| Chinese
Herb Facts
How are herbs used?
There
are three main ways to describe the effect that herbs
can have on Qi and the energy flow within the human body.
The
first is temperature. Each herb is said to be either hot,
warm, neutral cool or cold. Typically, hot herbs are used
to alleviate cold conditions such as certain types of
arthritis, coughs or uterine pains. Conversely cold herbs
are used for hot conditions like high fevers, excessive
thirst and constipation.
The
second is taste. There are five tastes, each of which
indicates the active nature of the herb. A pungent taste
tends to be dispersing; bitter is cooling and draining;
sweet is tonifying; salty softens; sour substances are
astringent; and bland herbs tend to drain dampness.
Finally,
each herb is also linked with specific organ networks.
For example menthe (or peppermint) is pungent, cool and
is linked with the lungs and the liver. In terms of the
lungs therefore, menthe would be used as part of a prescription
to disperse externally invading toxins causing flu and
the hot type of cold.
what herbs
do you use?
The
herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine are not necessarily
herbs as we know them. Along with more common Western herbs
the huge variety of medicinal herbs in use includes types
of tree bark, flower petals and clay. The herbs are classified
by what they do rather than what they are and will normally
be grouped into about 20 distinctive functional categories.
For example, there are those which nourish the Qi or body
energy, those which calm the mind, or those which warm the
interior.
However, it is extremely rare
to use only one herb in a formula. Usually several herbs
are combined together with each herb performing a specific
role. Some might assist the action of the primary herb,
whilst others may target secondary symptoms or focus the
action of the formula on a specific organ or part of the
body. Combining herbs together in this way greatly adds
to the therapeutic effect of herbal medicine.
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