ANYTHING THAT INCREASES the efficiency of the healing system or helps it neutralize harmful influences will increase the probability of spontaneous healing. Tonics are natural products that do just this, and they are one of my special interests. In the sense of a strengthening or invigorating medicine, the word “tonic” derives from a Greek word meaning “stretch.” Tonics stretch or tone our systems in the way physical exercise tones our muscles. Working the body—subjecting it to graduated tension followed by relaxation—increases natural resilience, an essential quality of health, because it determines our responsiveness to environmental stress. The more resilient we are, the greater our ability to bounce back from any kind of stress or injury.
Tonic medicines are now in very low repute among most practitioners of conventional Western medicine. They conjure up images of snake-oil salesmen hawking nostrums from painted wagons, and antique posters advertising patent liquids containing opium and alcohol. Today’s doctors prefer magic bullets—drugs that exert specific effects in specific diseases by known biochemical mechanisms. They do not like panaceas—remedies with very general effects, said to be good for whatever ails you, whose mechanisms of action are at best obscure. Attitudes are very different among practitioners of traditional medicine in the East, where tonics are held in high esteem and both doctors and patients are willing to pay large sums for natural products believed to augment internal resilience and resistance.
An outstanding example of such a product is ginseng, obtained from species in the genus Panax, whose name comes from the same root as “panacea,” that is, “allheal.” (Panacea, incidentally, was another daughter of Asklepios, the god of medicine in Greek mythology.) Demand for ginseng has always greatly exceeded supply, with the result that many adulterated and imitation products are on the market while prices for the best qualities of authentic material are sensationally high. Many Asians esteem ginseng as an invigorating tonic; some say it should be reserved for old age. Used regularly, it increases energy, vitality, and sexual vigor, improves skin and muscle tone, and confers resistance to stress of all sorts. Since it is generally nontoxic, it meets all the requirements of a useful tonic. I often recommend it to chronically ill patients and to those who are debilitated or lacking in vitality.
I also use and recommend a number of other tonics, some of them more familiar than others. I will describe those I recommend most frequently, having selected them for effectiveness, safety, and availability. Even if you are not chronically ill, debilitated, or lacking in vitality, you might want to experiment with this interesting category of natural remedies. They cannot hurt you, and given the threat of environmental toxicity from so many different sources, it is worth knowing about substances that can enhance immunity and resistance, functions central to the efficient operation of the healing system. I begin with the familiar ones and move on to the exotics.
Garlic (Allium sativum), the most pungent member of the onion family, is a central flavoring ingredient in many of the world’s cuisines. It is equally esteemed as a medicinal plant in many cultures, and recent research has documented some of the healing properties attributed to it in folk medicine. Garlic is a rich source of sulfur-containing compounds with biological activity; although a number of controlled experiments demonstrate the plant’s health benefits, it is not yet known just which compounds are responsible. The effects of garlic are numerous and varied, affecting many systems of the body that participate in healing; in my view the breadth of garlic’s actions justifies categorizing it as a true tonic.
Some of its most dramatic effects are on the cardiovascular system. It lowers blood pressure by more than one mechanism, mimicking some of the newest antihypertensive drugs without their tendency to cause impotence, headaches, and other toxic effects. I have known people who have controlled moderate hypertension just by eating garlic every day. In addition, garlic lowers cholesterol and blood fats (triglycerides) while increasing the protective (HDL) fraction of total cholesterol and reducing the susceptibility of LDL cholesterol to oxidize. (Oxidation of LDL cholesterol is the first step in the process by which it damages arterial walls.) Finally, garlic reduces the clotting tendency of the blood by inhibiting the readiness of platelets to aggregate—i.e., to clump together. Platelet aggregation on roughened walls of arteries damaged by atherosclerosis commonly initiates the formation of blood clots that lead to heart attacks and strokes. For all of these reasons garlic appears to offer significant protection from cardiovascular disease. (Epidemiologists think that its routine consumption in parts of Spain and Italy may contribute to lower-than-expected incidence of atherosclerotic disease in those regions.)
In unrelated activity, garlic also acts as a powerful antiseptic and antibiotic, counteracting the growth of many kinds of bacteria and fungi that cause disease in humans. Furthermore, it enhances activity of the immune system, increasing numbers of natural killer cells that check the spread of cancers. Several studies show garlic to be an anticancer agent, again suggesting several different mechanisms. In addition to stimulating immune activity, it appears to block the formation of some carcinogens in the gut and protect DNA from damage by other carcinogens. Miscellaneous effects of garlic include protecting liver and brain cells from degenerative changes (probably as a result of its content of antioxidant compounds) and lowering blood sugar.
