Herb your enthusiasm

Wan Xiaoyang from Wuhan, Hubei Province, broke out in an allergy on her face during the National Day holiday, which had the appearance of acne. Instead of seeking medical help, she adopted a do-it-yourself approach by avoiding spicy food, drinking ginger-soaked water and, more aggressively, eating lots of guilinggao (turtle jelly), a dark-colored Chinese herbal jelly that is believed to relieve heat and toxins and dispel acne. It has been a few days now and Wan is still waiting for the dessert to take effect.

Charlene Huang, 25, who has a desk job at an IT company in Shanghai, eats candied ginger seasonally as it is said to dispel cold because of the warming properties of ginger. Huang enjoys its pungent and sweet flavor, but as for warming her up, that has yet to manifest.

It has been a long tradition to use Chinese medical herbs in cooking or processed food products for the health benefits they are believed to possess. And the herbal snacks, usually packaged, easily portable and more durable, have been gaining more popularity in recent years. But do they really have any effect?

A healthy tradition

"As more people are concerned with healthcare, the snacks with Chinese herbs in them have been gaining popularity among consumers. A lot of young people, who are unclear of their health benefits, are simply following suit," said Li Chun, a Beijing-based nutritionist. "Some even consider the snacks with herbal ingredients as superior to average snacks, therefore more people like to try them out."

Popular herbal snacks on the market include turtle jelly, candied ginger, ejiao (donkey-hide gelatin) honeyed date and popular beverages such as plum syrup and honeysuckle flower tea. Containing widely used herbs in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), they are said to nourish organs, rid the body of toxins, accelerate metabolic function and improve the immune system.

"Chinese diet therapy has been practiced for a long time. Some herbs have been proven to relieve certain symptoms thanks to the different properties they have," said Liu Xianli, a TCM doctor at the Beijing Yuyuantang Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic.