A Handbook of Chinese Healing Herbs: An Easy-To-Use Guide to 108 Chinese Medicinal Herbs and Dozens of Prepared Herba L Formulas

This book is an excellent companion to Reid's "The Tao of Health, Sex, and Longevity" There are 108 herbs commonly used in Taoist medicine. Only a few of the herbs are easily obtainable such as aloe, garlic, ginger, and cinnamon. The majority of herbs however you will have to go to either a "Chinatown" or buy those herbs online. Each herb is broken down by it's affinity to yin or yang, and how each one corresponds to the meridians (body channels). There are a lot of great traditional compounds that have been used for centuries. There are treatments for all sorts of common ailments to virulent diseases that are considered difficult to treat or cure. And for the person in good health; there are formulas and recommendations to preserve that level and raise it higher into excellent health.

Clear guidelines for herbal use, need some background in Chinese medicine to understand some of the terms. Herbs and their uses, herbal combinations to use for specific conditions, where to find the herbs.

With so many phony TCM practitioners going around cheating uninitiated Westerners with their exotic claims and theories, it's good to have books like this which only provides the facts. This small book manages not only to list but even provide some details on each commonly used Chinese herb. The herb's energy, taste and organs affected are all mentioned. It's definitely a good buy for anyone interested in learning more about one aspect of TCM as it is.

Don't let the small size of this book (328 pages in a paperback format) fool you; this book is absolutely packed with information on the healing herbs used in TCM --traditional Chinese medicine.Author Reid has written a number of books on TCM. This herbal reference is well-written because it includes: the common Western name of the herb, the Latin name, the romanized Chinese name and the name in Chinese characters. Packages of Chinese herbs may be labeled with any of the above, so this is really helpful. There is also a wonderful section on the principles of Chinese medicine and how the traditional herbal preparations are made. Some of the common combinations of Chinese herbs are included along with how to prepare them. There is a resource reference in the back. Highly recommended to anyone wanting to learn more about traditional Chinese medicine.