You can get all of these benefits simply by adding garlic to your food in any form. You can also buy a variety of garlic supplements: oil-filled capsules, capsules of “deodorized” oil, or tablets. Although the safety of garlic as a culinary herb is clear, we have no data on the safety of long-term use of concentrated extracts. One caution is that they might lead to bleeding problems in persons being treated with anticoagulant drugs, including aspirin. The effectiveness of garlic supplements is also unknown; manufacturers make many claims and try to disparage competing products, but we really do not even know how many of garlic’s health benefits depend on its odoriferous constituents, so it is difficult to say whether the deodorized products work well or not.
My personal recommendation is to eat more fresh garlic. Mash it raw into salad dressing, cook it lightly in olive oil to flavor pasta, and, in general, add it near the end of cooking to enjoy its flavor. I grow garlic in my garden, planting individual cloves in September and harvesting big bulbs in May that keep for many months. I cannot imagine life without garlic and consider it one of the best general tonics for the healing system.
Like garlic, ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a familiar culinary spice that has long enjoyed a strong reputation as a medicinal plant. (The specific epithet officinale in a botanical name indicates the plant’s official status in medicine of the past.) From ancient times doctors in both China and India regarded it as a superior medicine, adding it to combination remedies for its tonifying and spiritually uplifting properties. Today people in many different parts of the world value it for its warming effect and ability to stimulate digestion, settle upset stomachs, and relieve aches and pains. In recent years a great deal of medical research, much of it in Japan and Europe, has documented remarkable therapeutic effects of ginger and its components; American doctors tend to be unaware of these studies. The chemistry of ginger is quite complex, with more than four hundred compounds known to contribute to the plant’s fragrance, taste, and biological activity. Much of the focus of research has been on two groups of these—gingerols and shogaols—that give ginger its pungent taste. In addition, the “root” (actually a rhizome) contains enzymes and antioxidants that are probably also key components.
The tonic effects of ginger on the digestive system are clear: it improves the digestion of proteins, is an effective treatment for nausea and motion sickness, strengthens the mucosal lining of the upper GI tract in a way that protects against formation of ulcers, and has a wide range of action against intestinal parasites. Chinese cooks use fresh ginger in most dishes because they believe it neutralizes undesirable qualities of other ingredients, especially fish and meat, that might produce indigestion.
Other well-studied actions of ginger affect the production and deployment of a group of biological response moderators called eicosanoids, which mediate healing and immunity. The body synthesizes these important compounds from essential fatty acids and uses them to regulate critical cellular functions. Three principal categories of eicosanoids—prostaglandins, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes—are much in the news as subjects of ongoing research. Imbalances in eicosanoid synthesis and release underlie many common illnesses, from arthritis and peptic ulcer to the increased platelet aggregation that can trigger heart attacks and strokes. Ginger modulates this system in ways that reduce abnormal inflammation and clotting. It may be as effective as some of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that are now so popular, but much less toxic because it protects the lining of the stomach instead of damaging it. It is as a modulator of eicosanoid synthesis that ginger may be most helpful to the healing system.
Additionally, ginger tones the circulatory system and has anticancer effects, blocking the tendency of some carcinogens to cause mutations in DNA.
You can take ginger in the form of the fresh rhizome or as candied slices, honey-based syrups, or encapsulated extracts. A simple and delightful preparation is ginger tea: for an individual serving, put one-half teaspoon of freshly grated rhizome into a cup of boiling water, cover the pot, and steep for ten to fifteen minutes. Strain, add honey to taste, and drink hot or iced. You can buy honey-based ginger syrups in health food stores and add them to hot or cold water for an instant beverage, or you can make your own by adding one part of fresh, grated ginger to three parts of raw honey; keep this in the refrigerator.
When ginger is dried, its chemistry changes; in particular, the gingerols, which are abundant in the fresh rhizome, convert to the more pungent shogaols. These two classes of compounds may have different properties, with shogaols having more powerful anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. Therefore, it might be wise to use more than one form of ginger, and persons with arthritis and other inflammatory conditions might get more benefit from capsules of dried, powdered ginger, which are available in health food stores. Ginger is nontoxic, but you may experience heartburn if you take a large dose on an empty stomach. I suggest taking it with food.
