Hu Jiao - 胡椒 - Fructus Piperis

Pharmaceutical Latin:	Fructus Piperis
Common English:	Black Pepper Pepper

Category

Herbs that Warm the Interior and Expel Cold

Properties

Taste	Temperature	Entering Meridians	Dosage
Acrid	Hot	Large Intestine Stomach	1.5-4.5g crush before using May use up to 30g Pills and Powders: 0.5-1g 1.5-3g (d), 0.5-1 (p); crush (Secondary source)

Actions And Indications

Actions	Indications/Syndromes
Warms the Middle Jiao and disperses Cold and relieves pain	Stomach Cold with vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain

Contraindications, Incompatibilities And Herb/Drug Interactions

Major Combinations

Rz. Alpiniae Officinarum Gao Liang Jiang	Rz. Zingiberis Recens Sheng Jiang Rz. Pinelliae Preparatum Zhi Ban Xia
Vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain due to Stomach Cold.	Severe vomiting due to Stomach Cold.

Notes

1. This herb Warms the Middle and descends Qi when Cold leads to vomiting of clear fluid; it also reduces Food Stagnation or Phlegm Accumulation caused by Cold or by eating too many cold, raw foods, and relieves diarrhea from Cold in the Large Intestine.
2. In a large dose, it can be used for pain related to malignancies.
3. It serves as an antidote for food poisoning.
4. The powder may be applied to the umbilicus to warm the Middle Jiao, or applied topically for toothache.
5. Hu Jiao is hotter than Per. Zanthoxyli Chuan Jiao. It works well whenever Fire is weakened and Cold enters, when Phlegm or Food stagnates internally, when there is diarrhea or Cold dysenteric disorder, or when Stomach Cold causes vomiting of water.
6. It is used mainly as a digestive herb.