Everyone’s passed a Chinese herbal medicine shop and wondered what all those bizarre ingredients were. Well, wonder no more! Dr. Maryam Mahanian from The Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine Clinic of Vancouver took me on a field trip to the Sunny Day Herbal Store in Chinatown to help demystify them. In the first of a two-part series, Dr. Mahanian shows us some commonly prescribed Chinese herbs. She explains what they look like, what they do, their benefits, how to use them, and the disorders they are used for.

There are about 5,000 different species of herbs and of these, about 2,000 are used as medicines. Some are more frequently prescribed than others and a typical dispensary will stock about 500 herbs.

Chinese herbs are very rarely taken as single herbs. Dr. Mahanian presents individual ones in this segment to simplify the introduction of this type of medicine and will explain in Part II how they are combined together in a synergistic way to treat a specific ailment.

Safety Precautions: Consult a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) doctor before taking herbs. It is advisable to get a prescription and not to self-prescribe. Even though it is “natural medicine,” it doesn’t mean that there are no side effects or contraindications. Don’t exceed the started dose for the herbs; start with a small dose and work your way up.

For a detailed summary of the featured herbs, read on…

Guest:

Dr. Maryam Mahanian
Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine

The Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine Clinic of Vancouver
Suite 507, 1160 Burrard St, Vancouver
Tel: 604.689.9308
www.chinesemedicineclinic.com

Location:

Sunny Day Herbal Store
434 Main St, Vancouver (Southeast corner of E. Hastings & Main)
Tel: 604.688.1389

Featured Herbs:

1. Ren Shen (panax ginseng)

* Very expensive and used in special circumstances when it is really needed, like when recovering from severe illness
* One of the very few herbs that can be taken alone either as a tea or as a soup and is a very common ingredient in formulas
* Increases energy and benefits immune system
* Potent stimulant for physical and mental stamina
* Regulates immunologic disorders & helps the body to adapt to environmental stressors
* Helps mild cases of diabetes
* Don’t use if you have high blood pressure
* Not for children under age 19
* Sweet taste, slightly bitter; and warm property
* In TCM clinics, practitioners substitute a different herb called dang shen since ren shen is so expensive

2. Huang Qi (astragalus root)

* Benefits immune system
* Increases Qi (energy)
* Very sweet and pleasant to take; slightly warm property
* Increases white blood cells
* Strengthens the lungs…very good for people prone to catching colds, fatigue, sweating…
* Strengthens the spleen…for fatigue, water retention, poor healing of skin
* Helps the body adapt to stress (like ginseng)
* Helps to mend broken parts (like fallopian tubes, tissue after surgery)

3. Dang Gui (angelica root)

* Sweet, pungent, warm property
* Very important for women…good for menstrual problems – PMS, irregular menstruation, no menstruation
* Treats pain from injuries
* Helps perimenopausal symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats
* Has mild estrogenic qualities and has a regulatory effect on the uterus so it can normalize uterine contractions to treat painful menstruation
* People taking blood thinners should be cautious as angelica can cause excess bleeding

4. Gou Qi Zi (wolfberry fruit)

* Sweet and neutral property
* Improves blurry vision and increases visual acuity
* Strengthens liver and kidneys
* Good for dizziness
* Also good for impotence and lower body weakness

5. Fu Ling (poria)

* Relieves water retention by promoting urination
* Great for fatigue, sluggishness, and digestive problems like bloating and poor appetite
* Reduces blood sugar levels
* Relaxes the nervous system…good for insomnia

6. Chen Pi (dried tangerine peel)

* Used with herbs that are heavy and sticky to help the patient digest them
* Great for upset stomach (nausea and vomiting)
* Helps cough with mucus – don’t use if dry cough

7. Shan Zha (hawthorn fruit)

* Helps digestion of meat and fatty foods (treats bloating, diarrhea, abdominal pain)
* Very safe to use
* Used for high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, and coronary artery disease
* Also has an antibiotic effect and used in infectious diseases

Stay tuned for Part II as Dr. Mahanian introduces herbal concoctions for common ailments such as hay fever. She will also explain how these medicines are to be taken, and why TCM is so effective.