One definition of Chi or Qi (they are one and the same) in the online dictionary is: "The vital force believed in Taoism and other Chinese thought to be inherent in all things. The unimpeded circulation of chi and a balance of its negative and positive forms in the body are held to be essential to good health in traditional Chinese medicine."

Chinese herbalists ?measure' Chi in a patient by considering the conditions of:

Yin            Yang

Hot            Cold

Internal      External

Empty        Full

Chinese herbalists consider all conditions of their patients not just the physical condition but the condition of the mind and the emotions as well. When determining the strength of Chi in their patients they use what are called the six excesses of:

1.      Wind

2.      Dryness

3.      Cold

4.      Moisture

5.      Fire

6.      Heat

as well as excesses of the seven emotions:

1.      Joy

2.      Anger

3.      Anxiety

4.      Brooding

5.      Sorrow

6.      Fear

7.      Fright

Illness is not thought to ever be caused by only one thing in Chinese herbal medical diagnosis. Just because pain is in the stomach doesn't mean that the illness is only in the stomach. Neither does it mean that the illness is only physical, it may well be caused by or irritated by one of the seven emotional excesses.

The strength of Chi and the balance of Yin and Yang are all considered when a patient's illness is being diagnosed and herbal remedies will be prescribed that address all of the potential causes.

Chinese herbal medical practitioners learned many centuries ago that by combining herbs they could achieve a better outcome for their patients. Many of the herbal combinations that are used today are derived from ancient herbal combination formulas.

The ancient Cinnamon Combination formula includes cinnamon, peony, licorice, and ginger. It was believed that the combination of the cinnamon and the peony increased circulation to the skin where disease was thought to enter the body. The ginger and the licorice were thought to increase the powers of digestion and increase the body's healing energy.

The Ginseng and Tang-kuei Ten Combination was also an ancient Chinese combination. This herbal combination contains astragalus, ginseng, atractylodes, hoelen, licorice, cinnamon, tang-kuei, peony, and rehmannia. It was believed that the astragalus, ginseng, atractylodes, hoelen, and licorice helped with digestion, increased energy, fed the internal organs, and improved the immune system. The cinnamon was used to warm the metabolism and the tang-kuei, peony, and rehmannia were meant to nourish the blood.

The Minor Bupleurum Combination is another ancient combination designed by ancient practitioners of Chinese herbal medicine. The herbs used in the Minor Bupleurum Combination are bupleurum, ginseng, ginger, hoelen, and licorice. The ginseng, ginger, hoelen, and licorice were included to aid in digestion and increase energy. The bupleurum was meant to harmonize the circulation between the internal and external body and to relieve the stress in the chest and the abdomen, as well as, reduce inflammation.

Today many of these ancient formulas are still in use either as they have been for centuries or with small adjustments made to them by modern Chinese herbal medical practitioners. Research that is being done using clinical trials conducted in China is finding ways to make modifications to these ancient formulas and use them to treat modern day ailments.

A Chinese herbal medical practitioner begins his diagnosis of a patient from the first moment they meet. Diagnosis of a patient's illness is made in four steps:

1.              Observing: The patient's skin tone, posture, condition of the nails, the color and appearance of the tongue, and the eyes..... All of these things tell the Chinese herbal medical practitioner many things.

2.              Questioning: The patient will be asked a lot of questions such as the quality of his appetite, the color and frequency of urine, the frequency and consistency of bowel movements, fever, thirst, headaches, dizziness, and pain. At the same time that the herbalist is asking questions he is doing the third step of his evaluation.

3.              Listening: As he listens to the answers to his questions, the herbalist will also be noting the strength of the patient's voice and the number of breaths he takes as he answers questions.

4.              Examination: Many times the physical examination of a new herbalist patient will consist of the taking of his pulse. The pulse is not only taken in the wrist, it is also taken at other points like the ankle and the neck.

The herbalist is ready to prescribe the herbal remedies to the patient after he has done these four steps. It may not look like there has been much of a physical examination done to those who are more familiar with the practice of physicians who practice Western medicine but the Chinese herbal medical practitioner will have established the chi of the patient and his Yin and Yang balance. His herbal prescriptions will be accurate, as well as, effective. Sometimes he will prescribe acupuncture in addition to herbs to help correct the Yin and Yang balance and to make the herbal prescriptions more effective.

Chinese herbalists believe that all disease is caused by the interruption of Chi and the resulting imbalance of Yin and Yang and that this interruption is caused by excesses....either excesses of heat and cold, or yin and yang, or internal/external, full/empty conditions AND/OR an emotional excess. The seven excess emotions are:

1.      Joy

2.      Anger

3.      Anxiety

4.      Brooding

5.      Sorrow

6.      Fear

7.      Fright

It is believed that an excess of each emotion has a corresponding element, organ that is affected and effect on the Qi of a patient.

