In the fight against cold and flu, traditional Chinese medicine focuses on prevention, rather than treatment.1 Boosting your immune system can help your body ward off pathogens and prevent you from getting ill in the first place.
Preventive measures
Here are some excellent soup choices to help keep your body strong.2
- Qi-deficient body constitution: Chinese yam soup with licorice
- Cold body constitution: Ginger tea with perilla leaf and brown sugar
- Dryness-heat body constitution: Chinese pear and water chestnut soup
Also, a herbal drink of chrysanthemums, mint and beefsteak plants is particularly effective in preventing summer flu. During cold and flu season, tonic herbs (e.g. Cordyceps) and medicinal mushrooms (e.g. lingzhi), which generally boost the immune system, are recommended for daily consumption.1
Treating cold and flu
In Chinese medicine, treatment is about syndrome differentiation of individual patients and the synergistic effects of herbal combinations. The formula that you require depends highly on your symptoms.
- Ganluxiaodudan: A prescription that “clears heat” and “eliminates dampness” which are the characteristics of flu in hot and humid weather.3
- Gui Zhi Tang: For fever and chills, headache, nasal congestion, stiff neck, aversion to wind.4
- Yin Chiao San: For fever, sore throat, headache, and cough.4
Remember, always seek advice from a registered Chinese medicine practitioner before taking any Chinese medicines.
Sources
- http://www.cmd.gov.hk/html/eng/health_info/pamphlet/Common_Methods_for_Prevention_of_Colds_from_CM_Perspective.html
- http://www3.ha.org.hk/ehaslink/issue95/en/staffcorner-01.html
- http://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news.php?id=185473&sid=11
- http://simplehealthacupuncture.com/index.php/acupuncture-blog/137-using-chinese-herbal-medicine-to-prevent-and-treat-colds-and-flu
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