Integrating Supplements and Chinese Herbs Into Western Medicine

It's been nearly a month since I had a chance to listen to an incredible group of M.D's talk about what "Wellness" looks like today. So I've had a little time to discuss the topic and think it over.

Is wellness not missing work? Or is it simply feeling healthy? Wellness no doubt looks and feels different for many different people. I believe wellness starts with the right information. Information on how to stay healthy no matter what age you are and information on how to become healthy if you don't feel well now.

But what else? What do you really need, to stay "well"? Are wellness supplements needed and which ones will really make a difference? This was the central theme of the 8th annual conference held in San Diego by the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine. If you are not familiar with the term Integrative medicine it's about time you should be.

Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, one of the many incredible presenters over the weekend said it best, "Integrative medicine just makes senseit is a re-emergence of viewing the patient as a whole human being, a person with a rich story, a history and set of beliefs and a culture that you must consider in the co-creation of a treatment plan." Dr. LowDog is on the faculty of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona where she currently serves as the Director of the Fellowship. Dr. Andrew Weil has this to say about her, "Dr. Low Dog is one of the world's leading authorities on botanical medicine & dietary supplements."

Over the course of three days of lectures there was an wealth of information, certainly too much for this blog.

But in regards to "Wellness" and the reviews of the Top 1! 0 best s cientific literature on natural supplements to keep you well, there were 6 Chinese herbs on the "BEST of 2010" list. These 6 Chinese herbs have been studied repeatedly with monographs and systematic reviews published in the most popular medical journals. They are, in alphabetical order:

1. Ginger (Sheng Jiang)

2. Ginko (Bai Gou)

3. Milk Thistly Silybum Marianum -

4. Pepperment (Bo He)

5. Red yeast rice Hong Mi, Chi Qu

6. Thunder God Vine Tripterygium Wilfordi Hook (Lei Gong Teng)

It will take at least another blog or more to talk about all the benefits of these amazing Chinese herbs and which natural supplements often contain these herbs. For now, we in the Chinese herbal medicines field feel somewhat vindicated that Western medicine is beginning to catch up with what Asian cultures have known for centuries. Finally the Western literature begins to surface on Chinese herbs.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chemical Additive in Your Herbs. To Sulfur or Not to Sulfur

Image
When purchasing dried fruit, 9 out of 10 people will pick the bag that looks prettier than the one that has fruit turned brown. Go beyond the beautiful color because that beautiful color is deceiving. It may even carry toxins. Sulfur dioxide is used to prevent discoloration in dried fruit but it's carries some significant side effects. The most common reactions are diarrhea, allergies, headaches and asthma. Now what about the herbs you buy? Do your herbs contain sulfur dioxide (SD) and does SD effect the fundamental quality of the herbs? Chinese herbs are derived from natural plant and mineral products. Like any natural product, they are vulnerable to mold and insect infestation. To control the decay and mold many herbal products and natural supplements are sprayed with sulfur based fumigation. This process kills bacteria, mold, insects and may also be used for bleaching/ cleaning raw herbs. But can it change the chemical constituents of a particular herb? In some cases we know fo...
Keep reading

Our Need For Speed Is Going Herbal

Image
Do you have enough energy to stay ahead of the game? You can if you know the rules of the game. Building, storing and keeping energy are the keys. But todays fast paced, multitasking world creates many different stressors on our bodies.Often physical and emotional stress can drain us. With so much on our plates, how do we take enough time to give our body the fuel it needs to cope in our ultra-fast, get it done yesterday environment? Eat well, build muscle and fat to store energy and then our bodies have enough to survive and thrive. These rules have always applied, but getting the right, high octane fuel is not so easy in our modern world.This is where coffee comes in handy.It is the perfect natural stimulant, right?Its cheap, works fast and gives us that energy boost we desire.Yet, coffee does not contain anything that PRODUCES energy, it simply causes your body to release adrenaline into the blood. Adrenaline is a hormone that produces the fight or flight response.It is also known a...
Keep reading

Renaming Sleep Aids Ambien Now Called Intermezzo

FDA just approved a subligual Ambien for "insomnia in the middle of the night followed by difficulty returning to sleep" It has taken a few years, but the FDA has now approved Intermezzo, a low dose drug with the same active ingredient as Ambien. Zolpidem tartrate will now be in a sublingual tablet form rather than the sleeping pill, Ambien. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, said Shakespeare and in this case Intermezzo is still Ambien and the side-effects are the same. For people who have difficulty staying asleep and can't fall back to sleep we recommend an herbal sleep aid that has been used for centuries, safely. If you are looking for a completely safe and natural sleep aid that can be taken in the middle of the night and works without side-effects you owe it to yourself to try Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine. The herbs in our iSleep Herb Pack have been used safely and effectively for hundreds of years and clinically tested on thousands of patients...
Keep reading