Chinese Herbal Medicine Benefits
by Zhang Chan
Posted on 02-11-2020 03:43 AM
What Is Chinese Herbal Medicine?
Chinese herbal medicine if an important part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and has made great strides in the last fifteen years. Chinese herbal medicine is growing in popularity throughout the world. It is a very exciting time for Chinese medicine herbs as more and more people are making it part of their well being.
The power of Chinese herbal medicine is phenomenal because of being able to heal an enormous variety of conditions. In the past, this field of healthcare was largely ignored due to a lack of understanding. Over the years, a large amount of medical research has continuously demonstrated its effectiveness.
People who have had the experience of traditional Western medicine failing them, often turn to Chinese herbal medicine and are surprised to see great results! Chinese herbal medicine certainly has its place in today’s healthcare.
How Do Chinese Herbs Work?
How do Chinese herbs work? That is a question many people wonder about when they discover Chinese herbal medcine. This is probably one of the most challenging aspects for patients to grasp is how chinese medicine actually works. Here we will try to go through some of the basic ideas to give you a better understanding of the processes behind Chinese herbal medicine. Chinese medicinal herbs medicine has evolved for over 3500 years.
Chinese medicine herbs is an experiential medicine. This means that it has been learned and perfected by practice rather than theory. Slowly over time the medicinal value of herbs were learned and the complex theories of the medicine were developed. Billions of people have used Chinese medicine herbs. Western medicine, by comparision, with its few hundred years of history is young and relatively untested.
How traditional chinese medicine works how to treat common ailments with traditional chinese medicine traditional chinese medicine for coughs, colds, flu, and allergies traditional chinese medicine for the digestive system traditional chinese medicine for pain relief traditional chinese medicine for overall health advertisement the reason for making three 20-minute decoctions instead of one 1-hour decoction is simple. Some of the herbs in a formula will likely contain volatile aromatic oils as their active ingredient. These volatile oils can be captured in a 20-minute boiling, but they will be lost by the end of an hour. On the other hand, it might take a full hour to fully extract the medicinal constituents in hard roots. For this reason, combine all three doses and then separate them again into three equal doses to ensure that all three doses have the same balance of constituents and flavors.
How To Take Chinese Herbs
How to take Chinese herbs is not difficult. Since about 200 B.C., Goji berries have been used in Traditional Chinese medicine. In China, goji berries are known as “wolfberry fruit,” and they were mentioned in the oldest book of Chinese medicine herbs in existence. Practitioners of Chinese herbal medicine view goji berries as calm and sweet. They are known to act positively on the liver and kidney because of their detoxifying properties, thereby contributing to our qi and essence.
Goji berries are an excellent source of antioxidants, amino acids and 20 other trace minerals, including selenium, potassium and iron. The list of traditional goji berry benefits is extensive, including its ability to boost immune function, promote healthy skin, protect eye health, regulate blood sugar levels, improve mood, boost fertility, detoxify the liver and fight cancer.
He Shou Wu (Polygonum Multiflorum), or also called fo-ti, is a tonic adaptogen, top superfood, and premier yin jing tonic. It is one of the fundamental Chinese longevity herbs used extensively in Traditonal Chinese Medicine. It is reported and claimed that this herb has been consumed by almost every taoist master that has ever lived.
It is very effective for replenishing kidney yin and deep deficiencies associated with adrenal exhaustion. While acting as an energy restorative, it is simultaneously very calming to the nervous system. Containing high amounts of zinc and iron, it can be fortifying to the blood and also very cleansing to the liver. It is a highly respected sexual stimulant that is known to encourage fertility in both men and women.
Fo-ti is traditionally "prepared" with black soybeans to activate its health enhancing constituents. We do not advise consuming herbal teas made with raw fo-ti root as they can be toxic to the liver.
Ginseng (panax ginseng), is one of the most valued Chinese herbs used in Asia and known around the world for its extremely energizing and health-promoting effects on the body. As a premier chi tonic, ginseng is a warming and stimulating adaptogenic substance that is prized for its restorative and strength building compounds, called ginsenosides. Ginseng has tonifying effects on both the lung and spleen, the two organs responsible for extracting energy from the foods we eat and the air we breathe.
