As the popularity of Airborne increases more and more controversy surrounds the product as they gain customers. There is alot of controversy as to whether or not the formula works or not. I am going to go ahead and list out the herbs in the formula and explain their usage in this formula.

Airborne has the following list of herbs:

Loniceria / Jin Yin Hua / Honeysuckle
Forsythia / Lian Qiao
Jin Yin Hua and Forsythia are usually used together and have a common name ‘Yin Qiao’ when used together. They are toxicity clearing herbs and work strongly at clearing evils.

Schizonepeta / Jing Jie
Release the exterior with a broad action.

Ginger / Gan Jiang
Well there is a problem here. Raw ginger has a great property to help at the beginning of cold signs, but dried ginger is very very warming and has a primary action of warming the body to dispel cold. This may be a rookie error from a teacher trying to be an herbalist? This is also adding a very warming herb to list of cool herbs that trying to clear heat and relieve toxicity. Even if you are attempting to start with fresh ginger, it will not stay fresh unless decocted, it will dry out.

Chinese Vitex / Man Jing Zi (I think this is the herb they mean)
This herb is commonly used for PMS and gynecological symptoms in the west, but it is cool and releases the exterior.

Isatis / Ban Lan Gen
Great herb here. Ban Lan Gen is a proven anti-viral and anti-bacterial herb.

Echinacea
Echinacea relieves toxicity and is similar to Jin Yin Hua. Echinacea is good as an anti bacterial. Echinacea is good for colds at an acute stage, it can get your body to dump white cells out but does not work as a long term immunity builder.More information on Echinacea can be found here: Echinacea http://www.dimmakherbs.com/Chinese-Herbal-Remedies/echinacea-letting-you-down.html Another problem with this herb is there are 3 different varieties. It seems to me from research that Airborne uses the cheaper less effective form of Echinacea and not the expensive Purpurea version.

Vitamin C
Vitamin C has countless claims to work on increasing and maintaining your immunity. However .06 grams of Vitamin C is 100% daily serving. Airborne has 1 gram of Vitamin C per capsule and recommend you take 3 daily. While I agree that the government usually grossly underrates some of our Vitamins, I think 2000% of what is recommended 3 times a day is a bit steep. This is also a problem because while Airborne claims 3000mg of Vitamin C is okay for you to take daily, there is scientific proof that that much Vitamin C is very bad for you. Kidney stones, diarrhea, and leaching of important metals affecting your metabolic condition are just some of the problems with Vitamin C overdoses. Another problem is all of your food you are eating also contains Vitamin C which makes for even higher intake of Vitamin C.

So, how did a teacher come up with this? Well simple really this formula is a combination of some classic Chinese Herbal Formulas that have been around for a really long time.
As we have discussed before there is a 2 herb combination called Yin Qiao (loniceria and forsythia). This combination has been made into a more complex formula years ago.

Modern Day Yin Qiao or Yin Chiao or Yin Chieu or even Yin Xiao is typically made up of:
Jin Yin Hua / Loniceria
Lian Qiao / Forsythia
Jie Geng / Platycodi
Bo He/ Mint
Nui Bang Zi / Burdock / Arctii Fructus
Ban Lan Gen / Isatis
Gan Cao / Licorice

As you see there is a common resemblance here. In practice fresh ginger is a good choice, but in pill form Licorice is more often used because: It is already dried, harmonizes formulas, and works on tonifying lung problems (an obvious problem with a cold).
It appears that Man Jing Zi is substituted for Nui Bang Zi as they are both similar in a few ways and in the same category. However, Man Jing Zi is not a typical ingredient used here in this condition, Nui Bang Zi would be a better bet.
Apart from this the addition is some vitamins including Vitamin C and Echinacea. Two of the most well know ‘herbs’ in the west, it is no wonder these are thrown in. The problem with using Echinacea is it doesn’t say the exact species being used. Echinacea Purpurea would be the best usage and only using the ROOT part, however we don’t know this by an ingredient listing as ‘Echinacea’. I have already expressed my concern here about the blatant over use of Vitamin C here.

