Chinese Herbology - What is it?

Posted on 11 July 2016
By Dr. Jill Tack
Posted in chinese herbology, herbsmith
0

What the heck are Chinese Herbs? Aren’t we trying to stay away from products from China? If you are just starting out in Herbology, or if you are unfamiliar with Chinese Herbs, you are probably asking yourself these questions. Why are Chinese Herbs so confusing?!

What is Chinese Herbology?

Chinese Herbology is a wonderful, detailed, and ancient form of healing. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) dates back over four thousand years and is still used today. Chinese medicine looks at the body in different elements and then works to support those elements in order to bring about health.

What are Chinese Herbs?

Chinese Herbs are just that—herbs from China. These herbs are grown in China because of the soil quality, temperature, sun patterns, etc. Chinese herbs fall into three heat categories: Warming, Neutral, and Cooling. Based on the system and ailment, TCM practitioners will recommend specific herbs to help balance the body.

Are They Safe?

Companies like Herbsmith and Nature’s Sunshine source their herbs from China because they offer the highest quality herbs. They then bring them back to the United States and perform testing on them to ensure their purity, authenticity, and safety for consumption.

Herbsmith uses the following procedures to ensure their safety:

“To ensure that only the most authentic herbs go into Herbsmith herbal blends, all raw materials used in production are subjected to a battery of tests including Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC), a sophisticated means of identifying the makeup of individual substances in a given compound. This unique fingerprint confirms the chemical composition and authenticity of each and every herb we use and allows us to use only the most high-quality herbs available.

The herbs next undergo High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), a test performed on all pharmaceuticals to confirm the consistency and concentration of the compound. This step assures that each herb is at its maximum potency and effectiveness.

Further testing for moisture content, dissolution, heavy metals (lead, arsenic, mercury, and cadmium) and microbial content are performed on every batch, including Aristolochic Acid and Chloramphenicol testing.”

How are Chinese Herbs Different?

Chinese Herbs work to support an element on the five-element system. These elements—Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire—all hold a pair of organs, one yin (female), and one yang (male). Chinese Herbs work to address the underlying weakness of these elements and rebuild them. TCM works to bring the body back into homeostasis, or balance. It is believed that only when each element is balanced can the whole system become balanced.

Using Chinese Herbs with Pets

Herbsmith makes Chinese Herbs for pets easy! They have seven ready-to-use blends covering ailments from joints to allergies. Chinese Herbs are great to use with our senior pets to help long-term joint issues. Soothe Joints from Herbsmith contains 12 different Chinese herbs that work together to maintain joints, prevent joint fluid thickening, and protects cartilage and bone endings. Soothe Joints comes in a powder and tablet to help a wider range of pets.

Want to Know More?

Dr. Chris Bessent, D.V.M is the founder of Herbsmith. She will be here on Saturday, September 24th for a workshop to share her wealth of knowledge on the subject with us. If you would like to register or have questions, please call the store at (248) 548-3448 for more information.