| Because of the growing popularity of acupuncture and traditional chinese medicine in the West and the increasing popularity of many Chinese herbs and products, this book is intended to serve as an introduction and practical guide.
Unlike most Western drugs, traditional Chinese herbs and products not only help relieve symptoms of disease but also work to alleviate the underlying causes. Supplements, such as vitamins and minerals, may overload and imbalance the body with nutrients and substances that it does not need. Chinese herbs can help the body regain strength and balance. |
| We are also discovering similar or closely related species of Chinese medicinal herbs that grow both in North and South America, such as reishi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum) and uncaria (gambir, or gou teng, as it is called in chinese medicine), which seems to be related to the famous cat's-claw of the South American rain forest. The difference is that the Chinese use only the "claws" or grasping thorns for their antispasmodic properties, while the entire vine of the South American species is used as a potent antiviral and antibacterial. |
| Since both of these philosophical systems had a profound effect on the theoretical evolution of chinese medicine, it is worth understanding the basic tenets of each. Confucianism, based on the teachings of Confucius (551-479 b.c), holds that a well-ordered society is the result of everyone's assuming and properly executing their respective social duties and obligations. This belief extended through all strata of society, from the emperor down to the lowliest subject. |
Michael Tierra
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 Since his knowledge of chinese medicine was greater than his knowledge of Ayurveda, he decided to apply the theoretical principles he had learned from Chinese herbalism to those of India. The effectiveness of the herbs was not only far greater when he did this, but he learned a great deal more about the herbs as well.
Realizing the true importance of energetics and how that influences the appropriate use and subsequent effectiveness of herbs, Michael's next step was to apply this same theoretical foundation to Western herbs. |
Susun S. Weed
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 Traditional chinese medicine has many formulas for helping women with breast cancer.5 Ideally, a formula is created for you individually. Some of the many nourishing herbs that might be included are astragalus, dandelion, ginseng, ginger, licorice, orange peel, self-heal, seaweed (especially fucus), and violet.
• Protein intake has been shown in laboratory studies to have a direct effect on cancer. |
J. E. Williams, O.M.D.
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 Modern doctors of chinese medicine recognize viruses and viral diseases, while retaining the traditional knowledge of how the body's energy systems function and respond to viral infections. In fact, since the 1980s, intense research has been carried out on the identification of herbs with the most potential as antivirals. Both Chinese and Western scientists are investigating a new class of substances called immune modulators which enhance and normalize immune activity. |
Paul Pitchford
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 The traditional teachings of chinese medicine, however, were written when only organically grown whole foods were available, and very nutritious products were developed from vegetable foods. We have used and recommended many of these products, since they often make the difference between success and failure for those in transition to a vegetarian diet.
In spite of the emphasis on whole foods in this book, there are exceptions consisting primarily of a few optional nutrient supplements. |
Michael Castleman
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 When people get mainstream therapies in one office, chiropractic in another, and nutrition counseling, biofeedback, and chinese medicine elsewhere, their care is fragmented. Each practitioner sees only a small portion of
The Old School Tackles New Subjects
Alternative medicine remains on the periphery of medical education. But at least 75 medical schools—among them Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, Stanford, Ohio State, the University of North Carolina, and the University of California, Los Angeles—now offer courses on alternative therapies. |
| Aside from a few chiropractors, the only other full-time practitioners of natural and alternative medicine seemed to be representatives of a bygone era—such as homeopathic doctors, naturopaths, herbalists, and a few doctors of oriental or chinese medicine.
As a result, most of us have relied heavily on conventional Western medicine—what doctors call allopathic methods of healing. We are far less familiar with methods of alternative and natural healing. Yet, as we now realize, these other healing methods present an opportunity to try something that we haven't done before. |
| The chapters on homeopathy, chinese medicine, Ayurveda, and naturopathy also touch on medicinal herbs, because herbs figure prominently in these alternative healing systems.
Healing Systems: Different Perspectives on Health
Mainstream medicine is a healing system. It has a distinct philosophy that lays the groundwork for a particular approach to diagnosis and treatment. Its proponents say that it can treat an enormous range of illnesses. And it relies on professional practitioners who use standard examination procedures and treatment protocols. |
Paul Pitchford
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| According to the principles of chinese medicine, it can be used for certain weakened conditions including a deficiency of (yin) fluids, blood, and substance of the body. From a modern standpoint, meat also builds the tissue and blood of the body with its high nutrient content. Therefore, shouldn't we label meat yin? Yes—we may label those aspects of red meat yin. However, meat also has a high caloric content, which can produce an abundance of energy, and from this standpoint meat is yang. |
| These imbalances, as they manifest in Americans, often fall under the wind damp category in chinese medicine.)