Many people I know use Airborne and many people think its really neat that a teacher made it. I can tell you that I don’t use it for the simple fact that a teacher made it. This formula also supposedly uses extracts as far as I can tell. If this is true you are working with extracts of herbs, not whole herbs that have buffering effects. This is the closest step to a pharmaceutical (most prescription drugs are isolated and extracted parts of plants), im surely not overdosing on Vitamin C and taking an extract of herbs.

I also have a complaint that Airborne seems to elude on their website that this formula increases immunity, as if to use long term. Having lots of experience with all of these herbs including Echinacea I can say that this herb list is NOT for increasing immunity. This is an acute formula that is for releif of symptoms and signs related to the onset of a cold. DO NOT take Airborne long term, only for short periods of time related to cold signs.

Here are 2 competitors out there that I also know work great (besides a basic Yin Qiao formula):

Blue Poppy’s Cold Quell:
This is 2 formulas combined. The first formula is a formula similar to Yin Qiao- Xiao Chai Hu
Ban Lan Gen (Radix Isatidis/Baphicacanthi)
Lian Qiao (Fructus Forsythiae)
Jin Yin Hua (Flos Lonicerae)
Xuan Shen (Radix Scrophulariae)
Huang Qin (Radix Scutellariae)
Chai Hu (Radix Bupleuri)
Dang Shen (Radix Codonopsitis)
Ban Xia (Rhizoma Pinelliae)
Da Zao (Fructus Jujubae)
Sheng Jiang (uncooked Rhizoma Zingiberis)
Niu Bang Zi (Fructus Arctii)
mix-fried Gan Cao (Radix Glycyrrhizae)
Jie Geng (Radix Platycodi)

You can see the similarity here, but the formula has herbs to deal with lung heat and phlegm. This formula also keeps your defensive mechanism running strong and make sure the pathogen doesn’t dive deeper.

Si Wu Tang
Sheng Di (uncooked Radix Rehmanniae)
Bai Shao (Radix Paeoniae Albae)
Dang Gui (Radix Angelicae Sinensis)
Chuan Xiong (Rhizoma Chuanxiong)
This formula adds in protective herbs and tonifying herbs. The point here is to not give you a pill that is going to drain and dry you out. You shouldn’t need much time in the ‘recovery’ stage of the cold using this theory.
Cold Quell uses 10:1 extract, but of ingredients that are well documented so you KNOW what is in the formula. I still feel you lose something dealing with pure extracts, but at least the owner of Blue Poppy is well respected Practitioner and knows his herbs.

Dimmak Herbs offers Quick Kill - Cold
Herb List:
Loniceria / Jin Yin Hua / Honeysuckle
Forsythia / Lian Qiao
Jin Yin Hua and Forsythia are usually used together and have a common name ‘Yin Qiao’ when used together. They are toxicity clearing herbs and work strongly at clearing evils.

Elder Flowers
We really like the cleansing power of Elder Flowers and use them in several herbal remedies here. Elder Flowers fall into the clear toxicity category and Elder is a great anti-bacterial and anti-viral cleanser.

Huang Qi / Astragalus
Huang Qi is a very revered herb all over the world for its immunity boosting abilities. The Chinese make soups all winter long with a  big dose of Huang Qi in it, and Westerners everywhere take Astragalus all winter long in teas and tincture form to avoid colds. Huang Qi boost the Wei Qi and builds up what needs to be strengthened. This herb has an important function of tonifying your body while its down (fighting a cold) while actually helping to get rid of the cold or flu.

Chai Hu / Bupleurum
Chai Hu releases the exterior by function and category. This herb sets our formula apart and works when others may not. Chai Hu not only pushes out what is trying to enter, BUT also pushes out what has already entered. Chai Hu also helps your bodies liver and blood Qi move freely throughout the body (this is usually where the aches and pain come from with the cold). We can go on and on about Chai Hu, but we are looking to keep this to a comparison, not an article on this herb.

Bo He / Chinese Mint
Mint is cool and releases the exterior. Mint is commonly used at the onset of colds and helps with headaches too.

Ban Lan Gen / Isatis
Ban Lan Gen is an excellent and under used herb. Ban Lan Gen actually has a huge amount of research to get rid of colds and flu and has more research on it that Echinacea. Ban Lan Gen is used as a shot in concentrated form as a flu shot. Yes that’s right, it even prevents colds and flu.

