Mulberry bark, or called Sang Bai Pi in Pinyin, may be strange to you as a Chinese herb. But as you may know, it is part of mulberry plant and possesses similar healing properties.
Contents
Uses
As one of commonly used herbs, it plays an important role in many famous ancient formulas. In short, it is mainly used for lung-heat cough, asthma or wheezing, swollen eyes or face, difficult urination, high blood pressure, diabetes, and so on.
Benefits
The inner bark of some species in the mulberry family, such as Paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera), is the main source of making mulberry bark cloth or fabric and handmade mulberry bark paper. This is simply because its woody bast fiber is an ideal raw material for manufacturing exceptionally pure, translucent paper or a paper-like fabric, which is extensively used for rubber stamping projects, handmade cards, scrapbook project, etc. these days. Besides of the above-mentioned applications, mulberry bark health benefits are of equal importance.
a) It alleviates edema by inducing diuresis. Therefore, consuming it can do good to those are susceptible to edema after a long ride or after the surgery;
b) It helps get rid of athlete’s foot since it is a good odor remover. Specifically, boil appropriate amount of them with hot water and then soak feet. By doing so, athlete’s foot can be treated or prevented;
c) It adjusts endocrine system and urinary system. Eating it can help the body regulate endocrine disorders and urinary problems;
d) Instead of by burning or acidizing skin tissue, it removes scars by nourishing and enhancing skin’s self-healing capabilities. Besides, it has a whitening effect too, which can be used to reduce scar color left after wounds have been healed.
Cautions
Is mulberry bark poisonous? No, it is considered relatively safe in clinical application since it is relatively less toxic. The experimental results show that its alcohol extract produces no significant adverse effects on laboratory animals no matter it is used by either a single high dose or long-term administration of low dose. TCM wise, it shouldn’t be used in cases of no fire in lung deficiency, urination frequency, and wind-cold type cough. In addition, it is inadvisable to be used by people with deficiency-cold constitution since it is of cold nature. Otherwise, it may make it worse.
Interactions
None are recorded.
Other names
Sang Bai Pi in Pinyin
References
Source: Chineseherbshealing, http://www.chineseherbshealing.com/mulberry-bark/