Hannah Zulueta Chinese herbs
Huang Lian
The herb people are reaching for, and the dogs it does not suit
In Chinese herbal theory, an herb is matched to the presentation in front of you. Hearing that an herb is good for diarrhea tells you almost nothing about whether it is right for your dog.
Read this first
Coptis has been making the rounds lately. You will also see it written as Huang Lian, or as Rhizoma Coptidis. It is a genuinely powerful herb, and that is exactly why it needs to be matched carefully.
Diarrhea is a symptom rather than a pattern. Two dogs with identical stool can need opposite herbs, and giving a cold herb to a cold dog makes the situation worse rather than slower to improve.
The question is never whether an herb treats diarrhea. The question is whether your dog is the kind of dog this herb was built for.
The monograph
What Coptis is
Its intense coldness is what allows it to cool heat and resolve toxicity. Its intense bitterness is what allows it to drain fire and dry dampness. Both of those qualities are the reason it works, and both are the reason it can do harm in the wrong dog.
Before anything else
Precautions
This is a very bitter, very cold herb. It should not be used in large amounts, and it should not be used over a long period.
Do not use Coptis if any of these apply.
- The dog has diarrhea together with vomiting.
- The diarrhea comes from Spleen deficiency.
- The dog presents with a pattern of Yang deficiency.
- The dog presents with a pattern of Yin deficiency.
Those exclusions cover a large share of the dogs whose owners go looking for a diarrhea herb in the first place. Chronic loose stool in a dog who is thin, cold, and low on energy is a deficiency picture, and Coptis pushes that dog further in the direction they are already headed.
Where it fits
Clinical applications
This herb should only be given under the careful guidance of your Chinese medicine practitioner. The signs that would warrant it look like this.
- Damp Heat through the whole body. Fever, open sores on the skin, a red tongue with a yellow coating.
- Damp Heat in the intestines. Bloody mucus diarrhea, dysentery.
- Shen disturbance from Heart Fire. Anxiety, restlessness, hyperactivity, a red tongue.
- Blood Heat. Vomiting of blood, bloody stool.
- Lick granuloma. Boils and toxic skin ailments.
- Stomach Fire. Extreme hunger, a burning sensation in the stomach, gastric ulcer, stomatitis, gingivitis, toothache, ulcers of the mouth and tongue.
- Vomiting or acid regurgitation when it arrives alongside Stomach Heat.
The honest answer
Should you give this to your dog
Ideally you would be working with a practitioner well versed in Chinese herbs, who can confirm that this is the right remedy for your dog’s presentation rather than for the word diarrhea.
If your dog has no signs of Heat, I would refrain from giving this herb at all.
Intense Heat signs that involve Blood warrant an immediate vet visit rather than an herb.
Alongside
Fasting and bone broth
Whichever direction the herbs go, these two pieces of supportive care apply while the gut settles.
How to cook it. Put the bones in a crockpot with enough water to cover them by two inches. Cook on low for eight to twenty four hours. No apple cider vinegar needed.
Match the food to the pattern too
If a cold, bitter herb is wrong for your dog, cold and bitter foods are pulling in the same direction. Every food carries a thermal nature, a flavor, and a channel it enters. Filter 209 foods and herbs and see where your dog’s bowl currently sits.
Open the TCM Food Energy ListIn short
Summary
Coptis, or Huang Lian, is an herb for hot, damp, watery stool. It can help resolve an acute presentation, and it is meant for short use rather than long.
If your dog is not suited to it, there are other herbs and there are dietary changes that reach the same goal by a different road. What is written here is educational, and it stands well short of consulting a qualified herbal medicine practitioner.
This may also be the moment to look at personalized nutrition, so your dog is getting enough of the right food for their own constitution and the life they actually live.
Working with this
Feed the dog in front of you
The same principle that governs the herb governs the bowl. If you want help building recipes around your dog’s constitution rather than around a symptom, that is the work I do.
I wish you and your dogs good health.
Sources.
Bensky, D., Gamble, A., and Kaptchuk, T. J. (2004). Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica. Eastland Press.
Xie, Huisheng, and Preast, Vanessa (2010). Xie’s Chinese Veterinary Herbology. Wiley-Blackwell.
About the author
Hannah Zulueta obtained her Certificate in Canine Nutrition from CASI Institute. She is also studying for her Doctorate in Acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Herbalism from Pacific College of Health and Medicine. If you are as keenly interested in health for yourself, visit her website for human health, Satori Acupuncture and Herbs.
She resides in San Diego with her three dogs, Maggie, Orbit, and Mr. Higgins.
She is available for one on one consultations. She develops evidence based recipes that meet both NRC and AAFCO nutritional standards while integrating the therapeutic food principles of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine into her formulations.
You can also find her sharing free content on Instagram.
The information on Daily Dog Food Recipes or any of its media platforms is intended for nutritional informational and educational purposes only. Any statements made on these platforms are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent any disease or illness. Please consult with your veterinarian to discuss your dog’s medical care.