Green tea, the national beverage of Japan, is made from the unfermented leaves of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. In preparing more familiar black tea, leaves are piled up in heaps and “sweated,” a natural fermentation process that darkens the leaves and changes their aroma and flavor. Recently, medical researchers have discovered a number of health benefits of green tea, having to do with its content of catechins, a group of compounds mostly destroyed in the fermentative conversion to black tea. (Oolong tea is somewhere in between. It is briefly sweated, resulting in a color, flavor, and catechin content intermediate between green and black tea.) Catechins lower cholesterol and generally improve lipid metabolism. They also have significant anticancer and antibacterial effects.
All tea contains theophylline, a close relative of caffeine; in high doses it can be quite stimulating, and people can become addicted to it just as they become addicted to coffee. In moderation, green tea, with its slightly bitter taste and delicate aroma, makes a pleasant and healthful addition to the diet. It is my favorite caffeinated beverage, one I associate with relaxation and good company. It seems silly to me to take green tea in the form of a supplement, but I see many tablets and products containing extracts of it in health food stores, all trying to take advantage of the publicity about protective effects of catechins against heart disease and cancer. There are even green tea underarm deodorants that rely on the herb’s antibacterial properties.
One of my favorite varieties of green tea is matcha, a bright-green powder used in the Japanese tea ceremony and also served informally as a treat. It is prepared from very young, select tea leaves that are steamed, dried, and ground very fine. To prepare a beverage from it, you place a teaspoon of the powder in a ceramic tea bowl, add a small amount of boiling water, and whip the mixture to a froth with a bamboo whisk. Matcha is usually enjoyed with small sweets. It is definitely stimulating, having been used by Zen monks to maintain wakefulness during long periods of sitting meditation. You can buy matcha and ordinary green tea (sencha) at Japanese grocery stores; the latter is also now widely available in teabags in supermarkets.
If you are currently a drinker of coffee, black tea, or cola, you might consider switching to green tea. Not only is it a relatively benign form of caffeine, it offers impressive benefits as a general tonic.
A most interesting tonic herb from the tradition of European folk medicine is milk thistle, Silybum marianum. The seeds of this plant yield an extract, silymarin, that enhances metabolism of liver cells and protects them from toxic injury. Although the pharmaceutical industry has produced many drugs that damage the liver, it offers nothing to match the protective effect of milk thistle, which is itself nontoxic.
Anyone who is a heavy user of alcohol should take milk thistle regularly, as should patients using pharmaceutical drugs that are hard on the liver, including cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. I recommend this herb to all patients with chronic hepatitis and abnormal liver function, and have seen cases of normalization of liver function in persons who took it every day for several months and also worked to improve their diets and lifestyles. If you work with toxic chemicals or feel you have suffered toxic exposures from any source, take milk thistle. It will help your body recover from any harm.
You will find milk thistle products in all health food stores. My preference is to use standardized extracts in tablet or capsule form. Follow the suggested dosage on the product you buy, or take two tablets or capsules twice a day. You can stay on milk thistle indefinitely.
If you are Chinese you will recognize this tonic herb at once. Under the name huangqi it is widely sold both singly and in many combination formulas for the treatment of colds and flus. Astragalus is a large genus in the pea family, some species of which are toxic to livestock. (Locoweed of the American Southwest is an astragalus.) But the toxins are only in the above-ground parts, never in the roots, and it is the root of a nontoxic Chinese species, Astragalus membranaceous, that provides the herbal medicine. The plant is a perennial herb with long, fibrous roots, native to northern China and Inner Mongolia. Both wild and cultivated plants are sources of commercial astragalus, which is sold in bundles of thin slices that resemble wooden tongue depressors and have a sweet taste. Chinese herbalists recommend adding these slices to soups and removing them before serving because they are too tough to chew. You can buy dried astragalus in Chinese herb stores, or you can buy astragalus tinctures and capsules in health food stores. You will also find in health food stores many Chinese herbal products that contain astragalus as a principal ingredient.
Traditional Chinese doctors consider this plant a true tonic that can strengthen debilitated patients and increase resistance to disease in general. They also use it as a promoter of other herbs known to increase energy, aid digestion, and stimulate the production and circulation of blood. In contemporary Chinese medicine astragalus is also a chief component of fu zheng therapy, a combination herbal treatment to restore immune function in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. Research in China has demonstrated increased survival in patients receiving both herbal and Western therapies, as well as moderation of the immunosuppressive effects of the latter.
Pharmacological studies in the West confirm that astragalus enhances immune function. It increases activity of several kinds of white blood cells as well as production of antibodies and interferon. These properties have to do with the root’s content of polysaccharides, large molecules composed of chains of sugar subunits. Polysaccharides are structural components of many organisms; until recently they did not excite much interest among Western pharmacologists, because they are not the types of molecules that act as magic bullets and because conventional wisdom holds that they cannot even be absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. But polysaccharides are a common feature of many herbal medicines that enhance immunity, so we must not yet understand their properties.
I recommend astragalus to many patients, since I find it to be safe and effective. In particular, I suggest it for people with chronic infectious diseases, such as bronchitis, sinusitis, and AIDS. I also recommend it to many cancer patients, both those undergoing conventional treatment and those who have completed treatment. And I think taking astragalus regularly is beneficial for people who are debilitated, lacking in energy or vitality, or feeling vulnerable to stress. It is easy to find astragalus products in health food stores; follow dosages specified on the labels.
The root of a large, spiny shrub native to northern China and Siberia, Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus) is now one of the most widely used tonic herbs in the world, so much in demand that authentic material may be difficult to obtain. Eleutherococcus is a genus in the ginseng family, different from Panax, the source of true ginseng. Soviet scientists discovered the remarkable “adaptogenic” (stress-protective) properties of this species in the course of searching for ginseng substitutes, and as news of its benefits spread, many Soviet athletes and military personnel began to use it to increase physical performance and endurance.
Much animal and human research has demonstrated the protective effects of Siberian ginseng as well as its ability to enhance immune function. Active components include polysaccharides and a distinctive group of compounds called eleutherosides. In buying Siberian ginseng products, look for alcohol extracts or dry extracts (in tablets or capsules) that have been standardized for eleutheroside content; this is your only assurance that you are buying genuine material.
Unlike most of the tonic herbs I will mention in this chapter, Siberian ginseng has no extensive historical use as a folk remedy; it is a recent discovery. Modern Chinese doctors have taken great interest in it and now prescribe it, usually as a single remedy, for many chronic illnesses. It is a reliable tonic with general restorative effects, especially useful for people who lack energy and vitality, and can be used safely over long periods of time. Take two capsules or tablets twice a day, unless the product you buy specifies otherwise.
Two species of Panax are the source of this most prized and famous tonic: P. ginseng, native to northeastern China, and P. quinquefolium, native to northeastern North America. Both species are now widely cultivated for commerce, and both have similar restorative qualities, but Oriental ginseng is more of a stimulant and sexual energizer, while American ginseng may be more powerful as an adaptogen. The plants are very slow growing, and older roots are believed to have greater therapeutic benefit than younger ones. Ginseng fanciers pay dearly for old roots of wild plants, much less for young, cultivated roots. Many forms of ginseng are on the market, from whole dried roots to ginseng brandies, wines, teas, and candies, and a multitude of tableted and encapsulated extracts. Be warned: some of these products contain little or no ginseng. Whenever a medicinal plant is scarce and expensive, imitation and adulterated products will be sold. Panax ginseng owes its beneficial effects to an unusual group of compounds called ginsenosides that are not found in any other genus. If ginseng products are real, they must contain ginsenosides, the more the better, so unless you are buying whole roots (which are unmistakable once you have seen them), buy only products that are standardized for ginsenoside content.
Among Chinese and Koreans, ginseng is especially valued as a tonic for the elderly, because it can improve appetite and digestion, tone skin and muscles, and restore depleted sexual energy. Chinese men say that it is not for women, but it may be that men simply do not want to share a limited supply; however, ginseng may have estrogenic activity that would argue against its use by women with hormonal imbalances or those who have estrogen-dependent diseases like uterine fibroids, fibrocystic breast disease, and breast cancer. One Chinese man told me not to waste ginseng in my youth. Save it for old age, he advised. “Then you will see what it can do for you.”
Ginseng is generally safe, but the Oriental variety can raise blood pressure in some individuals, as well as cause irritability. People who experience those side effects should lower the dose or switch to American ginseng (which is preferred by many Orientals). I recommend ginseng frequently to people who have low vitality or have been weakened by chronic illness or old age. Many people who take it tell me they are quite happy with its effects and plan to stay on it. Standardized ginseng extract, made by a Swiss method, is now available at drug stores throughout the world.
The root of Angelica sinensis, a plant in the carrot family, dong quai is known in traditional Chinese medicine as a blood-building tonic that improves circulation. In this century it has come into common use in the West as a general tonic for women, and many Western herbalists and naturopaths prescribe it for disorders of the female reproductive system, especially for irregular or difficult menstruation. Chinese doctors recognize its ability to tone the uterus and balance female hormonal chemistry, but they think of it as beneficial to both sexes and often include it in tonic formulas for men, combining it with ginseng and ho shou wu (see below). In men it is supposed to help build muscle and blood.
