Methods of Decoction

[Guest guest]

Regarding the decoction machines...

I've worked in a pharmacy that uses them, and although in this particular

pharmacy, I don't think quality of herbs was the issue, I saw a couple of

problems:

 

1) tap water

 

2) using a machine like that necessitates only one decoction time for all

herbs. aromatic herbs are supposed to be decocted much less and

metals/bones/shells much longer.. when I asked about this it was explained

to me that it didn't matter for the aromatics since the machine was closed

but I couldn't help thinking that cooking those herbs longer could cause

breakdowns in chemical compositions of key ingredients

 

3) measuring the water is not an exact science.. many times, although using

the prescribed amount of water for certain number of days produced either

more or less of the liquid formula than was required. Usually the pharmacy

erred on the side of more which would mean less concentrated dosages.

 

In my experience the best possible situation is cooking the herbs at home.

I've had much more noticeble results with this than with powders (or of

course pills). But what can ya do? I like to tell my patients that making

the formulas adds to the healing.. the aroma of your formula permeating the

house, the love and energy put into taking care of yourself, but for some

people this just isn't possible.

 

It just goes to show that there just isn't a substitute for old fashioned

TLC. :> Maybe in the future someone will design a machine that takes into

account the issues i've mentioned, but I still don't know if it could ever

be as effective as doing it yourself.

 

Kind Regards,

Nadia

 

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[Guest guest]

Hi Nadia,

 

Chinese Medicine , " East Dakota "

<eastdakota@h...> wrote:

>

> Regarding the decoction machines...

 

Our family used herbs for over 15 years. We used all forms, decoctions

(in all types of pots and machines), powders, tablets, and I agree

there are trade-offs with all approaches. But, in our final

observations, we found that there were so many variables it was

impossible to say why herbs worked sometimes and why they didn't work

at all other times. Nowadays, we have found a more straightforward and

simple approach to maintaining our health - but it took 20 years of

exploration to get to where we are at now, and I am sure we will

continue to discover new ideas in the future. I guess each person

needs to figure out what works best for themselves.

 

Thanks for sharing your perspective with me,

 

Regards,

Rich

[Guest guest]

This post somewhat veers from the main thread, but may be found

acceptable to charitable souls.

 

Once long ago on in Eastern clime, when I was in younger years and therefore

wiser, it so chanced that in my aimless wanderings on my 350 cc single

cylinder

Ariel motorbike, over rough terrain in the foothills of the Solomons, as

they peter

out into the lesser hills, they call them that there, of some 7000 foot

above, I came

upon a small village tucked into a fold of the rolling terrain, protected

from the chill

winds, warm and friendly, with some five score folk, who had seemingly lived

there

from one lifetime into another; in a sort of lesser grade Shangri La.

 

It was evening and I became, almost by default, the guest of the whole

village. The

red cheeked chubby kids swaddled to the teeth in fur and many colored caps,

swarmed

around my bike, and I had to stand her up secure fashion to make sure she

did not

tip over and cause a sensation.

 

One family got to do the honors for me, and the meal was plain rice of a

variety

dark as the star studded sky of those parts, you could reach over and touch

one

in the dead of the night if you wanted to. The utensils were entirely

earthen, and

the spoon hewn of some hard wood. The fire was from some sort of dung mixed

with

hay, and it flared clean and bright with an unforgettable aroma. For

accompanying gruel

they did interesting things with home grown taro roots, graced with a sort

of salad of

fresh leaves of an aromatic nature, raw tomato and strewn with spliced with

ginger.

 

By 8 PM by my wrist watch [they had no watches nor clocks] when it seemed

the

dead of the night to me, hundreds of miles from the nearest town; the meal

was

served, under the stars, on wooden plate. Hot, aromatic, fresh, of rare

taste

that the flavor lingers in my nostrils to this day. By standards of where I

live now,

the whole dinner for 5 could not have cost more than 50 cents US.

 

As I slept on the roof of the little adobe home, as guest of honor, I looked

upon a sky unashamedly brilliant, and could read off the constellations

which had

to visit me that night. Such silence, as it sang to you. Such a quiet, that

it seemed

noisy to my city ears.

 

In the morning, which begins an hour before dawn, I was given ht tea, again

in an

earthen cup baked solid, and the leaf was tangy, and laced with pieces of

raw

sugar and ginger.

 

By 6 AM I had primed my bike, and shaken hands with all, and with a thought

that this moment would never return, I kicked the engine to life, and rolled

out of the village onto the downward winding dirt road centuries old.

 

Few minutes out I turned to look and the village had as good as disappeared,

the rise and

fall of the hills does that.

 

I would give much to relive that evening and taste that fare again. But to

do that

I would have to tune up my bike, and shed time and it's false stories, and

go to the foot of the lofty Solomons, all of which is not permitted by the

Doors

that Close, we walk only once on any road.

 

Dr. Holmes Keikobad

MB BS DPH Ret. DIP AC NCCAOM LIC AC CO & AZ

www.acu-free.com - 15 CEUS by video.

NCCAOM reviewed. Approved in CA & most states.