Guest guest Posted January 18, 2010 Report Share Posted January 18, 2010 A seasoned practioner said that he always tells patients to take herbs after a full meal. He says that stops any side-effects? I have never heard that before, any comments? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2010 Report Share Posted January 18, 2010 What appears to work for my patients is to drink the concoction 30 minutes before meals, 6oz. 3x/day or 4oz. 5x/day (for those w/weaker stomachs) very warm as they can stand it to chug it. ________________________________ snydez99 <snydez99 Mon, January 18, 2010 12:05:17 PM taking herbs after a full meal  A seasoned practioner said that he always tells patients to take herbs after a full meal. He says that stops any side-effects? I have never heard that before, any comments? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2010 Report Share Posted January 18, 2010 On Jan 18, 2010, at 1:05 PM, snydez99 wrote: > A seasoned practioner said that he always tells patients to take > herbs after a full meal. He says that stops any side-effects? I have > never heard that before, any comments? > A lecturer I heard recently stated that since so many tonics are hypoglycemic, and this can be a reason that many Pts feel a bit worse after taking a formula, he advises taking the herbs after food to obviate that effect. This was in addition to what I had heard many times before that any queasiness or stomach irritation from herbs could be avoided by taking them w/ food. I have found that a bit of banana can serve this buffering function also. ann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2010 Report Share Posted January 18, 2010 I believe the original comment derives from a misunderstanding of how Chinese herbs work. It appears to derive from analogous suggestions relative to some pharmaceuticals. I believe the differentiation of whether to take herbs with food or not has to do with the energetics of digestion, rather than the issue of " side effects. " With food herbs " piggy back " on the energetics of digestion and go especially to the upper jiao. On an empty stomach, they tend more to descend to the lower jiao. What we call " side effects " may be caused by inaccurately matching a formula to an individual patient, or may be based on a misunderstanding of how the formula functions to stimulate healing. A few years ago, I gave an herbal formula to a woman with Chron's disease. Every time she took the herbs she sneezed, and she started also sneezing after eating. Yet, I understood this was not a " side effect, " but a central aspect of how the formula was stimulating her embodied spirit to expel wind. After taking herbs and getting treatments for about nine months and experiencing several times when she expelled mucous from her colon -- which may have been considering simply an expression of her pathology, she was re-examined by coloniscope and medical doctors were unable to find any lesions. I had suspected that these were " healing events " when they happened, and subsequent medical test seemed to support that interpretation. She has had no further digestive problems. Steve CCMforHealing.com On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 10:05 AM, snydez99 <snydez99 wrote: > > > A seasoned practioner said that he always tells patients to take herbs > after a full meal. He says that stops any side-effects? I have never heard > that before, any comments? > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2010 Report Share Posted January 18, 2010 There are a lot of reasons one might feel queasy after taking herbs, some of them suggest the herbs are working -- for blockages in the stomach or stimulating wei qi, others may suggest they are stimulating imbalance the stomach or that the patient is not ready to receive the changes they are trying to stimulate. Perhaps the changes stimulated by the herbs are " right, " but they are too " strongly " stimulating change. Of course, we can suggest patients take the herbs after eating, which will " buffer " this effect by making their stimulus a part of the energetics of generating post-natal qi (qi and blood), rather than exposing them to the direct and undiluted impact of the herbs' energetic. That said, I believe it's often correct to take herbs with food (see my other posting on this thread). Steve CCMforHealing.com On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 12:13 PM, A. Brameier <snakeoil.workswrote: > > > > On Jan 18, 2010, at 1:05 PM, snydez99 wrote: > > > A seasoned practioner said that he always tells patients to take > > herbs after a full meal. He says that stops any side-effects? I have > > never heard that before, any comments? > > > A lecturer I heard recently stated that since so many tonics are > hypoglycemic, and this can be a reason that many Pts feel a bit worse > after taking a formula, he advises taking the herbs after food to > obviate that effect. > > This was in addition to what I had heard many times before that any > queasiness or stomach irritation from herbs could be avoided by taking > them w/ food. I have found that a bit of banana can serve this > buffering function also. > > ann > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 18, 2010 Report Share Posted January 18, 2010 , " snydez99 " <snydez99 wrote: > > A seasoned practioner said that he always tells patients to take herbs after a full meal. He says that stops any side-effects? I have never heard that before, any comments? Here's the scoop from Chinese source texts, taken from my book Concise Chinese Materia Medica: The times at which medication is taken vary. Decoctions are usually prepared each day (usually using one pack). Each daily brew is split into two doses taken 4–6 hours apart. There are rules for taking medication (decoctions or any other preparation): before meals, after meals, before sleep, and on an empty stomach. " Before meals'' and " after meals'' mean an hour or two before or after meals. Before meals: Most enriching medicinals are taken before meals, as are medicinals addressing complaints below the diaphragm, such as stomach, liver, and kidney problems. After meals: Stomach-fortifying medicinals and medi-cinals that irritate the stomach and intestines are taken after meals, as are medicinals used to address com-plaints above the diaphragm, such as dizziness, head-ache, eye problems, and sore throat. Before sleep: Spirit-quieting medicinals are taken just before going to bed at night. On an empty stomach: Worm-expelling and draining-precipitants are taken on an empty stomach. Any time: In acute problems such as vomiting, fright reversal, stone strangury, and throat problems, medica-tion can be " drunk as tea " at any time. Eric Brand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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