Hot and Cold, Part Two (26)

The concept of Hot and Cold was first introduced in one of my earlier videos. In this video entitled Part II, this concept is extended to Chinese herbs and the nature of illness. In so doing, we'll be able to combine the herbs more effectively to create synergy, and at the same time to avoid contradictions. For a review of the material already covered, you may like to see my previous videos: "Hot and Cold", "Herbal Knowledge", "Naming Convention", and "Natural Healing".

Every Chinese herb has multiple effects as explained in the dictionary. With regard to a particular herb, you have to grasp its major healing effect and what the herb is basically used for. Please do not invent the micro effects such as to kill a certain bacteria or to produce a certain hormone. Ancient Chinese herbal knowledge cannot possibly involve modern discoveries at the micro mechanical level.

Besides the herbs, you have to know what kind of illness you are dealing with, that is, the nature of the illness as shown by its symptoms, and what you perceive correctly to be the root cause of the problem.

When we separate the herbs and the illnesses into Hot and Cold categories, there will be less chance of making a mistake. Furthermore, we can even query why a certain herb is used in the package. The simple rule is to apply Hot herbs to Cold illness, and vice versa.

In addition, there exists a third less obvious category called Neutral. It represents borderline cases, or cases where it becomes controversial to separate into either Hot or Cold category.

Generally speaking, Hot herbs are for strengthening purpose, for boosting energy, or for enhancing blood circulation. You often feel some warming effect or more energy after taking them. Some examples:
• Chuan Xiong 川芎
• Dang Gui 當歸
• Ren Shen (Ginseng) 人參
• Suo Yang 鎖陽
• Xiang Fu 香付

Cold herbs are for expelling the internal heat from the body, for purging any "undesirable" substance, or for calming the liver, which often becomes overactive. You may feel cooler or more relaxed after taking them. Some examples:
• Huang Qin 黃芩
• Lian Qiao 連翹
• Zhi Mu 知母
• Ban Zhi Lian 半枝蓮
• Huang Bai 黃柏

Neutral herbs are generally mild, and may be slightly Hot or Cold. That's why they are considered borderline. Some examples on the Hot side:
• Fu Ling 伏笭
• Sang Ji Sheng 桑寄生
• Sha Shen 沙參
• Fang Feng 防風
• Gou Qi Zhi 枸杞子

There are also neutral herbs mild on the Cold side. Some examples:
• Jin Qian Cao 金錢草
• Bai Shao 白芍
• Sheng Di Huang 生地黃
• Di Gu Pi 地骨皮
• Jin Yin Hua 金銀花

Hot illness or condition is one that makes you feel hot or dry. It gets worse if you eat Hot stuff. Some examples:
• Fever, flu and associated symptoms like cough and congestion.
• Skin rash or pimples
• Menopause hot flash
• Dry skin
• Hemorrhoid

Cold illness or condition is one that makes you feel cold or weak. It gets worse if you eat Cold stuff. Some examples:
• Low energy
• Joint pains
• Menstrual irregularity
• Fertility
• Specific organ or general weakness

Some examples of Neutral illness or condition that is hard to categorize:
• Allergy
• Digestive disorder
• Sleep disorder
• Anxiety or depression
• Headaches or migraines

Once you have a handle on the right categorization, you can at least say with confidence that Dang Gui, for instance, is the wrong herb for fever, because a Hot herb should not be used for a Hot condition, unless there are very valid reasons for doing so. On the other hand, Neutral herbs can normally be used for both Hot and Cold conditions, because they have borderline properties. Similarly, Neutral conditions can be treated with Hot or Cold herbs depending on the symptoms and the constitution of the patient.

Health problems in the real world are more complicated than you think. What do you do if the patient has both Hot and Cold conditions? What do you do if the patient reacts negatively to Hot herbs when they are actually required? How much do you really know about the nature of the illness you're dealing with? I'll try to answer these questions in a later video.

For further information, go to www.herbsandtea.com
Raw herbs or capsules can be tailor-made for your conditions.

Category:

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• Chinese
• medicine
• herb
• prescription
• formula
• product
• natural
• alternative
• healing
• herbalist
• hot
• cold
• part
• II

[buzzaw77]

It seems like a very simplistic approach, I'm sure most disease cases are more complex than being simply hot or cold. What if someone is weak and tired, feeling cold in their body but they're also covered in spots, there's hot and cold signs?? I suppose it can help you describe the persons state, still it seems to general to be practical.

[askjohnfung]

You should learn from simple ideas first. See my Hot & Cold, two parts. They are the first steps to understand the complexities of real life. This approach is simple but not simplistic. That is the beauty of it. Hot and Cold is an elegant concept. In practice, I also pointed out there is a whole range of situations in between. You've probably missed that point.

[imbrd]

wait- fevers, though considerd 'hot' are generally best treated by sweating/expellin it out not supressin w/ coldness. fevr is natural response to try remove 'bad qi' so if u freeze/stagnate it w/ cold, thn even though fevr may temporarily subside, bad qi become stuck inside. thus mor efectiv use hot spicy soup stuff to help expel it. after 'bad qi' is expeld, fevr naturaly subside. like u dont evr use ice treat swollen sprain ankle tho it may be 'hot&swollen'.

[askjohnfung]

Using "cold" herbs to cure fever is not suppressing the fever like you said. Fever should never be suppressed, but should be neutralized or expelled. "Cold" herbs can do the job. Sweating can expel the fever too, because heat escapes from your body when you sweat.

[askjohnfung]

Anything bad happening to you can be considered as bad Qi, even when you lose money in Las Vegas. Your association of fever with bad Qi is not a satisfactory explanation. It's too general. If spicy soup helps expel the fever, then it helps. You can explain it however you want, but using the bad Qi explanation is not a good one. Try to use something more specific that makes sense.

[97val]

boring