Meet the Herbs: Sang Shen

Chinese: 桑甚
Pin Yin: Sang Shen
Pharmaceutical: Fructus Mori Albae
English: White Mulberry

Strongly tonifies Blood and enriches Yin, goes to the Heart, Liver, and Kidney, and treats constipation due to Blood deficiency in the elderly. What more could you ask for?

It does a handful of other things too, but more importantly, it tastes great! It's like having the satisfying mouth-feel of eating soft granola with the sweetness of dried berries and the texture of fibrous buds popping in my mouth. Did I make that sound appealing? Probably not. But really though, it's that good.

Sang Shen is known to contain high amounts of iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, sulphur, and anthocyanins. It also contains resveratrol, a polyphenolic phytoalexin also found in grapes that has been shown to be an antioxidant, antimutagen, and anti-inflammatory. According to Wikipedia, the "unripe fruit and green parts of the plant have a white sap that is intoxicating and mildly hallucinogenic."

I bought a bag of them in NYC last weekend and have been munching on them everyday since.