Herbal Medicine

TCM requires the knowledge that just like the Qi flowing through the body, food and herbs have their own Qi energy. While individually, each herb has its own energetics and health benefits, the combined effect of the right herbs used together is what provides the greatest potential for healing. The body is complex with many moving parts, energies shifting with constant interactions and reactions occurring. To keep the body’s desired homeostasis, sometimes, we need an equally complex group of herbs to shift the body towards harmony and reach its optimal healing potential.

While acupuncture treats the Qi flowing throughout the body using external superficial needles, herbal medicine treats the Qi using deeper internal methods, closer to the experience of taking Western medication for a biochemical effect in the body. Herbal medicine is traditional medicine in the sense that it has been used for centuries by many cultures throughout the world. In fact, many Western drugs originate from traditional herbs:

“50–60% of pharmaceuticals contain natural products or are synthesized from them; 10–25% of all prescription drugs contain one or more ingredients derived from plants.”

(2013 Si-Yuan Pan et al.)

While Western drugs can be extremely beneficial, providing acute symptom relief and sometimes having life-saving effects, they can be hard on the body, and for chronic health conditions the right cocktail of drugs may not exist. Practitioners and clients may find TCM herbal formulas have fewer side effects than Western drugs. Rather than taking each herb and isolating the scientifically beneficial compounds, herbalists find the use of the whole plant/herb offers natural intended medicinal benefits, and for some it has a greater holistic effect.