Gui Zhi Tang, a harmonizing formula for all seasons

One could write reams about the graceful complexities of Gui Zhi Tang, Cinnamon Twig Decoction.  Well, an herbal nerd could write them and another herbal nerd could read them and be intrigued & thrilled for hours.  We're not going to do that to you today, though we are tempted to.  What we'll do today is a gentle introduction into this truly delicious formula that is used, with modification, for everything from colds and flu to cysts and abdominal pain.  If you've taken Chinese herbal medicines before it is likely that you have had at least one of the herbs of Gui Zhi Tang contained within your formulas. 

It contains 5 gentle and common herbs that together, harmonize your body's systems and allow it to prevent and treat illness: 

Gui Zhi: Cinnamon Twig, A relative of the common kitchen spice, Cinnamon twig comes from the branches of the tree, rather than the bark.  It is a sweet and acrid or spicy herb that invigorates the blood, nourishes the digestive system and releases wind back to the exterior.  It opens our channels (or internal pathways), especially in the upper body
Bai Shao Yao-The root of the peony plant, Bai Shao Yao nourishes the blood, protects the body fluids and gently soothes the liver.  Together, Cinnamon twig and peony root balance each other to provide regulation for the body to be both protected on the interior and open to release and change on the exterior.
Sheng Jiang-This is simply fresh ginger root.  You may have it lying around in your kitchen right now, waiting to be part of a stir fry or cup of fresh ginger tea.  It is acrid or spicy, a little sweet and very balancing for your digestive system.  Ginger's spiciness helps the spiciness of the cinnamon twig boot the wind and cold that's made it to the inside of your body to the outside as well as simultaneously protecting and nourishing your digestive system to prevent an illness from making it any deeper into your body. 
Da Zao-These sweet red jujube dates help the peony roots nourish the blood and also help nourish your digestive system.  They are often found in many kinds of Asian cuisine as they are said to purify the blood.  Delicious!
Zhi Gan Cao-Honey fried licorice!  Wait, let me say that again--HONEY FRIED LICORICE!  Chinese herbal medicine has this tradition called "Pao Zhi" which involves cooking the herbs to prepare them to be more or less effective for different systems of the body.  One of the best ideas ever, HONEY FRIED LICORICE involves taking slices of licorice, soaking it in honey and then sealing the honey into and onto the licorice by dry frying it.  Why do we not do this to everything all the time?!  Honey frying the licorice makes it especially nourishing for the digestive system and a little warmer for your body overall, which is especially great if the cold weather has made its way into you.  Licorice by itself has many great antibacterial and antiseptic properties making it a great remedy for sore throats and more all on its own.  Honey frying it takes all that and potentiates it with the genius bee-made tonic that has been used for its healing properties across cultures for centuries. 

So, there you have it.  A little primer on a formula you may find yourself given, especially during the colder months if you find yourself coming down with something.  Curious to try it, or think this might be just the thing for you?  Come in for an herbal consult and one of our licensed and experienced Chinese medicine practitioners will guide you to the formula that will be just right for you. 

Wind: How a breezy day can turn into a roller coaster of ailments

Wind brings change: relief from suffocating heat, or heralding the arrival of a new season. But, as with most things, wind is best in moderation!  When wind strikes our bodies, we can end up with headaches, allergies, itchy rashes, earaches, sore throats, tremors and more.  Imagine the feeling of standing directly in the wind at the beach.  Can you hear the whistling in your ears?  The wind can have this grating effect on our whole bodies, not just our external senses. 
What makes some people more or less sensitive to wind?  Some folks can hardly leave the house without a scarf in autumn, or go to the beach without cotton in their ears, while others don't seem to have a care in the world when the winds blow by.  It comes down to one's individual constitution.  The body's ability to protect itself from wind is one of the many functions of the "Yin" and "Blood".  Unlike the idea of blood volume (which should be right around 5 litres), the Chinese medicine concepts of "Yin" and "Blood" are relative and encompass a wide range of qualities and functions. 
Do you have trouble in the wind, or feel like you have regular symptoms of wind in your body?  Talk to your practitioner about this at your next appointment!  We'll help you get to the bottom of it, and find a solution that works.  

Cold: A stagnating force of nature

Snowflakes that stay on your nose and eyelashes   are one thing, but prolonged periods of cold are quite another.  Cold is perhaps the easiest force of nature to imagine harming our bodies.  From goosebumps to frostbite, our bodies try their hardest to maintain a specific temperature at which all our systems can run smoothly.  When pathogenic cold presents itself, it becomes much harder for the body to maintain its temperature.  This can lead to all sorts of symptoms, from runny noses to menstrual disorders to pain.  When we are exposed to cold, our bodies stiffen against it, shunting our blood flow to our most important organs.  This safeguards our lives but can leave us suffering the consequenses, sometimes far after the exposure. Cold can linger in certain areas, inhibiting circulation and restricting movement. While the stillness we experience in a frozen landscape is beautiful to behold, our Qi and blood does not like to be still.

To treat patterns of cold, Chinese medicine uses acupuncture points that promote blood flow, warming moxibustion, and herbs that expel cold, like ginger, cinnamon and aconite.  If you are from a cold climate or have exposed yourself to cold for long periods of time, let your acupuncturist know!  We'll come up with solutions to get the persistent effects of cold out of your body and protect you from it in the future.  

