Herb Basics: What You Should Know About Traditional Chinese Herbs?
For centuries, China and other Asian countries counted on traditional Chinese herbs to cure diseases. From emperors to peasants, they trusted these herbs with their lives. Nowadays, more and more studies are proving the safety and effectiveness of Chinese herbs. So, what are these magical herbs? Here is a brief introduction!
- Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
Chinese herbal medicine is one of the therapy forms of TCM, therefore, we have to know something about TCM first to understand Chinese herbs. TCM believes the human body is the same as nature. It regards the human body as an integrated system and explains it in terms of natural concepts, such as four seasons and five elements. TCM deems that there is no specific “disease”. There will be no disease if the human body reaches a state of equilibrium. When the human body is out of balance, it only needs to be restored to balance.
- Traditional Chinese Herbs
After knowing how TCM regards the human body, we can understand how Chinese herbs heal the human body. Chinese medicine uses the four seasons and the five elements to explain the human body, then, Chinese herbs have the “four natures of drugs” and “five flavors” to correspond.
The “four natures” refer to cold, hot, warm, and cool. When the body is overheated, it can be neutralized with herbs of cool nature. The“five flavors” refer to sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, and salty. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that five human organs (heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney) correspond to the five elements（metal, wood, water, fire, and earth), while the five flavors of herbs correspond to the five human organs.
Chinese medicine believes that all plants are herbs. All ingredients of Chinese herbs are all from natural plants, therefore, it is the most natural and safest way to bring you a healthy body.
