Chinese Herbs Never Looked So Good.

By Emma Suttie, D.Ac, AP

Yes, I said Chinese herbs. Yes!

I have been taking the superfood tonic Ancient Wisdom for many months now and am amazed at how it makes me feel. I am also impressed by its beautiful packaging (it really is gorgeous), and the company's modern approach. The other thing that is still amazing to me is that this is really the new face of Chinese herbs.

As a kid I was used to coming home from the acupuncturists' with many tidy paper packages filled with raw herbs to be cooked up and consumed to help me heal and keep me healthy. Every time I was sure I was going to throw up as the taste (and smell) was so bad I thought I wasn't going to be able to get it down. But, every time, I did get it down, there was no throwing up, and I felt almost instantly the effects of these powerful plants and organic bits.

Now, the herbs I take come in a beautiful glass jar with a polite scoop and can be made into delicious recipes that look like this. Can I get a hallelujah? This makes me happy from the inside out. They have really come a long way.

There are certainly still times that I like to kick it old school and cook up some herbs for something specific that is going on, but for my hectic life, a scoop of this in my smoothie or a tonic bar or two in my lunch makes a big difference.

Here is the recipe for these delicious tonic bars if you would like to try to make them. I swear its Chinese herbs. For real. :)

Tonic Bars

Rich, Chocolate Bars for On-The-Go Tonics.

Infuse your tonics into a base of maca and cacao for a superfood alchemy ready to go anywhere. An excellent snack, you will find these bars rich and packed with the energy and power you need to get through your day.

Ingredients

1 cup of Cacao powder
1 cup of Cacao butter
1 cup of Maca
1 cup of Agave
¼ cup of Hemp seeds or nuts (optional)
¼ tsp of Sea Salt
6 scoops of Ancient Wisdom

Directions

Melt cacao butter in a dehydrator along with agave syrup.
Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Stir-in melted cacao butter and agave.
Spread onto a flat baking pan, smooth and slice into rectangular bars. Let harden in the fridge.

Imperial Tonics formulated Tonic Bars are the perfect medium to infuse your daily superfoods into. Add tinctures, break open capsules and mix-up various powders to create a personalized chocolate bar.

Ancient Wisdom is a Tonic Superfood that combines the Royal Family of Chinese Tonic Herbalism: Duanwood Reishi Spores, Astragalus IV, Goji LBP-40, Schizandra & He Shou Wu in a standardized and concentrated form. Ancient Wisdom is designed to increase assimilation, effectiveness & efficiency of these superior tonics to aid in tonifying the energies of one's life. Ancient Wisdom comes as a one-month supply, 60 servings of standardized extract in powdered form, formulated to be taken twice daily and guaranteed to produce a noticeable impact on your health, well-being and life.

by admin

Chinese Herbs - Ancient Wisdom for the Modern World

By Emma Suttie, D.Ac, AP

A Brief History

Traditional Chinese Medicine is the oldest medical system on the planet. It predates the rise of the Roman empire, the discovery of electricity and the life of Jesus. The Chinese have been using herbs to treat illnesses for thousands of years, and that knowledge is still with us today and very much a part of the present system of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Chinese herbal medicine is a vital part of the broader umbrella of Chinese medicine which includes modalities like acupuncture, gua sha, moxibustion, cupping, auricular and tui na.

The first formal manual of pharmacology was the Shen Nong which lists 365 herbs and dates back to the Han dynasty in the first century. The next major and still most influential text on Chinese herbs was the Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica) written by Li Shizhen in the Ming dynasty in 1596. The book was compiled over a forty year period and contains more than 1800 herbs, with 1,100 illustrations and 11,000 formulas.

Chinese herbalism is complex and can take a lifetime to master. Each herb has many different properties which interact with both the person taking them as well as the other herbs in the formula. Chinese herbs function much in the same way as acupuncture in that the goal is to rebalance the body using Qi (the body's intrinsic energy), Yin and Yang. Each herb has a thermal nature, a flavour, specific organs it acts upon and a direction in which it moves, and all must be balanced with incredible precision to achieve their desired outcome in the body. Because herbs are taken internally, they have a strong and often immediate effect and are incredibly powerful. They can be used in conjunction with acupuncture or other modalities, or alone, and are often chosen for chronic problems, long standing deficiencies or degenerative diseases because of their powerful nature.

