Shu Mi
StarPanicum miliaceum L.
Synonyms: Milium panicum Mill., Panicum milium Pers., Leptoloma miliacea (L.) Smyth
☯ TCM Properties
Tonifies Qi and tonifies the Spleen and Stomach; Relieve restlessness, removes toxicity and relieves thirst
Traditional Chinese Uses
Shu Mi is the grain of broomcorn (proso) millet, Panicum miliaceum, a food-grade substance used as a gentle Qi-tonifying and digestive remedy. Sweet with a warm (some sources slightly cool for the glutinous form) nature, it enters the Spleen, Stomach, and Lung channels. It tonifies the Qi and harmonizes and strengthens the Spleen and Stomach, making it suitable for fatigue, digestive weakness, and diarrhea from Spleen deficiency. It also relieves restlessness (irritability), resolves toxicity, and relieves thirst, and is used for nausea and vomiting.
As a mild, nourishing grain it is most often prepared as a decoction or cooked into a warm porridge (congee) for convalescence and to ease excessive thirst; externally the cooked grain has been applied to scalds and mouth sores.
Western Herbalism Properties
Botanical Description
Shu Mi is the grain of Panicum miliaceum (Poaceae), broomcorn or proso millet, an erect annual grass 40 to 120 centimetres tall with cylindrical, often hairy culms and swollen nodes. The linear-lanceolate leaf blades are rough and softly hairy, with hairy sheaths. Unlike the dense bristly spike of foxtail millet, the inflorescence is a loose, open, often nodding panicle 10 to 30 centimetres long, its slender drooping branches bearing bristleless, ovoid spikelets each with a single fertile floret. The rounded grain, about 3 millimetres across, may be white, cream, yellow, red or brown when hulled. A drought-hardy short-season cereal, its dried seed is used as food and medicine.
A cultivated dry-farming cereal of warm-temperate croplands, tolerant of drought and poor soils; grown across northern China and Eurasia, occasionally persisting as a weed of fields.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 6-12g | Daily | — | — | — |
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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