Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Unani

Rice (Oryza sativa), of the Poaceae (Gramineae) family. Annual grass grown in flooded paddy, bearing drooping grain-heads; native range: The river valleys of monsoon Asia, cultivated since deep antiquity. Globally recognized as jing mi (粳米); gu ya (穀芽, the sprout) in Chinese, shali / tandula in Sanskrit, chawal in Hindi, aruz (أرز) in Arabic, and rice, paddy in English. The part used is grain (polished and old); the germinated sprout. Bland, faintly sweet white grain; the germinated sprout malty-sweet; cooked to a soft, soothing congee.

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.

RICE

IDENTITY

Name

Common: Rice
Scientific name: Oryza sativa L.
Family: Poaceae (Gramineae)

Form

Part used: grain (polished and old); the germinated sprout

PROPERTIES

Nature

Taste

how the plant declares itself on the tongue

TCM: sweet
Ayurveda: sweet (madhura)
Unani: sweet

Temperature

TCM: neutral
Ayurveda: cooling (sheeta — the shali rices)
Unani: temperate (& somewhat dry)

Affinity

where in the body it travels

Organs / channels

TCM: Spleen · Stomach
Unani: stomach · intestines

PRACTICE

Virtue

Actions

TCM: rice-sprout (gu ya) strengthens the Spleen and digests starchy food stagnation; polished rice (jing mi) tonifies qi, harmonizes the Stomach and generates fluids
Ayurveda: brimhana (nourishing), balya (strengthening), mutrala (diuretic), grahi when old (bowel-binding), vata-pitta-shamana
Unani: mughazzi (nutritive), habis (bowel-binding when parched); for diarrhoea and general nourishment

Cautions

Contraindications: damp-phlegm states and heavy indigestion (excess of new or glutinous rice)
Toxicity: none

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