Enhancing the Immune System - Huang Qi to the Rescue

This time of year brings beauty, wonder and its own set of health challenges. By now 'the little ones' have spent a few weeks back in school rubbing their little hands all over the desks, handrails and shared art supplies and scissors. Sadly, but more than likely, they've brought all kinds of microbes and bacteria happily home to you! So where does 'Huang Qi' come in?

It is highly regarded as an adaptogenic herb which enhances your immune system and helps to prevent colds and flu in addition to providing anti-biotic qualities. But it truly does so much more. Huang Qi also detoxifies, purifies and increases circulation to transport essential vitamins & minerals to cells.

As you well know it is near impossible to read labels these days, with Latin, English and Chinese terms along with all the different names herbs are known by - no less what benefits they give. This is one reason I have decided to bring some of this information to a more understandable (layman terms) level. To give you a prime example, Astragalus Root is the common name; the Latin name is Radix Astragali and the Chinese name for this herb is 'Huang Qi'. 'Huang' means 'yellow' (for its color) and 'Qi' means 'superior' or 'senior' suggesting that it was considered to be a superior herb.

Huang Qi, a traditional Chinese herb, has been around for over 4,000 years. Also known as Astragalus, it is an adaptogenic herb (adaptogen) that helps the body resist the damaging effects of stress while restoring normal body functions, among many other things!

Adaptogens:

An 'adaptogenic' herb adapts to whatever the body needs! (For example, it will lower high blood pressure, but raise low blood pressure.) You could say that they stimulate the body's own self-regulation process; they work at the cellular level to improve the function and vitality of every cell in the body!

Adaptogens are also considered to be anti-aging herbs and are beneficial to the whole body. They never have just one function, but they will actually go to the organ which needs assistance and help rebalance it.

The benefits of herbs, known to be adaptogens, are that they can restore the body to homeostasis better than any medicine because they target and strengthen the whole body. Many athletes throughout the world use adaptogenic herbs to enhance their performance. They are as legal and as safe as using food and supplements.

As we age we expect our 'youth' to diminish, but it doesn't necessarily have to - at least, I believe, not to the degree that we see in our culture. We can keep a very high degree of our physical-ness: beauty, athletic ability, stamina and even sexual virility well into our twilight years! I believe it's all up to us and the choices we make.

Astragulus (Huang Qi) is known to:

Increase circulation and boost vitality
Enhance recovery after illness, disease, or prolonged stress
Increase Basal Metabolic Rate
Aids adrenal function
Antibacterial and antiviral
Anti-inflammatory
Antioxidant
Aids digestion
Combats fatigue, increases stamina
Speed healing
Diuretic to remove edema
Prevent colds, flu and upper respiratory infections
Increases the production of blood cells
Widely used for treating the spleen and the lungs
Enhance immune function by increasing 'natural killer cell activity' (a 'good' white blood cell) and enhancing 'macrophage activity' (a large white blood cell that ingests infectious foreign particles.
Nature has given us some wonderful gifts - and this is just one of them...

There are even studies where Astragalus has proven to have an anti-tumor effect and can benefit chemotherapy. Quite an impressive herb, wouldn't you say?

With all of these incredible properties no wonder this adaptogenic herb (and 5 others) is used in so many of our proprietary formulations! So, with the cold and flu season coming on, why not arm yourself with all the natural tools available to you?

Diann Clark is co-founder of Ancient Herbal Secrets, an all-natural product company. Ancient Herbal Secrets carries formulas for Health, Beauty and Longevity which help to balance and harmonize your body.

These secret (Bi Bong) formulas have been recently introduced to the West. They have benefited thousands of people around the world. Six different adaptogenic herbs are used in our formulas. Huang Qi can also be found in all of our Therapeutic Soaks. One bottle gives you three restful and healthful soaks.

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