Herbal supplements are a type of dietary supplement that contain herbs, either singly or in mixtures. Many herbs have a long history of use and of claimed health benefits. For example, Chinese herbs and Chinese medicine have been used for thousands of years to treat various illness and restoring various normal functions of human body. And compared to pharmaceutical drugs, they may have less or without any adverse reaction or side effects. This appealing quality makes them possible to be herbal supplements. The term traditional medicine is used with two main meanings. ...

Why do normal human beings need herbal supplements? Currently many diseases cannot be cured, e.g, patients with cancer have very low survival rate. Prevention of a disease is much easier than curing a disease. Chinese herbs harmony the Yin and Yang of the human body, and make the latter immune to or more resistant against many serious diseases. In a word, the purpose of the herb suplements is not curing but preventing from being sick. When normal cells are damaged beyond repair, they are eliminated by apoptosis. ... Taoists Taijitu The concept of yin and yang (Traditional Chinese: 陰陽; Simplified Chinese: 阴阳; Pinyin: ; Korean hangul: 음양; hanja: 陰陽; revised: eumyang; McCune-Reischauer: ŭmyang; Vietnamese: ) originates in ancient Chinese philosophy and metaphysics, which describes two primal opposing but complementary forces found in all things in the universe. ...

However, some herbs have caused health problems for certain users. Therefore, if you want to use herbal supplements, it is best to do so under the guidance of a medical professional who has been properly trained in herbal medicine. This is especially true to those women who are pregnant or nursing, and infants or younger children. If you are taking other drugs, herbs or non-herbs, herb-herb or/and herb-drug interactions may happen as well. In the United States, herbal and other dietary supplements are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as foods. The United States Food and Drug Administration is the government agency responsible for regulating food, dietary supplements, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, biologics and blood products in the United States. ...

Reference

• Original text from Herbal supplements, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.

External links

• http://nccam.nih.gov/health/supplement-safety/