Welcome to Acuremedy Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine

Chinese Herb Taking

How are Chinese herbs taken?

Generally herbal prescriptions are taken two times a day. Normally, they are taken two hours after eating although in certain cases they may be taken before eating or on an empty stomach. You should continue taking all of your herbs until they are gone. Some herbs are somewhat hard to digest and you should avoid raw, cold, greasy or hard to digest foods. Please feel free to discuss any general dietary or lifestyle issues with your practitioner or whether herbs will have an effect on any present medications you are taking.

What is usually recommended is to take them in one scoop of powder and wash them down with a small cup of warm water. One swallow and I am done. For the tea/soup form, generally I drink it all in one cup. Although itˇs harder to take when itˇs thick and strong, I prefer not to prolong the agony by making it thinner and better to ingest. You may want to get a favorite warm drink on the side and drink that after you take the tea/soup. Pat yourself on the back, so to speak.

In what form are you herbs prescribed?

In our clinic there are typically two different forms of prescriptions:

Powdered herbs. These you will receive in a bottle containing powdered granules. The dosage of your prescription will be available upon your request. A measuring spoon is provided. Normally, you would take 5-6 level scoops of a gram spoon twice daily. However many spoonfuls you take depends on the size of the spoon it accompanies the bottle. (In the old days, the spoon size was smaller so we used 3-4 spoonfuls for each session. Now it is necessary to take at least 5 scoups to make normal dosage.) This herb powder is taken dissolved into one cup of lukewarm or hot water. Powdered form is the most common prescription we fill.

Capsules. Each capsule is filled by hand with the correct dosage of powdered herbs. Because it is so time consuming and labor intensive, this is the most expensive prescription, usually doubling the normal cost of filling your prescription and often requires an extra day of preparation. In addition, to reach the total amount of herbs for your prescription, you may need to take 10-20 capsules a day.

What if I can not stand the taste?

Many Chinese herbal formulas are extremely bitter to some palates. Some people find the taste strong at first but then become used to it. You may mix the tea or decoction with honey or you can have capsules made. However, you should taste the formula before you sweeten it as the honey may also change the flavor.

Some people mix herbs with their favorite applesauce or yogurt (preferable warm) before taking them. A friendly warning: it may ruin your taste for your favorite. Another way to try is to roll the herbal powder in tiny amount of honey just enough to make the powder into a ball. It is much easier to swollow this way (with hot water). Then again, what I prefer when I am taking herbs is to just swollow them all in one scoope of table spoon in one time. I would hold my nose with my fingers if I have to.

What if I have side effects or I feel sick?

If you have any adverse symptoms, stop taking the prescription and contact Eugenia Lai at 617-678-1960 and let me know the problem.

What can I find out what exactly is in my prescription?

This information is available to you upon request.

Click to see Herbal Questionaire

before refill your next herb prescription.