Although primarily used to activate chi, ginseng also works on all three treasures including jing and shen as well as chi. There are many different types of ginseng roots with varying qualities depending on the source and age of the root itself. American ginseng (panax quinquefolius) is another variety that is often used as a sometimes preferred alternative because of its cooling nature.
Chinese herbal products have been studied for many medical problems, including stroke, heart disease, mental disorders, and respiratory diseases (such as bronchitis and the common cold), and a national survey showed that about one in five Americans use them. Because many studies have been of poor quality, no firm conclusions can be made about their effectiveness.
Are Chinese Medicinal Herbs Safe?
Are Chinese medicinal herbs safe? Many people assume that because a product is marketed as natural or herbal, this means it’s safe to use. Some Chinese herbal medicines are safe but others can have serious and dangerous side effects.
Some Chinese medicinal herbs may interact with treatments from your doctor, including cancer drugs or radiotherapy. Or they may affect the way drugs are broken down by your body, or the way drugs are carried around your body. Always check with your cancer specialist before you take any herbs or chinese medicine.
The essence of Chinese herbal medicine lies in the skill of the practitioner in modifying and tailoring the formula to their particular patients’ disharmonies. If Chinese herbal medicine is prescribed according to a correct TCM pattern diagnosis, then no side effects will occur. Actually, Chinese medicine herbs are safer than most Western drugs. This is especially true when the Chinese herbal practitioner bears in mind the following points: certain herbs are contraindicated in pregnancy and certain herbs are toxic.
Although approximately 80 percent of people today depend upon herbal medication as a component of their primary healthcare according to the World Health Organization, there is still great concern about the safety and efficacy of herbal use. While Chinese medicinal herbs and Chinese herbal medicine can potentially contribute to the advancement of healthcare, many major challenges must be overcome prior to the successful integration of herbal remedies into mainstream medicine.
One of the major barriers is the current lack of accurate translations and interpretations of Chinese herbal texts and research by Western scientists. Indeed, for the incorporation of safe and effective herbs into the medical system to become a reality, more researchers and doctors need to be trained in both modern medicine and herbal compendium that has been accumulated since ancient times.
Additionally, to establish credibility for herbal use in the modern settings, experience-based claims from Chinese herbal medicine doctors must be transformed into evidence-based claims. Finally, the question of how to address the need for both individualizing (the basis of TCM) and standardizing (the basis of modern pharmacology) treatment with herbs must be settled.
Once these issues are resolved, the prospect exists for widespread use of herbal medicine as a safe, effective, and affordable form of healthcare. The answer to the question "Are Chinese medicinal herbs safe" can be answered yes, but more research must be performed to resolve safety issues.
Chinese Herbal Medicine Benefits
Chinese herbal medicine benefits are many. Using chinese herbs often lets a person decrease the amount and/or frequency of stronger pharmaceutical drugs that have harsh side effects. This is especially important when an individual needs long term treatments, as is often the case with arthritis.
Men and women can enjoy Chinese herbal medicine benefits for years, without the negative side effects that come from drugs, which can be held in reserve for times when pain is most severe. Chinese medicinal herbs let you save stronger pharmaceutical drugs for when you need them, if you ever should need them.
Yes, Chinese medicinal herbs and Chinese medicinal plants are safe to take for most health care needs. The Chinese materia medica lists most therapeutic benefits and adverse reactions known of thousands of years of use. Like most exported products from China, exported products have a higher quality than domestic products.
The Chinese medicinal herbs are also tested for toxicity and quality control purposes when they arrive into the United States, United Kingdom and most of Europe. Researchers are actively looking at herbs and their reactions in humans and with other substances.
Chinese herbal medicine is perhaps one of the oldest medical systems in the world. It has evolved a lot over the centuries. Like many other traditional medicine systems, it has some particular approach towards the diseases. Chinese herbal medicine has been in use for thousands of years, and during last few centuries, its use has spread to many countries outside China, including to the USA.
