Banking on herbs to stay healthy

Detox remedy: Lee (left) packing herbs for the qingfei paidu decoction at her shop in George Town, Penang.

GEORGE TOWN: The surge in Covid-19 cases coupled with the ongoing hot weather have driven up sales of herbal tea and the “qingfei paidu” decoction in particular.

Qingfei paidu literally means lung-cleansing and detoxifying in Mandarin while decoction is the concentrated liquid that is produced from boiling herbs, especially for medicinal purposes.

Traditional Chinese medicine physician Lee Yeng Yeng said the rise in demand had led to sales of the decoction increasing by over 10 times in the last two weeks.

“In the past, it was hard to even sell 10 packets of qingfei paidu herbal blend in a month. But now, I’m getting orders for over 100 packets monthly,” she said.

Lee said the sudden surge in demand for the item was due to many people believing that the decoction helped negate body heatiness and discomfort, often associated with Covid-19 infections and vaccination side effects.

“The blend, made up of 22 herbs, is believed to have detoxifying and cooling abilities to cure heatiness and the effects of Covid-19, as well as help clear phlegm in the chest.

“Many of our customers were those who had just completed their vaccination and were feeling feverish,” said 57-year-old Lee, who is the second generation owner of the shop here.

Checks found that authorities in China have approved a number of traditional Chinese medicine products, known as the “three formulas, three medicines”, as part of its standard therapy for Covid-19.

Qingfei paidu decoction is among the three formulas.

At a herbal tea shop here, 66-year-old owner Lam Foong Keng said herbal tea and chrysanthemum tea were popular items and sales increased by about 50% since Covid-19 cases started rising again.

“We used to depend on tourists but many locals are returning to support us.

“I am now selling about 200 cups daily with the bitter herbal tea and honey chrysanthemum tea being most popular.

“The herbal tea helps to treat cough, sore throat and fever while chrysanthemum tea is cooling and helps to detoxify the body,” she said.

Other drinks sold at her shop include water chestnut and bamboo cane tea and ginseng-chrysanthemum tea.

Among other favoured herbal decoctions are those of monk fruit, dandelion, prunella and bitter nail.