Many people wake up in the morning with a bitter, dry mouth, feeling as if their throat has been scorched by fire, which is very uncomfortable. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is said that our body has "three fires": liver fire, stomach fire, and heart fire. Today, I will explain how to distinguish between these three types of fire.

First is liver fire. The manifestation of liver fire is a symptom of stagnant liver qi, characterized by irritability and a quick temper, a bitter mouth and dry throat, dry eyes, elevated blood pressure, dizziness, and headaches. This situation is a problem of stagnant liver qi transforming into fire. For the bitter mouth caused by liver fire, Longdan Xiegan Wan can be used to clear the liver fire and resolve this issue.

Next is stomach fire. Excessive stomach fire is mostly caused by internal heat due to yin deficiency. When stomach yin is insufficient, fire and heat are generated within the stomach, leading to symptoms such as rapid digestion with frequent hunger, acid reflux, a churning sensation in the stomach, bad breath, and mouth ulcers. This is a typical case of stomach fire disturbing the upper body. Baihu Decoction can be used to clear stomach fire and nourish stomach yin.

Finally, there is heart fire. This is mostly caused by insufficient heart yin and a deficiency of heart yin and blood, leading to hyperactive heart fire. In the oral cavity, this first manifests as a dry and bitter taste, often accompanied by symptoms such as insomnia, yellow urine, and burning pain during urination. In such cases, lotus seed embryos (Lian Zi Xin) and Coptis chinensis (Huang Lian) can be selected to purge heart fire.

Do you understand now?