Ji Zi Huang
StarGallus gallus domesticus Brisson
Traditionally used for
- Digestion
- Bowel health
- Sleep
- Mood & calm
- Heart & circulation
- Energy & fatigue
Cautions & contraindications
- Pregnancy
- Young children
- Bleeding disorders
- Allergy risk
☯ TCM Properties
Nourishes Yin and Moistens Dryness; Nourishes Yin and Extinguishes Wind; Supplements the middle and harmonizes the Stomach; Clears Deficiency Heat
Traditional Chinese Uses
Ji Zi Huang (egg yolk) is a neutral-warm, sweet food-substance used in Chinese medicine to nourish Blood and Yin, calm the Spirit, and moisten dryness. It addresses Heart and Kidney Blood and Yin deficiency with insomnia, restlessness, and palpitations. It also moistens the Intestines for constipation from dryness and provides nourishment in conditions of extreme deficiency. As a highly nutritive food substance, it appears in classical formulas for exhaustion syndromes and conditions where rapid restoration of Blood and fluids is needed.
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Ji Zi Huang is the yolk of the chicken egg (Gallus gallus domesticus), an animal product rather than a botanical material. Chickens are domesticated galliform birds of the family Phasianidae, descended principally from the red junglefowl of Southeast Asia, and have been kept globally for thousands of years for eggs and meat. The yolk is the yellow lipid-rich central portion of a freshly laid egg, separated from the surrounding albumen; it is composed largely of phospholipids, triglycerides, cholesterol, fat-soluble vitamins, and proteins including lecithin. In TCM preparation it is typically taken raw or lightly cooked.
Active Constituents
Cholesterol
SterolConcentration: Around 1085 mg per 100 g of raw yolk, roughly 185 to 215 mg in one large yolk
The yolk is one of the most cholesterol-dense foods in ordinary use. Its effect on serum LDL cholesterol is modest on average but varies markedly between individuals, so the yolk is neither the hazard once claimed nor irrelevant.
Phosphatidylcholine (lecithin)
PhospholipidConcentration: The dominant phospholipid of the yolk and the basis of its emulsifying behaviour
Gives the yolk its capacity to emulsify, which is why classical formulas stir it into a finished decoction rather than boiling it. It is also the substrate that gut bacteria convert to trimethylamine and thence to trimethylamine-N-oxide, the pathway linking yolk phosphatidylcholine to cardiovascular risk markers.
Choline
Quaternary ammonium nutrientConcentration: Around 820 mg per 100 g of raw yolk; the yolk carries essentially all of the egg's choline
The yolk is among the richest ordinary dietary sources of choline, which is required for phospholipid and acetylcholine synthesis and for methyl-group metabolism. The same abundance is what drives trimethylamine-N-oxide production by gut flora.
Lutein and zeaxanthin
Xanthophyll carotenoidsConcentration: Concentrated entirely in the yolk; absolute content varies widely with the hen's feed
Unusually bioavailable from the yolk because they are delivered in a lipid matrix. In a randomized trial, egg-yolk-based products raised serum lutein and zeaxanthin concentrations and macular pigment optical density, so this is one of the few yolk claims with direct human trial support.
Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol)
Secosteroid vitaminConcentration: Around 218 IU per 100 g of raw yolk, again varying with the hen's diet and sun exposure
One of the few naturally occurring dietary sources of vitamin D outside oily fish. The yolk carries all of the egg's fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.
Triacylglycerols rich in oleic acid
Neutral lipidsConcentration: Yolk is roughly 27 g fat per 100 g, with oleic acid the single largest fatty acid
The lipid bulk of the yolk, and the practical basis of the classical function of moistening dryness. It also carries the fat-soluble vitamins and carotenoids.
Phosvitin
PhosphoglycoproteinOne of the most heavily phosphorylated proteins known and a very strong iron chelator. It acts as an antioxidant in the yolk by sequestering iron, and the same property reduces the availability of iron consumed at the same time.
alpha-Livetin (chicken serum albumin, Gal d 5)
Serum albumin allergenThe clinically important yolk allergen. It is a heat-labile cross-reactive allergen and the basis of bird-egg syndrome, in which sensitisation to bird feathers or serum leads to reactions on eating egg. Its presence means the yolk is not a safe alternative for a patient allergic to egg white.
Immunoglobulin Y
ImmunoglobulinThe maternal antibody the hen deposits in the yolk. It is the reason yolk is used industrially as an antibody source, and it is denatured by heat, so it is present only in raw or gently warmed preparations.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Any egg-containing preparation in a patient with egg allergy or bird-egg syndrome
Egg yolk alpha-livetin, that is chicken serum albumin, later designated Gal d 5, was identified as the cross-reactive allergen responsible for bird-egg syndrome, in which people sensitised to bird feathers or serum react to egg. Practitioners sometimes assume yolk is the safe half of the egg because most of the well-known allergens are in the white; that assumption is wrong. Because alpha-livetin is heat-labile, raw or lightly warmed yolk, which is exactly how the classical preparations use it, carries more allergenic risk than fully cooked yolk.
