I took Chinese herbs EVERY DAY for 1 year. Here's what happened.

So after reading the story of a famous hermit, an ascetic monk that was a Taoist who had consumed medicinal herbs from traditional Chinese medicine for years and had experienced an unusually long life, I was very curious what would happen if I did the same. Now this video dictates and details that process. Hey guys, I'm Dr. Alex Hein, author of the health book, Master of the Day and doctor of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine. So before we jump into this video, there are two very important links right below the video. The first is for a free guide for daily rituals that could potentially help you add years to your life with traditional Chinese medicine. And the second is if you'd like to become a patient of mine locally in Los Angeles or virtually via telemedicine, you can reach out and contact my private practice right below this video. You know, besides being a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine myself, who specializes in internal medicine formulas, who does every one custom for his patients, I'm always been captivated and fascinated by the physicians of the past or by the stories of other people in this profession that have utilized the wisdom of this ancient peak civilization to live longer. You know, there are stories like this guy, Li Qingyun, the immortal, this picture of him. And there are also stories of the famous physicians throughout history. You know, one thing that I think a lot about recently with the pandemic is that these famous physicians in China that lived 1,800, 1,000, 500, 300 years ago, who lived through pandemics, who treated their patients through the whole pandemics, who they themselves survived the pandemics, including if they were not young men, they were middle-aged or older people, they obviously had some knowledge of medicine because they survived. They had some medical skill that unless it was pure luck or unless they were hermits, the ones that were actual practicing physicians were treating patients. That's how they wrote books on the treatment methods of patients. And this was before N95 masks and biohazard suits. So there must be some ancestral knowledge that they had that allowed them to protect themselves, stay healthy, and if they got ill with these serious pandemic illnesses, to treat themselves. So I'm fascinated by these stories about the ancient doctors that have come before me. And obviously, one of the favorite quotes that I have is from a doctor named Zhang Zhongjing, who wrote the book, The Discussion on Cold Damage. And he says in his brilliant preface, he has a great quote about why all doctors, the physicians should learn about the herbal internal medicine. So he said, "'It strikes me as strange "'that the noblemen of our current age "'do not ever dedicate themselves to medicine and medicinals "'nor investigate the essence of the formulas "'and the methods above to cure the ailments "'of their lords and family elders, "'below to rescue the poor and humble from disaster, "'and in the middle to safeguard their own body "'and keep it complete, thereby nurturing their lives.'" So the first aspect of herbal prescribing is the pattern differentiation. So within traditional Chinese medicine, we always look at a pattern, which is a combination of symptoms, objective diagnoses, like the pulse and the abdominal diagnosis, the tongue, facial complexion, et cetera, right? As well as the patient's subjective symptoms. So when I look back at why I was taking formulas, I had started my private practice, I had just come out of my medical program, I was one of the few students who was working 20 hours a week, and I was experiencing a lot of symptoms of basically sympathetic dominance, way too high stress hormones coursing through my body, having palpitations every day, having insomnia almost 50% of the week for no reason, having weight loss that was unintended due to stress and low appetite, and in general, a constant feeling of nervous system tension or anxiety. So that was our pattern, and my pulse was what we call a floating deficient pulse. So this pattern, indicative of nervous system activity, excessive stress hormones, causing things like palpitations, causing things like anxiety, causing things like insomnia, are really indicative of one main herb called guajir, this medical grade cinnamon twig. So in particular, we wanna look at one formula pattern called lingwei caojiaotang. So lingwei caojiaotang is indicated when there's a cinnamon twig decoction pattern, which is what's called upward surging, anxiety, palpitations, insomnia, what ancient doctors called xinfan, heart vexation, right? This kind of restless, anxious quality, combined with feelings of basically panic or anxiety. So this formula is funnily put into the chapter of something called running piglet syndrome, where they describe an ancient panic attack, where they say the patient feels like there's a surge of chi up into the chest, where they feel like they're about to die, and then it goes away, and it happens again. So this running piglet syndrome, it's kind of a funny term, right, is describing an ancient panic attack. So of course, even back then, before Instagram, before cars, before noise, before electricity, people were having panic attacks for all kinds of reasons. And in this case, this excessive nervous system activity is indicative for this formula. So for this formula, I made it in the traditional way, where I would put it on the stovetop, I would bring it to a boil, and simmer it for 40 minutes, and then I would drink that formula warm three times per day. And taking that three times per day, within about 24, 48 hours, stopped the palpitations, the feeling of anxiety, and the feeling of restlessness, and the stress, and the insomnia I was having. This method of administration is just one of many. So very commonly, if I have, you know, I have a tendency towards lifelong GI issues, and that will increase with stress, or a poor diet, or going to a wedding for three days. So I will take formulas for that pattern as well. And very often, I'll take them in the form of powdered granules, which is what I give to my own patients, just for compliance sake. But after taking these formulas, looking back through time of studying hermits, and mystics, and the great physicians who used it to protect their own health, and to save their own life during pandemics, to make it through, and to write books on treating patients in pandemics. I mean, the famous Dr. Zhang Yongjing, I just read that quote from, lost the majority of his larger family and clan, about 50 to 80 people over a decade, due to these viral infections that were spreading rapidly. He lost a lot of his family, and that is what inspired in him the fire to go into medicine, and to be great. So he lived through it himself. Starts with that inspiration. Then it comes to modern day life, me trying to figure out, what can I do to best preserve my own health, even though I exercise and I eat right. And then, it leads us to these three essential lessons that I think will help you. The first is that these formulas help to strengthen the constitution. And the way I think about constitution is that it is your battery. So all of us have had phases of life where we get sick easily, and probably phases of life where we don't. And a lot of that is determined upon basically the current state of your health. Are you rested? Are you getting good nutrition? Are you regularly exercising? All of these things improve the functioning of your immune system. You'll feel better in general, no matter what. But in the case of sickness, they improve the functioning of your immune system. Formulas will improve the constitution of the immune system in the same way. So if you're someone who's getting acid reflux, if we use a formula for three months, now you no longer have acid reflux 90% of the time, your GI is much stronger towards another insult in the form of a burger and two margaritas. Next time you have that, you're not going to get acid reflux. Or if you're someone who's a very, very light sleeper, we treat you for three months, now you sleep well 95% of the time. And now, when the garbage truck goes by your home at 5 a.m. and makes a loud noise, you're less likely to be woken up. Or when your dog shuffles, you're less likely to be woken up because we have strengthened the battery. These formulas really do strengthen and repair your constitution. The second lesson is that, like the great Dr. Zhang Zhongjing, physicians in this profession should learn to utilize formulas, not only for their own patients, but to strengthen their own health and really to improve their own longevity and their own lives. I mean, there's no amount of healthy living that can perfectly buffer you against the stress of life. Of being a stressed out self-employed person, of being a physician who sees lots of patients all day, it's a stressful profession. Any kind of profession of medicine that you're in, it is a stressful profession, helping people and caring about people and doing individualized medicine. But that also may be the mother who's healthy and works out and exercises, but has a new baby and she's postpartum, she's exhausted and her baby is colicky and wakes up all night. She's going to feel crappy and get sick and feel more anxious or depressed than normal. That is a perfect opportunity for formulas. Or the man who's pushing hard in his career and he's overworked and he's under rested because he needs that promotion to get the home for his family. That is a perfect time to take those formulas to strengthen your body against the stress of life. And my third final point, they work and they work incredibly well. So those are some lessons on myself taking formulas every day for a year to offset the stress of life and some lessons that can benefit you, the lay person interested in learning about these more. That is what I have for you today, guys. Check out those links right below this video and I'll see you soon.