Bai He (Lily Bulb)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• What is the typical dosage of Bai He (lily bulb)?

  Roughly 10–30 g decocted, using the fleshy bulb scales. It is also eaten as a food — dried or fresh Bai He is common in congee and soups — and food-style preparations are typically gentler than a concentrated medicinal decoction.

  Source: cross-referenced against multiple online sources (materia medica consensus); Sacred Lotus sources & references. Reference only — not a prescription.

Chinese Herb Combinations:

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Are there cautions for Bai He (lily bulb)?

  Bai He is moistening and cold, so it is avoided in cold-type (Wind-Cold) cough, phlegm-cough, or in patients with Middle-Jiao (Spleen/Stomach) deficiency, diarrhea, or loose stools, where its cooling, moistening nature could aggravate digestion.

  • Sedative effect (reference note) — Bai He may cause mild sedation or drowsiness in some individuals; caution is reasonable around driving or operating machinery.

  Source: cross-referenced against multiple online sources (materia medica consensus).

Western / Biomedical Research

Chinese Herb Clinical Studies & Research

Provided as research context — a summary of published biomedical study, not a therapeutic or medical claim.

• Is there modern research on Bai He (Lilium)?

  Yes — mostly preclinical (cell and animal) research on lily bulb extracts and polysaccharides, including one animal study directly modeling the classical Bai He Di Huang formula for mood-related symptoms.

  • Bai He Di Huang Tang, depression model (preclinical) — a 2022 study combining metabolomics and network pharmacology found that lily bulb-and-Rehmannia decoction reduced depression-like behavior in a lipopolysaccharide-induced rat model, increasing serotonin and GABA while lowering inflammatory markers (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α) — a modern mechanistic echo of the classical use of this pairing for the restless, low-mood Bai He-disease picture. Animal model, not clinical proof.
  • Mood/behavior (preclinical) — an aqueous lily bulb extract improved anxiety-like, depressive-like, and cognitive measures in ovariectomized mice, working through brain (hippocampal nerve-growth-factor and estrogen-receptor) pathways distinct from estrogen therapy itself.
  • Polysaccharide pharmacology (preclinical review) — a 2024 review of Lilii Bulbus polysaccharides catalogs anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immunomodulatory activity, while noting the precise mechanisms still need further research.

  Human clinical trials specific to Bai He were not identified; current support is preclinical (cell/animal) and classical/historical.

  Sources: PMID 36205539 (lily bulb and Rehmannia decoction, LPS-induced depression rat model, Pharmaceutical Biology 2022); PMID 31207575 (lily bulb extract, ovariectomized mouse model, Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy 2019); PMID 38888241 (Lilii Bulbus polysaccharide review, Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 2024). Research context, not a therapeutic claim.

Chinese Herb Notes

• What is “Bai He disease” and how is it treated?

  Bai He disease (百合病, bǎi hé bìng) is a distinctive syndrome named after this herb in the Jin Gui Yao Lue (Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Cabinet, chapter 3), describing a person who wants to eat but cannot, wants to walk but cannot, wants to lie down but cannot, feels hot without fever and cold without chills, has a bitter taste in the mouth and dark urine, and seems outwardly well while feeling unsettled “as if possessed by a spirit,” with a slightly rapid pulse — classically following a febrile illness or emotional strain. It is often read today as a restless, somatic mood disturbance.

  Classical Bai He formulas from the same chapter (traditional/historical context, not treatment advice):

  • Bai He Zhi Mu Tang — Bai He with Zhi Mu, for the syndrome after incorrect sweating therapy.
  • Bai He Ji Zi Huang Tang — Bai He with egg yolk, for the syndrome after incorrect vomiting therapy.
  • Bai He Di Huang Tang — Bai He with fresh Rehmannia (Sheng Di Huang) juice, the best-known formula for the unresolved/underlying syndrome; see research below for a modern animal-model study of this pairing.

  In the Sacred Lotus formula library, Bai He also anchors Bai He Gu Jin Tang (“Lily Bulb Decoction to Preserve the Metal”) — a later, different formula (with Sheng Di Huang, Shu Di Huang, Mai Men Dong, Xuan Shen, Chuan Bei Mu, Jie Geng, Dang Gui, Bai Shao, and Gan Cao) for Lung-and-Kidney-yin-deficiency chronic cough, distinct from the Jin Gui Yao Lue Bai He-disease formulas above.

  Source: cross-referenced against multiple online sources (classical text summaries of the Jin Gui Yao Lue; materia medica consensus); Sacred Lotus sources & references (formula-herb linkage).