The difference between Tu Fuling and Fuling, and their effects are different

Many people think that the names of Tufuling and Fuling look similar, with only one character difference, and always think they are the same kind. In fact, there are great differences between them. The most important one is that their effects are different. Many people have many misunderstandings about this, so the following will introduce to you the difference between Tufuling and Fuling.

1. Growth environment

Poria cocos is the dried sclerotium of the fungus Poria cocos of the Polyporaceae family. Poria cocos generally parasitizes on the roots of pine trees.

Smilax glabra, also known as cold rice ball, hard rice head, and red earth ling. The dried rhizome of the Liliaceae plant Smilax glabra, the leaves are like large bamboo leaves but thicker and smoother. The roots grow in clusters and are as big as chicken and duck eggs. It is a perennial evergreen climbing shrub that grows mostly on hillsides or under forests.

2. Taste

Poria: light taste. Wild Smilax glabra: tastes bitter.

3. Efficacy

Poria: dissipates dampness and promotes diuresis, benefits the spleen and stomach, and calms the mind and soothes the nerves. It is used to treat difficulty in urination, edema, cough due to phlegm and fluid, vomiting, diarrhea, spermatorrhea, stranguria, palpitations, and forgetfulness.

Wild Smilax glabra: Wild Smilax glabra is mild in nature and sweet in taste. It enters the liver and stomach meridians and has the effects of detoxification, removal of dampness, and benefiting joints. Western medicine believes that Smilax glabra is a strong immunosuppressant and the best Chinese medicine for treating oral and genital ulcers caused by immune diseases. Smilax glabra is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, Behcet's arthritis, gouty arthritis, etc. It is also effective for allergic dermatitis, pemphigus, eczema and other immune diseases. Wild yam also has the effects of detoxification and anti-tumor.

4. Functions and indications

Poria: difficulty urinating; edema; cough and reverse cough due to phlegm and fluid; vomiting; poor appetite due to spleen deficiency; diarrhea; palpitations and restlessness; insomnia and forgetfulness; leukorrhea and spermatorrhea.

Smilax glabra: limb cramps and muscle and bone pain caused by syphilis and mercury poisoning; damp-heat stranguria, leucorrhea, carbuncle, scrofula, and scabies.