In recent times lots of studies or clinical trials have been done, and most trials demonstrated the beneficial effects of Chinese herbs in peripheral neuropathy. There is substantial evidence that certain Chinese herbs and their extracts can alleviate pain, improve nerve conduction, reduce inflammation, help nerve to recover.
Chinese yam has been recorded as having the ability to enhance vigour, promote muscle growth and repair worn-out tissue, and alleviate bodily weakness after a long-term illness. This Chinese herb has also been used to counter diabetes, diarrhoea, kidney defects, coughing and dehydration. It can, however, cause frequent urination and perspiration.
Chinese angelica root has a very important place in women’s health. It is highly valued for the treatment for a host of women’s illnesses. It is supposed to strengthen the blood, nourish the female reproductive organs, regulate menstruation and alleviate period pains.
What distinguishes the approach of herbal Chinese herbal medicine from Western herbal medicine, with respect to cancer care? Traditional Chinese herbal medicine is one of the world's most ancient and rich schools of medicine, and it's significantly differs from other traditional schools of medicine, in its structured, whole system approach to patient care.
As an example, the root of the ginseng plant. One of the most important chinese herbs, which is considered in Western medicine, to be an adaptogen, in that it can stabilize physiological processes, and promote homeostasis. Chinese herbal products such as ginseng, ren shen, have been shown in clinical research to alleviate cancer related symptoms such as fatigue. From Chinese herbal medicine benefits perspective, ginseng's properties go beyond its use in clinical practice for specific symptoms like fatigue.
Although it is considered to be able to provide energy to stimulate the chi, the energy. The TCM herbal practitioner who is considering the use of ren shen, will take into account the herb's qualities, within a wider context of care. This contrasts greatly with the approach of Western medicine, which takes a simplistic cause-and-effect approach, to treating a patient with depleted energy, following chemotherapy.
In such cases, the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) herbalist will first assess the patient's concerns as they relate to symptoms, which are associated with cancer-related fatigue. This is done using a philosophical yet practical, systematic approach, in which acupuncture herbs and other TCM modalities will be combined as part of a holistic therapeutic treatment program.
The basic theoretical principle behind the Chinese herbal medicine approach to healing, including that related to the use of Chinese medicinal herbs, requires the practitioner to first identify any disharmonious pattern of health and disease in the patient. Imbalances in the energy forces of the human body considered in Chinese herbal medicine as microcosmos and are viewed within the context of disharmony in nature or macrocosmos.
Imbalances in the micro and macrocosmos may be viewed from a number of aspects. The most familiar pattern being the theory of yin and yang, where two gestures or qualities are in equilibrium. The yin aspect reflects a more shady or resting state. The yang, a most sunny, more dynamic state. The qualities of yin and yang, are not seen in Traditional Chinese Medicine as two opposing entities, but rather as qualities, which nourish one another, with each part containing a piece of the other's qualities.
In this sense, Chinese herbal medicine is related more to the inside of nature, in which the earth nourishes the macrocosmos and herbal remedies, the depletion of yin, which typifies the patient reserves during chemotherapy. Other aspects of TCM such as acupuncture, are identified more as a yang intervention when compared to herbs, although both may nourish depleted vitality, energy, or chi, which usually persist during the 10 or so days following chemotherapy.
In the case of a patient undergoing chemotherapy, who is suffering from fatigue, the Chinese herbal medicine benefits will include Chinese medicinal herbs products as part of the treatment, thereby nurturing the depleted soil of the inner organs. Acupuncture will be used as well, in order to stimulate movement and vitality.
Another guiding principle when using Chinese medicine herbs, which addresses the dynamic between the micro and the macrocosmos, is the balance or imbalance of the five elements, which interact along a continuum of the following gestures: water, wood, fire, earth and metal. The five elements interact on a constant basis with each other. Water generates wood, and wood generates fire, and so on.
The five elements also correspond with different aspects of the macro and microcosmos, such as the five colors, tastes, body organs, referred as zang-fu, emotional states, and many other aspects which will interact with each other. These complex and intricate web of interacting systems and their components, guides the tcm therapist when treating patients with Chinese herbal medicine, acupuncture, acupressure, massage, twinga, qigong, meditation and movement, and other modalities.
