Healing Touch Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine

Ancient Healing for a Modern World

About Our Herbs

The Pharmacopoeia in Chinese Medicine has over 300 herbs. I carry the 150 most commonly used healing herbs. There are two main ways to take the herbs -- cook the raw herbs and drink the "tea" or I can prepare a specially designed tincture (liquid) for you. Raw herbs can be available immediately. Tinctures take two days to prepare. Both are very effective methods, with the raw herbs being slightly more potent. Raw herbs will take a little of your time to make while tinctures are already prepared, are easy to transport and have ease of dosing. Some people prefer this ease, while others enjoy the process of cooking their own herbs and participating in their own care. The choice is yours.

I often get calls from people wondering if this herb or that herb is good for their condition -- Chinese practitioners don't look at herbs the way Western practitioners do. Each formula is designed specifically for YOU. It rarely is just one herb, but a combination of herbs that is prescribed. This requires an herbal consultation, with a full intake interview and other diagnostic techniques employed. This is to your benefit, because Chinese herbalism is not a one-size-fits-all proposition.

Which Way Is Best?

Tinctures are the liquid form of a prepared herbal formula. The herbs are placed in an alcohol solution. The alcohol removes the active ingredients from the herbs and perserves them in the alcohol. They come in 1/2 oz., 1 oz. or 2 oz bottles with a dropper. A certain number of drops are placed in a small amount of water and taken. For those with alcohol sensitivity, the drops can be placed in a some boiling water, which cooks off the alcohol.

Raw formulas are prepared in the following manner:

Using a non-metal cooking pot, put all the herbs from your bag in the pot.

Step 1 -- Cover all the herbs with water and soak herbs for at least 1 hour. You can also soak the herbs overnight in the fridge.

Step 2 -- Put your herb pot complete with all its ingredients on your stove, and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, turn down the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Once the cooking is complete and having a container ready on your countertop, pour the liquid into the container

Step 3 -- So now if we are all on the same page, you have a hot herb pot with some steaming herbs in it and a container on your countertop filled with a brownish colored liquid. This may be a good time to tell you that Chinese herbs taste really bad. But the result is phenomenal, so a few seconds of bad taste is worth it. So what next? Do the same thing again with the same herbs. Add more water, just enough to cover the herbs, bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Pour the liquid into the same container with the first cooking, thereby combining them.

Step 4 -- At this point you can discard the cooked raw herb material. Put it in the trash, or compost it. The container, now full of brown liquid is yours to drink over the course of 2 days (unless otherwise directed). Roughly divide the liquid into four parts. Twice a day, sometime the a.m. and sometime in the p.m., drink one of the parts of liquid. That is it, call me with any questions at 759-8050.

Notes:

1. Herbs should be stored in the fridge. Warm them up before drinking.

2. Don't drink raw herbs colder than room temp. Yet it should also be mentioned that the hotter the herbs are, the stronger their taste. Some practitioners say you shouldn't heat the herbs in the microwave, others are not as picky. While my preference is that they be heated on the stove, I understand the complicated lives we lead and I say do what works best for you. The main thing is to take the herbs. You can also set a covered cup on the counter for a few hours and let them warm naturally.

3. While taking raw herbs there are a few things to avoid consuming: Alcohol, shellfish, heavy meats, oily foods, spicy foods.

4. Some formulas are best taken on an empty stomach (no food 1/2 hour before or 1 hour after taking herbs). Other formulas are best taken with food. I'll let you know which is best for your formula at the time of dispensing. But again, the important thing is to take the herbs.