Chinese Herbs and Western Herbs: Is There a Difference?

Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine consists of 5,767 substances derived from plant, animal and mineral sources.

Herbs became an integral part of Chinese medicine thousands of years ago when the legendary emperor Shen Nong taught the ancient Chinese how to use them for diet and therapy. Various forms are used with the most common being tea. Raw herbs are added to water, boiled and the resulting tea is drunk. Raw herbs can also come in powder form.

Another common form is the honey pill in which powdered herbs are combined with honey to produce a hard pill. Other forms include: liquid extracts, tablets, tea pills capsules, granules, poultice, lotions, oil, and salves.

Much like over the counter medicine Western herbs treat symptoms as defined by Western medicine. In contrast, Chinese herbs are prescribed based upon a diagnosis derived by using the theories of Chinese medicine as well as tongue and pulse diagnosis. This holistic approach to medicine is applied to Traditional Chinese Medicine as a whole.

Another difference between Chinese and Western herbal medicine is the Western approach often uses one or two herbs to treat symptoms. Rarely are individual herbs prescribed alone in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Rather, they are given to a patient as a formula. A Chinese herbal formula is a balanced recipe of several herbs (sometimes as many as 20) tailored to work synergistically to address the individual’s unique health condition.

The biggest difference between these herbal traditions is that each Chinese herb is classified by its specific properties - temperature, taste, direction, function and action and organ channels that it affects. Western herbs are categorized by medicinal property and function and action.

These categories allow the Chinese herbalist to modify or create new formulas to that specifically treat patients’ symptoms and manage the underlying imbalances that are causing them.

Because of the centuries of research, development and application, Chinese herbal medicine, when properly prescribed, is effective and has a low risk of side effects as compared to Western pharmaceutical medicines.

For the highest potency, quality and safety be sure the herbal formula you are taking is processed under rigorous approved Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards. This assures the herbs have been chemically identified and tested for heavy metals, pesticides, and microbial elements.

To learn more about Chinese Herbal Medicine or to purchase Chinese herbs to help compliment your wellness plan contact Healing Foundations at, 773.880.9939 or visit: www.healingfoundationschicago.com