Take Tonic in Winter to Kill a Tiger in the Spring

FOR thousands of years, winter has been the season when Chinese take gaofang herbal paste tonic to build up and store their energy so it can "sprout" in the spring.

Next year is the Year of the Tiger, so it's especially wise to take gaofang and remember the saying, "Take good gaofang in winter and kill a tiger in the spring."

Millions of people take two spoonfuls a day, morning and night, mixed with warm water.

Traditional Chinese medicine pharmacies are filled with gaofang jars of herbal pastes of many kinds, compounded with 40 different herbs and animal parts. Ginseng, velvet deer antlers, tortoise belly, donkey hide, ganoderma or lingzhi fungus are among the ingredients. Dates, lotus seeds, sugar and other ingredients are added to improve the taste.

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