Medicine. For many, the word evokes images of multicolored pills in white-capped yellow prescription bottles. But for others, the word calls to mind tea.

For David Heron, a practicing herbalist who owns a clinic in Oakland, the transition from working in medicine to working with herbs was a smooth one. As a young man, he worked diligently in an ambulance. He became aware that people usually ended up in the ambulance because of their lifestyle choices or a lack of severity in symptoms which prevented them from receiving medicine. It was then that Heron realized that he wanted to look for medicines with preventative value—a quality he found in herbs.

Mixture of herbs

With herb bottles stacked up in rows down grocery store aisles, it almost seems as though each herb is specific to one ailment. But that isn’t the case. Herbalists customize herbs to each individual’s symptoms— mixtures of herbs help an individual’s condition while simultaneously mitigating the side effects of the other herbs.

The doctor would feel her pulse, then after a bit of chatting and some discussion of her symptoms, he would mix up different kinds of herbs and hand them over. Junior Caroline Chen’s family pushed her to take herbal medicine because they believe that although western medicine can cure symptoms, herbal medicine is preventative, making the body resistant to the disease. Chen completely agrees with them on the long term effects and increased health benefits of the herbs.

Three times a year, when she feels weak or sick, Chen boils a pouch of dried up herbs over a hot stove. Although the dark, brown e tea is unappetizing and the bitter taste makes Chen scrunch up her face continuously , she endures the pain. The herbs always help. To her, the herbs are worth it.

Fritillaria

All she wanted was to be better.

After coughing fits, junior Stacy Dai needed something to help alleviate her horrible cough. When she was about eight years old, Dai remembers scrunching up her mouth as she drank the tea cooked with fritillaria, a flower that is used to treat chronic cough. Although Dai cringed at its bitter, rather unpleasant, taste, Dai’s mother was against her taking cough medicines because of their effects on organs and long term health. Her mother would boil the fritillaria with a pear to create an easy to digest tea. Although Dai believes that Advil probably works better, she also appreciates what she describes as the placebo effect that herbs provide — whether or not they worked, she certainly felt better.

Ginseng

Heron explained that the three types of ginseng are American, Asian and Siberian. American ginseng is the only herb from America that is a part of Chinese medicine and although it has fewer side effects than Asian ginseng, it is also believed to be less strong. If someone is fatigued, ginseng can help. However, high quality ginseng is expensive. Overall, ginseng can help general fatigue, and strength the digestive system, lungs and heart.

According to Heron, there is a big American ginseng industry, but most people aren’t aware of it. People who are knowledgeable about ginseng tend to go to China to buy their supply.

Licorice

Licorice is used for energy, but it isn’t as strong as ginseng. Honey licorice helps strengthen digestion, mitigate some infections and relieves sore throats. Licorice is also believed to reduce the amount of side effects of other herbs, so it is used in a lot of formulas.

Cinnamon Branch

Depending on the herbs it’s paired with, the cinnamon branch has a lot of uses: alleviating the common cold, promoting movement to aid in digestion and warming people who suffer from chronic coldness, people who feel cold all of the time. The cinnamon branch is used in a number of very different formulas and in many different ways.

Ginger

Fresh ginger is spicy, good for digestion and used for the common cold and nausea. Ginger regulates the chi, or energy, of the stomach by helping enforce peristalsis, the contraction of muscles in the digestive system, to prevent vomiting.
In Chinese medicine, herbs are classified as either hot or cold. Hot herbs are perceived to help warm up the body, aid digestion and open pores. On the other hand, cold herbs are there to cool down the body in a fever and slow down food digestion. Ginger is classified as a warm herb.

Tea

By far the best herb to take everyday is tea, which refers specifically to the plant Camellia Sinensis. Its varieties are known by colors: Green Tea, Black Tea, Oolong Tea, Pu’er tea, White Tea. Some other types of herbs are labeled as tea, but they are not from that specific plant. It can be drank everyday to help keep your mind alert and get rid of toxins with a wide variety of natural antioxidants. Modern science shows how tea has high levels of a variety of these natural chemical compounds. Additionally according to Heron, the caffeine in the tea itself isn’t unhealthy because while synthetic caffeine increases cortisol levels, studies show tea decreases cortisol levels.