The entire Chinese medical model has been developed over thousands of years (five thousand, actually), and it is not only a medical system, in its essence, it is a way of life. There is emphasis on living in harmony with ones environment, changing eating habits, sleeping patterns and workload depending on the seasons, keeping a healthy and balanced emotional life, exercising, meditating - they are all are part of the complete package to keep us healthy on every level. The Chinese also put great emphasis on prevention - encouraging people to live well so that illness never has a chance to develop which is very different from our present way of thinking in the West. Although there are many acupuncture protocols for correcting imbalances when we get sick, there are just as many for building immunity and keeping the body strong so it is able to fight off the constant barrage of bacteria and viruses we encounter on a daily basis. It is the same with herbs - there are countless formulas that are able to restore health once we have come down with an illness, but there are also many formulas and creative ways of combining herbs to create a strong barrier that is able to ward off illness and disease.

Modern Applications

In the modern world we have lost much of that connection to the world around us, and I believe that is one of the reasons why we are suffering from diseases on an unprecedented scale. We are disconnected from the planet, from each other and most importantly, from ourselves. In our society, we often wait until we get sick before we seek out treatment or take steps to correct it. This is wildly different from the Chinese view in which people were more connected to the natural world and their bodies, noticing even small changes and knowing how to change their behaviour, what foods to eat, or herbs to use to rebalance at the early stages so that problems didn't get serious and require more drastic intervention. One great example is a company that has taken the wisdom of Chinese herbs and created a tonic that can be taken daily to improve health and longevity. The company is Imperial Tonics and they are taking powerful Chinese herbs and combining them into a tonic to be used for prevention by strengthening the body and building immunity. The product is called Ancient Wisdom and it's something they refer to as a “tonic superfood". It comes as a powder making it convenient to add into smoothies and other drinks and contains some of the most powerful Chinese herbs you can get, including…

Astragalus IV

Astragalus IV is considered to be the ultimate nutricuetical developed in the world. Astragalus is known the world over for its strengthening abilities to the body. It is said to fortify and support the body's major energy meridians and the Three Burning Spaces and is a potent immune system modulating tonic.

Duanwood Reishi Spores

Known as the Mushroom of Immortality, Duanwood Reishi is grown in mountainous environments in Northern China on original, specific logs that are known to be twice as potent as conventional Reishi. The spores from Duanwood Reishi are gathered once a year towards the end of growing season and it is these cracked spores, studies show, that have seventy-times the immunological activity of conventional Reishi Mushrooms.

Schizandra

The Empress of Chinese herbalism, Schizandra contains all five classical flavours, tonifies all five yin organs of the body and possesses large amounts of all three treasures. It is said that if Schizandra is taken for 100 days continuously, it will sharpen the mind, purify the blood, improve memory, rejuvenate the Kidney Jing energy, and cause the skin to become radiantly beautiful. Today Schizandra is recognized for its broad-spectrum effects as a Phase I & II liver detoxifier, not only cleansing toxins from the liver but effectively binding to them and removing them from the body.

He Shou Wu

He Shou Wu, which translates as "Mr. He's Black Hair", is known in Chinese herbalism for it's role as a restorative. As legend goes, Mr. He was an old man who was unable to bear children. Upon seeing the vine of Polygonum growing intertwined in the forest he was advised by a Daoist monk to take it. Mr. He is said to have regained his virility, restored his health and return his hair to jet black hair when he was 130 years old.

Goji Berries

Goji berries have long been touted for the promotion of longevity. Goji is known for its role as a Yin Jing tonic to strengthen the blood and revitalize the body. The concentration of 40% Lycium Barbarum Polysaccharides has been shown to be the most beneficial concentration of Goji Berry polysaccharides. It is these polysaccharides that support SOD activity, known as the youth enzyme, and promote Goji's role as a longevity tonic.

After taking Ancient Wisdom for a few days I started to notice a difference. I was sleeping better, thinking more clearly, my concentration improved and I had more energy. After years of cooking up raw herbs - which although very potent, is time consuming and tastes terrible - it is really nice to have the option to put a scoop of herbal goodness into my smoothie and get on with my day knowing it is going to make me feel awesome. Imperial Tonics have done a great job of modernizing Chinese herbs and have made it easier and more accessible so that everyone can enjoy the benefits of these amazing herbs in a way that fits into our modern lifestyles.

I have been taking Chinese herbs for more than 20 years and I am continually humbled and consistently amazed at how profound and immediate their effects. I am always happy to see that more and more people, both regular folks and medical professionals, are discovering the limitless applications of the enormous body of knowledge that is Chinese Herbal Medicine. I believe that if we come to realize the magnitude of our planets ability to heal us, that we will work harder to keep the earth that we all call home protected and show it the love and respect it deserves.