Excessive joy calms the Qi, the related element is fire and the organ affected is the heart.

Excessive anger stimulates the Qi, the related element is wood and the organ affected is the liver.

Excessive Anxiety obstructs the Qi, the related element is water and the organ affected is the kidney.

Excessive brooding coagulates the Qi, the related element is earth and the organ affected is the spleen.

Excessive sorrow reduces the Qi, the related element is metal and the organ affected is the lung.

Excessive fear suppresses the Qi, the related element is water and the organ affected is the kidney.

Excessive fright disturbs the Qi, the related element is water and the organ affected is the kidney.

Chinese herbalists have long known that our emotions affect our bodies. Western medicine has only recognized this since it has been scientifically proven beyond any reasonable doubt. Our emotions affect our physical health and the opposite is also true...our physical health affects our emotions.

There are herbs that can calm the nerves, help us to sleep, and raise our spirits that Chinese herbalists prescribe after they have diagnosed the cause and the source of a patient's illness. Chinese herbal medicine practitioners treat the whole person...not just the physical body.

For at least 4000 years the Chinese have used Green Tea as a medicine. They have used it to treat everything from headaches to depression. It has only been in recent times that the rest of the world has discovered the many health benefits derived from the drinking of Green Tea. More and more benefits seem to be found daily.

In 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published a study that stated, "Drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent."

In the ensuing twelve years many other studies have been done by many different research groups and research facilities at colleges across the country. Researchers at Purdue University, for example, found that a compound found in Green Tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells. Other research indicates that drinking Green Tea not only lowers bad cholesterol (LDL) but raises levels of good cholesterol (HDL) and improves the balance of the two.

Research has proven that drinking Green Tea can:

·         Help prevent cancer

·         Improve symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis

·         Alleviate high cholesterol levels

·         Decrease chances for cardiovascular disease

·          Promote healing of infection

·         Restore impaired immune function

Green Tea contains a powerful anti-oxidant (epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG). EGCG not only inhibits the growth of cancer cells, it actually kills cancer cells without harming non affected cells.

Dieters should drink green tea. It has been established that the body burns more calories when the dieter drinks green tea.

Green Tea has also been shown to help prevent tooth decay and aid in healthy skin. Skin products that contain Green Tea are exploding onto retailer's shelves....everything from skin cream to deodorants.

The only side effect ever found in green tea is the possibility of insomnia caused by the caffeine contained in it.

There are those who would have you believe that if you are taking herbal supplements you are playing Russian roulette with your very life. ?They' say that there are no precautions in place to assure the safety of herbal supplements for human consumption. I say ?Horse Feathers'!

All food supplements are considered a subset of food under federal law......vitamins, minerals, herbs.....those that are in capsule form, liquid form and chewable....ALL of them are regulated by federal law. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforce the laws that govern the safety standards of food supplements just like they do when it comes to all foods.

The Food and Drug Administration has not only the right but the obligation under the law to stop the sale of any unsanitary product. The FDA requires dietary supplements meet strict manufacturing requirements (Good Manufacturing Practices), including regulations for potency, cleanliness, and stability.

Those who manufacture dietary supplements can't just go pick leaves off any old bush and call them an herb, either. The FDA can stop a new dietary ingredient from being marketed if the agency does not receive enough safety information in advance.

Then the Federal Trade Commission gets into the act. They are charged with enforcing the laws outlawing "unfair or deceptive acts or practices" to make sure consumers are truthfully informed. The FTC can and does stop false advertisements or other violations of the FTC Act.... the law governing trade practices.

Who do you think made the producers of herbal supplements put all that information on the labels.....Santa Claus? Hardly! The information is there because the law requires it to be there.

The bottom line is that the supplements consumers purchase, vitamins, minerals and herbs, are as safe as all of the rest of the food supply.

Herbal tea is rapidly gaining popularity today. There is a very good reason for that. The fact is that herbal teas provide healing through the comfort of a hot cup of good tasting tea. Healing, comfort and great taste in a cup....what could be better?

Big international food companies like Lipton Tea are climbing onto the herbal tea band wagon. Lipton has recently announced the launch of an herbal tea product line that includes the convenience of single serving teabags. The line includes chamomile, lemon, ginger, cinnamon, and others.

Chinese herbalists have been using herbal tea as a vehicle for delivering healing herbs to patients for several thousand years. Some of the brews that they mixed were strong and vile tasting concoctions that their patients refused to swallow so they quickly learned to include herbs like peppermint and cinnamon along with honey to make them more palatable.

All tea is said to have come about because of Shen Nung according to this legend:

Shen Nung was a Chinese emperor who lived more than 5000 years ago, so the story goes. He was a rather progressive man and very wise. He had a strong interest in science, too. He ordered that all water must be boiled before his subjects drank it which was, indeed, a very wise thing to do because sanitation would have been almost nonexistent 5000 years ago.