Chlorella Growth Factor promotes normal growth but does not stimulate the growth of disease processes such as tumors. Because its chlorophyll content is one of the highest of any food, chlorella is useful for the many conditions which benefit from chlorophyll's purification, renewal, and anti-inflammatory properties. |
| Similarly, according to the "Five Element Control Cycle" of chinese medicine, the action of the pancreas and stomach is depressed by an excessive liver, a frequent result of excessive fat consumption.
Whole Foods and Exercise
Highly processed foods such as refined sugars and flours also upset the metabolism. These devitalized foods are deficient in the vitamins, minerals, and enzymes necessary for regulating glandular secretion and proper digestion. Whole foods, therefore, are preferable. |
Susun S. Weed
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| In Traditional chinese medicine, potentially poisonous herbs are used as tonics by women at high risk of developing breast cancer. (The herbs are taken daily, for one week only out of every six months.)
Tonifying herbs in Breast Cancer? Breast Health! |
Paul Pitchford
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| Fluorite, a naturally occurring compound of calcium and fluoride, is already used as a formidable tranquilizer in traditional chinese medicine.4 Judging from the intensity of the battles that rage, and the tremendous pro-fluoride support coming from some factions in the government, there must be something behind fluoridation besides merely promoting healthy teeth. Otherwise local and federal governments could easily advocate free fluoride pills for children whose parents consented (it is presumed that the teeth of children benefit most from fluoride). |
Neal Barnard, M.D.
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 The modern history of the thunder-god vine begins in the Chinese Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s, when Chairman Mao ordered China's increasingly westernized doctors to leave the cities and become "barefoot doctors," learning about traditional chinese medicine in rural areas. Many of them were intrigued with the vine's efficacy against inflammatory diseases, including arthritis. Many started to study extracts of the vine, and in the late 1980s, controlled research studies found that it effectively reduced joint stiffness, swelling, and tenderness, compared to a placebo. |
| The word macrobiotic means "long life," and the macrobiotic diet is based on grains, vegetables, and beans, which are balanced in certain ways using principles derived from chinese medicine. Modern macrobiotic diets draw heavily on the traditional Asian foods, with generous amounts of rice and vegetables, and strictly avoid dairy products, meats, and sugary and refined foods.
Tony could find no double-blind studies to show what the diet could do, but he was driven by a mixture of curiosity and desperation. He shared meals at the center, and the staff gave him food to take home. |
Phyllis A. Balch, CNC
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 The herb has been used in chinese medicine for thousands of years to improve circulation and liver function, stimulate gastrointestinal functions, and treat indigestion.
Bitter orange is a potent stimulant of certain nerves that control the circulation of blood. It also constricts small arteries in the nose, sinuses, and eustachian tubes to counteract allergic reactions. Chinese formulas containing the herb release compounds that may inhibit the spread of cancer. |
| In ancient chinese medicine, astragalus seed was used to treat infertile men. Tests have shown that the herb does increase sperm motility, or the vigorous activity of sperm.
• Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Astragalus stimulates beneficial components of the immune system in patients with lupus—the natural killer (NK) cells—without stimulating the detrimental components involved in rheumatoid arthritis—the B cells. Astragalus increases the immune system's production of interferon, which stimulates the creation of proteins that prevent viral infection.
• Myasthenia gravis. |
| Teas for chronic conditions, and the teas used in traditional chinese medicine, are almost always mixtures of herbs.
Of all the forms in which herbs may be used, teas have the gentlest and slowest effects on the body. The degree to which the active constituents of the herbs used to make the teas will be absorbed is unpredictable. For this reason, the best way to describe the results from taking a tea is "Drink the tea, wait and see."
Despite their unpredictable benefits and their slow onset of action, teas are especially safe. |
| The complex herbal formulas of traditional chinese medicine and Japanese herbal medicine, in particular, are valuable in that they neither depress nor overstim-ulate the central nervous system. These herbal treatments do not induce drowsiness, tremors, or fatigue. Nor do they trigger nightmares, hallucinations, or manic behavior.
