Sifting through mixed messages

I want to make a distinction as to how Chinese medicine differentiates from other types of natural medicine. Most [receptive] people seem to respond to it with something along the lines of, “oh, ok I’m into the idea of Chinese medicine, it’s all natural, so it’s good for you and it can’t hurt you”. While I respect and appreciate the open-mindedness, this is the same sort of mentality that gets people sucked into fad diets and the Church of the Multivitamin. It’s not so simple. I want people to turn to Chinese medicine because it leads them to a deeper understanding of their bodies and on some level enriches their lives, not because it’s up there with the latest health trends.

Chinese medicine stands out from most types of natural medicine in America because it is an entire system that explains the correlations of imbalance to disease and balance to health. It also explains the mechanisms behind these relationships and the effects that acupuncture, herbs (and other natural substances), herbal combinations, food, nature, emotions, circumstances and habits have on the balance of energy in the body. By understanding these cause and effect relationships Chinese medicine is able to explain what needs to be shifted, added or subtracted from each of these variable aspects in life in order maintain equilibrium. This is what cures disease- and it is just as much a mentality as it is a course of action.

There are many types of natural therapies out there and while most of them may be non- toxic, they still alter the body’s balance. That is the goal after all, if not they wouldn’t really be doing anything. That being said, if the body’s energy (Qi) is shifted too far in one direction with a supplement or natural therapy you can easily lead to another imbalance. Without the understanding of the mechanism of equilibrium that Chinese Medicine so meticulously outlines, and the without the knowledge of what to do to maintain it, there is certainly the possibility of harm. This harm will come in the form of a new, but slight imbalance that will over time be exacerbated to the point that it can become severe. Severe imbalance is “disease”, simple as that.

By treating the body with therapies that ignore the Qi mechanism you will also face dependence on the substance that you are using. This happens because you are giving the body something it may be lacking but not correcting the underlying imbalance that put your body in such a state in the first place. Even though the supplement may be from a natural source and the symptoms are improved while taking the substance when you remove that supplement (or whatever it may be) from the person’s system the original symptoms come back and are often worse. The body has adapted to having that continuous support which means nothing was really healed or brought back into balance. The most obvious example of this is in patients with chronic digestive upset or constipation who take things like “natural enzymes” or herbal laxatives. They might solve the symptom for the time being, but as soon as they stop taking them they are right back where they started, and usually worse. The body stops producing its own enzymes when you over-feed it external ones, and the intestines start being lazy when they have a supplement that does the work for them. It’s a bad cycle that many people are familiar with.

Chemical drugs alter the body’s physiology, which is the western way of saying “shift the body’s qi and cause physical changes”. These drugs, due to their extreme potency, usually have the ability to cause a much more rapid and aggressive shift than a whole herb, or herbal formula. This isn’t always the case, but much more likely. The nature of a whole herb is complete in and of its self; it is made up of numerous chemical compounds that are necessary for its own survival, growth, and healing in nature. While a manufactured drug is an isolated chemical compound, or sometimes a synthetically engineered combination of compounds, the drug possesses no state of synergistic balance its self. This means the effect the drug can have on the body can be much more forceful and unnatural than a whole herb very quickly. This can cause a dramatic imbalance just as quickly. No nourishment here, just a forceful shift in the body’s balance.

Chinese medicine teaches us that in the human mind/body you cannot isolate a single action or change. When one thing is affected in a human being a near-infinite chain reaction of shifts will begin. From the physical changes you will feel to the biochemical changes you may not feel. This extends to emotional and spiritual shifts that will occur and to the social shifts that may follow. You cannot isolate the pieces of life, and Chinese Medicine teaches us about life.

“Natural” is a term used often by supplement manufactures when they start with a whole herb, mineral, or basically anything that’s found in nature and isolate specific chemical compounds in it. They then collect and concentrate these compounds into the form of a supplement. These supplements are decidedly less toxic than most pharmaceutical drugs but still have the same problem with a lack of synergy. When talking about pharmaceutical drugs, or concentrated supplements it is important to keep in mind that they are going to cause a change in the body’s balance which means that a chain reaction is set off and these unintentional shifts are what we always call “side effects”. As a general rule pharmaceuticals have more side effects than supplements because they have the ability to shift energy more forcefully and are prescribed by doctors who only understand the physical systems of the body, not the subtle balance of Qi that Chinese medicine explains. This means they have no way of countering that imminent imbalance that the supplements/drugs may be covering up or the ones they are causing. Most natural supplements are also recommended by doctors or other healthcare professionals who use that same western way of thinking. Even if they choose to use natural supplements these products were still created using only the knowledge of how they will affect the body’s physiology. This always leads to side effects or dependence on that particular substance- it’s just a matter of time.

Another thing very worthy of mentioning here is the ill effects of the super-concentrated supplement. The human body should be slightly more alkaline than acidic and most often when you super-concentrate something (vitamin, mineral, enzyme, etc.) even if it is an alkaline substance in its whole food form, it becomes an acidic after it is refined and concentrated. Often times these supplements are huge burdens to the liver and kidneys (especially if they are weakened already!) as your body tries to break them down. This leaves deposits of highly concentrated nutrition in the body that is sometimes unable to be metabolized by the body’s weakened cells. When this happens the extra nutrition is used instead by the much more aggressive cells (such as cancer cells or bacteria) or even viruses that your body may be harboring. So not only are these supplements making the internal environment of your body more acidic, which is perfect for the survival of cancer cells, bacteria and viruses, but they are leaving concentrated super-food laying around to give these bad cells or viruses a nutrition supply. All of this on top of over-stressed and over-worked liver and kidneys does not make for a balanced body.

Chinese herbal medicine (the way it should be practiced) circumvents this problem by choosing whole herbs and minerals instead of isolated chemicals. We also use these herbs in their whole form- not super concentrated forms to avoid altering the herb’s natural properties. Taking that a few steps further a Chinese Medicine practitioner will carefully select many whole herbs and minerals and combine them into an herbal formula based on the specific needs of the patient’s body- both physically and energetically. The ingredients of this formula will balance each other out and be adjusted periodically as the patient’s body begins to shift towards a state of balance. Recognizing the signs and symptoms of a patient’s condition as they near that equilibrium or state of health is vital in adjusting the formula. See “here’s to your health” for more information in that area. The practitioner of Chinese medicine will also explain how different aspects of the patient’s life may have contributed to their imbalance to help them avoid falling into those same habits in the future. They will recommend habits to avoid or adopt, foods to stay away from and include in their diet and how the different emotions, seasons, climates and many other factors may have contributed to their imbalance. Eventually the Chinese herbal medicine will no longer be necessary, and the patient’s body will be self reliant. The patient will have the knowledge of how to best stay in balance, and may only need maintenance herbs or acupuncture on occasion because life will always throw us off from time to time.

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