 How crazy is this? So this is a ginseng root and on a recent trip to China someone told me how much money These roots can actually go for now There's actually a business insider article here talking about a ginseng root that was recently sold for half a million US dollars is their real scientific benefit to a lot of these medicinal herbs or is it just kind of Traditional folk practice and folk wisdom now as a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and as someone who uses these Traditional medicinal herbs in formulas every single day in my private practice I can share these herbs really do live up to the hype now in this video We're going to discuss seven of the most powerful healing herbs in the world that come from traditional Chinese medicine Hey guys, I'm Dr. Alex Heim board licensed acupuncturist and doctor of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine and Author of the health book master the day. So let's jump it medicinal herb number one is Ginseng or ren-shan in Chinese So this is ginseng root and you can see I mean this one has a lot of bug damage because it's been sitting in my pantry for years But ginseng root in particular in traditional Chinese medicine is often believe it or not used for digestive problems So for example, we use it for a condition called spleen chi deficiency Which often really more relates to pancreatic enzymes as well as low immunity. So people for example that have Fatigue Bloating typically more of a pale complexion 10 towards a little bit lower appetite Very easily get a food baby after meals and are more prone to loose stools and gas and that kind of thing also Low immunity like we talked about so this is a part of some formulas that can be used to help improve the immune function So that in cold and flu season it decreases the chances that you get sick now in terms of the biomedical research on ginseng One of the most profound effects it has is besides on the digestive system like helping with pancreatic enzyme production It also has a very very strong effect on the HPA axis So this particular physiological pathway in the body is related primarily to chronic stress and chronic stress hormones So for example Ginseng is a favorite herb for naturopathic doctors and functional medicine doctors to use for issues like anxiety Depression insomnia and basically anything that can be related to chronic nervous system dysfunction from stress hormones medicinal herb number two is Cinnamon twig or cinnamon bark. So cinnamon twig is called Guajin Chinese and the bark is called roadway So how do we use this from a traditional medicine point of view cinnamon twig is primarily used for issues with the heart and the Nervous system. So for example a classic cinnamon twig or cinnamon bark pattern is elevated heart rate anxiety Palpitations and then let's say something to do with the spirit as we call it like insomnia That's a traditional pattern that is very very effectively treated by formulas that are very high dosages of Cinnamon bark or cinnamon twig. We tend to say that the cinnamon bark is more useful for Basically helping the nervous system drop it down a couple notches like for sleep issues and the twig typically is a better regulator of cardiovascular issues palpitations Chest pain heart rate variability or tachycardia typically racing heart now from a biomedical point of view what cinnamon bark and cinnamon twig primarily work on are the fight or flight systems in the body for people that are having the chronic stress response Where they're experiencing for example, they normally had a normal heart rate and now they have an elevated heart rate They normally had a normal heart rate now They're having heart palpitations throughout the day or throughout the night They normally slept well now they're waking up in the night or they can't fall asleep So primarily cinnamon twig and cinnamon bark work heavily on what people would tend to call adrenal fatigue like the layperson and it is One of the most commonly prescribed in my practice and side note formulas that are high in Cinnamon twig and cinnamon bark are the number one most common formulas that I use to get people off antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications medicinal herb number three is called penelia or banxia and Chinese now How is it used in traditional medicine? So banxia is used for very sticky thick phlegm and an example of that would be for someone who has chronic acid reflux You know a lot of people with chronic reflux or a Barrett's esophagus if it's quite severe they will actually Chronically be producing sputum So they're really clearing the throat a lot or they're having acid reflux and they're clearing the throat or they're coughing after meals Now this is a chronic dysfunction of the digestive system with the mucus membranes are always producing excessive mucus and phlegm on one side We call a deficiency version of that to be just spleen she deficiency where people are producing lots of mucus But in the context of our modern world lots of people come in for acid reflux and indigestion banxia With dry ginger are the number one combo to functionally reverse that meaning to get people off of their PPI's or promotidine Or the varying kinds of acid reflux medications They're taking from a biomedical point of view what banxia penelia primarily does is it does work on stomach acid? mucus membranes and also is amazing for brain chemistry issues the fourth Powerful medicinal herb is called a stragglis or huangqi now in traditional medicine We use huangqi for a lot of different purposes number one huangqi can be used for general exhaustion and general immunity So there are formulas one is called huangqi Jianzhongtang, which is huangqi build the middle decoction Very commonly used for children who have failure to thrive It can be used for people who easily get colds and flus in the winter season I'll have patients. Let's say take a formula for December and January Typically when their kids and their family gets sick and I have women coming in that'll say it's the first year My whole family got sick. I didn't get anything and there's real scientific evidence behind that So while it does have an amazing effect on the immune system It's secondarily used for fatigue and for exhaustion Also a common scenario is we