Round Cardamon Fruit
豆蔻 · Dòu Kòu
Wakes up your appetite and settles a heavy stomach
What it does
Cardamom is for when your appetite disappears and your stomach feels heavy and waterlogged. In TCM, this comes from dampness, excess moisture clogging your digestive system. Cardamom's aromatic warmth cuts through that heaviness and restarts your digestion. It's especially useful early in a stomach bug, when you feel more sluggish than sick.
How to take it
Lightly crush 3–6g of cardamom pods and steep in hot water for 10 minutes. Drink warm before or after meals to ease bloating and stimulate appetite.
Crush a pod into your regular tea when you feel heavy and bloated after eating
Safety
- Generally very safe. Used as both food and medicine
- Very warming and drying. Avoid in large amounts if you're already dry or hot
- Best for short-term use during acute digestive sluggishness
- Talk to your doctor before starting, especially if you take medication
Where it comes from
Cardamom is one of the world's oldest and most valued spices. It's been traded since at least 2000 BCE. In TCM, the round (white) cardamom is different from the green cardamom common in Indian cuisine. It's classified as a dampness-resolving herb and appears in classical formulas for the early stages of warm-damp diseases, where the pathogen hasn't gone deep yet. Its fragrant, penetrating quality is considered perfect for cutting through the fog of dampness.