• Subjective symptoms. Herbs can be used to treat familiar symptoms of known conditions that are not quite severe enough to justify expensive medical treatment. Herbs also can be used to treat symptoms that don't quite fit the symptom pattern of diagnosed disease. |
| In the theory of ancient chinese medicine, diseases were thought to first invade the "exterior" defenses of the body and work their way progressively to the "interior" defenses. The body at first employs "yang" energy to fight the disease, and then "yin" energy to preserve itself.
The terminology of the Eight Indicators is used by practitioners of TCM and kampo throughout the world even today. |
| EVIDENCE OF BENEFIT
Ginseng has been a part of chinese medicine for over 2,000 years. It was traditionally used to curb emotions, stop agitation, brighten the eyes, enlighten the mind, and increase wisdom. It was believed that continuous use leads to longevity and was commonly used by elderly people to improve mental and physical vitality.
Ginseng is an aphrodisiac, painkiller, and general stimulant. |
Susun S. Weed
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| Women at high-risk of developing breast cancer may wish to follow advice from Traditional chinese medicine and use one drop of poke tincture daily from the beginning of May until mid-June yearly as a preventive. To be assured of a supply of poke tincture, I make it myself, as it is rarely found for sale. References: 1, 3, 6, 8, 11, 12, 21, 22; illustrated on page 266.
ZB4
Breast ^ancerr Breast neaitn:
Red Clover
Trifidium pretense
Other Names: "The herb of immortality" Type: Nourishing
Found in: Temperate regions worldwide; fields, roadsides, lawns. |
Bill Gottlieb
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 But you can calm your adrenal glands and help prevent benign arrhythmias with qigong, a type of chinese medicine that shows you how to send healing energy (chi) to any part of your body.
To bring chi to your adrenal glands, make fists with both hands and bend your arms behind you. Put the flat of one fist (the back of the hand) on each adrenal gland; you'll find one on each side of your back near your kidneys, just above your waist and below your ribs. Slowly and gently rub your hands up and down, feeling them warm that area of your back. Do this every day for 2 to 3 minutes, says Dr. |
J. E. Williams, O.M.D.
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| Naturopaths agree with traditional medical doctors (as do modern chinese medicine doctors) that the cause of a cold is a virus, and that the symptoms are largely the results of the body's natural defense mechanisms working to neutralize the virus. However, the similarity ends there, as naturopathic philosophy contends that the doctor should assist these natural mechanisms and not suppress symptoms, especially by the use of antihistamines that reduce nasal secretions which are part of the body's mechanical means of expelling virus particles. |
Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D.
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 A practitioner of traditional chinese medicine would have said that her chi had become much more concentrated, and that it was "circulating" better.
Her mood and mental outlook also improved dramatically. Her depression lifted, and her mental focus became much more acute.
Within a couple of months her short-term memory improved significantly. It appeared as if the root cause of her memory problems had been a mixture of depression and attention deficit disorder. This often creates a syndrome that mimics severe memory disorder. |
Attaining Medical Self SufficiencyDuncan Long
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| Massage can be traced back in the East to chinese medicine of 1600 BC. In the Middle East, the ancient Egyptian doctors treated disease with it. The father of Western medicine, Hippocrates himself, wrote that doctors should be versed in the techniques of massage.72 With the advent of germ theory, and the idea that doctors should touch patients as little as necessary to prevent the spread of disease, the idea of massage became anathema to modern medical practices of the late 1800s. |
Alan Keith Tillotson, Ph.D., A.H.G., D.Ay.
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 This stock includes herbs from the three systems of herbal medicine we have both studied: TAM (Traditional Ayurvedic Medicine) from India and Nepal, TCM (Traditional chinese medicine) from China, and Western herbal medicine.
Nonetheless, when you watch doctors from each of these systems at work, as I have, you notice very quickly that they choose certain herbs most frequently, based on their high levels of safety and effectiveness. Many of these herbs are already famous. |
J. E. Williams, O.M.D.
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| However, traditional forms of medicine, notably what is called Traditional chinese medicine, the source of acupuncture, has a different and, I contend, a viable alternative model for understanding and treating illness. That model is based not so much on biochemistry and physiology, but on the energy underlying both.
The Organization of Energy: The Chinese model of health is based upon balance and harmony within the individual and between the individual, society, and nature. |
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