Photo by Caitlin Abrams
Chinese herbs
For thousands of years, traditional Chinese medicine has helped people improve their health, boost their immune systems, and ease short-term and chronic illnesses. This Eastern philosophy centers on promoting harmony in the body using acupuncture, tai chi, and Chinese herbs—more than 5,500 plant, animal, and mineral substances combined in various formulations to address specific issues.
Seeking natural ways to promote wellness, people have grown interested in taking Chinese herbs but don’t know where to start. Here, Jessica Frier, a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine and herbal dispensary manager at Northwestern Health Sciences University, answers five questions about Chinese herbs.
1) What exactly are Chinese herbs?
Chinese herbs are individual herbs that work synergistically together to accomplish certain goals. They are similar to pharmaceuticals in that they are medicine, but the body processes them the same way it processes food. They stay in the system for three to four hours at most, so they require a longer-term regimen. Each formulation has anywhere from two to 50 individual herbs, and the formulations are made for the individual, depending on what’s going on with them.
2) What do people take Chinese herbs for?
They can be used for a variety of things, such as supporting proper digestion or relieving low back pain. A lot of people like to use different Chinese herbs for arthritis or autoimmune conditions—they can help regulate inflammation or the entire immune system. There are herbs for more chronic conditions like asthma, Lyme’s disease, menstrual issues, or fertility.
3) Must Chinese herbs come from China?
Photo by Caitlin Abrams
Chinese Herb Jars
Most Chinese herbs are grown and cultivated and processed in China. They are run through the FDA for purity and tested for toxins and heavy metals when they land on our shores. Some are grown here, like ginseng. But any of the medical-grade Chinese herbs have to be grown in specific places in China due to agricultural needs like soil and climate. There are properties in the soil and how they are grown in China that make them a medicinal herb. There are many things we can’t grow here due to our climate.
4) What is the biggest mistake people make with Chinese herbs?
Buying unvetted herbs. Don’t go on Amazon and buy a 1 pound bag of astragalus. You don’t know where it’s from, if it was vetted and screened for toxicity. There have been deaths in California due to that. Or people assume they can’t get sick from Chinese herbs and they get their hands on something that’s inappropriate for what’s going on with them, and then they get worse.
5) When should someone see an herbalist?
It’s usually fine to buy some things from a co-op, like you would buy over-the-counter medicine for a cold or seasonal allergies. In Chinese medicine, we do have some premade formulas that are in common use. But if you’re not seeing results from over-the-counter herbs or you have a chronic condition, then it’s time to come in for a consultation. You might need more specific formulas that a licensed and trained herbalist build for you. We’re also trained to do a drug/herb interaction check. There are specific instructions we can give to counter interactions.
Here, find a licensed acupuncturist who specializes in Chinese herbology, a practitioner of Oriental Medicine (OM), or try the Northwestern Health Sciences Bloomington Clinic.
Located in Bloomington, Northwestern Health Sciences University is a pioneer in integrative natural healthcare education, offering degree programs in chiropractic, acupuncture, Chinese medicine, massage therapy, nutrition, post-bac, pre-health/pre-med and B.S. completion. Its clinic is open to the public and provides chiropractic treatment, massage therapy, acupuncture, Chinese medicine, naturopathic medicine, and physical therapy.
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