Author
Bowtie Team
Updated on
2025-12-19
Disclaimer: This article is translated with the assistance of AI.
Bowtie invites a TCM expert to explain Poria’s benefits, side effects, suitable users, proper consumption methods, and recipe ideas for optimal health.
What is Poria?
Poria is the dried sclerotium of a type of fungus from the Polyporaceae family. It contains various components, including poria polysaccharides, poria acid, proteins, fats, lecithin, choline, histidine, and ergosterol. It is mainly produced in regions such as Yunnan, Hubei, and Sichuan in China.
Benefits and Uses of Poria
- Diuretic and dampness-resolving: Poria can be used to treat various types of edema. It promotes the elimination of accumulated fluids in the body, thereby alleviating swelling symptoms.
- Spleen-strengthening and stomach-tonifying: It is primarily used to treat spleen and stomach weakness, poor appetite, fatigue, and loose stools.
- Calming the mind and soothing the spirit: It is mainly used to treat symptoms related to the nervous system, such as palpitations and insomnia. It helps balance emotions, reduce anxiety and stress, and promote better sleep.
Types of Poria Products and Their Varieties
Poria raw material, commonly known as “cloud poria,” “pine poria,” or “tuckahoe,” is a fungus that parasitizes on the roots of pine trees. It resembles sweet potatoes in shape, with a blackish-brown outer skin and a white or pinkish interior. It is the dried sclerotium of the fungus Poria cocos from the Polyporaceae family, typically parasitizing on the roots of Masson pine or red pine. After fresh harvesting, it is sliced or diced and dried for medicinal use. Besides this, there are other medicinal varieties of poria:
- Poria extract powder: Poria is washed, dried, and pulverized, then extracted using a low-temperature decoction method. It is filtered, concentrated into a fluid extract, and finally processed through spray drying or vacuum drying, followed by pulverization and sieving.
- Poria extract capsules: Poria is washed, dried, pulverized, sieved, and then encapsulated.
- Poria extract liquid: An essence liquid extracted using an ethanol-water solution.
Who Should Consume Poria?
In traditional Chinese medicine, poria is believed to regulate the body’s water metabolism, making it particularly suitable for individuals with issues such as edema, swelling, or spleen and stomach weakness. Additionally, it is used to treat symptoms related to the nervous system, like palpitations and insomnia, helping to balance emotions and promote sleep.
Contraindications and Side Effects of Poria
First, individuals with excessive sweating and yin deficiency should use poria with caution. Those allergic to poria or experiencing symptoms like dry throat, dry mouth, red tongue, and no coating should avoid consuming poria or poria-based products.
For the general population, excessive consumption of poria may lead to increased urination, resulting in the loss of essential body fluids.
Proper Ways to Consume Poria
As mentioned above, consuming an appropriate amount of poria each time is the healthiest habit for the body. The optimal dosage of poria is 15-30g.
Recipe Suggestions
Five-finger Fern Poria Soup
【Ingredients】 Five-finger fern 50g, poria 30g, coix seeds 70g, pork bones 400g, red dates 5 pieces (pitted), goji berries 10g
【Instructions】Wash the pork bones and blanch them. Wash the other ingredients, add them to 1.5L of water in a pot, bring to a boil, then simmer on low heat for 1 hour. Season with salt and drink at a suitable temperature.
【Benefits】Strengthens the spleen and eliminates dampness.
How to Choose Poria?
After drying, Poria can be made into “Poria slices,” “Poria blocks,” or “Poria rolls.” Poria typically appears as round, oval, flattened round, or irregular lumps of varying sizes. It has a thin outer skin that is brownish or blackish-brown, with wrinkles and contractions on the surface, and sometimes parts of it may flake off. The texture is firm, and the cross-section is granular, with a pale red color near the edges and white inside, sometimes featuring fine honeycomb-like holes.
Some Poria has pine roots in the middle, known as “Fu Shen blocks.” It has a faint odor and a bland taste, and it can be somewhat sticky when chewed. It’s best to choose Poria that has a brownish outer skin, fine textures, no cracks, a white and delicate cross-section, and strong stickiness.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Poria suitable for all seasons?
Throughout the year, if the spleen and stomach functions are vigorous, a person is less likely to be invaded by pathogenic factors. Poria is best known for its effects of “strengthening the spleen and promoting diuresis,” which helps in regulating qi. In traditional Chinese medicine, the spleen and stomach are crucial systems responsible for absorbing and transporting nutrients and fluids to the internal organs, ensuring normal bodily functions. When the spleen is weak, these fluids may stagnate in the body, leading to internal dampness and toxins that cause illnesses, such as edema, fatigue, and loose stools.
What is Fu Shen? And what are the differences with Poria?
Fu Shen is the sclerotium of the fungus Poria cocos from the Polyporaceae family, which parasitizes on pine trees. The medicinal part is the dried sclerotium that includes the pine roots. After harvesting, the whole Fu Shen is directly sliced, encompassing the Poria skin, red Poria, white Poria, and pine roots, making it most effective for calming the mind and treating insomnia. White Poria, on the other hand, is the inner white part after removing the outer skin and is mainly used for treating indigestion, promoting diuresis, and reducing swelling.
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