As with any Traditional Chinese Medicine therapy, the herbalist must first assess the patient's condition in order to identify the imbalance in yin-yang, the disharmony between the five elements and stagnation or deficiency or both of the zang-fu internal organs, among other factors. After taking an extensive history and examining the patient's pulse, tongue, eyes, and skin, in order to establish a diagnostic pattern, the practitioner can then focus the treatment on the diagnosed clinical pattern of disharmony.
It is at this stage that the appropriate individual herb or multi-herb formula, can be prescribed together with acupuncture or other manual modalities and guidance on nutrition and physical activity. This will in turn enable the patient to return to a state of equilibrium and health. The synergy between the many components of the herbal formula creates a situation in which the sum is greater than its parts, while at the same time utilizing a safer dose for each of the parts.
Treatments Using Traditional Chinese Medicine Herbs
Chinese herbal medicine is one of the main forms of treatment in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). TCM’s written history stretches back at least 2,500 years. Although acupuncture had been the first Chinese medical modality to gain acceptance in the West, Chinese herbal medicine is quickly becoming one of the most popular and effective complementary therapies.
Chinese herbology compliments acupuncture treatments and in some cases is superior to acupuncture. Chinese herbal medicine is a poly-pharmacy, meaning multiple herbs are combined into one formula. By using this form of medicine the herbs synergistically work together to heighten the effect of each medicinal or counteract any undesirable effect. Patients find that results are achieved more quickly when acupuncture and chinese herbal medicine are used together.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an ancient form of healthcare that dates back over 2,500 years and includes natural treatments such as acupuncture, herbal remedies, dietary advice, stress/emotional support, exercise including tai chi and qi gong and treatments such as cupping and moxibustion.
Chinese herbology is the theory of traditional Chinese herbal medicine therapy, which accounts for the majority of treatments in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The term herbology is misleading in so far as plant elements are by far the most commonly, but not solely used substances. Thus, the term (medicinal) (instead of herb) is usually preferred.
Traditional Chinese Medicine Herbs List
Looking for a Traditional Chinese Medicine herbs list? There are roughly 13,000 medicinals used in Chinese herbal medicine and over 100,000 medicinal recipes recorded in the ancient literature. Plant elements and extracts are by far the most common elements used. In the classic handbook of traditional drugs, 517 drugs were listed and 30 were minerals.
For many plants used as medicinals, detailed instructions have been handed down not only regarding the locations and areas where they grow best but also regarding the best timing of planting and harvesting them.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine herbal lists, many people believe that an ancient herbal formula known as xiaoyao wan can help in improving the mood, reducing stress, and resolving a number of common health conditions. Also called as xiaoyaosan, xiaoyao wan is composed of various herbs and is accessible in dietary supplement form.
Chinese herbal medicine is the use of naturally occurring substances such as barks, seed, fruits and more as medicine. Chinese medicinal herbs have been used for over 2000 years now. In modern-day practice, the term Traditional Chinese Medicine is often used to refer to Chinese herbal medicine practice. Chinese medicinal herbs are generally administered as a formula. Within a formula, one or more herbs are combined and prepared as a decoction, powder or pill.
Dichroa is a bitter herb that is commonly used in chinese herbal medicine where it is considered to have a cold energy that benefits the heart, liver, and lungs. The leaves have powerful laxative (purgative) proprieties and have been used traditionally to treat stomach cancer. In Nepal the juice extracted from the leaves has been used to treat coughs, colds and bronchitis and the root sap is used as a remedy for fever and indigestion.
A decoction made from the stem bark is used as a treatment for high feve r, and a decoction made from the leaves is often used specifically to treat malaria fever. The root contains a variety of alkaloids that are considered to have emetic, expectorant, antipyretic and laxative properties.
There are over three hundred herbs that are commonly being used today. The most commonly used herbs are ginseng, wolfberry, dong quai, astragalus, atractylodes, bupleurum, cinnamon (cinnamon twigs and cinnamon bark, coptis, ginger, hoelen, licorice, ephedra sinica, peony, rehmannia, rhubarb, and salvia. These are just a few on the Traditional Chinese herbs list.
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