for example, ashwagandha or valerian. whenever you search them up it states something akin to “safe to use for up to 6 weeks. long term effects are unknown”
people have been using these medicines for centuries… can’t they just conduct research?
In: Biology
Don’t quote me but observing the Chinese medicine system, everything is about trying to gear your system toward harmony.
In Chinese medicine, 5 organs are the 5 elements,(earth, fire…) and the blood is ‘water’, and vessels are canals.
What I’ve observed is that Chinese medicine aims to harmonize how these 5 elements link together by combining herbs. But seeing a bunch of dried veggies and spices, that’s only the tip of the ice berg. A traditional doctor finds out which is out of balance, they boost that function, and reduces what’s being out of balance. Not only that, the herbs combination is changed by the season/weather because cold means a person’s circulation and bodily function changes.
So while it’s all too intangible and under-researched. This thousand-years system of herbal medicine proves that one herb is never the magic potion for everyone at anytime. It’s just that the advertising for herbs always make everything, from snake oil to vaseline sound like they are key to eternal life.
My Exhibit A is : CBD hype a few years ago
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