Our bodies as weather systems: Pathogenic influences in Chinese medicine

Unlike the systems of modern medicine, Chinese medicine acknowledges that our bodies are reflections of the world around us, microcosoms of the universe.  This is why we talk about pathogenic influences or disease in terms that sounds like weather: hot, cold, dampness, dryness, and wind.  Each of these terms describes an experience that we can have in our bodies, which reflects an experience of the world around us.  By framing illness in this context, we can then adjust our own personal landscapes to protect us from the weather, in the same way we take a raincoat when the forecast predicts a cloudy day.
Check out the rest of our blog to learn more about dampness, wind, cold, heat and dryness as pathogenic factors.  If you want to know more about which are particular to you, ask your practitioner at your next appointment!  

Dampness: How water becomes a pathogenic influence

Much the same way that water collects in mud puddles on a rainy day, water can collect in our bodies, leading to syndromes of dampness.  This can look like swelling or other accumulations of tissue, certain types of pain, nausea, loose stools, trouble with urination, numbness and other symptoms.  Just like water can flood and block a road, water can cause blockages in our bodies and create illness.  If water accumulates for too long, or too frequently, it can thicken to create phlegm. Or like with compost, it can give rise to heat, making it especially difficult to remove.  However, without water in our bodies, we couldn't survive.  In fact, it is often recommended to drink as much as half of one's body weight in ounces of water every day.
So, how do we both stay hydrated and prevent accumulation of dampness? We must keeping it flowing and active.  This means drinking water and other healthy liquids, but also keeping our bodies and minds active and supporting good digestion by choosing foods that are right for our bodies and the season.  Chinese medicine considers the healthy flow of fluids to be the shared responsibility of the spleen/pancreas, small intestine, large intestine, kidneys, bladder and triple warmer.  If any of these organ systems are not working optimally, dampness can accumulate.  If dampness is part of your dianosis, your practitioner will consider which systems would most benefit from treatment in order to remove the harmful fluids and restore balance. They may do this with acupuncture, herbs, or massage, or some combination of the three depending on what they think would be best for you. 
Still feel "damp" after a treatment? Don't worry!  Just like it may take several days after a heavy rain for the biggest puddles to dissapear, dampness can be one of the most tenacious pathogens, requiring several treatments to lessen its effects.  Being a temperate rainforest, the Pacific Northwest has a lot of environmental dampness that can influence our bodies as well.  Just because we live in a damp environment doesn't mean we have to suffer. Here's to keeping our bodies healthy and our waterways flowing!

Dryness as a pathogenic influence in Chinese medicine

In Oregon, we are lucky.  In a matter of hours we can go from the rainforest to the desert, from a misty 60 degrees to a scorching 95 through the mountain range.  It is like someone turned a page as we drive down Mount Hood and the trees thin, filling the landscape with sagebrush and more sandy brown hues than Crayola could ever dream up.  A few days in the desert dries us up.  It is a relief to be away from the blanket of humidity we are familiar with.  Our ears unclog, our noses cease to run, our digestion changes.  Soon, though, the dryness seeps in.  We cannot drink enough water.  Why did we forget the body lotion?  How is my nose so dry?  This is pathogenic dryness.  As our bodies acclimate to the new lack of moisture in the air, our homeostasis struggles.  Our lungs, especially, pay a toll to the dryness as they are now required to provide more moisture in our airways than before.  In the rainforest, the air itself provided the moisture needed for smooth respiration. If we cannot acclimate, our lungs suffer, our skin suffers, our body fluids may suffer, we dry up.  

So, what do we do when dryness hardens our nature?  Hydration helps--drinking water and eating soups gives our bodies the tools needed to replenish fluids that have been taken away from our environment.  Acupuncture and herbs to support the organs that nourish our blood and yin will also be helpful to recalibrate our bodies to our new environment.  Have you been to a dry environment lately?  The desert, or even on an airplane?  Let your acupunturist know and they can address the dryness you've experienced in a way that suits your experience, needs and specific symptoms.  

Heat: An external force of nature and internal force of frustration

Any force of nature in excess can be damaging, but it is difficult to top the destructive power of fire. Fire is always hungry, never satiated, consuming anything in its path. Through the lens of Chinese medicine, heat comes from many sources.  It may come directly from the outside world, like a sunburn or heat stroke.  It may come from our body's reaction to a pathogen, like a fever or inflammation.  It may come from an imbalance of emotions, like frustration.  Or, it may come from a relative deficiency of water in the body, like the symptoms of dehydration or menopause, where a deficiency of yin nourishing hormones causes a rising of heat. 
Left to burn, heat in the body causes progressive destruction.  Just like a forest fire, unchecked heat in the body will damage tissue, causing pain and discomfort. So, how can Chinese medicine address excess heat?  Through herbal medicine, massage and acupuncture, we use the body's natural heat clearing mechanisms of sweating as well as encouraging appropriate urination and defecation to encourage the body's natural removal of heat.  We also nourish the fluids of the body by encouraging the organs in charge of absorbtion and processing of fluids, like our stomach and intestines to work more diligently to replenish our natural hydration.
Do you feel like you've been exposed to too much heat, or have latent heat lurking in your body?  Talk to your practitioner at your next appointment, and we'll discover the best ways to put the fire out.