Water Plantain Rhizome Pieces (Alisma Orientale)

Water Plantain Rhizome Pieces (Alisma orientale) are the dried sliced rhizomes of a classical damp-draining herb known in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as Zé Xiè (泽泻). This crisp, pale rhizome has been used for centuries to promote urination, drain dampness, clear heat from the lower burner, and support healthy water metabolism. Its nature is sweet, bland, and cold, making it particularly effective for conditions involving damp-heat, edema, urinary discomfort, or fluid accumulation.

In TCM, Ze Xie enters the Kidney and Bladder channels, where it helps promote urination, reduce swelling, clear excess heat from damp retention, and guide fire downward. It is commonly used for edema in the legs, cloudy urine, urinary difficulty, dizziness from phlegm-damp, loose stools from damp stagnation, and lower burner damp-heat patterns. Its ability to drain damp without harming yin makes it a foundational herb in many fluid-regulating formulas.

Ze Xie is especially famous for its role in clearing ministerial fire—excess fire arising from the Kidney that flares upward to cause insomnia, irritability, dizziness, tinnitus, or urinary heat. By guiding this fire downward and promoting fluid flow, it helps restore balance, clarity, and comfort.

In folk herbal practice, Water Plantain Rhizome is prepared in cleansing broths and decoctions to support urinary comfort, reduce puffiness, and encourage gentle detoxification, especially during humid seasons.

Modern analysis shows that Alisma orientale contains alisol triterpenoids, polysaccharides, and diuretic compounds with kidney-supportive, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, and lipid-regulating effects. These constituents validate its traditional use in supporting water metabolism, urinary health, and metabolic balance.

Each batch of Water Plantain Rhizome Pieces (Alisma orientale) is carefully harvested, sliced, and dried to preserve its firm texture, pale color, and clean, damp-draining energy. When decocted, it produces a light, slightly sweet, cooling infusion traditionally used to promote urination, clear damp-heat, reduce swelling, and disperse excess lower burner fire.