Are Chinese Herbs Better Than Supplements? Here's What You Need to Know
by Dr. Mark Wiley
Chinese herbs are a main feature of traditional Chinese medicine. The study, use, gathering, preparation and administration of herbs for the treatment of illness and disease are thousands of years old. In China, herbs are clinically used to treat diseases according to the basic theories of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and herbology.
Traditional Chinese medicine is concerned with the theories of Yin & Yang, Five Elements, Meridians and Pathogenic Factors causing disease. Specific methods are used to treat disease, such as acupuncture, tui-na, qi-gong, gua-sha, and herbal medicine.
Chinese herbology is the studying of the properties of Chinese herbs, their collection, preparation, effects, dosage, administration, combination and contraindication.
Short-Sighted Application
It should be understood that taking Chinese herbal medicine is not the same as taking nutritional supplements. By their very definition, vitamin and mineral supplements give to the body what it is lacking. That is, they supplement it. And this is no better than the Western medicine method of taking prescriptions when the body experiences symptoms. I offer some examples.
If you have a headache, you generally take an analgesic to stop the pain associated with the headache. The symptom of the headache is pain . So, your head hurts, you take Excedrine, your pain goes away. But then your had will surely hurt again, and again you'll take Excedrine. This cycle will continue as long as you look to over-the-counter or prescription medication to chase away the symptoms of your problem. In this case, pain.
By the same token, while natural supplements are better for your body than synthetic drugs, they generally follow the same short-sighted method of use. If you are deficient in Calcium, you can take a Calcium and Vitamin D supplement to raise the level of Calcium in your body. This is a good thing, except that when you stop taking the supplement, your body's Calcium level drops back to its original state. In other words, supplements are only as good as the amount of time you take them. They offer no hope of a long-term cure for your symptom. In this case, the symptom is a deficiency of Calcium.
Homeostasis and Chinese Herbs
The goal of traditional Chinese medicine is to return the body to homeostasis. That is, its optimal balanced functioning ability. When the body is at homeostasis, there is no room for disease. It is only when the body is out of balance (something is deficient, in excess or stagnating) that pain, illness or disease can occur.
It is for this reason that the Western application of synthetic drugs and natural herbal supplements can never hope to cure disease. Their application is based not on returning the body to homeostasis (removing the problem and balancing the body) but rather on dealing with the symptom (e.g., pain, vitamin deficiency).
Chinese herbal therapy is able to balance the underlying cause(s) of pain, illness and disease, but only after a proper pattern identification has been diagnosed by a competent TCM practitioner. Patterns of disharmony (imbalance) include such things as Spleen Qi Deficiency, Heart Blood Stagnation, Liver Qi Stagnation, Excess Phlegm Damp in the Channels, Interior Heat Syndrome, and so on.
These patterns describe syndromes occurring in the body, not merely the symptoms associated with disease. They refer to underlying imbalances in the body causing the body to manifest symptoms you may be experiencing. And many seemingly unrelated symptoms can be caused by the same underlying pattern of disharmony.
Let's take Interior Heat Syndrome as our example. Symptoms associated with this syndrome include: diarrhea, eventual constipation, abdominal distension, eczema, acne, blood shot eyes, urinary tract infection, genital herpes, cold sores, insomnia, eventual blood stasis, among other things. By recognizing that this list of things is in whole or in part caused by too much heat in the interior of the body (as opposed to a fever, which is heat that has moved to the exterior of the body), they can then be treated at the same time.
Once the Interior Heat is resolved, that is, once the bodies internal temperature is balanced, the symptoms associated with the problem will go away. This happens because the body has been returned to homeostasis, and no longer supports an environment conducive to prolonging the symptoms.
Preparation and Use of Chinese Herbs
The account of Shen Nong, the father of Chinese herbology, "tasting a hundred herbs and came across 70 toxic substances in a single day'' is a vivid description of how this art was discovered and developed. And there is a science to the collection, preparation and application of Chinese herbs.
There are many ways to prepare herbs that not only strengthen their effects, but also lower their toxicity. For example, the analgesic effects of Corydalis Tuber can be enhanced by stir-baking it with vinegar. And Eucommia Bark is more effective in calming the liver to reduce blood pressure when it is stir-baked with salt.
The basic properties of herbs can be changes through preparation to enhance or change their effects as well. For example, dried Rehmannia root, being cold in nature and used for removing heat from blood to arrest bleeding, can be made into prepared Rehmannia root that warms and tonifies essence and blood.
