No Side Effects -- Unlike Western drugs, Chinese herbal treatments are taken in a whole food form. For example, teas are decocted from whole roots, stems, and leaves and capsules are filled with crushed whole food material. Western medicine is made by locating active chemical compounds and creating medicines from these compounds. When reduced to its chemical fundamentals, pharmaceuticals have side effects. Side effects are inevitable with pharmaceuticals. When used appropriately, Chinese herbal treatments will cause no side effects as long as they are used in their whole food form. Research in China has shown that when reduced to their active chemical compounds, Chinese herbal treatments will also cause side effects. This is one reason why TCM practitioners continue to use whole food forms of treatments. Because TCM treatments have not been reduced to their active compounds, they must be consumed in larger quantities and more frequently than most Western pharmaceuticals.

Occasionally, Chinese herbal treatments will produce what may seem like a side effect. For certain kinds of health conditions, it is necessary to treat with formulas that work by clearing things from inside the body. For example, when treating certain skin conditions, the symptoms may become worse before improving because internal impurities are being eliminated. Diarrhea is another way that toxins may be cleared from the body. These are not side effects because they are necessary to the healing process. Ask your practitioner if you can expect any such reactions.