I recently asked my followers on my Facebook page to let me know what articles about health, wellness, and chinese medicine they would like to read about. A long time friend made the first comment, “Zombies”. Challenge accepted Dan. Challenge Accepted.
Chinese Medicine has existed for thousands of years and seems to be a separate entity from recognized and more “modern” Western Medicine. Though the concepts, treatments, and ideologies are very foreign to the average person, the method for arriving at the treatment strategies is the exact same as the principles every esteemed modern scientist follows.
Step 1. Observation.
Picture this. A young man, in the mountains of Tibet in the 15th century
happened to look down and notice a long, white unicorn-horn looking thing sticking out of an ant’s brain. This ant was acting very peculiarly. Every ant in the little ant line was heading south, but this unicorn ant broke free from the line and moved towards a small bush. This little unicorn ant started climbing, climbing, climbing until it reached the top of the bush. The ant grasped hold of the tip top brach, held tight, then died.
Our 15th century Tibetan man was shocked by this and since it’s a bazillion years before iPhones, the interwebs, and tv he decided to do a little experimentation. Whatever made that little horn pop out of the ants head, change his behavior, make him branch off from the herd and walk like a zombie away from everything his instincts would have normally dictated might have a very entertaining effect on this our Tibetan. What else does he have going on?
So, Mr. Tibet pops the ant in his mouth and sits back and waits. And waits.
Then all of the sudden he starts noticing a few things. The first thing he notices is that he feels a great sense of happiness (but perhaps he’s just relieved the ant wasn’t poisonous). It seems that we are off to a good start in the observation of the ingestion of the unicorn ant. Secondly, he notices that perhaps due to his good mood, he feels the need to head back in town in search of some female companionship. Could he have found a secret aphrodisiac?! This could make him reach and famous because just like the bigwigs over at Viagra will attest to, sexual health is a billion dollar industry!
What our Tibetan man doesn’t realize is that the ant had been infected by a parasitic fungus known as Cordycepts sinensis, or in Chinese Medicine, Dong Chong Xia Cao. The fungus attacks a host caterpillar or ant, invades the insect and then begins the take-over. Some of the cordyceps species have been known to effect their hosts behavior for their survival which accounts for the zombie-like behavior that our Tibetan man saw.
Our Tibetan man, Zurkhar Nyamnyi Doje, became famous for his discovery and wrote a medicinal text explaining the tonic properties of this little fungus. According to the Materia Medica of Chinese Herbal Medicine, this herb works as an adaptogen to increase energy, enhance stamina, and reduce fatigue. In Western Medicine is is used during organ transplants as an immunosuppressive drug. It is also being researched for it’s anti-cancer properties. Cordyceps has polysacchariedes and cordycepin that have been shown to have anti-cancer components.
Another new area of research worth noting in these large waisted times is cordyceps effects on insulin resistance. Preliminary research have found a hypoglycemic affect from ingesting cordyceps! That little zombie ant might be able to help us fight the battle of the bulge!
Treating conditions with Chinese Medicine isn’t as simple as chasing down zombie ants. Finding a licensed practitioner who can assess and diagnose the root cause of a particular condition is going to dictate the success of the herbs. Who knows, you might not need to be popping zombie ant fungus, you might need some dragon’s blood.
Zombie Herbs.
