Po Chai Pills () is a

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...

product made from several

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

s formed into tiny spherical pills about 4 mm in diameter. It is used as a remedy for the relief of

indigestion Indigestion, also known as dyspepsia or upset stomach, is a condition of impaired digestion. Symptoms may include upper abdominal fullness, heartburn, nausea, belching, or upper abdominal pain. People may also experience feeling full earlier t ...

heartburn Heartburn, also known as pyrosis, cardialgia or acid indigestion, is a burning sensation in the central chest or upper central abdomen. Heartburn is usually due to regurgitation of gastric acid (gastric reflux) into the esophagus. It is the ma ...

vomiting Vomiting (also known as emesis and throwing up) is the involuntary, forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the Human nose, nose. Vomiting can be the result of ailments like Food-poisoning, foo ...

diarrhea Diarrhea, also spelled diarrhoea, is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements each day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration due to fluid loss. Signs of dehydration often begin wi ...

, and bloating. It can also be used as a hangover prevention remedy.

History

Po Chai Pills were developed by Li Shiu Kei in

Foshan Foshan (, ), alternately romanized as Fatshan, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

, in 1896. Following the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

, the Li family fled to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

and reestablished their company, Li Chung Shing Tong. However, their mainland property was nationalized. As a result, there are now two manufacturers of Po Chai Pills: *Li Chung Shing Tong (Holdings) Limited (李眾勝堂(集團)有限公司) in Hong Kong; and *Guangzhou Wanglaoji Pharmaceutical Company Limited (廣州王老吉葯業股份有限公司) in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, China. A mutual agreement between both parties has limited Wanglaoji's

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...

rights to mainland China, while Li Chung Shing Tong has the rights to use the trademark in the rest of the world. The mainland manufacturer exports them from China as Curing Pills or Bao Ji Pills. On 8 March 2010, sales of the pills and the capsule form of Po Chai from Li Chung Shing Tong were temporarily halted in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

as a precaution because traces of phenolphthalein and

sibutramine Sibutramine, formerly sold under the brand name Meridia among others, is an appetite suppressant which has been discontinued in many countries. It works as a serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor similar to a tricyclic antidepressant. Un ...

were detected by the company in batches of the capsule form of Po Chai, and were recalled. Phenolphthalein's past use for its laxative properties has been discontinued because of concerns it may be

carcinogenic A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive substan ...

. On 24 March 2010,

's Department of Health recalled both Po Chai Pills Capsule Form and Po Chai Pills Bottle Form from local retail outlets and consumers. On 11 May 2010, a licensed manufacturer in proprietary Chinese medicine, Li Chung Shing Tong (Holdings) Ltd. HK was given the green light to resume production and marketing of Po Chai Pills Bottle Form. Laboratory tests identified 11 tainted samples, all in Capsule Form, while none of the Bottle Form samples was found to contain the above two western medicines. In connection, the manufacturer has withdrawn the application for registration of Po Chai Pills Capsule Form which ceased to be produced in late March 2010.

Ingredients

The lists of known ingredients for Po Chai pills are listed as follows: The proprietary mixtures are shown on the right pictures: Po Chai Supplement Facts

* Poria cocos (茯苓, Fú-Líng) Sclerotium * Southern Tsangshu (蒼朮 (苍术), Cāng-Zhú) Rhizome * Chinese patchouli (藿香, Huò-Xiāng) herb * Fragrant Angelica (白芷 Bái-Zhǐ) Root (''

Angelica dahurica ''Angelica dahurica'', commonly known as Dahurian angelica, is a wildly grown species of angelica native to Siberia, Russia Far East, Mongolia, Northeastern China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. This species tend to grow near river banks, along str ...

'', (

Fisch. Friedrich Ernst Ludwig Fischer (20 February 1782, Halberstadt – 17 June 1854) was a Russian botanist, born in Germany. He was director of the St Petersburg botanical garden from 1823 to 1850. In 1804 he obtained his medical doctorate from the ...

Hoffm. Georg Franz Hoffmann was a German Botany, botanist and lichenology, lichenologist. He was born on 13 January 1760 in Marktbreit, Germany, and died on 17 March 1826 in Moscow, Russia. Professional career After graduating from the University of Er ...

