Question About Chinese Herbs

No, we've never tried Chinese herbs.
We don't take 'medicine' unless we're sick.
If the tea is medicinal then what condition(s) are you attempting to treat?

On the other hand we do take vitamins on a regular basis - and if the tea is suppose to be like a vitamin, then I'd be looking up what is in it.
"Chinese herbs" - can mean any number of plants or substances - some might be alright and some might not be.

'someone' will tell you anything. and 'chinese herbs' might do anything from curing cancer and nosebleeds to killing you. china's not exactly known for its quality control.
are they herbs grown in china? herbs cultivated in china? grown there but shipped here in mass quantities? grown there but shipped here by thoughtful practitioners who are diligent about oversight? what are your 'chinese herbalist's' qualifications? why did you take your kids there in the first place?
i think there's not enough information in this post to give useful answers.
i think parents who take kids to wackadoodles and then try to verify their credentials through strangers on the internet whilst offering insufficient information are playing russian roulette with their own children.
khairete
S.

You should always check with your doctor before giving your children (or yourself) supplements of any kind, natural or not.

I'm sorry, but I would be extremely wary of ingesting *anything* that comes out of China. That is an incredibly polluted country and has been noted in the media for their foods containing patently non-food items.

I would be very wary of anything which hasn't cleared with the FDA as well. It's not like they are drinking peppermint tea or something equally benign. These herbal compounds may contain unknown allergens. Some contain animal parts.

Why wouldn't you go to a conventional pediatrician for your children first? This boggles my mind? I wonder if you have a bias against conventional medicine. Frankly, I used to as well until I came to understand that it is far more regulated in this country than alternative medicine is.

PLUS, when I go to buy a conventional medication/remedy, there are *warnings* telling me 'hey, stop using this and see your doctor if X, Y, or Z happens'. A little packet of herbs does not tell you what symptoms will indicate a problem with them.

I had a friend who was pursuing the TCM path (traditional chinese medicine) but dropped out of school when another student almost died of liver poisoning. The traditional chinese herbs she was taking nearly killed her. Think about it logically.

That's such a vague category - "Chinese herbs"! Which herbs? Grown where? Processed how? Dispensed by whom? What are the person's qualifications? What quantities of herbs?....and so on.

That's like asking "Can things from my garden benefit my kids?" The answer is, "I don't know. What's in your garden? You might have 50 different things out there. Which ones do you mean? And what else is out there? Pesticides? Pollutants in the soil? And who is determining how much of each thing you should eat?"

Your question lacks the detail of what "healing" you are trying to promote also.

The thing with herbs is that they are not regulated by the FDA. Any herb, but especially those coming from outside the US are not necessarily what they say they are and they don't necessarily do what they say they will. They can also interact negatively with prescription and over the counter meds. They can be very dangerous. I personally am very skeptical of anything that doesn't come from a medical doctor. Whatever issues your children are having, talk to your doctor.

As a side note, my husband who is Asian (and a pharmacist) had me use a topical cream that is an Asian remedy for a lot of things. I had an adverse reaction to it. Nothing dangerous, but I was miserable. I won't let him come anywhere near me with that stuff anymore!

I recently watched a program on how herbs, supplements, etc. are not regulated by the FDA. What is being sold as say Vitamin X in a well known store, may not be regulated whatsoever. May not even be Vitamin X in the bottle, let along the right quantity. They also don't have to meet the safety production standards foods have to.

I wouldn't take nor give my kids anything that isn't regulated. And any vitamins I have given my kids, I've checked with their physician and pharmacist.

Wouldn't do it. There is zero quality control in what you get and very likely there are some potent plant chemicals in some of these herbs. After all plants are not 'harmless'. Digoxin and several chemotherapeutics have a plant origin. And there are definitely reports of kidney failure and some cancers due to herbal supplements. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/08/common-herbal-supp...

