Herbal medicine is believed as the main remedial mode of home medicine in China. Approximately 500 traditional Chinese herbs are in use among which 250 are commonly used. Instead of being prescribed individually, single herbs are mixed into patterns that are configured to conform to the particular needs of independent patients. An herbal recipe can contain from 3 to 25 herbs. With diet therapy, every herb has one or more of the five smells/ uses and one of five “temperatures” (“Qi”) (hot, warm, neutral, cool, cold). Chinese physician used different methods to classify different traditional Chinese herbs. They are: The four natures The five tastes The meridians The four natures: This appertains to the level of yin and yang ranging from cold (extreme yin), cool, neutral to warm and hot (extreme yang). While selecting the...
