I once met a cancer client during the internship. He took out 15 types of pills. Yes, 15 types. He started with a stomach issue. So, he was prescribed stomach medicine. Then there was a side effect. He took another medicine for this side effect. Then after a while, his liver had a problem. He took liver medicine. Then there were side effects. So, he took more pills for these side effects, and so on and so on, until he was now taking 15 types of pills and was diagnosed with throat cancer. Can you imagine what kind of impact it has on your body if you take 15 pills altogether every day?   

I also met a patient in my own clinic with a similar story. Nowadays, it seems that when a person has 4–5 bottles of pills, it is very normal. 

I should say, most nutritional or dietary supplements follow similar medicinal theory. If you lack vitamin C, then take vitamin C. Or just take multi-vitamins. It sounds right. But seldom does a person think deeper. How do those things really react in your body? What kind of problem could it lead to?

I often hear my clients say that they take aloe juice to help them with bowel movements. And it works very well. So, they must drink it every day for the rest of their lives to help them poo.   Just imagine if you were relying on laxatives. It’s a similar theory, but aloe juice is much lighter of course. If for temporary relief, it’s okay. But if you drink it for the long term, it will cause problems. First, you must ask yourself why you have bowl movement issues in the first place.

For most people, especially the elderly, it’s because the yang qi is getting lower. To put it another way, there is not enough energy to make the intestines move. So, the proper way of solving this problem is to restore the normal functionality of your intestines. You might ask what the harm would be in the long run from taking aloe juice. Well, to put it simply, your clear chi cannot be steamed up to nourish your lungs and your upper parts. In the long run, your intestines will totally stop working, and you will lack enough clear qi or energy supply. Then some other issues such as dizziness, dementia, COPD, etc. might occur. You would never think they are related at all. I might exaggerate a bit.  But I did find that a lot of people ended up relying on aloe vera juice for their bowel movements.

It’s common sense that if you want to treat an issue, you must know the cause of the issue, right?  Dry eyes, dry nose, dry lips, dry mouth, dry throat? Each dryness implies a different reason or issue from a Chinese medicinal point of view.

So, it’s time to rethink the health choices now. I will try to explain these theories down the road. You can follow me through my YouTube channel, “Holistic Queen” or check some of my blogs posted on www.ShowTCM.com.