Shiitake Mushroom

Traditional Use

Primary Actions

• Tonifies deficiency and strengthens the middle - Xiang Gu is a food-medicine mushroom used for weakness, poor appetite, and digestive fatigue when a gentle Spleen-and-Stomach-supporting tonic is preferred over a stronger medicinal.
• Stimulates appetite and helps transform stagnation - traditional summaries use it for indigestion, poor food intake, and convalescent weakness where digestive recovery and Qi support need to happen together.
• Resolves Phlegm and regulates Qi - Xiang Gu is also listed for chronic hepatitis, hypertension, edema, and hyperlipidemia-pattern states, reflecting a broader food-therapy role beyond simple nourishment.
• Expels wind, promotes eruption, and removes toxicity - older TCM and diet-therapy sources extend its use to urticaria, incomplete eruptions, and as supportive care after toxic food or mushroom exposure.

Secondary Actions

• As a fragrant edible mushroom, Xiang Gu sits at the border of cuisine and materia medica; it is often taken in soups, porridges, and restorative meals rather than as a heavy standalone decoction drug.
• Traditional trade names such as Dong Gu and Hua Gu refer to especially valued shiitake grades, reinforcing that sourcing and culinary quality matter for this food-grade medicinal.

Classical References

• TCM Wiki identifies Xiang Gu as sweet and neutral, entering the Liver and Stomach channels, and lists actions of tonifying deficiency, strengthening the Spleen, stimulating appetite, resolving Phlegm, regulating Qi, and removing toxicity.
• American Dragon likewise places Xiang Gu among Qi-tonifying medicinals and highlights its use for weakness, indigestion, edema, anemia, hyperlipidemia, chronic hepatitis, and urticaria.
• IMPORT NOTE: the original stub used the French loanword `Champignon` as both slug label and Latin placeholder; this record normalizes the medicinal identity to Xiang Gu / shiitake and corrects the Latin to `Lentinula edodes` while preserving the slug.