Humans have partnered up with Plant Medicine for centuries. Twenty-three hundred years ago, the mythic Chinese sage Shen Nung, is said to have tasted hundreds of herbs and imparted his knowledge of medicinal and poisonous plants to farmers. From then on, herbal medicine has evolved from a rudimentary empirical practice to a sophisticated, systematic method of classification and prescription.

When I make an herbal formula, I use a combination of different medicinal plants that I blend together with the purpose of counteracting undesired effects and enhancing intended results. I invite barks, flowers, seeds, spices, and sometimes minerals to enhance your body’s own natural capacity to restore health. Many herbs are nutritive and cannot be distinguished from food; for example certain mushrooms, Chinese berries and yams or licorice. In general nourishing herbs taste rather “sweetish”. Herbs that clear heat, on the contrary, tend to taste bitter. Medicinal plants that have a diuretic effect in our bodies tend to be bland tasting.

How will I take the herbs?

There are different ways to administer Chinese herbs:

Decoctions. You will cook raw herbs and drink as a tea

Powders. I will mix powdered herbs and you will dissolve a certain amount in a cup of water.

Patents. These are pre-made formulas that usually come in pill form.

Herbal Tinctures. This is a concentrated liquid form of one or more herbs.

Cultivating the herbalist within yourself

As a practitioner of Chinese Medicine, I was trained to cultivate wellness as well as to correct ill health. As your partner in health, I will invite you to explore different dietary and life style adjustments sometimes before and/or together with the prescription of herbal formulas. I believe that healthy foods are the best medicine. Herbal formulas will help you correct imbalances. My main intention, though is for you to understand how certain nutritional habits and food choices may be creating your present health imbalance in the first place. In more simple words, we will work together for you to learn to combine foods to eventually make your own “herbal formulas”.