Herbal Medicine is the use of plants or various natural substances that can help provide the body with what it needs to heal. Herbs have been used around the world in every culture for thousands of years. They can benefit us on a physical level as well as mental, emotional, and spiritual level. The Chinese herbal system of medicine is an artwork that is being accepted as one of the most developed and preserved systems of them all.
A Brief History
Although Amazonian, Ayurvedic, and Native-American systems of herbalism are very useful and amazingly effective, the Chinese have keep documentation and records that date back to the 3rd century B.C. and have been a huge contribution to herbal medicine.
Originating since the slave society, the ancient ancestors used single herbs for healing and through the course of practice they realized that the curative effect of several herbs combined was more effective than just one single herb. Think about this, you clean your house and finish it in 3 hours. But if you have a team that helps you, it is possible to finish in a quarter of the time. Herbal formulas are like an advanced selected team of herbs to work synchronistically together. Most formulas are thousands of years old. Let’s put it this way, if it made it this far you better believe there is a good reason.
A book that describes the medicinal function of herbal medicine is the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing. It is a famous book having the recordings of 365 medicinal substances. The author Shen Nong was famous for ingesting and recording the nature and effect of these 365 medicinal substances. Later in the Han dynasty, a book named the Shang Han Lun was compiled and covered 375 herbal pres-criptions. The author Zhangzhong Jing was regarded as a holy doctor for the work he contributed to Chinese Medicine. Many other books have been compiled to help the herbal system develop and evolve even till today.
Herbal formulas are composed of several herbal ingredients that are selected specifically to work together as team and help correct the individual’s issue. They contain various plants that are used medicinally to interact, influence, and adjust the body in various ways.
Herbs are classified according to energetic properties such as cool or cold and warm or hot. They are also categorized as being acrid, sour, sweet, salty, and bitter, which correspond to the five element theory of Chinese Medicine. Lastly they are categorized according to the meridians and organs they enter and influence such as the lung or stomach. For example, if a stomach problem exists due to excessive cold a selection of sweet and warm herbs that go to the stomach organ and meridian may be selected.
Treatment with Herbs
If herbs are selected for you as part of your treatment plan they may be given in pill form, capsule, tablet, powder extract, tea form, tincture, or as a topical application. Herbs may be given or may not be given. This depends on the patient and also the condition being treated. Herbs may be given for short-term use or even long-term use. This all depends on the condition and whether it is acute or chronic, easily treatable or not.
Pill form, capsule, and powder extract form are the most convenient and allow the patient to take the herbs with them where ever they go. Although a convenience, pills are not the best and most powerful way to take herbs. A tea or decoction is the most powerful way and has been traditionally the most popular method of using herbal medicine for thousands of years. During the consultation both you and the practitioner will decide which is best for you.
Are Herbs Safe?
Herbs have been used for thousands of years and are very safe when taken correctly. It is best to have a qualified herbalist prescribe you herbal medicine. This will ensure you get the correct herbs to benefit you the most. Most herbs are very safe and can be regarded as foods such as the red date, goji berry, or longan fruit, or as spices like cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, fennel, or pepper. But, some of them can be strong and should be used with caution or under the supervision of a qualified herbalist.
Today herbs are still used by all cultures and are becoming a large business. Because it’s growing so rapidly, many herbal producers and herbal manufacturers have become more focused on quantity rather than quality.
It is important to buy quality herbs and herbal products. If you buy low quality products you will get low quality results. Not to mention the terrible pesticides that are sprayed not only on the food you eat, but the herbs as well.
The herbal companies we chose are carefully chosen due to the high quality herbs they supply and also because they excel at testing multiple times for purity to avoid heavy metals, pesticides, molds funguses, etc. Organic is always our first choice. We encourage you to do the same with any and all of your purchases no matter where you shop.
Do your research to discover the quality and research behind the company you choose and even the food you eat. These useful tips may help significantly with your health journey. You can also ask a qualified herbalist for help.
Recently, the vast knowledge of herbal research has grown making the drug companies very happy. They are researching this know-ledge and finding the herbs active ingredients. They then develop a synthetic form of the herbs active ingredient and make it very potent. They also will patent this product and raise its price exponentially compared to the price of the natural herb that can never be patented. This can be good because it may save many lives if used properly for acute life threatening events. But, of course the are many undesirable side effects that also come with taking drugs. Herbs have a huge variety of minerals, vitamins, and nutrients that are needed for the body to function properly.
The goal is to have the patient get better and overcome the illness. We love using herbs for our patients and families alike. We believe herbs are God’s special medicine since he created everything in the world including all the natural substances for us to discover and use.
Our acupuncturists are well trained Board Certified Herbalists. They have received extensive training using herbal medicine to help patients and have both trained directly under multiple Chinese Masters after graduating from the formal training the received. They have years of experience and have also traveled to China and parts of Asia studying herbs.