Fall at Bennington Lake, Walla Walla

As I write this, some children have already gone back to school. A second wave will start right after Labor Day weekend, and college students will be in class by the end of the month. Parents, teachers, and students know the drill. School starts. Immune systems mingle, fraternize, share drinks, and maybe even some slightly chewed pencils. Shortly thereafter, the viruses and bacteria begin their, hopefully, brief reign of terror.

My goal in writing this post is to help spread the word that East Asian medicine has a wide variety of herbal formulas, dietary strategies, and even acupuncture treatments to help protect against the common cold and flu, as well as shorten the duration when one does fall ill. Besides taking over the counter meds that mask symptoms of colds and flus, Chinese herbal formulas can both help with the aches, pains, sniffles, belly…