Ingredients:
Chai hu – Bupleurum chinense root
Huang qin – Scutellaria baicalensis root
Ban xia – Pinellia ternata rhizome (treated)
Sheng jiang – Zingiber officinale root (fresh)
Da zao – Zisiphus jujuba fruit
Xin yi hua – Magnolia liliflora bud
Cang er zi – Xanthium sibiricum fruit
Bai zhi – Angelica dahurica root
Shi chang pu – Acorus gramineus rhizome
Jie geng – Platycodon grandiflorum root
Ju hua – Chrysanthemum morifolium flower
Ge gen – Pueraria lobata root
Sheng gan cao – Glycyrrhiza uralensis root
Pu gong ying – Taraxacum officinale root and leaf (tinctured
fresh)
Water
Ethanol
Honey
Effects:
Reduce or eliminate symptoms
of seasonal allergies, especially runny or stuffed nose. Resolve long-lasting cold whose main
residual symptom is stuffy nose and blocked sinus.
Dosage:
Standard dose is four full
squirts of the dropper, twice a day.
For some people the standard dose is overly drying; if you find this is
the case for you, try a smaller dose until you hit upon the right dose for you. If you predictably suffer from seasonal
allergies, combine with Jade Defense and begin this regimen a month or so ahead
of your allergy season – three squirts Jade Defense and one squirt Nasal/Sinus
Formula, twice a day. For snotty
colds and sinus infections, combine with Virus Killer (forthcoming from Green Monkey
Pharmacy). The best way to
take this formula is to squirt the tincture directly into your mouth and hold
it in your mouth for maximum buccal absorption so that some of the anti-allergy
components in the herbs can directly enter the affected tissues of the face,
bypassing the general circulation. This is one formula that I don't recommend thinning down in boiled water; you don't want to boil off the volatile components that give it much of its anti-allergy power.
Product Description:
This formula is built on Xiao
Chai Hu Tang (“Minor Bupleurum
Decoction”) from the Shang Han Lun or “Treatise on Cold Damage,” one of the earliest (220 CE) and most
famous books of Chinese medicine.
The original formula was designed to treat the shaoyang or “lesser yang” stage of a disease, when a pathogen
has neither completely penetrated the body’s defenses nor been successfully
fended off. This “not in, not out”
status describes allergies and unresolved colds, making this an ideal formula for
treating both.
The original formula
consists of chai hu (bupleurum), huang
qin (scutellaria), ban xia (pinellia), sheng jiang (fresh ginger), ren shen (ginseng root), da zao (jujube date) and zhi gan cao (cured licorice root). In my version I substitute dang shen (codonopsis) for ginseng and uncured licorice for
cured licorice, and add a number of other herbs to make the formula more
effective for nasal and sinus symptoms.
Xiao Chai Hu Tang is an
energetically very interesting formula.
The main herb, chai hu, is
cool and outthrusting, making it effective for clearing a pathogen (whether
virus or pollen) from the in-between zone where it resides. Chai hu also moves stagnant qi, making it a good herb for soothing the out-of-sorts
feeling that an allergy or head cold can produce. Huang qin is a
major heat-clearing and dampness-drying herb that pairs nicely with chai hu to vent the pathogen in a shaoyang-type disorder.
Huang qin also pairs well
with ban xia, which is one of the
major herbs for treating phlegm of all types. Interestingly, in light of its inclusion in this allergy
formula, recent research shows that one of the major components of huang qin, known as baicalein, inhibits mast cells and
therefore minimizes histamine release and allergy symptoms. The remaining herbs in the original
formula – sheng jiang, ren
shen/dang shen, da zao, and sheng gan cao – strengthen the qi to help keep the pathogen from penetrating further. The da zao and sheng gan cao also serve to balance the drying nature of ban
xia and some of the other herbs that
I add to the original formula.
Since this is a remedy for
allergies and lingering colds with predominantly nasal symptoms such as
stuffiness and runny nose, I have added additional herbs for this purpose. Xin yi hua (magnolia bud), cang er zi (cocklebur), and bai zhi (angelica dahurica root) are the trinity typically employed for this purpose,
to which I add shi chang pu
(acorus rhizome). Shi chang pu is traditionally used to “open the portals” of the
sensory organs in heavy-duty conditions like seizures and disorientation. In larger doses it is mildly
psychoactive; in our smaller dose it serves as one more opener of the nose and
sinuses. Next year I will add silver
beach bur, the local coastal ragweed, which like its other ragweed cousins is
excellent for treating the very allergies its copious pollens produce in many
people (as of today it hasn’t flowered yet, and I prefer the idea of using the
flowering plant rather than just the foliage).
Finally, ju hua (chrysanthemum), jie geng (platycodon), ge gen (kudzu root), and fresh tincture of dandelion were
added. Ju hua addresses the itchy and dry eyes that accompany many
allergies. Jie geng together with the licorice directs the formula to
the throat region, which is often itchy and irritated. Ge gen directs the formula to the regions of the nose and
sinuses, and, together with sheng gan cao and da zao, helps to
offset the drying nature of the formula.
Pu gong ying (dandelion)
is added not because it is an anti-allergy herb per se (although, together with
the ju hua and huang qin, it is useful for hot red itchy eyes), but because
it is a premier liver herb and spring is the season of the liver so it supports
this organ during the season that it is most stressed. I am not as gung ho about “detoxifying”
as many in the alternative medicine community, but in this context of seasonal
allergies I do believe that it is useful to add a detoxifying herb like
dandelion to the mix, to make the formula work better.
Production Notes:
3.75 liters of an
alcohol-water blend was slowly percolated through 1.25 kilogram of
pre-moistened ground-up herbs to produce about 3 liters of tincture. 200 ml of dandelion fresh tincture was
added directly to the resulting tincture.
Strength of the final tincture is about 1:2.5.
Something Else You Can Do
to Treat Allergies and Stuffy Nose:
When they find out that you
suffer from allergies, about 95% of people in Santa Cruz will immediately tell
you to use a neti pot. For the
small minority of readers who are unfamiliar with the neti pot, it is
essentially a small pitcher designed to pour warm salt water through your
nostrils to flush out your nasal passages. Generally, I think this is good advice for people suffering
from allergies, since the salty water flushes through the nasal cavity and
nasopharynx where pollens and other allergens can adhere. I prefer to use a plastic squeeze
bottle rather than the traditional neti pot, since with the squeeze bottle you
have the advantage of being able to force the saline through your sinuses and
nasal passages with some pressure.
For colds, I find the nasal flush more useful towards the end of a
stuffy-nosed cold – it’s really satisfying to see those deposits of snot
getting flushed out. In my
experience, at the beginning of a stuffy-nosed cold, using the neti pot just makes
me more stuffed up. If you are new
to the neti pot, have someone show you how to do it, or Google “neti pot” on
the Internet – there are hundreds of people out there who are very excited to
share the technique with you.
