In 2009 and 2010, I completed a research fellowship at Mount Sinai’s Center for Chinese Herbal Therapy for Allergy and Asthma in New York City, led by Dr. Xiu-Min Li, studying Chinese herbal formulas for asthma and allergies. One meeting from that year has stayed with me.
We were reviewing lab data on ASHMI, an herbal formula for allergic asthma. The animals in the study had stopped taking the formula weeks earlier. Yet when they were exposed to the allergen again, their airways stayed calm and the allergic inflammation did not come back.
Several researchers in the room were puzzled. Most medicine only works while it is still in the body. Was the formula somehow still there?
It wasn’t. The herbs had changed the way the immune system responded, and that change held. I have thought about that meeting many times since, because it describes something I see in my practice. When herbal treatment works, the improvement often lasts after the formula stops. I describe this to patients as resetting the body.
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Why most treatments stop working when you stop taking them
Many allergy and asthma medications work by blocking a reaction while they are active in the body. When the dose wears off, symptoms return. That kind of relief is valuable, but it does not change why the body overreacts in the first place.
Chinese herbal medicine starts from a different goal. A formula is built to correct the imbalance behind the symptoms, not only to suppress them. In allergies, that imbalance is an immune system that treats harmless things like pollen or dust as threats. In Chinese medicine terms, we often see weak protective Wei Qi combined with heat, dampness, or phlegm.
If the formula shifts the body back toward balance, there is less for the symptoms to come back to. That is the idea behind “resetting.” The research from Mount Sinai offered a way to see it in the lab.
What the Mount Sinai research found
Two formulas developed at the Center showed effects in animal studies that lasted well after treatment ended.
ASHMI is a simplified version of a 14-herb asthma formula used at a hospital in Beijing. In a clinical trial of 91 adults with moderate to severe asthma, four weeks of ASHMI improved lung function about as much as a standard steroid, without the steroid’s effect on adrenal function (2).
FAHF-2 was built for food allergy. Peanut-allergic mice treated for seven weeks were protected from anaphylaxis for more than 36 weeks after the last dose (3).
How herbs can reset the immune response
The immune system has two broad modes. One (called Th1) defends against viruses and bacteria. The other (Th2) drives allergic reactions: IgE antibodies, histamine release, and the swelling and mucus that come with them. In allergies and allergic asthma, the balance tips too far toward Th2.
Both Mount Sinai formulas shifted that balance back. They lowered the allergic Th2 signals and raised interferon-gamma, a key Th1 messenger (1, 3). The most telling result came when researchers blocked interferon-gamma during treatment. The lasting benefit largely disappeared (1, 3). That showed the long-term effect came from a change in the immune system itself, not from herbs lingering in the body.
Other research points the same way. A traditional formula called Shenqi restored Th1/Th2 balance and calmed mast cells in an animal model of allergic rhinitis (6). In human immune cells from food-allergic patients, FAHF-2 increased regulatory T cells, which help the immune system stand down (4).
In Chinese medicine language, this is what it means to strengthen the protective Qi and clear the pathogenic factors. The body is guided back to a healthier pattern, and it can keep that pattern on its own.
What human studies show so far
Lab results do not always carry over to people. In a six-month trial of 68 people with food allergies, FAHF-2 was safe and showed favorable immune changes in blood cells, but it did not improve tolerance to the foods (4). Adherence was a real problem: the dose was 10 tablets three times a day, and 44% of participants missed doses for at least a third of the study. A later trial adding a refined version of FAHF-2 to a conventional food-allergy desensitization program also found no added benefit (5).
It should also be said that these trials tested one fixed formula for everyone. In my clinical practice, formulas are tailored to each person and adjusted as they change. That is a different approach, and the research on it is still developing. What the Mount Sinai work does show clearly is a mechanism: herbs can shift immune behavior in a way that outlasts the treatment.
What resetting looks like in practice
Because formulas are customized, the herbs I use for one person may not suit the next. But the goal is the same: correct the pattern underneath, then taper off once the body holds its balance.
Allergies and asthma. A classic formula for preventing allergies and recurrent colds is Jade Windscreen (Yu Ping Feng San). Its three herbs, Huang Qi (astragalus), Bai Zhu, and Fang Feng, strengthen the protective Wei Qi that guards the body’s surface. For children with asthma, I often also support the Kidney Qi, which Chinese medicine sees as the root of steady breathing. A clinical study of kidney- and qi-tonifying formulas, used alongside standard care, reported anti-inflammatory effects in asthma patients (7). When there is a lot of phlegm and coughing, herbs that clear dampness and phlegm are added.
Skin conditions. When I treat eczema, I first examine the skin to see whether the pattern is blood heat with wind or damp heat, and the herbs are tailored to that pattern. For damp heat, I may use Huang Lian Jie Du Tang, modified for each patient. For blood heat, I use herbs such as Sheng Di Huang and Jin Yin Hua (honeysuckle), which clear heat and toxicity without drying the skin. Treatment starts by clearing the heat and toxins, which often takes two to three months. After that, the focus shifts to harmonizing the body and tonifying the Qi, which consolidates the results for long-term improvement.
The same principle applies across conditions. Treatment takes time to shift the pattern, and the improvement is meant to hold after it ends.
Healing that Lasts
Chinese herbal medicine is not meant to be taken forever. The aim is to help your body find its way back to a healthy pattern, so it can stay there without ongoing treatment. If you would like to know whether a customized formula could help you, learn more about Chinese herbal medicine at Alban Acupuncture or book a consultation.
Related reading
- Resetting the Immune System: Allergies, Asthma, and Acupuncture
- Asthma
- Seasonal Allergies
- Eczema
- Immunity and Qi
- How to Cook Chinese Herbs
This article is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Please consult a qualified practitioner before taking herbal medicine.
References
- Srivastava K, Zhang T, Yang N, Sampson H, Li XM. Anti-Asthma Simplified Herbal Medicine Intervention-induced long-lasting tolerance to allergen exposure in an asthma model is interferon-gamma, but not transforming growth factor-beta dependent. Clin Exp Allergy. 2010. PMC2946973
- Wen MC, et al. Efficacy and tolerability of anti-asthma herbal medicine intervention in adult patients with moderate-severe allergic asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2005;116(3):517-524.
- Srivastava KD, Qu C, Zhang T, Goldfarb J, Sampson HA, Li XM. Food Allergy Herbal Formula-2 silences peanut-induced anaphylaxis for a prolonged posttreatment period via IFN-gamma-producing CD8+ T cells. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2009;123(2):443-451.
- Wang J, et al. Safety, clinical, and immunologic efficacy of a Chinese herbal medicine (Food Allergy Herbal Formula-2) for food allergy. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2015;136(4):962-970. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2015.04.029
- Wang J, Wood R, et al. Double-blind, placebo-controlled study of E-B-FAHF-2 in combination with omalizumab-facilitated multiallergen oral immunotherapy. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract.
- Shao YY, Zhou YM, Hu M, et al. The anti-allergic rhinitis effect of traditional Chinese medicine of Shenqi by regulating mast cell degranulation and Th1/Th2 cytokine balance. Molecules. 2017;22(3):504. doi:10.3390/molecules22030504.
- Kong L, Zhang H, Cao Y, et al. The anti-inflammatory effects of invigorating kidney and supplementing qi Chinese herbal formulae in asthma patients. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2017;2017:3754145. doi:10.1155/2017/3754145
