The basic effects of Cistanche are tonifying kidney yang, benefiting essence and blood, moistening the intestines and relaxing the bowels. It can be used in treating kidney yang deficiency, fear of cold, constipation and dryness of intestines. Cistanchis was first published in the Divine Husbandman’s Classic of the Materia Medica. It enters the kidney meridian, warms kidney yang, benefits essence and blood, warms the waist and knees, and cures impotence. It is used in treating coldness and fear of cold, lumbar and knee soreness due to deficiency of kidney yang and essence and blood, impotence and spermatorrhea, etc. It can be used together with ripened dihuang (Radix Rehmanniae Praeparata), Epimedium breviscum (Epimedium breviscapae), and antler gum (Antler Gelatinum). Cistanchis is good at sliding the large intestine and lowering fecal matter. It is suitable for post-partum blood deficiency, elderly with kidney deficiency and intestinal dryness, and constipation after illness with insufficient fluid, and can be combined with honey, Angelica sinensis, and Polygonum multiflorum. The adverse effects of Cistanchis are not clear. It is not suitable for people with solid heat in stomach and intestines and constipation due to heat knot, and is not recommended for people with yin deficiency (deficiency of yin essence in the body and hyperactivity of deficiency fire) and loose stools (thin and unshaped feces) and diarrhea. Drugs must be used under the guidance of a doctor, do not blindly self-medication.