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      Participants at a taichi wushu festival, Dalian, 2009.

      CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE

      Chinese herbs are generally classified into food and medicinal herbs. Food herbs are eaten with food or added to dishes to strengthen, nourish and maintain health. For example, Chinese wolfberries or goji berries are often steeped in tea or added to soups to give general nourishment or when nursing oneself back to health after an illness.

      When the Chinese get sick, they often take traditional Chinese medicine as prescribed by a traditional Chinese doctor. Medicinal herbs are much the same as food herbs but are taken differently, usually in greater quantities and often in the form of a tea. There are more than a thousand common herbs used for colds, flu, bronchitis and a variety of other ailments.

      Most formulas consists of 10–15 different herbs selected to work together to treat a particular illness. In general, one bag of the prescribed herbs is boiled twice a day and drunk as a tea, once in the morning and again at night after the water has been topped up. The next day, a new bag of herbs is used. Doctors will tell you when to drink the herbs, either before or after meals, what you can and cannot eat when taking them, and how to prepare them. They may explain a little about the formula, such as which herbs are used for what purposes, but sometimes these formulas are a secret and the doctor will not tell you exactly what is in them.

      The Chinese herbs below are very commonly used in China and abroad:

      Ban Lan Gen or Isatis Root This is probably the most common Chinese medicinal herb in China and has been used for 2,000 years. It is sometimes translated as indigo woad root, Chinese indigo or isatis root. It is the root of the isatis plant and is also a source of indigo dye. It is commonly used for treating common colds, sore throats and other nose and sinus infections. It is said to fight viruses and bacterial infections and reduce fever and swelling. It was used by many Chinese during the SARS epidemic that swept the country in 2002–3.

      Huang Qi or Astragalus Root This common Chinese medicinal herb is also a root frequently used to treat colds, flu and other respiratory infections. It is also effective in treating chronic hepatitis and is said to stimulate the spleen, liver, lungs, circulatory and urinary systems, and to treat arthritis, asthma, low blood pressure and low blood sugar. It is usually taken in combination with other herbs depending on the patient’s condition.

      Gan Cao or Licorice Root This sweet root is often used in conjunction with other herbs to offset the bitterness found in many herbal recipes. It is often used for digestive problems as it promotes the secretion of insulin, protects the liver from toxins and is anti-ulcer. It is also used to reduce inflammation and allergic reactions and poisoning. It is used to treat some kinds of cancer and HIV and to fight viruses and bacteria.