More clinical trials are certainly needed along with more (gasp) government regulation to assure that all products used as medicine are both safe and effective.

Anything can be toxic if not used correctly, that includes medicines from the drug store, pharmacy or natural herbs.

I am not against different types of healing (different things work for different people), but you must be careful with any that you choose. I also wouldn't trust anything coming out of China in the present day. They have no restrictions and even the simplest vitamin supplements from China can have lead in them.

I knew a guy who wound up in the ER after taking an herbal remedy...rapid heartbeat
beware!

What problems are your children experiencing that caused you to seek out an herbalist?

What licensing, education, degrees, etc does this person have?

Is this a naturopath who happens to be of Chinese descent who is an experienced herbalist, or someone who dispenses Chinese herbs exclusively?

And did your children receive a complete health assessment and examinations and a comprehensive care plan, or was some kind of tea sold to you, with the promise that it will cure everything? Teas and herbal drinks have their place. If your kids are consuming energy drinks and sodas all day, and the herbalist suggested that they drink a healthy tea instead, I could see where that might have merit.

But if your kids have medical issues and this person assured them that an herbal drink will get rid of their acne, constipation, anxiety, scoliosis and diabetes, well, that just isn't going to happen.

So why did you go, and whom did you see, and what were the extent of the recommendations? Were you pressured to buy a lot of products?

My good friend studied acupuncture and chinese herbs and healing for two years at a specialty school. She is also a massage therapist and is really into healing. When I was having some health problems she made up a bottle of chinese herbs for me to take twice a day. It was a powder (herbs ground very fine) I had to mix into water and drink. It tasted weird. It did not do anything. I wanted it to help...for her sake because she believes in it! But nope.

I would be wary of this. Are these herbs something he sells in his office? What exactly is the purpose they are supposed to serve, such as "detox" or what? Do you know exactly what herbs are in these that you can research or ask your doctor about? I remember several years back chinese tea was coming to the u.s. very tainted because there is no regulation and who knows what kind of things are in these herbs and what type of processing or sanitation takes place. Some things you can buy even in the health stores have little primary ingredient stated and other junk like leaves or wood fibers.

I have been studying herbal and holistic medicine for over 20 years. Are the herbs actually from China? My advice is to start researching herbal medicine on your own. You will find many of the medicinal herbs can be grown in your own garden.

Hi A.! I'm ALL about holistic and natural remedies but my grandpa recently was hospitalized of blood poisoning due to one of his Chinese herb doctors herbal remedy he prescribed to him. It was literally poisoning his blood and shutting his body down little by little. Doctors said if he didn't come in when he did he would've not made it. My suggestion would be to research your own herbal remedies and grow your own herbs and make it yourself! I personally wouldn't buy someone else's when it is easy to make on your own. People will do anything for money.. Better to be safe than sorry

I'd go to the local health store and talk to them. Yes, they do just work in a store and hear what they're told but they also have people come in that do know stuff and sometimes they might have some knowledge that's viable.

Sometimes there are community types of classes at the local vo-tech or jr. college over alternate medicine or herbs for health, things like you're looking at. This way you are getting information from people that have made it their career to be knowledgeable about this topic.

I'd also consider doing research online. Google their symptoms and see if there are any natural remedies to treat it.

DON'T buy into anything hook line and sinker. Just compare notes and see what you think will work for them.

My girl gets constipated a LOT. Blockage sorts of constipated. Has since birth. Her doc says "eat more fiber" but gee, she gets a bigger block from those foods that just eating normal food.

She will sometimes have to drink Myralax 4 days in a row to get movement. Then she'll go. Nothing we do seems to make it any better so we have her try to remember if she goes for a couple of days without having a BM.

Through research, keeping track of movements when we do this or do that, and asking her we have found things that help her.

That's what I'm suggesting to you. Keep track of things you have decided to try and see how it turns out. If it works make a note and keep working on that theory. If it doesn't work maybe you can figure out the why it didn't work.