Clinical note: Ask specifically about egg allergy and about bird keeping before prescribing Ji Zi Huang, and do not substitute yolk for whole egg in an egg-allergic patient. Remember that Latin ingredient names such as Vitellus Ovi Galli will not be recognised as egg by the patient.
Immunosuppressant therapy, and use in pregnancy, infancy or advanced age, when raw yolk is stirred into a finished decoction
The classical method of administration is the hazard. In Huang Lian E Jiao Tang the yolk is stirred raw into the strained, cooled decoction rather than boiled with it, which is essential to the intended effect but means the yolk is never brought to a temperature that would reliably kill Salmonella. The risk is that of raw egg generally, and it falls hardest on the immunosuppressed, the pregnant, infants and the frail elderly.
Clinical note: Use pasteurised egg yolk where the classical raw preparation is wanted for a patient in any of these groups, or choose a different formula. Do not tell a patient to add supermarket raw yolk to a decoction without saying why the temperature matters.
Broad-spectrum antibiotics
Intestinal bacteria convert dietary phosphatidylcholine, of which yolk is a leading source, into trimethylamine, which the liver oxidises to trimethylamine-N-oxide. In human studies, suppression of the gut flora with broad-spectrum antibiotics abolished the rise in trimethylamine-N-oxide after a phosphatidylcholine challenge, and it returned when the flora recovered. Higher trimethylamine-N-oxide concentrations were associated with increased cardiovascular event risk in the same work.
Clinical note: Not a reason to change treatment. It matters in two practical ways: trimethylamine-N-oxide measurements taken during or shortly after antibiotic therapy are not interpretable, and large habitual yolk intake is a reasonable thing to moderate in patients with established cardiovascular or chronic kidney disease.
Statins and other lipid-lowering therapy
Yolk is very cholesterol-dense, around 1085 mg per 100 g, but the response of serum LDL cholesterol to dietary cholesterol is small on average and highly variable between individuals. There is no pharmacokinetic interaction with statins; the interaction is purely one of opposing directions of effect on the same endpoint.
Clinical note: No dose change required. If a patient on a statin has an unexplained rise in LDL cholesterol, ask about egg intake among other dietary changes before adjusting therapy.
Warfarin and other vitamin K antagonists
The yolk carries all of the egg's fat-soluble vitamins including vitamin K. The quantities involved are far below those of leafy green vegetables, and no case reports of an egg-yolk-warfarin interaction were found, so this is a class-based caution about consistency of intake rather than a documented event.
Clinical note: No routine action. Advise consistency rather than avoidance if a patient begins taking yolk daily as part of a formula.
Dui Yao — Herb Pairs
The classical two-herb combinations this herb appears in, each with an action neither herb has alone.
Yin and blood are richly nourished to extinguish internal wind arising from exhausted yin.
Also paired in Huang Lian E Jiao Tang.
Core pair of a classical formula — Da Ding Feng Zhu, Wen Bing Tiao Bian (Wu Jutong)
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 3 studiesRecorded studies by study design, strongest design at the top. This is a study-design tier only, not a GRADE rating: it does not weigh risk of bias, consistency or precision.
Systematic review / meta-analysis
0
Randomized controlled trial
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
2
0 verified · 2 unverified
In vitro / animal
0
Other / unclassified
0
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
The Effect of Modified Eggs and an Egg-Yolk Based Beverage on Serum Lutein and Zeaxanthin Concentrations and Macular Pigment Optical Density: Results from a Randomized Trial
A randomized trial in which egg-yolk-based products raised serum lutein and zeaxanthin concentrations and increased macular pigment optical density, confirming that the yolk matrix delivers these carotenoids in a genuinely bioavailable form. This is the strongest direct human evidence for any specific benefit of egg yolk as a substance.
Intestinal Microbial Metabolism of Phosphatidylcholine and Cardiovascular Risk
Established the pathway from dietary phosphatidylcholine, for which egg yolk is a principal source, through gut bacterial trimethylamine production to hepatic trimethylamine-N-oxide, and linked higher trimethylamine-N-oxide concentrations to increased cardiovascular event risk in a large cohort. Suppressing the gut flora with antibiotics abolished the post-challenge rise and it returned on recovery, which is what pins the step to the microbiome.
Egg yolk α-livetin (chicken serum albumin) is a cross-reactive allergen in the bird-egg syndrome
Identified the yolk protein alpha-livetin, chicken serum albumin, as the cross-reacting allergen that links bird sensitisation to egg reactions, defining bird-egg syndrome at the molecular level. It is the reason egg yolk cannot be assumed safe in a patient who reacts to egg, and the allergen's heat lability is directly relevant to preparations that use raw yolk.
Historical Texts
Shang Han Lun
Late Han dynasty, around 200 to 220 CEBen Cao Gang Mu
Ming dynasty, 1596References
- Sophie Réhault-Godbert, Nicolas Guyot, Yves Nys. The Golden Egg: Nutritional Value, Bioactivities, and Emerging Benefits for Human Health . Nutrients (2019) [DOI]
- Xingyi Jiang, Han Mu, Yun-Hwa Peggy Hsieh, Qinchun Rao. Isolation and Characterization of Chicken Serum Albumin (Hen Egg Alpha-Livetin, Gal d 5) . Foods (2022) [DOI]
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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