Witnessed by: TCM
Hen egg (Gallus gallus domesticus), of the Phasianidae (Aves) family. The domestic fowl, kept for its eggs; the egg laid daily, shell, white and yolk; native range: the domestic fowl, kept worldwide; the drug is a household staple everywhere the bird is. Globally recognized as ji zi (雞子), ji dan (雞蛋) in Chinese, and hen egg, chicken egg in English. The part used is the whole egg — white and yolk within the shell. The white clear, viscid and setting opaque with heat; the yolk a rich orange-yellow, unctuous, thickening but not hardening at a lower heat. The taste sweet and bland, the smell all but absent when fresh.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
HEN EGG
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- hen egg
- Scientific name
- Gallus gallus domesticus
- Family
- Phasianidae (Aves)
Form
- Part used
- the whole egg — white and yolk within the shell
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet (甘)
Temperature
- TCM
- neutral (平)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Lung · Spleen · Stomach · Heart
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- nourishes yin and moistens dryness, nourishes the blood and calms the spirit, quiets the restless fetus, and augments qi and harmonises the stomach
Cautions
- Contraindications
- phlegm-damp and damp-heat patterns; an unresolved exterior pattern with fever; and diarrhea from spleen deficiency — the egg is cloying and rich
- Toxicity
- a food, non-toxic; egg allergy is common and is the practical caution, and the raw egg — which is exactly what several classical formulas call for — carries a salmonella risk
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