Theory of Chinese Herbal Application Application of Chinese herbal medicine is based on proper understanding and application of individual herb properties. These include: the Four Natures and Five Flavors; Effects of Lifting, Lowering, Floating, Sinking; Meridian Tropism; Toxicity; and Proper Application based on differentiation of syndrome.
The Four Natures and Five Flavors of herbs are the first principles of understanding this art and science.
The Four Natures are cold, hot, warm and cool. The Four Natures of herbs are determined by their curative effects on cold and heat syndromes.
The Five Flavors are pungent, sweet, sour, bitter and salty and represent their different effects, and have little to do with their actual taste (flavor).
The Direction Effects of lifting, lowering, floating and sinking refer to the curative effects of herbs in relation to the movement tendencies (causes and states) of illnesses.
The tendency of disease pathogenesis can be downward (e.g., diarrhea), upward (e.g., vomiting), inward (e.g., anhidrosis) or outward (e.g., spontaneous sweating).
Some examples: Astragalus Root (Huang Qi) has a lifting effect and is thus used for treating diarrhea. Pinellia Tuber (Rhizoma Pinelliae) has a lowering effect and is thus used for vomiting with hiccup. Herba Ephedra (Ma Huang) has a floating effect and is thus used for inducing sweating and dispelling externally contracted dampness. Oyster Shell has a sinking effect and is thus used as an astringent.
Specific herbs have a strong affinity for specific organs and their related meridians. This is known as Meridian Tropism , and is the basis for deciding which herb or combination of herbs to use for which syndrome.
Let us look at the symptoms of anxiety, insomnia, soreness in the mouth and on the tongue, difficulty and pain with urination, and dark yellow urine. All of these symptoms stem from the syndrome known as Excess Heat in the Heart. And this could be treated by picking herbs whose Meridian Tropism has an affinity for the heart meridian, such as Coptis Root, Lophatherum and Fiveleaf Akebia.
The theory of meridian tropism when used in combination with an understanding of the therapeutic effects of herbs based on energetic direction and preparation method, enables us to decide on the best herb or herbal formula to rebalance the body to "cure" an illness.
From the above we can effectively classify herbs by their primary function, such as: herbs for relieving exterior syndromes; herbs for eliminating heat; purgative herbs; anti-rheumatic herbs; aromatic herbs for resolving dampness; herbs for inducing diuresis and excreting dampness; herbs for warming the interior; herbs for regulating qi; herbs for removing food stagnation; tonics for deficiency syndromes; herbs for invigorating qi; blood tonics; yin tonics; yang tonics; hemostatics; herbs for promoting blood circulation and relieving blood stasis; herbs resolving phlegm and relieving cough and asthma; herbs relieving cold-phlegm by warming; herbs for clearing heat-phlegm; herbs for relieving cough and asthma; tranquilizers; herbs for calming the liver and checking wind; astringents.
How to Take Herbs
There are many ways to take Chinese herbal medicine. Raw herbs can be prescribes, bought and decocted and drank. This method generally offers the strongest effects, as the herbs are fresh, and their grams and combination can be precisely decided. Moreover, the liquid is easily absorbed into the body. However, the preparation generally has a bad smell and the taste is often not liked by Westerners.
Herbal powders are also available, in single form or in common formulas. These are like instant coffee, in that a measured spoonful will dissolve in a mug of hot water to be drank in one sitting. Again, this is effect and fast, but leaves much to be desired in the area of taste.
Perhaps the most common way of taking herbs in the West is what is known as the Patent Herbal Formulas. These are prepackages herbal formulas that have been found effective for specific syndromes. Examples include taking You Gui Wan for Kidney Yang Deficiency or Tao Hong Si Wu Wan for Blood Stasis or Bu Zhong Yi Qi Wan for Uplifting of the Central Qi. These are little black pills that are generally taken in quantities of six, eight or twelve pills three times per day.
Since there are over 300 common herbal patent formulas, with several formulas available for any given problem (based on underlying syndrome), Chinese herbal medicine is not to be taken lightly. Without having been diagnosed with a pattern by a qualified TCM practitioner, it is not recommended that you go to Chinatown and buy an herb that "helps acid reflux." The cause of your specific acid reflux may not be effectively treated by the formula you whimsically choose.
In closing, then, I would like to say that for those interested in returning their bodies to homeostasis and removing the underlying cause of their symptoms, Chinese herbs are the only way to go. Natural supplements can never do what specific herbal formulas can do. But without a proper diagnosis and formula recommendation, sticking to supplements may be the safer way to go.