Huang Qin / Scute
Clears heat in the upper body. Helps with scratchy throat and lung problems like cough, phlegm, and swellings dealt with in the onset of colds and flu

Gan Cao / Licorice
Licorice helps to ease this formula into your system and avoid reactions to strong herbs in your body. Licorice is also great for the lung and throat for cough and sore throat.

Vitamin C
Again, Vitamin C has possible great effects on helping the body through colds and flu and such. However, In our formula a normal dose will be only 200% daily dosage and full dose would be 400% of Vitamin C. So even with orange juice or other foods you wont take in more than a safe 1000% of Vitamin C intake daily!

Dimmak herbs uses 20% extracts to 80% whole herb. Quick Kill- Cold and Cold Quell both come in a pill form as opposed to a dissolving tablet. These tablets are full of atificial flavors, sucralose, and fillers. I prefer the pill form to avoid needing to dissolve my tablet and avoid all the extra fillers and such.

On a final note- Airborne got sued in a class action suit as people assumed that Airborne made a claim that it cured colds. This is ridiculous and everyone knows it. Nothing is assumed to cure anything, all herbal formulas say on them they don’t cure anything. These don’t cure, but rest assured Chinese Medicine IS the BEST and CLOSEST thing to a cure for the common cold!

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It is without a doubt the most common ailment out there is soreness or pain somewhere in the body. The most common of this problem is probably going to be muscle pain. Let’s discuss herbal and home remedies for pain and soreness.

The reason pain and soreness most of the time go hand in hand is because in herbal or Chinese medicine both are manifesting from the same problem, blockage! Whether you are talking about muscle pain, constricted muscle, pain anywhere, joint pain, back pain there is a blockage of Qi and blood to the area. This can cause coldness to set in the area, healing not to happen, area not getting nutrition it needs.

Blockage can happen several different ways. Self inflicted by working out and causing tearing of the muscle (normal), areas not getting used so circulation is low, coldness constricting the area, the body using self protecting mechanisms to contract and hold muscles, and many more. Most of the time all of these problems can be handled with herbs that move Qi and blood, including general pain or syndrome pain like fibromyalgia.

Wei Ling Xian / Clematis – Is an herb actually that is categorized to open blockages from what is called wind – damp or Bi syndrome (a problem that manifests similar to arthritis or other joint pain). Wei Ling Xian is an herb that regardless of category has a special focus on helping with pain. This is mainly thanks to its invigorating properties or movement properties. Wei Ling Xian can be used internally, soaks, liniments, poultices and more.

Dang Gui / Angelica Sinensis – Dan Gui (Chinese Angelica) is used as a tonic (blood tonic more specifically) and is heavily used in Chinese Medicine. I want to use Dang Gui as an example because it has a bit different use. Dan Gui also moves blood and is used in many external applications to move blood to an area, but it also has a soothing effect on the area. For example, Dang Gui is found in balms to help with burns and such. As you can see a bit different than Wei Ling Xian, Dang Gui can handle a bit different of pain. Externally used Dan Gui is very versatile; if you are wanting mostly the invigorating properties you should use the TAIL of the herb, or Dang Gui Wei.

Mo Yao & Ru Xiang / Myrrh & Frankincense – These two herbs deserve a part in this post because they are so widely used and respected for their invigorating properties. You will find Mo Yao and Ru Xiang in many formulas, especially external, for pain and blockage. Externally they make the base of most liniments and such, when taken internally a tincture is more common and low dosage is normal. You will find many arthritis patients that are seeking alternative medicine taking a tincture of these tree resins. Last great thing to say about Myrrh and Frankincense is they are quite inexpensive. I also realize that while I really never mention exotic herbs on here, some of the herbs I talk about aren’t easy to get unless you order online or go to a Chinese Herb Shop. Myrrh and Frankincense can be found even at most health food stores, so sourcing these 2 herbs should be easy for anyone.

San Qi / Tien Qi – Here we go again, my 1 Herb To Rule Them All. San Qi easily fits into this category for many reasons. San Qi reduces swelling, stops bleeding, invigorates the blood, and warms. You can see an almost complete package for pain relief but more commonly soreness and acute trauma. San Qi is in about every good external formula, but care should be taken internally especially if pregnant.

