Tell your healthcare providers about any dietary supplements you’re taking, such as herbs, vitamins, minerals, and natural or home remedies. This will help them manage your care and keep you safe.
Bao He Wan is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula. It’s made up of 8 different herbs.
Bao He Wan is used to treat:
Indigestion
Nausea (feeling like you’re going to throw up)
Vomiting (throwing up)
Diarrhea (loose or watery bowel movements).
Constipation (difficult or infrequent bowel movements)
Acid reflux
Abdominal pain
Bloating
Talk with your healthcare providers before taking herbal formulas. They can interact with some medications and affect how they work. For more information, read the “What else do I need to know?” section below.
Side effects have not been reported.
Talk with your healthcare provider if you’re pregnant. BHW may not be safe for you.
Talk with your healthcare provider if you have gluten allergy. BHW contains wheat and barley sprouts.
For Healthcare Professionals
A traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula, Bao He Wan (BHW) has a long history of use for improving digestion. Documented in Tanxi Xinfa, itcomprises eight herbs: Shan Zha (Chinese Hawthorn fruit), Shen Qu (Medicated leaven), Lai Fu Zi (Radish seed), Chen Pi (Aged Tangerine peel), Zhi Ban Xia (Prepared Pinellia Corm), Fu Ling (Poria mushroom), Lian Qiao (Forsythia fruit) and Mai Ya (Barley sprouts).
A large study found BHW to be among the commonly prescribed herbal formulas for gastrointestinal disorders in post-surgery colon cancer patients (1).
In preclinical studies, the constituents of BHW were shown to promote gastric emptying, increase gastric acid secretion, and exert anti-ulcer effects (2). In mice that were fed a high-protein and high-fat diet, BHW conferred anti-diarrheal effect by modulating the intestinal composition of lactase-producing bacteria (3); by inhibiting the growth of conditionally pathogenic bacteria Ralstonia in the intestinal mucosa (4); and by improving activities of various digestive enzymes including protease and amylase (5). Furthermore, BHW was found to normalize enzymatic activity after cessation of diarrhea (6).
BHW was also shown to reduce total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels in rats that were fed a high-fat diet by modulating bacterial composition (7).
Clinical trials are needed to determine the efficacy of BHW against digestive issues.
Indigestion
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Constipation
Acid reflux
Abdominal pain
Bloating
Do not take BHW if you are pregnant as it contains hawthorn.
Do not take BHW if you have gluten allergy because it contains wheat and barley sprouts (8).
Shao HQ, He L, Xiao NQ, Xie GZ, Tan ZJ. Establishment of a mouse model of diarrhea with gastrointestinal food stagnation syndrome and the efficacy of baohe wan. Shih-chen Kuo I Kuo Yao. 2022;33:10-15.
Li YB, Ma XL, Li ZG, Jia HH, Liang Y, Hao GM. Effects of baohe pills on blood lipid in SD rats with a high-fat diet on the basis of intestinal microbiota. World Chin Med. 2018;13:2107–2110+2116.
