little sputum that is hard to bring up and may carry streaks of blood

Cautions

contraindication Cough from Wind-Cold; a moistening Yin tonic pushes treatment the wrong way in an external Cold pattern
caution Damp, Phlegm, or a weak digestion that is easily overwhelmed; use with thought, as with any rich, moistening substance
caution Spoiled or over-soaked fungus is a serious food-safety hazard: tremella that has deteriorated, or has sat too long in water, can grow a bacterium producing bongkrekic acid, a heat-stable toxin that cooking will not destroy. Tremella was one of the foods behind outbreaks of this poisoning in China, where close to a third of those who fell ill died
caution Soak it only as long as needed, and in the refrigerator if longer; discard fungus that is slimy, discoloured or smells off, and never eat fungus that has stood soaking at room temperature for hours or overnight
caution Individual allergy is possible, as with any edible fungus

Interactions

Drug interactions

Glucose-lowering medicines: in a small trial in prediabetic adults a tremella drink modestly lowered HbA1c, so regular use of concentrated preparations is reasonably monitored by the prescriber. Precautionary only; food amounts in a dessert soup are a much smaller exposure