A cupboard supply
Gui Zhi Tang 6 Pack
6 bottles · 360 tablets · 4 a day, in short spells
Gui Zhi Tang is a first-shiver formula for when Wind-Cold is said to sit at the surface, so it's taken for a day or two, then stopped. Six bottles is a stock for the whole household's chilly spells. Why take it over weeks
- Regular price
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£132.30 - Regular price
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£147.00 - Sale price
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£132.30
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- 5:1 strength
- DaoDi herbs
- Vegan & gluten-free
- GMP certified
- Free UK delivery £40+
A formula for the first shiver, not for months
Zhang Zhongjing was quite precise about this one. Take it warm, follow it with thin rice porridge, wrap up, and once a light sweat comes, stop. If the first dose did its job, he said, don't bother finishing the rest. That's a very different rhythm from a tonic. Gui Zhi Tang belongs to the earliest stage of his scheme, when the trouble's still on the outside, so it was used briefly, at the moment you go shivery and clammy and want a jumper. Six bottles aren't a ninety-day plan. They're a cupboard stock for the turn of the seasons.
That makes sharing sensible. One house, a few people, a few chilly autumn evenings each. Keep one bottle where you'll find it and the rest sealed. And if what began as a shiver turns into a fever, a chest that won't clear or anything lasting more than a few days, that's one for your GP.
For short spells, with breaks in between
Using it when the weather bites
At the first shiver
A day or two
Two in the morning, two in the evening, with something warm to eat or drink. Wrap up and rest, as Zhang suggested all those centuries ago.
Once you feel yourself
Stop
No need to carry on. The classical instructions said to stop once a light, all-over sweat had come. Back in the cupboard it goes, until the next cold snap.
If it hangs on
More than a few days
A high temperature, a cough that settles on your chest or anything that lingers isn't a cupboard job. That's your GP's department (or 111, if you can't decide).
Pregnant, breastfeeding or on any medication? Then it's your GP first, please. There's a fair old dose of liquorice in here too, and liquorice can nudge blood pressure up and potassium down. High blood pressure, water tablets (diuretics), heart medicine? Have a word with your GP or pharmacist before you start, we'd much rather you did.
Choosing between them
Gui Zhi Tang and two of its relations
Loads of formulas grew out of Gui Zhi Tang, it's practically the granny of the lot. These two share its book or its herbs, but not its job.
This page
Gui Zhi Tang
Taiyang wind strike: Wind-Cold at the surface, chilly yet slightly sweaty, dodging draughts. Cinnamon opens, peony holds, and it's only taken briefly.
The next stage in
Xiao Chai Hu Tang
Also from the Shang Han Lun, for when things are stuck halfway in: hot and cold by turns, a bitter mouth, off your food.
See Xiao Chai Hu TangPeony and liquorice
Shao Yao Gan Cao Tang
Two of Gui Zhi Tang's five herbs on their own, used not for the surface but for sinews that feel tight, tugging and gripping.
See Shao Yao Gan Cao TangWhat's in the box
Six bottles of Gui Zhi Tang
Every bottle is the same: 60 tablets of the formula on our single bottle page, so 4 a day gives you 15 days a bottle.
| Gui Zhi Neolitsea cassia | 628mg |
| Bai Shao Paeonia lactiflora | 628mg |
| Sheng Jiang Zingiber officinale | 136mg |
| Da Zao Ziziphus jujuba | 426mg |
| Gan Cao Glycyrrhiza glabra | 426mg |
Also contains: Cassava starch, Hypromellose, Magnesium stearate, Polyethylene glycol, Talc.
Living with six bottles
The practical bits
Storing them
Somewhere cool and dry, out of direct sun. Leave the bottles you're not using sealed until you need them.
Best before
Every bottle carries its own best-before date on the label, so check the one you open next.
Delivery
Order before 3pm on a weekday and it goes out the same day from Essex. UK delivery is free on orders over £40.
Changed your mind?
Sealed, unopened bottles can be returned within 14 days of delivery. The details are in our refund policy.
Verified Loox reviews
What people say about Gui Zhi Tang
Absolutely excellent in treating hormone imbalances
Kiran S., verified buyerBeing able to get TCM supplements from a company that is both responsive and trustworthy is really reassuring. All Aura Nutrition needs is a better delivery partner so I don't have to pester their lovely people to get Parcelforce…
Anne K., verified buyerI have had really good results with Gui Zhi Tang. Very few things help with Palmoplantar Pustullosis and it is not only unsightly but also extremely painful. It was vaguely helpful in the first couple of weeks of use and then the…
Anne K., verified buyerGui Zhi Tang: your questions
Is Gui Zhi Tang for colds?
It's not a cold treatment, no. Historically, though? It turns up a lot when people talk about that first shivery, clammy bit of a cold, when you just want a jumper and the sofa. Herbalists matched it to the Wind-Cold picture rather than to the cold itself. A high temperature, breathing trouble or anything that lingers is one for your GP.
Does the season matter?
In the tradition, yes. It was an autumn and early spring formula, for the days when the wind has a bite and you've been caught out in the wrong coat. Hot, humid summer days were a different story, and herbalists reached for other formulas then. So it's one to have in the cupboard by October, really.
What if I feel hot rather than chilly?
Then it's probably not the right match, by the old rules. Gui Zhi Tang was for chilly and slightly clammy. Feeling hot, with a sore throat and no chill at all, was a Wind-Heat picture calling for cooler formulas, while a hard chill with no sweat at all pointed to a different recipe in Zhang's book. Not sure? A herbalist can help you sort it out.
Who traditionally took it?
Mostly ordinary, reasonably sturdy people who'd been caught by a cold wind, plus those whose surface was said to be a bit thin to begin with: the sort who sweat at the slightest effort and feel every breeze. It was thought of as mild enough for older people too, which is part of why it's lasted eighteen hundred years.
Should I take all six bottles in a row?
No. It's the same Gui Zhi Tang as the single bottle, just six of them, and it's a short-spell formula. At four a day one bottle would last fifteen days, far longer than you'd usually need it at a stretch. Think of the pack as a winter's stock for the house, each bottle with its own best-before date.
Gui Zhi Tang, six bottles at once
Back to the 6 pack