As you all know, herbs are my passion. More accurately, formulas are my passion. Formula science is my passion! :) But, I do have a strong affinity for the herbs as plants and study them as such. Further, I have a real desire to get as close as possible to the original way of prescribing the herbs in formulas, where “original” means Han dynasty or thereabouts. If you read the Shang Han Lun, there are very specific instructions for how herbs are prepared and how they should be processed. Many of these instructions appear to be ignored in contemporary times, and I can only imagine that this is having some effect with regards to our herbal effectiveness.
However, even if we prescribe and prepare the herbs exactly as indicated it means nothing if the quality of the herbs is terrible. Recently, in a class at NCNM, a professor allowed us to taste Fuzi from different sources. We had three samples of bulk Fuzi. One was from a popular herb company, the second was from China, specially prepared in the traditional way at the instruction of Heiner Fruehauf. The third was raw Fuzi – unprepared – from China.
We were asked to observe how the herb tasted, its texture, and how it made us feel. The first batch was – depressing. It was brittle, soft, had almost no flavor and absolutely no bodily sensation resulted from tasting it. This is similar to what is found in many clinics. We tasted the second batch a few minutes later, the differences were striking! There was an almost immediate pungency and quite a bit of numbness on the tongue. This numbness continued for quite a while. We have been told by several professors that we want to find this quality in the Fuzi we prescribe to our patients – it indicates that the living potency of the herb is retained.
The best fun happened when we tasted (just a bit) of fresh Fuzi. Oh boy! My THROAT was numb after that one. You could really feel the medicinal quality – it was incredible. The only thing I could think after this little taste test was, “How can we get more of the good stuff and less of the bad stuff?” The consensus seems to be that the best quality Fuzi is not available in the states or really anywhere in the West. Further, the recent earthquake in China apparently did great damage to the areas where much of the high quality Fuzi is produced – creating even greater shortages.
The quality of the initial herb is only part of the problem – processing is the next piece of the puzzle. Fresh Fuzi is often brined, and then treated in various ways. Reports have indicated that industrial chemicals and harsh processes are used in the preparation of lots of commercial Fuzi. At the very least, you can tell that much of what’s available from the major herb companies is wildly over-brined. The brining process reduces the toxicity of the herb – but we have to remember that the “toxicity” of herbs (usually produced by alkaloid content) is a large part of why it is clinically effective! Skilled herbalists know how to exploit the positive nature of the herb while minimizing the potential for harm from the strong compounds contained within. When we overprocess herbs, we don’t do anyone any favors.
How can we, in the contemporary West, make up for these various deficiencies? How can we prescribe herbs in the way they are meant to be prescribed – full of their vital force and particular benefits? How can we know if an herb has been processed appropriately? These questions can easily be added to the ones I’ve had about using local species and other related conversations on Deepest Health. I’m looking forward to hearing what you think about this important issue. Please voice your thoughts and share your research with us in the comments! No registration is necessary.
Eric
Tags: Science, Chinese herbs, quality, formulas, health, agriculture
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Great post, I think you answered your own question . The only way to guarantee the quality of herbs we prescribe to patients is to be intimately familiar with the herb ourselves. By touching, tasting and comparing, we should create our own personal benchmark by which we judge the quality of herbs.
If you don’t taste them yourself, how can you know for sure?
Yes! And… Shen Nong style all the way.
I would greatly prefer the herbs from China although quality control is a major concern in any imported products from China. We may be “mistreated” to inappropriate added chemicals. If the Chinese government shows disregard for its own babies (the formula debacle) what concern will they have for adults.
The soil they are grown in are the key to quality as long as the preparation process can be trusted.
Hi Deepest Health,
I am a student of TCM (Acupuncture only) in the UK. Although we are not schooled in herbal medicine in our school, I am personally interested in herbs. I don’t study herbs per se, more experiment with them. Well I wanted to try a decoction of You Gui Wan, becuase I have the herbs for Zuo Gui Wan and believe that nourishing only the left kidney could lead to an imbalance. Besides I wanted to use herbs to promote kidney and spleen yang, as I live in a very damp climate and suffer maladies, from these environmental factors.
Unfortunately there is a lot of regulation of herbs in this country and as a result obtaining Fu Zi commercially is a dream in this country. As it happens all animal derivative herbs are also outlawed in this land too, but I was able to obtain Zuo Gui Wan from one of the chinese run clinics.
When one of my family went to china to watch the paralympic games, I thought I would give them a list of rare herbs. They did seek them out and reported back that the herbs I was looking for Fu Zi and Zhu Sha are not available any more due to regulations and the fact that they are toxic.
So it appears that the regulations are the same in for commercial suppliers in the UK and in China. Is there some kind of one world regulation of herbs going on, I ask?
Hi Eric
Great post! This subject of herbal quality discernment does not get enough attention. When I was in school back in the states, it was not touched upon, but in Taiwan is a subject of great importance, it is so important that at China Medical University in Taiwan ,they allocate one full semester for herbal quality discernment and another semester for formula preparation. Many of the students also go to local herbal stores to learn the craft. Old practitioners around here understand that the quality of herbs can greatly influence their treatment outcome.
YOur post is great Eric. Fu Zi is largely disregarded, although it is one of the best herbs there is. People downplay the importance Si Ni Tang, and modern Si Ni Tang decoctions all use processed Fu zi, which is crap, since it’s meant to be decocted raw. Si Ni Tang decoction is supposed to make your feet warm and withstand the cold. however i’ve tried concentrated si ni tang powders using processed fu zi, and to my disappointment it’s completely useless, what a shame. couldn’t feel a thing, and i was scooping like mad.
there needs to be new recognition of chinese herbs, especially in their raw form, ancient literature uses them for a reason, when a person is near death, you don’t use processed fu zi, that person will die anyway
raw fu zi all the way man
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