The Dietary Formula Dr. He Ren, a National TCM Master, Followed for 40 Years After Cancer: Huangqi Yimi Zhou (Astragalus and Coix Rice Congee)

After Professor He Ren (born November 1, 1921; died February 23, 2012) developed bladder cancer in 1973, until the end of his life, while adopting an integrated Chinese-Western treatment plan, he persisted without fail in dietary therapy.

The dietary regimen he adhered to his whole life was extremely simple: only two herbs, raw Huangqi (Astragalus, Radix Astragali) and Yimi (Coix seed, Semen Coicis). Raw Huangqi 60 g

and Yimi one to two liang (about 50–100 g). Put the raw Huangqi in a cloth bag, boil it together with the Yimi; once the conee is cooked, remove the Huangqi and eat the Yimi congee.

Professor He Ren underwent several surgeries in his lifetime. Although it was bladder cancer, it repeatedly recurred and metastasized, making it quite difficult to treat. That Old He survived for forty years after cancer and lived past ninety is greatly related to his superb medical and health-preserving skills.

Professor He Ren was one of the thirty inaugural "National TCM Masters" jointly recognized by China's Ministry of Health and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. In his lifetime, Old He was celebrated at home and abroad for his deep study of the Jingui Yaolüe (Golden Cabinet). He is recognized by the Chinese and Japanese TCM communities as "the foremost researcher of the Golden Cabinet."

Old He not only himself long used Huangqi Yimi Zhou as dietary therapy, but also had other cancer patients who came to him for treatment use it long-term.

Old He's medical skill was exquisite, and he saved countless lives; many cancer patients who had been given up for dead by hospitals were brought back from the brink by his hands. He once served as president of Zhejiang College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (now Zhejiang Chinese Medical University). Besides clinical work and teaching, he never ceased writing, and his books filled a whole shelf.

Until shortly before his death, Old He could still treat patients with abundant energy. That an octogenarian, a cancer patient with a forty-year history of fighting cancer, could not only live so long but also retain such vigorous energy—the Huangqi Yimi Zhou deserves no small credit for this.

Huangqi was originally named Huangqi. Qi means "elder." In ancient times it referred to a person over sixty. The "qi" in words like qilao and qisu all means aged and senior in standing.

The reason Huangqi was originally called Huangqi is that the ancients believed this herb could restore the strength of the aged and frail. In the Shennong Bencao Jing (Divine Farmer's Classic of Materia Medica), Huangqi was classified as an upper-grade medicine; the ancients believed that long-term use of Huangqi could prolong life.

Huangqi is not only an excellent tonic; it also has a good therapeutic effect on cancer patients. Modern malignant tumors were in ancient times mostly called yingliu, luoli, zhengpi, and similar names.

The Rihuazi Bencao records this: "(Huangqi) boosts qi and strengthens sinew and bone, grows flesh and nourishes blood, breaks up zhengpi, luoli, yingzhui, intestinal wind, flooding metrorrhagia, leukorrhea, red and white dysentery, all diseases before and after childbirth, irregular menstruation, wasting-thirst, phlegm cough; and it also treats head wind, heat-toxin, red eyes, and the like."

The Huangqi used clinically is the root of the leguminous plants Mongolian milkvetch (Astragalus membranaceus var. mongholicus) and membranous milkvetch (Astragalus membranaceus). It is yellowish-white in color and sweet in taste, and ranks first among the qi-tonifying herbs of Chinese medicine.

Pharmacies also often sell wild Huangqi cut into long strips; wild Huangqi is very expensive, while ordinarily cultivated Huangqi is reasonably priced. Huangqi is probably the most-used herb in TCM clinical practice, because so many diseases require it; compared with expensive tonics like Renshen (ginseng), Lurong (deer antler), and Ejiao (donkey-hide gelatin), Huangqi is very affordable.

Modern pharmacological research has found that Huangqi contains 21 free amino acids and more than 20 trace elements, among which calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron are present in relatively high amounts. The pharmacological effects of Huangqi are mainly reflected in six areas:

First, its effect on the immune system. Whether on nonspecific immunity, humoral immunity, or cellular immunity, Huangqi has a promoting effect. It can promote the lymphocyte transformation rate in tumor patients. Huangqi can raise the activity of natural killer (NK) cells in experimental mice by 5–6 times, and can also significantly enhance their ability to induce interferon; the decoction of Huangqi can also promote red blood cell immune function.

Second, its effect on body metabolism. Huangqi helps the body improve anti-aging and antioxidant capacity, and promotes the renewal of serum and liver proteins in experimental mice.

Third, its effect on hematopoietic function. Huangqi is very beneficial for improving or restoring red blood cell function, and also benefits the metabolism of the myocardium and other tissue cells.

Fourth, its effect on the cardiovascular system. Modern pharmacological experiments show that Huangqi can markedly improve the cardiac functional status of patients. It has the effect of dilating peripheral blood vessels and lowering blood pressure in experimental dogs.

Fifth, its antiviral effect. Experiments show that a 0.1%–0.5% decoction of Mongolian milkvetch has a certain inhibitory effect on VSV (stomatitis virus), Sindbis virus, and Sendai virus strain BB1, and offers some protection against influenza virus infection. Experiments using different extracts of Mongolian milkvetch show that, although Huangqi cannot directly inactivate HSV-1, it can inhibit viral replication in already infected cells. Intravenous drip of Huangqi injection can also lower the positive rate in EB virus VCA/IgA-positive patients—the very group at high risk for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Sixth, its anticancer effect. Through intramuscular injection of Huangqi extract in mice, scientists found that the extract can significantly reduce the incidence of malignant tumors such as melanoma and liver cancer in mice, and prolong the survival of tumor-bearing mice. Experiments on cancerous ascites patients also show that the extract can inhibit the development of ascites and improve patients' quality of life.

