Cold and Flu season is approaching and Chinese medicinal herbs can help.  All herbal formulas are available at Qi and also come in tincture form for children. Our suppliers maintain strict regulatory standards to ensure quality and safety. These formulas make a great addition to the medicine cabinet or can be brought on the road to stay healthy when travelling. Discover what the Chinese have known for centuries.

• Yu Ping Feng San (Jade Windscreen Powder) - Preventive formula that boosts the immune system. Take when healthy for 3 days/month to create a barrier between you and potential bugs.
• Yin Qiao San (Honeysuckle and Forsythia Powder) - The world’s most popular flu buster. Take at the first sign of cold/flu and stop it in it’s tracks, or during to shorten the duration of an illness. 
• Our practitioners can also customize a formula to address more specific symptoms (eg. cough, congestion, body aches and fever). 
  
  Remember that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Follow the tips below to help you stay healthy.
• Regular hand washing can help to prevent contracting a cold or flu. The friction of rubbing your hands together is equally if not more important than soap so don’t forget to scrub. Try scrubbing for the duration of the ’Happy Birthday’ song, this will allow adequate time to kill the germs.
• Drink plenty of fluids. 8 eight ounce glasses of water day is recommended for healthy adults. Staying well-hydrated helps to flush toxins from the system.
• Sweat it out! Take a hot bath or head to the nearest sauna at the first sign of a cold/flu to stimulate your immune system and help limit pathogenic influence.
• Let your food be your medicine. Cook with onions, ginger and garlic to increase your intake of natural antivirals. Include foods high in Vitamin C like red cabbage, strawberries, potatoes, tangerine, red bell pepper, oranges and kiwis; and foods high in Zinc such as barley, chicken, lamb, wheat, turkey, oyster, crab and beef.
• Be sure to listen to your body, a bland diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables and broth is usually best if you are already sick. Avoid heavy, rich, sweet, greasy and fatty foods.
• Use a Neti Pot to combat congestion. 1/4 teaspoon of table salt and lukewarm water are all you need to clean out your nasal passages. It also helps to flush the rhinovirus responsible for between 30-50% of cold symptoms.
  
• Cold and Flu season can be a major trigger for asthma sufferers and school aged children are at even greater risk. To help prevent an increase in asthma attacks, keep illness at bay with the above mentioned tips and remember that the practitioners at Qi can help.

Prepared by Kelly Cmolik R.TCM.P