Plantain, also known as Plantago asiatica, cow-beet, or field spinach, has leaves called plantain leaves.
Traditional Chinese medicine considers plantain leaves to have a sweet, cold nature. They clear heat and promote urination, clear liver heat and improve vision, eliminate phlegm and relieve cough, and drain dampness to stop diarrhea. They are suitable for edema caused by internal damp-heat accumulation; frequent urination, urgency, and pain during urinary tract infections; summer heat diarrhea and bacillary dysentery; and red, swollen, painful eyes with photophobia, tearing, and blurred vision caused by liver heat.
Analysis shows that per 100 grams of plantain leaves contain: 4.0 grams protein, 1.0 gram fat, 11.0 grams sugar, 5.85 milligrams carotene, 0.09 milligrams thiamine, 0.25 milligrams riboflavin, 23 milligrams vitamin C, 309 milligrams calcium, 175 milligrams phosphorus, and 25.3 milligrams iron.Modern research indicates that plantain leaves not only possess significant diuretic properties but also exhibit pronounced expectorant, antibacterial, and hypotensive effects. They act on the respiratory center with potent cough-suppressing power and enhance mucus secretion in the trachea and bronchi, thereby promoting expectoration.Plantain Leaf, Bamboo Leaf, and Licorice Decoction 100g Plantain leaf, 12g Bamboo leaf, 10g Licorice root, rock sugar to taste. Wash plantain leaf, bamboo leaf, and licorice root. Place all ingredients in a pot, decoct in water, strain to obtain 1 large bowl of liquid. Add rock sugar, simmer briefly in an earthenware pot. Drink as a tea substitute.Take one dose daily for 7–10 consecutive days as one treatment course. Bamboo leaves have a sweet, bland, and slightly cold nature. They direct damp-heat from the small intestine and bladder outward while clearing heart fire and relieving irritability, thus promoting urination, alleviating dysuria, clearing the heart, and calming restlessness.
Plantain Leaf Porridge
50g plantain leaves, 100g millet,1 scallion stalk, a pinch of salt and MSG. Wash and chop plantain leaves; cut scallion into sections. Rinse millet thoroughly. Cook millet in water until porridge forms. Add plantain leaves, scallion sections, and salt when nearly done. Simmer 10 more minutes, then stir in MSG. Consume on an empty stomach in the morning. One course of treatment lasts 5–7 consecutive days.This concoction clears heat, eliminates phlegm, promotes urination, and improves vision. It is suitable for symptoms such as difficult urination, painful and scanty urination, hematuria, edema, red and swollen eyes, and cough with excessive phlegm.
Plantain leaves may be substituted with 25g plantain seeds (wrapped in cloth) added to the millet porridge. First decoct the plantain seeds to extract their juice, then combine with the millet to cook the porridge. The effects are the same as above.
Plantain Leaf, Silver Ear Fungus, and Rock Sugar Soup
60g fresh plantain leaves (or 20g dried), 10g silver ear fungus, rock sugar to taste. Wash and chop plantain leaves; soak silver ear fungus to rehydrate and remove roots. Combine both ingredients in a pot, boil for 5 minutes, add rock sugar, and simmer briefly until done.Take one dose daily for 10–15 consecutive days. Silver ear fungus nourishes yin and moistens the lungs, effectively treating lung heat and dry cough; plantain leaves clear heat and relieve dryness, also addressing dry cough. Adding rock sugar—which clears heat, tonifies the middle burner, moistens the lungs, and generates fluids—complements these effects beautifully. This makes it an ideal medicinal recipe for dry cough.
Plantain, Wormwood, and Dandelion Decoction
50g fresh plantain leaves, 50g fresh dandelion, 50g fresh wormwood, 50g white sugar. Wash and chop the first three ingredients. Simmer in a pot to extract one large bowl of liquid, then strain out the residue. Add white sugar and simmer briefly.Take one dose daily, divided into two servings, for a five-day treatment cycle. Yinchen has a bitter and slightly cold nature. Its bitterness dries dampness, its coldness clears heat, and it effectively promotes urination.Thus it dispels damp-heat and alleviates jaundice, making it a key herb for treating icterus. Dandelion clears heat, detoxifies, promotes urination, and relieves dysuria, treating painful, scanty urination due to heat and damp-heat jaundice. Combined with plantain leaf, they synergistically clear heat, dispel dampness, detoxify, and resolve jaundice. This formula provides auxiliary therapeutic effects for acute jaundice-type hepatitis.