Let food by thy medicine, and medicine be thy food… but don’t forget about the herbs!

That famous quote from Hippocrates is familiar to all of us, being truly ageless good advice for the benefits of eating a well balanced diet, containing all the nutrients we need. But I do think it is important that, while our diet can go a long way in preventing and even treating disease, there is a time and place for drug therapy – and of course I am talking about herbal drug therapy.

Written within just a hundred or so years of those famous words of Hippocrates ( ca. 460 BC – ca. 370 BC ), the Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen (the Bible of Chinese medicine), stated something very similar.

“Toxic drugs attack the evil; the five grains nourish; the five fruits support; the five animals provide benefit; and the five vegetables fill. ” – Su wen, Treatise 22 (Translated by Paul Unschuld)

The reference to “toxic” drugs refers to the fact that “medicine” is something to be taken only when needed (i.e. to attack evil pathogens), whereas nutritious food is something that is to be taken daily and for the long term. The word toxic is used as reminder that herbal medicines are powerful and should be respected, that they need to be prescribed by individuals who know how to use them properly, and that they should be discontinued once health has been achieved.

The proper usage of herbal medicines within China is well documented and is obviously the reason that this ancient art is still practiced today. Hundreds of years of use has weened out the safe from the unsafe, which is in direct contrast to most chemical based drugs used in our modern era, whose long term safety is still to be determined (many chemical based drugs are but a few years old).

The idea here is that one should rely on their diet as much as possible to prevent and relieve disease, but when efforts fail then one should seek out a properly trained physician skilled in the use of herbal medicine. The Doctor skilled in herbal medicine combining will have an extra 300+ medicines in their tool box, as compared to the 20 or 30 different foods found in the average person’s diet. This will add a tremendous amount of extra support towards the attainment of ones health goals – whatever they may be.

Wishing you health,
Dr. Trevor Erikson