Schisandraceae · fruit
Schisandra
Schisandra chinensis
Fruit mapped as Wu Wei Zi: astringes Lung Qi leak and quiets in yin-vacuity pictures, with lignan pharmacology mostly experimental.
Safety first
Astringes leakage in classical terms — not a reason to skip workup of chronic cough, spermatorrhea-language, or night sweat. Rare hepatitis reports with some products. Five-flavor berry is sour enough to aggravate ulcers in folklore.
Tradition vs trials
Traditional record. Bensky: Wu Wei Zi astringes the Lung, nourishes Kidney, generates fluids, and calms the spirit.
Trial literature. Schisandrin liver-enzyme experimental work is not a NAFLD protocol. Catalog tags traditional for pattern mapping.
Practical ranges
Educational ranges — not a prescription. Culinary use is not an extract.
fruit in formulas
Pharmacopoeia ranges often around 3–6 g in formulas
Chinese Pharmacopoeia / Bensky — Educational range only — not a prescription. A licensed clinician individualizes product, dose, and duration.
Pregnancy, nursing, children
- Pregnancy. Avoid unsupervised.
- Nursing. Insufficient reliable data; avoid unless a clinician directs otherwise.
- Children. Insufficient reliable data; avoid unless a clinician directs otherwise.
Contraindications
- do not use astringency to hide chronic productive infection
Key interactions
- CYP substrates · note
Lignans have in vitro CYP signals; clinical relevance of culinary-formula doses is uncertain.