Besides these, Huangqi also improves liver and kidney function and counteracts the liver-kidney damage caused by many drugs. Huangqi has extremely low toxicity; only at very large doses does it cause death in experimental mice, with symptoms such as limb paralysis and breathing difficulty before death.

Traditional Chinese medicine holds that Huangqi is sweet and warm in nature, and has the actions of boosting qi and lifting yang, securing the exterior and stopping sweating, promoting urination and reducing swelling, and draining out toxin and generating flesh. It mainly treats taxation injury from internal damage, spleen-deficiency diarrhea, lung-deficiency cough, prolapse of the rectum, uterine prolapse, spitting of blood, bleeding from the bowel, flooding and spotting, spontaneous sweating, night sweating, edema, blood bi, deep-rooted sores that are hard to ulcerate or that ulcerate long without closing, and all patterns of qi deficiency and blood depletion.

Chinese medicine holds that "the blood with form is hard to generate suddenly, whereas the formless qi must be urgently tonified"; so when tonifying blood in patients with massive hemorrhage, Huangqi is often used in large doses. For example, in Danggui Buxue Tang (Angelica Blood-Tonifying Decoction) there are only two herbs: Huangqi and Danggui (Angelica). In that formula, the ratio of the qi-tonifying Huangqi to the blood-tonifying Danggui reaches as high as 5:1.

In my treatment of tumor patients, more than 80% of my formulas use either Sheng Huangqi (raw Astragalus) or Zhi Huangqi (honey-fried Astragalus); in most cases I use raw Huangqi, and honey-fried Huangqi after major blood loss or in the aged and frail. I have deep experience of Huangqi's actions in tonifying qi, healing sores, fortifying the spleen, promoting urination, and reducing swelling.

In treating a patient who had developed a huge tumor on the face that, after ulcerating, would not close, to the point that maggots grew in the ulcer, I used three herbs—Sheng Huangqi, Jinyinhua (Honeysuckle, Flos Lonicerae), and Baiji (Bletilla, Rhizoma Bletillae)—with Huangqi used at as much as 120–150 g per day; in only a few days I obtained the effect of skin growing over the sore and closing it.

In treating patients with cachexia such as pleural effusion, ascites, or pelvic effusion, I also often use Sheng Huangqi as the main herb, often in doses as high as 30–120 g, combined with diuretic herbs such as Han Fangji (Stephania), Fuling (Poria), Zhuling (Polyporus), Cheqianzi (Plantago seed), Cheqiancao (Plantago herb), and Laifuzi (Raphanus seed); sometimes this yields unexpected effects.

Yimi is called Yiyiren in Chinese medicine. It is the kernel of the grass Job's tears (Coix lacryma-jobi), a common medicinal-edible herb and food available in most supermarkets.

Yiyiren is also a common anticancer Chinese medicine; the modern anticancer finished drug Kanglaite is made by extracting the active anticancer component from Yiyiren. Kanglaite has passed clinical trials not only in China but also in the United States, and is approved by the U.S. FDA. It has now been approved for clinical use in many countries worldwide. Incidentally, Kanglaite was developed at Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Professor He Ren's own institution.

Yiyiren is also listed as an upper-grade herb in the Shennong Bencao Jing. Yiyiren not only has a definite anticancer action and is an effective antitumor promoter, but also inhibits skeletal muscle contraction, has analgesic effects, antipyretic and anti-inflammatory effects, dilates peripheral blood vessels (especially pulmonary vessels), has immune effects, lowers blood sugar, induces ovulation, excites the small intestine, and inhibits trypsin, among other actions.

As a food plant domesticated by humans, Yiyiren has very few side effects.

Only some patients may develop loose stools or diarrhea after taking raw Yiyiren. This is because Yiyiren is cool in nature; generally, patients who develop such side effects need only stir-fry the Yiyiren until yellow before cooking it, and the side effect is avoided.

Traditional Chinese medicine holds that Yiyiren is sweet, bland, and slightly cold. It can drain dampness and fortify the spleen, relax the sinews and overcome bi, clear heat and drain pus. It mainly treats beriberi, painful urinary dribbling, damp-warm disease, diarrhea, leukorrhea, rheumatic bi pain, tightness of the sinews and vessels, lung abscess, intestinal abscess, and flat warts.

There are many formulas in Chinese medicine that use Yiyiren, such as Sanren Tang for fever in damp-warm disease, Simiao Wan for rheumatic bi pain and gout, Qianjin Weijing Tang for lung abscess, and Yiyiren Fuzi Baijiangcao Tang for intestinal abscess—too many to enumerate.

In sum, Professor He Ren's dietary formula looks simple, but its anticancer effect is not to be underestimated. I have also widely promoted this dietary formula to many tumor patients who come to me.

A certain colorectal-cancer patient even unexpectedly became pregnant after using this formula, after more than ten years of infertility. This may relate to the ovulation-promoting effect of the Yiyiren in the formula, or it may be that this spleen-fortifying, qi-tonifying formula is itself an excellent dietary treatment for infertility.

Some patients develop side effects such as abdominal distension after adopting this dietary formula. This is mainly because Huangqi's qi-tonifying action is very strong; some patients with genuine deficiency and excess pathogen should reduce the dose of Huangqi or omit it, or combine it on the basis of this formula with herbs such as Laifuzi to control its side effects.