When we speak about using plants as medicine there are two very different and distinct methods, Western herbalism and Chinese herbal medicine.   I find a lot of confusion between these two methods, so I've written a little background on each.

 

Western herbal medicine or folk herbalism primarily treats symptoms such as asthma symptoms or coughs, colds, headaches, constipation symptoms, PMS symptoms etc. All cultures across the globe have used indigenous plants for their own brand of folk medicine. However,  Western herbs in our modern day  fell from the lime light when prescription medicine started being heavily marketed in the 1950’s.   They seem to be making a comeback today, but  large clinical studies are scarce and very expensive and this makes it difficult to know what really works.  Good manufacturing standards, which are overseen by the FDA in the U.S.

Who really needs another article about weight loss plans and products? We’re inundated with advertising on weight loss supplements and the last thing we need is more of the same.  Alas,  I’m asked all the time, “Don’t you have herbs for weight loss?”  People who know me, know I would never suggest Chinese herbs for quick fix weight loss. I’m resigned to the good old fashion diet, eat more veggies, cut the carb’s and do some exercise. There is simply no magic bullet. Chinese herbs are great for a kick start and can help with “draining damp” and “moving qi” or in layman's language "a little clean-out" but even then lifestyle changes are still necessary.    

Then this study comes along and suggests that the oil in a common herb/food we know as licorice,

Another study, I found this one most encouraging. A survey of 1784 current U.S. medical students from around the country said knowledge of Complementary and Alternative Medicine could help them as Western doctors do a better job. (51% of U.S. medical schools participated). The survey’s overall objectives were to discover how many future doctors are using Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapies and  which therapies and to  assess medical students’ attitudes toward CAM. CAM therapies include, Acupuncture, herbal medicine, yoga, massage and other non-traditional healing modalities.

 

There is certainly a need for emerging physicians to integrate Complementary and Integrative Medicine into their medical practices. Medical schools are recognizing this and have taken steps at restructuring their curriculum to incorporate CAM educational opportunities. It’s been my privilege to be personally involved with one such school, the USC Keck School of Medicine in Los

The two most common questions: 

What are Chinese herbs and Why Packets?

 

iSleep Herb Pac and PMS Relief Herb Pac are both made exclusively with Chinese herbs. These herbs are a combination of roots, bark, seeds and fungi which have been used in China and throughout Asia for hundreds of years.  We know these plants have chemicals that can alter/repair our bodies' chemistry. These ancient plant medicines have now been studied extensively and today’s chemists have isolated the active ingredients in each herbal compound. We know these chemicals and their effects but we don’t always understand how they work. The same is true of prescription medications. Not all body pathways of interaction are understood, yet we know they work.

What makes Chinese herbal medicine different from prescription drugs and OTC medications are the level of

What is the real definition today of Alternative Medicine?  

 

25 years ago it was TM.

20 years ago it was Chiropractors.

15 years ago Ayurvedic Medicine and Yoga.

10 years ago it was Acupuncture.

5 years ago it was Chinese herbal medicine and Homeopathy and now?  The best definition may just be all of the above plus: Reflexology, Aromatherapy, Spiritual Healing, Qi Gong and Tai Chi, massage, raw food diets and just about anything else you can imagine.

Today the different possible ways to find health and wellness are as creative and as they are unconventional. The U.S. Government funded National Institute of Health is spending millions of dollars every year funding studies on Complementary and Alternative Medicine, so they must believe the tides are shifting from our “conventional medicine”.  

 

Why are the

If your suffering with Rheumatoid Arthritis or know someone who is, this should interest you. 

 

A study was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in August 2009 on a Chinese herb used for rheumatoid arthritis, (RA). This study found that after six months of taking this herbal remedy  more patients in the Chinese herb group had improved, than the group taking a sulfasalazine.   

 

The Chinese herb used in this study was a single herb known as Lei Gong Teng or Thunder God Vine. Herbal remedies such lei gong teng or in latin Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (TwHF) have been used and documented for treating inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.   It’s understandable that people with RA are looking to treat their disease with herbal remedies such as Chinese Medicine and Chinese herbs because Western medicine has no cure

When you’ve only got a desert to work with, how does one become a farmer?

How about grow a highly sought after Chinese herb that happens to love the desert. That’s exactly what one desert nomad started doing in China’s unforgiving deserts of Inner Mongolia in 2003. The herb he now grows brings in more income than the family ever made before.  

The herb is Cistanche, a native desert plant that’s always been prized  in the Chinese herb world. Cistanche  (Rou Cong Rong) is used in Chinese Medicine to replenish the blood and kidney jing (also translated as essence or heredity) and was first mentioned in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing  a Chinese book on agriculture and medicinal plants (ca. 100 AD).   It’s used for impotence and erectile dysfunction. It’s not Viagra, but the actions from this

A while back I wrote about a type of mushroom called Cordyceps used in Chinese medicine which sells for $100.00 an ounce or even more. (Click here for that article) Here’s one reason this herb/fungus is such a prized possession. The very prestigious, University of Nottingham just published the findings from researchers there who have discovered how this mushrooms works within our bodies.  

 

This incredible discovery on the active ingredient called cordycepin and it’s pathways, is the first step in learning how cordycepin can treat many diseases including cancer.   Although this mushroom has been actively studied since the 1950’s, researches never figured out exactly how cordycepin worked on cells. Dr Cornelia de Moor of The University of Nottingham said “With this knowledge, it will be possible to predict what types of cancers might be sensitive and what other cancer drugs