Rou Gui can just as well be your regular cinnamon bark; however the strongest form is from Vietnam. Cinnamon bark has been used as an herb in cooking for a very long time. Everything from treats, foods and tea use cinnamon for its flavoring. The herb is warming and this is no secret to the public. This herb is used in winter time drinks for internal warmth and spicy flavor. In Chinese Herbal Medicine Rou Gui have some very important usages, yet another herb that is so common we often forget how important it can be as an herb, it even has an excellent first aid use I will talk about later.
Herbal Uses-
Rou Gui and all cinnamon bark is used to warm your body (warm the interior), and balance correct temperature in your body.
Herbal Properties-
Rou Gui is very warming (hot) in temperature, sweet and tonifying, and moving (acrid) in nature.
Category-
Rou Gui belongs to the Chinese Medicine category ‘Warm the Interior and Expel Cold’
Dosage-
Rou Gui is very strong. Any herb you see listed as ‘hot’ will often have a lower dosage than the standard 3-9 grams daily. Rou Gui has a daily dose of 1.5-4.5 grams daily; however no side effects are really a problem until around 20 grams. See cautions below.
Cautions-
Rou Gui has a low dose due to its strength and efficiency at these levels. Using over the dosage will lead to obvious warmth in your abdomen. Around and above 20 grams of daily dosage will lead to several ‘over heating’ side effect such as: burning dark urine, chest heat, increase in thirst, eye irritation, constipation, and more. Rou Gui in potent forms and dosage should be avoided during pregnancy.
Herbal Uses-
Rou Gui in common usage is effective in getting rid of internal cold showing as lack of appetite, coldness, loose stool and more. The herb is useful for also warming the entire body including warming the limbs, regulating warmth in the body (for feeling warm up top, cold on the bottom) unblocks painful menstruation, and relieves arthritis pain.
In Chinese Medicine terminology the herb also has quite a few unique functions. Rou Gui is effective for bringing fire down the kidney source, and it encourages the generation of Qi and blood. All of its usage makes a great additive to a blood building formula for its tonification qualities.
Cinnamon bark can come in handy for a quick first aid fix. This herb by itself or along with dried ginger can work to revive someone who blacked out of passed out. If someone feels ‘like they are going to pass out’ and they have a very pale complexion with ghost white looking palms, possibly with cold sweat, some powder of Rou Gui (or cinnamon bark) with dried ginger (or by itself) can be taken in several grams and followed with a cup of WARM water, can relieve someone from these symptoms or revive them when they have come around in a matter of a minute. A common mistake of someone feeling this way is to get them ‘something cold’, when actually the opposite is true! Try it and thank me later!
Herb of the Week-Rou Gui, Cinnamon Bark
3 comments | Herb of the Week-Rou Gui, Cinnamon Bark
It’s amazing how a simple household spice such as cinnamon can be useful in so many ways. There are so many different herbs, oils and minerals out there that can cure almost any condition. Cures such as these are for the most part without negative side effects. This is the complete opposite of most modern day medicines. A lot of these modern day medicines have worst side effects then the previous condition itself. Once again, alternative medicines have proven to be more beneficial in the long run to the body.
Great article – thanks – john (author of ’100 Herbs of Power’)
Culinary cinnamon, even the Vietnamese kind is not strong enough to bring fire to the mingmen (kidney vital fire). The cinnamon bark in a roll the size of your forearm is very different in heat and aromatics from the small cinnamon sticks in the spice section. Those substitute fairly well for gui zhi cinnamon twigs. I have seen a middle version in Chinese grocery stores which are thicker and older than the typical spice version of cinnamon stick, apparently from young branches, but lack the ability to warm the kidneys stongly. It’s all good, just different.