For most applications of these herbs a decoction is okay and easy to do. 3-9g of each herb can be taken in a decoction daily. Externally applied poultices can be made easily by making an even stronger decoction and applying externally with a cloth. Tinctures can be made as a 4 ounce herb to 500 ml of alcohol and soaked for 2-4 weeks. Liniments are by far the most potent and useful for soreness. Liniments are bit more complicated with herb dosages and amounts and soaked for 6 months to a few years. Therefore, liniments are best bought pre-made from a reputable seller.

Dimmak Herbs has many herbal liniments for externally treating many ailments. For soreness I would recommend Dimmak ‘19’ Liniment as it is a complicated formula that is very warming and makes soreness better on contact! Visit Dimmak Herbs’ Herbal Liniment Section to look over all the liniments you should ever need.

Balms are familiar to most people, they are jelly or wax bases used for a variety of problems. Tiger Balm is a popular balm or ointment that people use for external soreness. Here is what I like about Tiger Balm. Tiger Balm uses some of its Chinese roots to create a very popular balm, rather than Western over the counter applications that use a small percentage of menthol in a jelly base. What I like about Dimmak Herbs’ Dimmak ‘19’ Balm is that it uses an HERBAL blend that is infused into the oil based balm. Then the balm adds a good percentage of essential oils like Cajuput & Cassia. Tiger Balm is just 3 essential oils in a jelly base. This herbal infused oil in Dimmak ‘19’ Balm uses many of these invigorating properties and pain killers. This makes for the most superior yield of ointment application possible! I would also like to mention that Tiger Balm runs $11.00 per ounce, compared to half that of a product like Dimmak ‘19’ Soreness Balm. Alternatively look around at all the products for soreness: Soreness Herbal Remedies

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Can you believe the holidays have fallen upon us again? All those gyms you see everywhere, their business is built on us stuffing our faces full of food over the next month only to say to ourselves:

“I’ll join the gym for my New Year’s Resolution and lose all this weight!”

Some of us have to juggle 2-4 Thanksgiving dinners through the weekend from different sides of the family. Now lets not get too hasty and blame everything on everyone else. I know how delicious all of the food is and no body is forcing anyone to get that second platter! With 39 dishes in front of you, you have to have a whole serving of each one right? You don’t want to be rude!

Well, lets talk about some ways to help-

Obviously you can just not eat the food, but that’s probably what Glamour Magazine told you to do, so we will skip the obvious!
I posted last year some tips here:
Holiday Weight Management
So lets expand on what is already there…

Slow Down and Spread Out. This technique allows you to digest the food properly that you are taking in and give your body ample time to compute how much you have taken in and tell you are FULL! Eat slow, spread your eating out. Put only a little bit on your plate and a time and take more trips. This will allow much more time between the food intake for you know when to quit!

Don’t Skip Meals. This is probably the most damaging part of holiday meals especially Thanksgiving. You know you are going to eat a big meal so you don’t eat at all until then and you eat so much you don’t eat until the next day! So, if your dinner is scheduled at 1:00pm then make sure you have breakfast and only eat enough to make sure you eat dinner. If Thanksgiving is a dinner, then eat breakfast AND lunch. In order to prepare you body for an onslaught of food, try eating warm and easily digestible foods like soups and steamed vegetables.

Use Herbs! I am offering 3 great herb tips to use for Thanksgiving and Holiday Dinners this year.

• Shan Zha / Hawthorn Berry. This herb is in a category we call ‘Relieve Food Stagnation’. Does that sound like a good one or what? After you go full siege with the food and feel like you need to sleep for a week, this is when this herb comes in handy. There are 2 main points that make this herb great here. This herb ALSO lowers high blood pressure AND high cholesterol. This herb is readily available at health food stores in powdered drink form and already made drinks (Chinese Food Stores too).
• Chen Pi / Citrus Peel. Chen Pi promotes movement in the stomach area and prevents stagnation from happening. I believe fluid movement is a great way to help with keeping fit. If you keep movement happening you can continue to keep up your metabolism to burn in your food intake. I would suggest getting some at the herb store and taking in capsules or something before, during and after these heavy meals
• Chickweed. Chickweed does what some people imagine raw rice does when you eat it and then drink water. Eating a bunch of chickweed prior to meals will really plump up in your stomach and as soon as a little more food is added, your body is telling you that you are full! This herb is pretty easy to find and should be available at any health food store.