Dong quai is nontoxic and does not have estrogenic activity, although many people think it does. I recommend it frequently to women experiencing menstrual problems or menopausal symptoms and women who lack energy, with good results. It is readily available in health food stores in tinctures and capsules, and since it is not a scarce or expensive herb, most products made from it are of good quality. If you want to experiment with it, try taking two capsules of the root twice a day or one dropperful of the tincture in a little water twice a day. Give it a six-to-eight-week trial to see what it does for you.
The name of this tonic herb means “Mr. Ho has black hair,” referring to its power as a rejuvenator and maintainer of youthfulness. The root of Polygonum multi-florum, ho shou wu is a very famous Chinese blood tonic, believed to clean the blood and increase energy, as well as to nourish the hair and teeth. It is widely believed to be a powerful sexual tonic when consumed regularly and to increase sperm production in men and fertility in women. Research in China has shown it to lower elevated cholesterol; there has been no research on it in the West, and it is usually available only from suppliers of Chinese herbal medicines.
One way to experience the benefits of this herb is to take it in a liquid formula known as shou wu chih, or Super Shou Wu, that combines it with other tonic herbs and flavors. This is a very dark liquid with a pleasant aromatic taste that should be diluted: two tablespoons to a cup of hot or cold water. Drink this amount once or twice a day for at least a month to see if it gives you increased energy and increased sexual energy. (To turn graying hair black, you would probably have to consume it every day for years, and I would like to see the before-and-after photographs.)
Maitake is the Japanese name for an edible and delicious mushroom, Grifola frondosa, known to mushroom hunters in America as “hen-of-the-woods,” because it grows in big clusters on the ground at the bases of trees or stumps, clusters that resemble the fluffed tailfeathers of a nesting hen. The Japanese name means “dancing mushroom,” possibly because people danced with joy on finding this rare and prized species. Finding a big hen-of-the-woods—they can weigh up to a hundred pounds—can indeed be cause for celebration, not only because it is a huge quantity of a choice wild mushroom but also because it is an eminently salable commodity worth twenty dollars a pound or more. Italians love to cook it in sauces for pasta or pickle it in olive oil and vinegar marinades after parboiling. Unfortunately, maitake in the wild is uncommon, even though it will fruit in the same spot for many years.
In 1965 a master Japanese mushroom hunter wrote: “Top rank hunters are those who seek maitake. They go out to their own secret grounds to spend several days looking for maitake with a dream of fortune at a stroke. Maitake hunters are not supposed to let others know their secret spot. If he finds a spot where he can crop more than 10 kg (22 lbs) of maitake, he found a ‘treasure island.’ He would never tell anyone his secret location until he dies. He would only indicate the location in his will to his eldest son just before he dies. Some hunters are even willing to die without telling their own sons or families.…”
All this changed in the early 1980s, when Japanese scientists discovered how to cultivate maitake on sawdust; the cultivated form is now sold at reasonable prices in supermarkets throughout Japan. Mushroom growers in this country are just beginning to experiment with it. In cultivation the mushroom looks like a floral bouquet in shades of gray and gray-brown, except, instead of flowers, it is made up of many overlapping, fan-shaped mushroom caps. The undersides are white, with tiny pores instead of gills. Grifola belongs to a family of mushrooms called polypores, distinguished by that kind of spore-bearing tissue. In general polypores are nontoxic, but only a few are edible; most are tough and woody, growing as brackets or shelves on dead or living trees. In the West, polypore mushrooms have mainly been of interest to forest pathologists, because they are important causes of heart rot in living trees and important decomposers of dead and dying trees; but in the Far East, many of them are highly esteemed as medicinal herbs, especially in the class of superior drugs, the tonics and panaceas that increase resistance and promote longevity.
Traditional Chinese doctors did not use maitake, but they did use many of its relatives, including a very close relative, Polyporus umbellatus, or zhu ling. Modern testing has shown zhu ling to have anti-cancer and immune-enhancing properties related to its content of polysaccharides. Now Japanese researchers have tested maitake for similar effects, with impressive results. In fact, extracts of maitake turn out to be more powerful anticancer and immune-enhancing agents than any of the other medicinal mushrooms tested so far. In combination with chemotherapy, they increase the effectiveness of lower doses of Western drugs, while protecting the immune system from toxic damage. Perhaps Chinese doctors will begin including this mushroom in their fu zheng therapy. Maitake extracts also show activity against HIV and hepatitis as well as an antihypertensive effect.
