What You Need To Know About Traditional Chinese Medicine Powders

 In Traditional Chinese Medicine, powders are the staple medicines that you’ll be given to take. They can be pressed into pill form or you are to add them to water and drink the mixture. These Traditional Chinese Medicine powders are dried and pulverized herbal pieces, usually of plant parts like roots, leaves or stems. The powders are difficult to distinguish from powders in modern capsules.

·         Tea, Anyone?

 Traditional Chinese medicine powders are still made in ways similar to the traditional methods of thousands of years ago. The botanical pieces are made into a big tea in order to extract the “goodness” from the raw materials. This tea is then dried and concentrated into a sap-like substance. The sap is ground with fine powdered herb and made into the Traditional Chinese Medicine powders distributed around the world. The powders were once called granules, and sometimes TCM practitioners still call them that.

Tidbit #2: Throughout history, ancient civilizations in Egypt, India and China used herbal medicine for all illnesses as well as for taking care of their injured warriors. Over the years they perfected their practices but unfortunately, most of the botanicals that were compounded were not written down and subsequent generations had to rely on the memories of their elders to carry on the practice of herbal medicine in those cultures.

 There are a variety of ways to take Traditional Chinese Medicine powders, although you should start with the way suggested by your TCM practitioner. Usually you mix them in water, but some people prefer to mix them in applesauce. Still others put the powder directly on their tongue and wash down with water.

Traditional Chinese Medicine powders are flexible enough to be made to your specifications. When you take an aspirin, for example, all that is in the pill or can be in the pill is aspirin. The only way you can change is with a pill-splitter. But your powders can be a mixture of ingredients tailored for you.

 The powdered form also lasts longer than the raw botanical and is stronger, so you can take less of a dose than if you just took the raw botanical. Powders are now made in factories, but some are still made the traditional way in small batches. The factory made powder is consistent in strength and is tested for anything harmful like heavy metals or bacteria. Traditional Chinese Medicine powders also have very little smell, unlike the raw plant materials, which can have very pungent odors.

 There are more than 5500 Traditional Chinese Medicine powders made. This means there is a good chance that at least one of the powders will work for you. If one powder doesn’t seem to work, you can try another. This is the same as with conventional medicines. Powders usually need to be taken twice a day.