)

Benth. George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...

Hook. Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew h ...

seu ''Angelica anomala'' Avé-Lall.) *

Kudzu Kudzu (; also called Japanese arrowroot or Chinese arrowroot) is a group of climbing, coiling, and trailing deciduous perennial vines native to much of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and some Pacific islands, but invasive species, invasive in many ...

(葛根 Gé-Gēn) root *

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

(厚朴 Hòu-Pò) root bark *Massa Fermentata (fermented mix of wheat flour, sweet annie (

Artemisia annua ''Artemisia annua'', also known as sweet wormwood, sweet annie, sweet sagewort, annual mugwort or annual wormwood (), is a common type of wormwood native to temperate Asia, but naturalized in many countries including scattered parts of North Am ...

L., 青蒿 Qīng Hāo) aerial parts, cocklebur (''

Xanthium sibiricum ''Xanthium strumarium'' (rough cocklebur, clotbur, common cocklebur, large cocklebur, woolgarie bur) is a species of annual plants of the family Asteraceae. Some sources claim it originates in southern Europe and Asia, but has been extensively na ...

'' Patrin ex Widder, 蒼耳子 Cāng'r Zǐ) aerial parts, and knotweed ('' Polygonum aviculare'' L., 萹蓄 Biǎn Xù) aerial parts (神曲 Shén Qū, Shen-Chu) ［由麵粉和青蒿蒼耳子及萹蓄的新鮮氣生部份混合發酵而成] * Job's Tears (薏米 Yì-Mǐ, 薏苡仁 Yì-Yǐ Rén) Seed *Germinated Rice ( Oryza sativa L.) (谷芽 Gǔ-Yá, 粟芽 Sù-Yá) seed *Field Mint ( Mentha haplocalyx Briq.) (薄荷 Bó-Hé) herb *

Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums (), sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants of the genus ''Chrysanthemum'' in the family Asteraceae. They are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia and the center ...

(菊花 Jú-Huā) flower *Red pomelo (

Citrus grandis The pomelo ( ), ''Citrus maxima'', is the largest citrus fruit from the family Rutaceae and the principal ancestor of the grapefruit. It is a natural, non-hybrid, citrus fruit, native to Southeast Asia. Similar in taste to a sweet grapefru ...

Osbeck) (橘紅 Jú-Hóng, Chu-Hung) Peel *Halloysitum rubrum mineral (赤石脂 Chì Shí Zhī), Red Kaolin *Rhizoma Atractylodis (root) *Fructus Oryzae sativae germinatus/sprout *Herba Menthae (leaves) *Sclerotium Poriae cocos *Radix Puerariae (root) *Herba Agastaches (leaves) *Exocarpium

Citri This list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names is intended to help those unfamiliar with classical languages to understand and remember the scientific names of organisms. The binomial nomenclature used for animals and plants i ...

/tangerined red part *Cortex Magnoliae officinalis (bark) *Massa Fermentata/Leaven (and several leaves)

Endangered species

Some Po Chai pills contains ''

Saussurea costus ''Dolomiaea costus'', formerly known as ''Saussurea costus'', commonly known as costus, Indian costus, kuth, or putchuk, is a species of thistle in the genus '' Dolomiaea'' native to South Asia and China. Rishi (Hindu) mystics of Kashmir especia ...

'' (syn. Dolomiaea costus, Aucklandia costus, 木香), listed on the label as ''Radix Aucklandiae'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "aucklandia root"), which is endangered in the wild and listed in

CITES CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

Appendix I.CITES Biennial Report
/ref> As such, CITES permits or certificates are required for international trade in the product (including if the origin of the ''

Dolomiaea costus ''Dolomiaea costus'', formerly known as ''Saussurea costus'', commonly known as costus, Indian costus, kuth, or putchuk, is a species of thistle in the genus '' Dolomiaea'' native to South Asia and China. Rishi (Hindu) mystics of Kashmir especia ...

'' was artificially propagated).

References

{{Reflist

External links

Po Chai Pills & Li Chung Shing Tong homepage

www.scmp.com
Traditional Chinese medicine pills