Qi Tea

Qi Tea

Given that there is currently no cure for CoVid-19 the main course of action should one become infected is to alleviate the symptoms and help the body fight back. I am not a doctor so all of this should be considered hypothetical and not any sort of suggestion or advice. That being said, it is my firm belief that we should be doing everything we can to strengthen our immune systems as much as possible. In my search for ways of achieving this (on Pubmed) I came across the following article and subsequently stumbled down the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) rabbit hole.

Can Chinese Medicine Be Used for Prevention of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)? A Review of Historical Classics, Research Evidence and Current Prevention Programs
Since December 2019, an outbreak of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) occurred in Wuhan, and rapidly spread to almost all parts of China. This was followed by prevention programs recommending Chinese medicine (CM) for the prevention. In order to provide evidence for CM recommendations, we reviewe…

There is a great deal of research on TCM, and although some seem to have a propaganda-like flavor and other a more bitter voodoo flavor, some present results that seem worthy of investigation. Some additional information that I found for the 6 herbs mentioned in the article can be found in the following links.

Milkvetch roots (Huang Qi) in Chinese medicine
Milkvetch roots in Chinese herbalism
Liquorice (Gan Cao) in Chinese medicine
Liquorice in Chinese herbalism
Saposhnikovia roots (Fang Feng) in Chinese medicine
Saposhnikovia roots in Chinese herbalism
Atractylodes rhizomes (Bai Shu) in Chinese medicine
Atractylodes rhizomes in Chinese herbalism
Forsythia fruits (Lian Qiao) in Chinese medicine
Forsythia fruits in Chinese herbalism
Honeysuckle flowers (Jin Yin Hua) in Chinese medicine
Honeysuckle flowers in Chinese herbalism

Now where in the world does one go to obtain these funny sounding herbs? Turns out that there is a wholesale distributor a couple blocks away from where I currently live. Note: I live in Elmhurst, Queens, which is the second largest 'Chinatown' in Queens as per Wikipedia. I decided that I had to walk over and check it out.

I was greeted by an abundance of novel smells and foreign-to-me fragrances immediately upon walking inside. I was able to find all of the items on my list with the help of persistence and someone in my family who is familiar with their offerings.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/7955-ae-company-elmhurst
to be continued.