Beating the heat with cooling herbs

JOHOR BARU: Traditional Chinese medicine shops here are chalking up brisk sales of herbs said to have cooling properties, thanks to the current hot weather and also the World Cup football season.

Tan Cing Tong, who is a shop proprietor at Taman Bestari Indah here, said that sales of herbs like jin yin hua (Honeysuckle flower), dried chrysanthemum flowers and yang shen xu (American ginseng) have gone up by about 30% in the past two weeks.

“Football fans tend to stay up late and they lack sleep during the World Cup season. Such habits can cause an increase in toxins in their bodies and they can suffer fatigue.

“When the body does not have enough rest, a person falls sick easily. The situation worsens during hot weather,” he said yesterday.

Tan said the herbs he sells, which cost less than RM10 per pack, are easy to prepare.

“Boil the herbs in water for at least 45 minutes before drinking it. The herbs can help to eliminate toxins and heat from the body,” he added.

Janet Fong, who runs another outlet in Ulu Tiram, said that common herbs like dried chrysanthemum flowers and the luohan guo (Siraitia grosvenorii) are popular choices for her customers.

“These are pleasant tasting, especially for people who do not like the bitter aftertaste that some herbal drinks have,” she said.

She added that herbal tea has been a tried and tested method to cool down the body, compared with iced or soft drinks, which explains why customers still preferred the traditional technique.

Phang Teck Choy, whose outlet is located in Taman Sri Tebrau here, however said that the best way to ward off heat was to drink plenty of water and to get enough rest.

He said that those who have no time to boil the herbs themselves could also opt for a glass of ready-made herbal tea at most traditional Chinese medicine outlets to cool their bodies.

“We also sell herbal tea in bottles for those who are too busy to make their own drinks,” he added.