I teach Qigong, which is one of the major branches of Chinese medicine.  I’ve also done 1500 hours of training in Chinese medicine, including acupuncture and Chinese herbology.

Because of this, people often assume that I encourage my students to take Chinese herbs.

The truth is that I often DISCOURAGE students from taking Chinese herbs — especially ginseng.

Here’s why.

The Story of Martha and Jane

Let use a hypothetical example.  Martha is a 63-year-old  woman who is struggling with severe fatigue.  For over a year, her energy has been super low.

While having coffee with an old friend, Jane, the following conversation ensues:

“I’m just dragging my feet lately,” Martha says.   “I can’t seem to get my energy levels back to normal!”

“The same thing happened to me last year,” Jane says. “Then I saw an article in the newspaper about ginseng, so I started taking some.   It has really helped!”

“What is it?” Martha asks.  “Is it some sort of herbal medicine?”

“Yes, but you can just buy it at the health food store.  I make tea out of it.  You should try it!  It’s completely natural, so you know it’s safe!”

If this were a Broadway show, now would be the time to cue the orchestra to make the classic dun-dun-DUUUN sound.

I’m Not A Doctor, But…

Jane means well, of course.  She wants to help her friend Martha.  But in Martha’s case, taking ginseng is a bad idea.  A terrible idea.  Maybe the worst idea ever.

Am I exaggerating?  Not really.  Ginseng could  do considerable harm to Martha.

What Jane doesn’t know is that Martha also has high blood pressure.  And even if she did know, would it really matter?  Would that fact be significant to Jane?

Or even Martha, for that matter?

Unless you’re a doctor of Chinese medicine, you probably don’t understand the connection between Martha’s high blood pressure and ginseng.  And that’s to be expected! You haven’t done 3000+ hours of training in Chinese medicine, you haven’t passed the national board exams, and you don’t have a license to diagnose conditions nor prescribe medicine.

In other words, there’s no good reason for you to play doctor.

I’m Sooo Tired…I Haven’t Slept a Wink…

Let’s come back to the hypothetical example of Jane and Martha. In this example,  fatigue was the common factor between the two women.

But in Chinese medicine, fatigue is just one of many symptoms and signs. There are probably a hundred different things that could be causing fatigue in these women.  So fatigue, in and of itself, is relatively meaningless symptom.

And yet, for both women, it was the ONLY symptom that was analyzed.  Medicine was the prescribed based on that one, meaningless symptom.

Folks, that is NOT Chinese medicine.

Stick Out Your Tongue

Ideally, both Martha and Jane would go through a thorough diagnostic exam.  An acupuncturist would use several diagnostic methods, like pulse diagnosis, tongue diagnosis, asking diagnosis, etc.  Some acupuncturists, like my wife, also use other diagnostic methods, like applied kinesiology, functional neurology, and blood tests.

In our hypothetical case above, however, we already have enough information to know that Martha should NOT be taking ginseng.  We don’t need a diagnosis to know that it’s a bad idea.

The key piece of information here is Martha’s high blood pressure.

Qi Stagnation vs. Qi Deficiency

Someone with high blood pressure probably has what is known in Chinese medicine as Qi Stagnation.  In other words, their Qi is stuck, like a traffic jam.

Martha probably has Qi Stagnation.  Because her energy is stuck, she is experiencing fatigue.  The solution is to get the Qi unstuck, and her energy will naturally return.

Jane, on the other hand, probably has what is known as Qi Deficiency.  Her energy isn’t stuck, like Martha’s.  It’s just too weak.  The solution is to tonify her Qi, making it stronger.

Ginseng is one of the best Qi tonics out there. In other words, it tonifies the Qi. And that’s why it worked for Jane.  Her Qi was weak, and ginseng helped to build it up. The result was that Jane got her energy back.

I’m Still Sooo Tired…

If Martha, on the other hand, starts taking ginseng, she’s likely to develop anxiety and/or insomnia.   Her blood pressure may also get worse — which can be very dangerous for some people.

In other words, ginseng will aggravate Martha’s condition, one way or another. Oh, and it won’t help her fatigue either.

Why?

Because ginseng will build up Martha’s Qi, just like it did with Jane.  In Martha’s case, however, the problem is not a deficiency of Qi; the problem is that there’s a traffic jam.

What happens if you add more cars to a traffic jam?  That’s basically what’s happening when Martha takes ginseng.

Leave the Doctoring to the Doctors

On the one hand, people want Chinese medicine to be powerful.  They often come to me and my wife hoping that Chinese medicine will help with issues that Western medicine couldn’t.

And that’s great!  Chinese medicine is amazing.  My wife and I have helped many people with issues that even the Mayo Clinic couldn’t heal.

But you can’t have it both ways.

If Chinese medicine is powerful stuff — and it is — then it’s not something that should be practice by laymen or laywomen. Would you go to the drug store and self-prescribe Plavix because a friend told you that it was helping them?  (You can’t do that because Plavix requires a prescription.  But even if you could, I hope you wouldn’t!)

I’m not saying that Chinese herbs should require a prescription.  That’s a bigger topic, really.  But I am saying that Chinese medicine is best left to those who are trained in Chinese medicine.

If you want to do Chinese medicine safely on yourself, then you have 2 options.  Either go to acupuncture school for 4 years, or learn Medical Qigong.

Medical Qigong doesn’t involve diagnoses or prescriptions, but it’s still strong “medicine”.  It’s an amazing way for people to participate in their own healing.

If you are seeing a licensed acupuncturist, and you’ve been prescribed some Chinese herbal medicine — great!  Absolutely take it! Chinese herbs work wonderfully alongside Qigong.

If not, if you just picked up some Chinese herbs at the health food store, then I’ll tell you the same thing I’ve told dozens of students in the same situation:

Stop it!

From the heart,
Sifu Anthony

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