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Taking Chinese herbal medicine for the flu was, I used to think, a crazy idea.
I have a brother who does that and seriously, I felt he was crazy. Like most people in modern societies, I was brought up to believe that diseases like the flu are caued by viruses and that medical doctors are the most qualified people to deal with such diseases.
After all, what do Chinese physicians know about bacteria and viruses?
Do they know the difference between bird flu and swine flu, or Spanish flu and Hong Kong flu? Between H1N1 and H5N1? Or the difference between flu and strange new diseases like SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome)?
They probably don't know.But guess what? They don't need to know. All they need to know is how to restore the body back to its optimal working conditon. And the flu, SARS or other diseases will be automatically taken care of.
Changed attitude
My attitude towards Chinese herbal medicine changed completely in 1985 after I consulted a Chinese sinseh (physician) for the first time. That year, I had discovered natural health and, among other things, started to drink several mugs of carrot juice a day and also regularly ate only fruits or salads for my meals.
My health did improve and I stopped getting the flu so often. Before that, I was very sickly and getting the flu every two to four weeks. I was constantly seeing the doctor and taking antibiotics and all sorts of drugs.
But not all was well. One cold rainy night, I had a salad for dinner and woke up in the middle of the night with an asthma attack, even though I was not previously asthmatic. The bigger problem was that a developed a rash that would appear every evening, around my abdomen and inner thighs.
This went on for months and it left my doctor scratching his head. He did not know what to do... until one day, he suggested that I consult a Chinese sinseh.
What impressed me at the onset was that, while my doctor scratched his head and could not understand my rash, the Chinese physician seemed to know exactly what was going on. He did not say anything special, just remarks like "very poor blood circulation". But he said it with full confidence and demonstrated that he understood my body conditon.
I became instantly converted to Chinese herbal medicine. And as I read up more about natural health and about the shortcomings of modern drug-based medicine, I lost confidence in the medical system.
I remember another incident that greatly impressed me. One day, after feeling my pulse (pulse diagnosis), my Chinese sinseh asked if lately I had been having very vivid dreams. How did he know? Wow!
Chinese herbal medicine for the flu
Acid is formed when elements combine with hydrogen (H).And so I began to consult the Chinese sinseh on a regular basis. Although I no longer caught the flu often, I still got it now and then. And I saw how differently Chinese herbal medicine approached the flu.
Alkaline-forming foods are those that do not combine with hydrogen.As mentioned earlier, the Chinese physician is not concerned about names like avian flu or swine flu. He does not even care if I have the flu or some other condition. For ease of communication, I might tell him that I "have the flu" but that is not really what he needs to know.
Instead, he would find out if my body condition had been heaty or cooling, damp or dry, or whether I have 'wind' (I usually do). He does this through pulse diagnosis by feeling my pulse, looking at my tongue and asking simple questions like whether I have a sore thoat, what is the colour of my phelgm or how is my appetite.
Concepts like heaty and cooling, damp and dry, and wind, may seem strange to those unfamiliar with Chinese herbal medicine. Yet they can be easily related to.
There are times when we feel warm or hot inside the body. The Chinese know this "heaty" feeling well and throughout Chinese communities in Asia, "cooling" herbal teas are commonly sold - even as canned soft drinks like chrysanthenum and "grasss jelly" - to counter this condition.
And there are times when we feel cold even in hot weather. For example, I usd to have to sleep with a blanket even though I live in the tropics and do not have air-conditioning. This showed that my condition was cold. Likewise, certain foods like beef or mutton or brandy make you feel warm. Other foods like water melon or green tea make you feel cool.
If you have a cough that sounds hard, and have very thick, dry phelgm, your condition is dry. If your cough sounds wheezy and your phelgm is watery, even bubbly, your condition is damp. And so on. If you burp or fart a lot, well, you have excessive wind.
Based on these assessments, the Chinese physician would prescribe a combination of Chinese herbal medicine. It usually comprises 12, 16 or more different herbs but my Chinese sinseh tells me that those who are really good in the art can cure ailments with just two or three herbs.
Different people will get different herbal mixtures, depending on their body conditon - not depending on the name of the virus that they had "caught". Chinese herbal medicine contradicts the germ theory of disease, For the basis of Chinese herbal medicine is that sickness is due to our body condition and not due to which germ we happen to catch.
Personal experiences with Chinese herbal medicine
The mixture of Chinese herbal medicine needs to be mixed with about four bowls of water, brought to a boil and them simmered until one bowl is left. This may not seem very precise compared with instructions like, for example, "simmer for one and a half hours". But then, depending on the fire and the pot, different people who brew their medicine for the same period would end up with different concentrations. So the instructions are about as specific as they can get,
The resulting brew is usually black or dark brown and the taste is not great. Occasionally, the colour s lighter and that is when the taste is usually better. But one gets used to it after a while.
What I usually experience with Chinese herbal medicine, however, is that I recover quickly. The medicine is usually taken at night and re-brewed for a second course the next day. After taking the medicine, I usually find myself waking up feeling fresher and more energetic (or at least feeling less tired).
I never remember feeling this way when I took antibiotics and other drugs prescribed by the doctor. If at all, those drugs tendd to make me feel weaker and more tired.
What I do remember very clearly about taking pharmaceutical drugs is that my runny nose would become a blocked nose, with mucus so thick that I can hardly breathe. This does not happen when I take Chinese herbal medicine for the flu. My runny nose just stops being runny.
Unusual
There is another unusual experience with Chinese herbal medicine that I would like to (or at least do not mind to) share. Once, my regular Chinese sinseh was out of town when I had a bad flu. I remember feeling so weak at that time that I was walking very slowly. I could not catch up with my sister, who is 19 years older than me at age 70+ and also sick at that time. She took me to a Buddhist Free Clinic, which also dispensed Chinese herbal medicine, near our home.
It was not totally free, but we were at liberty to pay any amount we wished for the medicine. Instead of the usual bag of herbs to brew, I was given a bottle of ready-brewed Chinese herbal medicine. My understanding was that such ready brews are not as effective as herbs that we brew on our own. But my regular Chinese sinseh was not available, so I took this as "second best".
I was surprised. That night, after taking the medicine, I woke up in the middle of the night with a hard on. I never ever had this before when I had the flu. To me, this was a sure sign that my health had improved. And that the Chinese herbal medicine was effective!