Boost Your Immunity to Keep Illness at Bay

“Boost Your Immunity to Keep Illness at Bay,” The immune system is the body’s natural defense against viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens. Maintaining a strong immune system does not rely on a single approach but requires a comprehensive, scientifically-based lifestyle.

The Story Of Repelling Mosquitoes

“Time to replace your window screens!” Whenever I see someone pushing a bicycle and calling out to replace window screens as they pass by downstairs, I’m reminded of when we replaced ours last year.

Last summer, the kitchen window screen was torn. My wife mentioned it to me several times, asking me to find someone to replace it. But replacing a screen seemed like too much trouble, and I also felt that such a thin layer of mesh probably wouldn’t do much good, so I was too lazy to get it done.

Before long, mosquitoes started appearing in the house, buzzing all night long—it was incredibly annoying. In a moment of desperation, I bought some insecticide and wiped them out in one fell swoop. I even joked to my wife, “Insecticide really does the trick!”

But within two days, the mosquitoes were back. My wife said it was because the window screen wasn’t installed, but I didn’t take her seriously and kept using my insecticide, killing them one by one as they appeared. With the start of autumn fast approaching, I’d used up the entire bottle of insecticide, but I’d still spot one or two mosquitoes in the house every day. That buzzing sound felt like they were mocking me—especially since mosquitoes are even more persistent after autumn begins, and a single bite can leave you feeling miserable for days.

I didn’t want to stick to my guns anymore. As it happened, there was a screen installer downstairs, so I asked him to help me replace the screens. He was highly skilled and had the torn screens fixed in no time.

It was just the start of the Autumn Equinox, and although there were plenty of mosquitoes, once the screens were up, I never saw another one inside the house! A thin layer of window screen kept the mosquitoes out—it reminded me of the mosquito nets we used at home when I was a child; isn’t the principle the same?

I. Instead of waiting until you get sick to take medicine, find ways to keep your body healthy

As someone who always likes to ponder the underlying principles of things, I couldn’t stop thinking about this window screen incident for a long time. It wasn’t until one day, while treating a patient with a weak immune system who kept catching colds, that I suddenly realized a truth.

She was a 5-year-old girl who, for the past six months, had been coughing and developing a runny nose the moment she caught even a slight chill. Antibiotics provided temporary relief, but as soon as she stopped taking them and caught another chill, the symptoms would return. This cycle repeated itself, and after six months of intermittent treatment, the hospital informed us that the child had a weakened immune system and recommended traditional Chinese medicine. A week ago, the child caught a slight chill upon waking early in the morning, and her condition worsened. Not only did she have a cough and a runny nose, but she also became restless at night and had sticky, uncomfortable stools five or six times a day. Her tongue showed tooth marks with a thin yellow coating, and her pulse on both sides exhibited a pronounced sunken quality.

Judging by the pulse, this child suffers from liver qi stagnation and spleen deficiency. The body’s clear yang fails to rise; due to spleen deficiency, earth fails to generate metal, resulting in an insufficient supply of lung qi. Consequently, defensive qi cannot be distributed to the exterior, leaving the body’s surface unprotected. Furthermore, liver qi fails to rise, leading to an insufficient supply of heart blood; heart yang lacks a yin foundation, and the generation of yang qi is inadequate, resulting in poor resistance.

If we relate the origin of this illness to the story of swatting a mosquito, we can gain a deeper understanding of human disease.

The human body possesses a type of qi that serves to protect the organism; in Traditional Chinese Medicine, this is called “Wei Qi.” The character “Wei” (卫) means “to defend.” During the day, Wei Qi circulates at the surface of the muscles and skin, defending the body against the invasion of external pathogens and serving a protective function. At night, Wei Qi enters the zang-fu organs to protect our five zang organs and six fu organs.

The mosquitoes in the story above are analogous to external pathogens, such as wind, cold, and dampness; the window screen represents the body’s Wei Qi, and the house represents the human body. Without the protection of a window screen, mosquitoes, flies, and other insects from outside can easily enter the house; similarly, without Wei Qi to protect the body, people are often susceptible to external pathogens. Insecticide is analogous to medications that expel pathogenic factors and treat illness; just as insecticide kills mosquitoes, these medications can dispel external pathogenic factors that have entered the body.

With this understanding, let’s revisit the case mentioned above—the treatment approach becomes much clearer.

