Stomach Fire

How to recognize Stomach Fire

The signs that point most strongly to this pattern:

1. Red, swollen gums that bleed when brushed
2. Bad breath, sour or foul
3. Toothache that throbs, worse with heat, better with cold
4. Big thirst, wanting cold drinks
5. Hungry all the time, or hungry soon after eating

Also common

• Mouth sores or ulcers
• Burning in the stomach, acid, or a sour taste
• Constipation with dry stools
• Dark urine
• Red face
• Nausea or vomiting soon after eating
• Restless, hot, hard to cool down

Tongue

Red with a thick yellow coat, sometimes dry.

Pulse

Rapid and full, or slippery and rapid.

Formulas for Stomach Fire

Herbs that matter most for Stomach Fire

• Huang Lian Rhizome of Chinese Goldthread Coptis. The bitterest cold herb in the pharmacy. Puts out Stomach fire.
• Sheng Di Huang Fresh Rehmannia Root Raw rehmannia cools the blood and protects the fluids the fire is burning.
• Mu Dan Pi Tree Peony Bark Cools the blood and stops the gums bleeding.
• Sheng Ma Largetrifoliolious Bugbane Rhizome Lifts the clearing herbs up into the gums and carries the heat out.
• Shi Gao Gypsum Gypsum. Clears strong Stomach heat and thirst.
• Zhi Mu Rhizome of Common Anamarrhena Clears heat while moistening what the fire dried.

How Stomach Fire differs from its look-alikes

• Kidney Yin Deficiency with Empty Heat Empty heat is quiet and worse at night: slow gum recession, loose teeth, dry mouth, night sweats, a peeled red tongue. Stomach fire is loud and full: swollen bleeding gums, bad breath, thirst, a thick yellow coat.
• Stomach Yin Deficiency When the fire has burned the Stomach's fluids, the picture turns dry: a dry mouth with no desire to drink much, no appetite, a peeled tongue. The treatment turns from clearing fire to moistening.
• Liver Fire Liver fire goes to the head and eyes: red eyes, a splitting headache, rage, a bitter taste. Stomach fire goes to the gums and gut.

What drains into Stomach Fire

• Spicy, fried, greasy, and sweet food over months
• Alcohol, especially spirits and daily drinking
• Smoking
• Overeating late at night
• Long-held anger or frustration that turns to heat
• A hot illness that lodged in the Stomach

Food and habits that help Stomach Fire

• Stop the fuel first: spicy, fried, and sweet food, and alcohol. The formula cannot outrun the diet.
• Cooling foods help: mung bean soup, bitter greens, cucumber, watermelon, pear, chrysanthemum tea.
• Rinse with strong cooled green tea twice a day. It tightens the gum and quiets the germs.
• A soft brush and small circles. A hard brush on inflamed gums makes the bleeding worse.
• No eating in the two hours before bed.

What should change as Stomach Fire improves

• Bleeding and swelling settle within one to two weeks of clearing the fire and cutting the fuel.
• Bad breath fades as the yellow tongue coat thins.
• These formulas are cold. Once the gums are pink and the coat is thin, stop. Taking them for months damages the Spleen.
• If the gums keep receding after the redness is gone, the deeper pattern is probably Kidney yin deficiency, and the formula changes.

Conditions where Stomach Fire shows up