Let us also not forget our previous tip about eating a good source of fiber 30 minutes to an hour prior to meals. 2 pieces of extra fiber bread plain or as toast with some water before a meal will really fill you up quickly.

Keep the flow going. I mentioned some laxatives and ways to keep your bowels moving last year. This year I encourage a more natural way. Lets try flax seed for the natural oils and fiber content this year! If you would rather leave it up to some products I am recommending Dimmak Herb’s Bowel Regulator. This herbal supplement works to natural regulate the bowels and not simply just purge them!

My #1 tip this year - Daikon! Daikon is also known as Japanese Radish, East Asian Radish, Chinese Radish, and others. The flavor is more mild that regular radishes and makes a great soup. This herb is one of the greatest of all for our famous ‘Thanksgiving Carb comatose’! Simply make a soup or some other dish with a bunch of Daikon in it and eat it after these crazy meals. Feel the pain and bloating go away with each bite! There are many recipes online to try, so get what you need now! The Daikon will relieve the food stagnation and also stop any hiccup or burping you got from the large meal you ate!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

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There isn’t a lake of information on the web about green tea and I usually try to post about unique things. However, Green Tea comes up quite a bit and I just can’t help but to put more education about it up here. I am writing quite a bit about it in order to help you find what info you may need without needing to jump to very many sources to get what you need!

Green Tea has long been the coveted ‘secret’ of the Asian population. We tried to research the key to their longevity (for their  conditions), and resistance to cancers. We couldn’t really find anything exotic as we realized it came down to diet and Green Tea.

History of Green Tea.

Green tea has countless health benefits and was used in ancient Chinese Medications to cure and prevent dangerous diseases. Green tea has been used in China as a healthy, healing drink for around 5,000 years. Green tea was the preferred drink in the privileged and the well-off. The tea leaves were used fresh from the plant for tea preparation, lightly heat processed. Sometime people used to eat fresh leaves of Green Tea for its beneficial affects. During that era it was considered an expensive drink that can only be enjoyed by rich and famous.  Nevertheless, after the collapse of the Mongolian Empire, entire population of China began to practice the magnificent consumption of tea, including green tea.

Green Tea Benefits.

The medicinal benefits of green tea have in the spotlight these days. Green Tea is known for its resourceful and optimum properties benefiting entire body. It Improves blood circulation with added oxygenation and boosts the body’s natural immune system. In fact it is scientifically proven that Green Tea is Best Alternative Medicine and it attains greater harmony and enhances your ability to keep up with the external and psychological pressures of life. Green tea also averts tooth decay and makes teeth more resistant to acids. It improves digestion and cleanses the body from within. Green tea is flash-steamed for about 20 seconds to retain the maximum amount of active properties. Green tea includes vitamin B, as well as C and E. Many tea drinkers say that they actually feel less tired and brighten as this marvelous Alternative Medicine changed their entire personality.

Green Tea, Antioxidant Features.

At the moment Green tea is turning as one of the popular and desired drink of America. Green tea is identified as alternative medicine for its taste and health benefits far and wide, including weight loss assistance, reducing cancer risks and adding antioxidants to your diet. For its amazing heath benefits, Health and fitness conscious people around the world turning towards green tea. If you want quick and permanent weight loss start taking it regularly and in short span of time you will find instant weight loss. Green tea not only gives you the much desired weight loss but it also insures that your metabolism increases and you feel better and fit. There have been endless claims of the advantages of green tea as a best alternative medicine. Because of elevated levels of antioxidants, studies have recommended that green tea might be gifted to stop diseases and even to fight cancer. If you drink the tea regularly, you will have advancements that lower cholesterol; help you lose weight, and much more. Green tea is sometimes also used in moisturizers and skin care beauty products.

Preparing Your Cup of Green Tea.

Preparation for the green tea cup is as enjoyable experience as the real taste and Aroma itself. Brewing for green tea is completely different from regular Black tea. For the best results in green tea, the one thing you must to keep in mind is that the tea leaves require room to develop and put in their health benefits to the water. To the flavor of the consequential tea can be slowed down by tea bags or tea balls. Let the tea leaves to sit lose in the water and steep for a few minutes is the best way to brew green tea and then is should be strained, if preferred.

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