I prescribed the following formula to the patient: Astragalus, Atractylodes, Saposhnikovia, Cinnamon Twig, Fried Ephedra, Apricot Kernel, Raw Barley Malt, Angelica, Coix Seed, and Licorice.

After the child took the medicine for one week, her symptoms improved significantly. I made slight adjustments to the prescription and had her take another ten or so doses; her constitution strengthened noticeably, and she rarely suffered from colds or coughs anymore.

By connecting the small details of daily life with our bodies and drawing insights into health preservation and disease treatment from nature, our clinical approach to treating illnesses becomes much broader.

Children who frequently catch colds, have a runny nose, and cough often require medication or injections almost daily. If you’re not careful, they’ll fall ill again, leaving parents at their wits’ end. In fact, this is like a house without window screens—you’ll never completely eliminate the mosquitoes inside. The most urgent task is to install window screens. For children, this means boosting their immunity.

Where does immunity come from? By replenishing Wei Qi. When Wei Qi is abundant, the body’s ability to protect the exterior is strengthened, and recurrent colds will cease.

II. Why Do Children Have Weaker Immunity Than Adults?

Children are like tender seedlings just sprouting, brimming with vitality—much like spring, when all things are newly born and teeming with life.

The four seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—correspond to the Five Elements of Wood, Fire, Metal, and Water, which in turn correspond to the human organs: the liver, heart, lungs, and kidneys. In terms of human life stages, they correspond to childhood, youth, middle age, and old age. Spring belongs to Wood, and young children also belong to Wood. The characteristic of Wood is “flow and dispersion”; just as trees in spring are full of vitality, young children are also brimming with vitality.

In the human body, the liver belongs to the Wood element; a child’s liver is like “Wood within Wood,” and its functions are more vigorous compared to those of an adult. Therefore, Qian Yi, a Northern Song Dynasty physician, pointed out in *Direct Decisions on Pediatric Medicines and Syndromes: Chapter on Differentiating the Five Zang Organs* that “a child’s liver is often in excess, while the spleen is often deficient.” Zhu Danxi also noted in *Supplementary Discussions on the Principles of Medicine* that “an excess of qi becomes fire.” Consequently, children often exhibit the pathological mechanism of excessive liver fire and spleen deficiency.

What does spleen deficiency lead to? As mentioned earlier, the Five Elements generate one another: Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, Earth generates Metal, Metal generates Water, and Water generates Wood. The spleen belongs to the Earth element.

When the spleen is deficient, the Earth’s ability to generate Metal weakens. The direct consequence of spleen deficiency is lung deficiency, or insufficiency of lung qi. The lung is the mother organ, and the spleen is the child organ; spleen deficiency leads to insufficiency of lung qi, which is a classic example of “the mother’s illness affecting the child.”

In addition to manifesting as deficient lung qi, spleen deficiency also results in insufficient upward-rising qi, causing patients to experience dizziness and shortness of breath. Since the spleen governs the limbs, spleen deficiency is often accompanied by weakness in the limbs.

Among treatments for spleen deficiency leading to deficient lung qi, the most classic formula is undoubtedly Yupingfeng San. Its composition consists of Fangfeng, Huangqi, and Baizhu.

Astragalus (Huangqi) tonifies the qi of the spleen and lungs, boosts qi, fortifies the exterior, and stops sweating; Atractylodes (Baizhu) tonifies qi and strengthens the spleen. Combined with Fangfeng, which moves to the exterior to disperse wind-pathogens, it works with Astragalus and Atractylodes to tonify qi and expel pathogens. Furthermore, when Astragalus is paired with Fangfeng, it fortifies the exterior without retaining pathogens; when Fangfeng is paired with Astragalus, it expels pathogens without harming the healthy qi. This embodies the principle of “tonification within dispersion” and “dispersion within tonification.” The combination of Astragalus and Atractylodes strengthens the spleen and tonifies qi, nourishing the middle jiao. As a result, lung qi is replenished, ensuring an abundant source of lung qi and fundamentally resolving the deficiency of lung qi.

In the previous chapter, I mentioned that many children with coughs are very active and break out in a profuse sweat after even slight exertion. In fact, this is caused by lung qi deficiency and spontaneous sweating due to exterior deficiency. For such children, Astragalus is indispensable in the selection of herbs for treatment. Only by strengthening the spleen and nourishing the lungs can the protective power of the muscle-skin surface be enhanced. As the ancients said, “When righteous qi resides within, pathogenic factors cannot invade”—this is precisely what is meant.