use it for the fatigue and exhaustion that comes from cancer treatments from chronic chemotherapy that people Undergo as part of treating their cancer in the recovery stage or during to actually improve their outcomes and get their strength back much much much faster Now when you look at the biomedical research on huangqi It has both a very very potent effect on the immune system functioning and secondarily This is fascinating research on using huangqi in cancer right from websites that are in conventional medicine like Johns Hopkins and the CDC This fascinating research on huangqi and the effect it has on cancer cells powerful medicinal herb number five Is called scutillaria and it sounds similar. This is called huangqin instead of huangqi So huangqin scutillaria we use for lots of reasons in Chinese medicine It is one of the most famous herbs for a reason number one. We use it for lots of inflammatory conditions So for example things that can involve inflammation like gallbladder and liver issues or even lots of people who have acid reflux So formulas high in huangqin like Xiao chaiyutang minor buplerum decoction or Banqia sheshen tang Banqia purge the heart decoction are two of the most commonly used formulas for any gallbladder issue gallstones gall sludge These two formulas are the god of functionally reversing. I don't even know if I can legally say that But functionally getting back to where you were before wink wink these issues a treat lots of people with gallbladder attacks Gallbladder sludge acid reflux these formulas are the god of taking care of this these herbs are also very Commonly used for acute viral infections bacterial infections involving sore throats, you know strap influenza, etc Xiao chaiyutang minor buplerum decoction and Herbs high in huangqin are very frequently used But like anything you have to be careful don't ever take single herbs from Chinese medicine because herbs that are liver Protective or kidney protective can also damage them in high doses. So never self-prescribe these do not recommend it On the biomedical side huangqin has lots of anti-piratic property So it's typically used for fevers and inflammation medicinal herb number six is called Coptis or huanglian in Chinese if you've never seen it when you decoct it it produces a deep yellow almost staining color Now that's due to the fact that it's high in a compound called berberine, which is very trendy these days Huanglian is typically used for bacterial and fungal conditions So we use it in conditions that we say are damp heat that you can almost envision damp heat Right think of athlete's foot or jock itch areas of the body that are kind of wet and damp throughout the day And then you can get predisposed to fungal conditions itching and that kind of thing So we use it for conditions like SIBO small intestine bacterial overgrowth Coptis is extremely well studied for its antibacterial properties as well as even what specific Species of candida fungus it can treat. It's pretty cool Actually, if you research it one of my other videos here has that exact research on the candida and yeast issues And SIBO. Additionally, it's used to treat fungal issues athletes flip jock itch bacterial vaginosis Women that take antibiotics and afterwards they have yeast infections itching and discharge This is one of the herbs in the formula that is very very powerful and on the biomedical science side It is very antibacterial very antifungal and high in berberine medicinal herb number seven is Gano derma or Reishi that was a great quote I found in a research paper that said linger is a miraculous king of herbs and it's attributed to the Chinese civilization in the BC era So since 200 BC, it's been documented that linger is a special herb, which is pretty cool It's amazing testament to the longevity of Chinese medicine and the Chinese culture now I want to jump over to this research paper here and show you something so this paper is called the nutritional profile and health benefits of Gano derma as functional foods current scenario and future perspectives and one of the pieces of research they talk about they mention that According to bi-millennial beliefs linger can promote health and longevity But it was also considered a combination of a spiritual force and a source of immortality Moreover, the Japanese people have regarded this mushroom as a 10,000 year mushroom now in traditional medicine Especially when you look at one of our oldest books the Shenlong Ben-sao-jing the divine farmers materia medica linger reishi has always been prized typically for its anti-anxiety and its effects on the spirit So when we talk about anti-anxiety qualities and really the anti-stress qualities of it very commonly It's used not only for nervous system issues nervous system dysregulation issues with the HPA axis It's often commonly used in cancer treatment as well But in general it's an herb strongly associated with the spirit meaning the psycho-emotional state of the person and the patient as well as with Longevity in particular and from the biomedical point of view lots of studies have confirmed it as anti-cancer Anti-diabetes anti-diabetic and cardio protective qualities inherent in the plant So it's a very special mushroom linger now There are also four other practices you can do from traditional Chinese medicine that are powerful for healing and I've put some together In a free guide, which is the first link right below this video four daily rituals that can potentially help you add years to Traditional Chinese medicine in addition I take on a limited number of new patients every single month in my practice in Los Angeles or Virtually via telemedicine and you could read more in the bio about my clinic and how to contact me and on top of that I've put together a brand new healing with traditional Chinese medicine online course This is because I know so many of you will never be able to come see me in person in my clinic And this online program is one of the best ways to learn more about Practices you can do based on your condition and your interests and it's also one of the best ways I'm trying to keep this channel Sponsor and ad-free as much as I can so check those links out below and before you go There's a very good related video here on other medicinal herbs and practices you can use