Herb module
Shan Zha
Hawthorn FruitCrataegus pinnatifida
A tart red mountain fruit that helps move a heavy, overfull belly and keeps Blood flowing smoothly.
Shan Zha is the dried fruit of Chinese hawthorn, a sour little berry with a long history in both the kitchen and the herb cabinet. In Traditional Chinese Medicine it is used to break up food that sits too long in the digestive tract and to keep Blood moving. That is why Zoi places it near the top of Metabolic Balance™ and Digestive Relief | Édafos™, and lists it first in Heart Meridian™.
Best functions
- Used to reduce and guide out food stagnation, the heavy, stuck feeling after a rich meal
- Traditionally transforms accumulations and dissipates clumps
- Invigorates the Blood and helps move Blood stasis
- Used to stop diarrhea
- Research has looked at its effects on blood fats, circulation, and the protective lining of the stomach
Fascinating facts
- In Chinese, Shan means mountain, so the name points to a hawthorn that grows on hillsides.
- In China, hawthorn is a favorite snack. Candied hawthorn on a stick and thin, sweet haw flakes are childhood treats for many people.
- Shan Zha is sometimes charred before use. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this charred form is valued for a slightly different role than the plain dried fruit.
- Zoi's notes describe its traditional role in dissolving fat accumulations, and researchers have studied compounds in the fruit called OPCs for their effects on blood flow to the heart.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine
Shan Zha is slightly warm in nature, with a sour and sweet flavor. It is a Blood-regulating herb that enters the Liver, Spleen, and Stomach channels.
Biomedical deep dive
Shan Zha Hawthorn Fruit
From the Zoi Medicinals fact sheets’ Biomedical Details, with lines from Noa’s herb notes marked “Noa’s notes”.
On the fact sheet
- Shan Zha (Hawthorn Fruit, Crataegus pinnatifida) is slightly warm and enters the LIV, SP and ST channels; reduces and guides out food stagnation, transforms accumulations and blood stasis, invigorates the Blood, dissipates clumps, and stops diarrhea. Metabolic Balance · Digestive Relief | Édafos · Heart Meridian sheets
Key active constituents
The fact sheets don’t name constituents for this herb.
Pharmacology and mechanisms
- Hawthorn fruit is among the Édafos and Metabolic Balance herbs that have exhibited gastro-protective (stomach-lining-protecting) properties.
- Effects noted for hawthorn include anti-cardiac remodeling (limiting harmful changes in heart wall and chamber size), anti-platelet (blood-thinning) effects and cardioprotection (Wang et al., Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2013).
- Oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs, key compounds) are cardioprotective, improving coronary blood flow and reducing angina. Noa’s notes
- Lowers blood pressure through ACE inhibition and nitric-oxide-driven vasodilation (vessel widening). Noa’s notes
- Hypolipidemic: lowered LDL cholesterol and triglycerides in clinical trials. Noa’s notes
What the research says
- A review of lab and clinical trials found significant benefits in symptoms and outcomes when hawthorn was used with conventional care for congestive heart failure (Wang et al., Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2013).
- Hawthorn fruit is approved by China's drug and food regulator for high blood lipids and is the most popular Traditional Chinese Medicine option for high cholesterol (Dehghani et al., Iran J Basic Med Sci 2019).
- Hawthorn fruit lowered blood sugar and showed anti-obesity effects in many animal studies (Dehghani et al., Iran J Basic Med Sci 2019).
- Hawthorn berry extract lowered blood sugar, cholesterol and triglycerides in animals; studies also report benefits to blood lipids and digestion (Dehghani et al., Iran J Basic Med Sci 2019).
- With Dan Shen, wolfberry, schisandra, Polygala and Acorus, hawthorn showed anti-anxiety and antidepressant effects in animal and other studies (Nitzan et al., Transl Psychiatry 2022).
- One animal study found hawthorn fruit extract worked similarly to escitalopram, an SSRI antidepressant (Nitzan et al., Transl Psychiatry 2022).
Safety, interactions and cautions
- Every Zoi fact sheet: do not use if pregnant or breastfeeding unless directed by your health care practitioner.
- The Metabolic Balance fact sheet cautions that the formula may be contraindicated with prescription blood thinners or anti-diabetic drugs.
- Avoid on an empty stomach; use caution with gastric ulcers or excess stomach acid. Noa’s notes
- Use caution in pregnancy. Noa’s notes
- May strengthen blood pressure and heart medicines; use caution with digoxin. Noa’s notes
- Metabolic Balance™ is not for everyday use in children. It can be used short term to support the gut with parasites or gut infections in children, at 1 dropper full 3x per day. Always review an infection with your physician.
In these Zoi formulas
- ★ Metabolic Balance (#3 on the fact sheet)
- ★ Heart Meridian (#1 on the fact sheet)
- Digestive Relief | Édafos (#4 on the fact sheet)