According to legend, one summer day Shen Nung and his court were visiting a distant region of his domain when they stopped to rest. Shen Nung ordered one of the servants to boil water for the entourage to drink. As the servant was boiling the water some leaves of a nearby plant fell into the boiling water and the water immediately turned a very dark reddish brown color.

Because Shen Nung was an accomplished scientist, he decided to taste the dark water. He found it not only tasted good but was very refreshing and thus, tea was born.

Three thousand years before the birth of Christ, the Chinese were establishing the foundation for the practice of herbal medicine as we know it today.

In the beginning all herbs were simply referred to as ?divine herbs' by the shamans who used them along with incantation and ashes to ?heal' people. There were no ?doctors' as we know them today and certainly no corner drug stores.

 The entire socio-economic structure 5000 years ago was built on agriculture. Agriculture itself is where so much of the knowledge of herbs and herbal remedies originated. People used what was available to heal their ailments and their observations of the world around them led to the essential knowledge of what plants and/or animals, animal products and insects had healing properties.

As farmers weeded their fields they learned that the weeds they eradicated provided fertilizer for their crops and that some of those same weeds had healing properties that could cure them of disease and ease their pain.

Shen Nong may or may not have been a real person...some believe that the stories are only legends...others believe that he was a real person. He is referred to in Chinese history as ?The Divine Husband' and reportedly poisoned himself with seventy poisons in one day and then used hundreds of herbs to cure himself.

Since research was not government regulated 5000 years ago, much of todays herbal knowledge is the product of simple trial and error testing...most of it done on human beings who had no where else to turn.

Modern day scientists are just now getting around to testing the healing properties of herbs and they are being very pleasantly surprised by their research. They are finding out that what Chinese herbalists have known for centuries about the healing properties of herbs are in fact scientifically verifiable.

The Five Element Theory has a great deal to do with the practice of Chinese herbal medicine. Below is a picture of the five elements and how they affect one another. This picture comes from the Wikapedia Free Online Encyclopedia:

Each of the five elements represents organs of the body. Wood is representative of the liver; fire represents the heart; earth represents the spleen; metal represents the lungs; and water represents the kidneys.

The Five Elements and their functions is a diagnostic tool used by those who practice Chinese herbal medicine. Each element has a corresponding function to generate and, overcome and can be overcome by another element. Water, for example generates wood and overcomes fire but is overcome by earth while Wood generates fire and overcomes earth but is overcome by metal.

According to this theory: the kidneys (water) generate the liver (wood), overcomes the heart (fire) and is overcome by the spleen (earth). The Chinese herbalist uses this information to help him determine what herbs will make his patient feel better.

Since Chinese herbal medicine is based on the strength of Chi and the balance of Yin and Yang in the body, the object is to choose herbs that will strengthen Chi and restore the balance of Yin and Yang. The herb bai zhu (bulb) is used when there is a deficiency in the spleen (earth) and an excess in wetness (water), for example. Bai Zhu strengthens the spleen and dries wetness.

When Chinese herbalists use the terms "good and evil" they are not referring to morality but rather the ?good and evil' atmospheres that are perceived within the body of their patient. They are speaking of Yin and Yang as each relates to specific organs and thereby to the specific elements.

Yin and Yang are opposites which depend upon each other for their existence. There would be no Yin without Yang and Yang without Yin. Think of the Chinese symbol for Yin and Yang. Half is light, half is dark and the two curl around one another. In the Yang part of the symbol there is a spot of dark (Yin) and in the Yin part of the symbol there is a spot of light (Yang).

Yin translates from Chinese to English literally as, "?shady place, north slope (hill), south bank (river); cloudy, overcast'. Yin is female. Yin is characterized by sadness, darkness and passiveness. Yin corresponds to night and is often depicted by water.

Patients with an excess of Yin feel cold. They will have cold hands and/or feet, their face will appear white, they will move slowly, their heart rate will be slow, they will not be thirsty, they will not sweat, they will have much clear urine that is odorless, and their tongue will be covered with a white coating.

For a Yin related disease the Chinese herbal practitioner will order heat to be applied to specific areas of the body. He will prescribe warm/spicy food, warm drinks and warm herbs. 

Yang translates from Chinese to English literally as, "sunny place, south slope (hill), north bank (river); sunshine". Yang is male. Yang is characterized by light, happiness and activity. Yang corresponds to day and is often depicted by fire.

Patients with an excess of Yang feel hot. They will have hot skin, they will sweat profusely, they will be extremely thirsty, their urine will be infrequent and be a dark color with a strong odor, their movements will be quick and nervous, and their tongue will have a red or yellow coating.

For a Yang related disease the Chinese herbal practitioner will order cold baths, cold food, cold drinks, and cool herbs.