The previous chapter discussed yang qi and heart fire; this chapter addresses lung qi and the defensive qi that protects the exterior. In fact, the lungs’ resistance in the human body is primarily manifested in these two aspects. Once these two aspects are improved, frequent colds will no longer occur.

III. Treating Rheumatism and Chronic Cold Legs: Prioritize Keeping Warm and Nourishing Zheng Qi

Strengthening the body’s vital energy (Zheng Qi) is one of the key approaches to treating many chronic conditions. This principle applies not only to the treatment of colds but also to the management of other diseases. Consider the following story—the treatment of chronic cold legs.

Last year, a long-time patient came to chat with me. During our casual conversation, he mentioned his chronic cold legs, so I asked him how he was doing.

The elderly gentleman said, “It’s hard to cure this condition completely, but keeping it from flaring up is actually quite easy! I found a great remedy myself: starting in the fall, I wear knee braces every day until spring arrives. I’ve stuck with this for two years now, and my knees haven’t hurt at all in recent years!”

“Is it really that effective?” I asked.

“I’ve had this chronic cold-induced knee pain for over ten years and have taken countless medications. It would feel better while I was taking them, but after a few days, it would be back to the same old story. I kept thinking about the logic behind it. Isn’t this chronic cold knee condition just sensitive to the cold? I figured I just needed to keep it from getting cold. So, as soon as the weather turned slightly chilly in the fall, I started wearing a knee brace. And you know what? It really worked. I’ve stuck with it for two years, and I still wear it now. My knee used to be like a weather forecast, but now it doesn’t predict the weather accurately anymore! It doesn’t hurt on a regular basis either! “In my opinion, the key issue with this chronic cold-induced leg pain is still weak resistance. Wearing a knee brace adds a layer of protection, and that’s all it takes,” the old man said, speaking with great insight.

That night, I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about one question: Why do people in the countryside call rheumatism ‘the cancer you can’t die from’? Why can’t many patients be completely cured even after taking so many medications for rheumatism? Why does a knee brace, combined with proper care, work better than medication? Doesn’t a knee brace simply provide a protective layer? Could it be that rheumatism patients lack this protective layer, making it easy for wind and dampness to re-enter the body after being dispelled?

This protective layer should fall under the category of “Wei Qi” in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Could it be that replenishing qi and blood to ensure the body has sufficient Wei Qi can cure rheumatism?

Later, when treating rheumatism, in addition to using conventional methods such as dispelling cold, expelling wind, invigorating blood, unblocking meridians, and relieving pain, I also incorporated herbs like Astragalus (Huangqi), Chinese Angelica (Danggui), Saposhnikovia (Fangfeng), and Atractylodes (Baizhu) to strengthen the body’s vital energy (Zhengqi). After taking these, patients showed rapid improvement, and during the recovery phase, treatment focused primarily on fortifying the body’s vital energy, which significantly reduced the likelihood of rheumatism recurrence.

That’s right! In TCM treatment of rheumatism, aside from dispelling wind and dampness, what’s even more important is giving patients a “knee brace”—that is, replenishing defensive qi. Only then will the cold pathogenic factors associated with rheumatism be driven away for good, and only then can the patient’s condition be completely resolved!

Deficiency of defensive qi leads to frequent colds, which require replenishing yang qi and boosting immunity to treat; knee joint pain and chronic cold legs require keeping warm and also boosting immunity.

The treatment of all deficiency-related diseases in the human body actually follows the same principle—protecting yang energy.

When there is cold in the intestines, even a small amount of raw or cold food can easily cause abdominal pain and diarrhea. Avoiding cold foods is essentially protecting the yang energy of the intestines, while taking warming herbs is like putting “knee pads” on the intestines.

Many people experience nasal congestion, difficulty breathing, or constant sneezing after their heads are exposed to even a slight chill. This is actually due to a deficiency of yang energy in the head. Wearing a hat to protect the head or taking herbs that nourish the head’s yang energy is a way to strengthen the body’s vital energy—the same principle applies to wearing knee braces for chronic cold legs.

Once we understand this principle, we gain a deeper insight into many chronic or recurrent illnesses. After all, what we need to do is not merely kill the mosquitoes that have entered the house—it is far more important to replace the window screens in a timely manner.