Until cultivated maitake turns up in supermarkets here—a likely prospect, because the mushroom is not difficult to grow, retains its freshness extremely well, and has a firm texture and good flavor—you will have to buy tablets and capsules of maitake extracts in health food stores. Several firms are now marketing these products, using material imported from Japan. Prices are high but should come down once cultivation catches on here.
I recommend supplements of maitake to people with cancer, AIDS, and other immune system problems as well as to those with chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic hepatitis, and environmental illnesses that may represent toxic overloads. As soon as fresh maitake becomes available, I will make it a regular addition to my diet.
I will close this list of natural tonics with another mushroom, one that is stranger than maitake. Cordyceps sinensis grows not on trees but on the living bodies of certain moth larvae. The mushroom organism, in the form of fine threads, penetrates a larva, eventually killing and mummifying it. The mushroom then sends up its fruiting body; a slender stalk with a swollen end that will release spores. Cordyceps occurs in mountainous regions of China and Tibet and is now cultivated as well, because it is in great demand as a supertonic that builds physical stamina, mental energy, and sexual power. Chinese doctors say it is simultaneously invigorating and calming as well as life prolonging. Chinese people usually buy it in whole dried form, consisting of the mummified larva and attached fruiting body of the mushroom, which they add to soups and stews made from duck and chicken. In addition, extracts of cordyceps are included in many compound tonic formulas. Cordyceps is considered safe and gentle, indicated for both men and women of any age and state of health, even the most infirm.
This exotic remedy came to worldwide attention following the Chinese National Games of 1993, when a team of nine Chinese women runners broke nine world records, one by an unprecedented forty-two seconds. Charges of steroid use were leveled at the athletes, but their coach held a press conference to deny the accusations, holding up a box of the Chinese herbs he felt were responsible for his team’s performance and a lab report stating that they were natural and safe. The main ingredient was cordyceps. The track world was unconvinced, with one American distance runner calling the broken records “tragic” and another saying the Chinese had set women’s running back for years. In the words of one commentator:
This suspicion was understandable. The improved performance of the Chinese distance runners had occurred suddenly and sensationally. The new 1,500-meter record-holder had been seventy-third at the same distance the previous year, and the forty-two-second improvement in the 10,000-meter race seemed impossible. And, as journalists and runners were aware, a number of East German coaches had moved to China after the fall of the Berlin Wall; their former country had long been associated with steroid use. Furthermore, the Chinese success was only among women runners, who are more apt to benefit from steroid use.
But there was strong evidence that the records were untainted. The Chinese runners had passed the drug tests. They also showed no outward signs of steroid use, such as acne, deepened voices, or highly defined musculature. And there is no doubt that—although they are not alone in this—the Chinese provide their runners with stringent training.…*
In any case, interest in and sales of cordyceps boomed. If you do not wish to add mummified, fungal-infected caterpillars to your chicken soup, cordyceps is also available in the form of tinctures and extracts, either singly or combined with other Chinese herbs. Ask for these products in health food stores. For general weakness, take it once a day, following dosage advice on the product. For health maintenance, in the absence of specific problems, take it once a week.
MY INTENTION HAS not been to overwhelm you with information but rather to make you aware of substances that can help you resist the effects of toxins, stress, and aging on your healing system. Instead of despairing at the thought of all the harmful influences that exist, know that you can protect yourself and increase your healing potential through the use of products that are safe and effective. Let me quickly recap the information in this chapter:
• Eat more garlic and ginger; they taste good, and the list of their beneficial effects keeps growing.
• If you use caffeine, switch to green tea all or some of the time, since it is the most healthful of the caffeinated beverages.
• If you worry about exposure to toxins or feel you have a toxic overload, take milk thistle to help your body recover.
• If you are generally weak or lacking in vitality, experiment with Siberian ginseng or cordyceps.
• If you have depressed immunity and find that you get every bug going around, do a course of astragalus or maitake.
• If you feel debilitated as a result of age and lack sexual energy, experiment with ginseng and ho shou wu. Ginseng is a good general tonic for men, while dong quai is a good general tonic for women.
Tonic herbs have always been immensely popular in many countries of the world. I predict that as medical researchers document their safety and effectiveness, doctors here will begin to prescribe them more.
*This controversy is not settled. The Chinese runners may have been on steroids as well as cordyceps.