{
    "slug": "gan-mai-da-zao-tang",
    "names": {
        "pinyin": "Gan Mai Da Zao Tang",
        "chinese": "甘麦大枣汤",
        "english": "Licorice, Wheat and Jujube Decoction",
        "alternate": [
            "Gan Mai Da Zao Wan",
            "Licorice and Jujube Combination"
        ]
    },
    "category": "calm-spirit",
    "source": {
        "text": "Jin Gui Yao Lue (Essentials from the Golden Cabinet)",
        "author": "Zhang Zhong-jing",
        "dynasty": "Han",
        "year": "c. 220"
    },
    "summary": "Three kitchen ingredients for a dry, upset Heart. For the person who cries easily, feels sad and restless for no reason, cannot settle, sleeps badly, and yawns and sighs through the day. The old texts called it restless organ disorder. It is as gentle as a formula can be.",
    "picture": "Licorice, wheat, and dates. You could cook it as a sweet porridge. Zhang Zhong-jing wrote it eighteen centuries ago for a grief that had dried the Heart out, and it still works for the same thing.",
    "patterns": [
        {
            "slug": "heart-yin-deficiency",
            "role": "gentle",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/heart-yin-deficiency",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/heart-yin-deficiency"
            }
        },
        {
            "slug": "heart-blood-deficiency",
            "role": "gentle",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/heart-blood-deficiency",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/heart-blood-deficiency"
            }
        }
    ],
    "indications": [
        "Crying easily, sadness without a clear cause",
        "Restlessness, inability to settle",
        "Frequent yawning and sighing",
        "Light sleep, dream-filled nights",
        "Anxiety and low mood after grief or long strain",
        "Premenstrual or menopausal tearfulness",
        "A restless, weepy child"
    ],
    "signs": {
        "tongue": "Pale red with little coat.",
        "pulse": "Thin and slightly rapid."
    },
    "ingredients": [
        {
            "pinyin": "Gan Cao",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "chief",
            "job": "Licorice relaxes urgency and nourishes the Heart.",
            "herb_slug": "root-of-ural-licorice",
            "english": "Raw Licorice Root",
            "chinese": "甘草",
            "latin": "Radix Glycyrrhizae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-of-ural-licorice",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-of-ural-licorice"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Xiao Mai",
            "grams": "30",
            "role": "deputy",
            "job": "Whole wheat nourishes the Heart and calms the spirit. Light wheat, fu xiao mai, is used when sweating is present.",
            "unlinked": true,
            "herb_slug": "wheat-seed",
            "english": "Wheat Seed",
            "chinese": "小麦",
            "latin": "Semen Tritici Aestivi",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/wheat-seed",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/wheat-seed"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Da Zao",
            "grams": "10",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Jujube dates nourish the Spleen and blood and sweeten.",
            "herb_slug": "jujube-chinese-date",
            "english": "Chinese Date",
            "chinese": "大枣",
            "latin": "Fructus Jujubae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/jujube-chinese-date",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/jujube-chinese-date"
            }
        }
    ],
    "actions": [
        "Nourishes the Heart and calms the spirit",
        "Harmonizes the middle and relaxes urgency"
    ],
    "how_it_works": "Sweet, moist, and mild. Wheat feeds the Heart, dates feed the blood, and licorice loosens the tightness. There is nothing to drain and nothing strong, which is why it suits children, the elderly, and anyone whose nerves are raw rather than inflamed.",
    "modifications": [
        {
            "for": "Poor sleep",
            "add": [
                "Suan Zao Ren",
                "Bai Zi Ren"
            ],
            "note": "Or combine with Suan Zao Ren Tang."
        },
        {
            "for": "Heat with a red tongue tip",
            "add": [
                "Bai He",
                "Sheng Di Huang"
            ],
            "note": "Lily bulb and raw rehmannia cool and moisten."
        }
    ],
    "cautions": [
        "Mild. If mood does not shift in a few weeks the pattern is deeper.",
        "Licorice in larger doses over long periods can raise blood pressure and lower potassium. Keep to the course.",
        "Contains wheat."
    ],
    "forms": [
        "teapills",
        "granules",
        "decoction",
        "porridge"
    ],
    "typical_dose": {
        "decoction": "One bag a day, or cooked as a porridge",
        "teapills": "8 pills, three times a day, the usual label dose",
        "course": "Two to six weeks."
    },
    "cousins": [
        {
            "slug": "suan-zao-ren-tang",
            "difference": "For insomnia from blood deficiency with a dry mouth. A step stronger."
        },
        {
            "slug": "tian-wang-bu-xin-dan",
            "difference": "For the hot, dry sleeper with night sweats and mouth ulcers."
        }
    ],
    "commerce": {
        "store": "supplementsapothecary.com",
        "store_name": "Supplements Apothecary",
        "store_slug": "gan-mai-da-zao-tang",
        "store_url": "https://www.supplementsapothecary.com/supplement/gan-mai-da-zao-tang",
        "status": "planned",
        "label_check": "The box reads Gan Mai Da Zao Tang or Wan with the characters 甘麦大枣. Three ingredients: Licorice, Wheat, and Jujube."
    },
    "conditions": [
        "anxiety",
        "depression",
        "insomnia",
        "menopausal-syndrome",
        "stress"
    ],
    "sources": [
        {
            "title": "Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition",
            "note": "Composition, actions, and indications."
        }
    ],
    "meta": {
        "status": "published",
        "last_updated": "2026-10-12",
        "reviewed_by": null
    },
    "_links": {
        "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/gan-mai-da-zao-tang",
        "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/gan-mai-da-zao-tang",
        "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formulas"
    }
}