Blog & Columns
Useful information about health and Korean medicine.
Total 25 posts
The Medicine Your Gut Has to Switch On — Following a Single Herb, Gardenia, All the Way Through
Gardenia's main compound is in a locked form. Only when the bacteria living in the gut strip off its sugar does it become an active substance. What switches the medicine on is not the medicine, but that person's gut. And the very substance that produces the effect, in excess, damages the liver.
The medicine that does not press the brake for you — following magnolia bark down to its ingredients
People come after being told their breathing feels tight but the tests are normal. The lung is an organ; breathing is regulation. Tests look at the organ. The ingredients of magnolia bark do not manufacture a brake that isn't there — they help the brake the body already has work better.
The Term "Healing Crisis" — Is It a Process of Getting Better, or a Side Effect?
The term "healing crisis" (myeonghyeon) has a structural problem: whatever symptom appears, it can be explained away. I do not tell people to endure. Whether it is a recovery process or a side effect is not something to settle with words but something to verify and distinguish.
May I Take Herbal Medicine While Pregnant or Breastfeeding?
In the body during this period there are two people. Both "no herbal medicine during pregnancy" and "herbal medicine is natural, so it is fine" are wrong. There are materials that cannot be used, materials used with caution, and cases where they are used when needed.
The Claim That Herbal Medicine Has Not Been Scientifically Proven
The claim that 'herbal medicine has not been proven' contains both a correct part and a mistaken part. Having no research and being shown to have no effect are different things. I speak by separating what is established from my own interpretation.
Unused Tissue Withers — But Filling It Back In Does Not Bring It Back to Life
Tissue long unused withers. But pushing good things in does not bring it back to life. Atrophied tissue has also lost the strength to handle it. Before deciding what more to add, I first look at what this body can bear.
The Claim That Herbal Medicine Damages the Kidneys
Behind the claim that herbal medicine ruins the kidneys, there was a real incident. I do not hide it. The material at fault was withdrawn in 2005, and what is truly dangerous now is medicine where you do not know who put in what.
Where Did That Herb Come From — The Things I Check
The worries about pesticides and heavy metals in herbs were not baseless. That is why the system changed. But passing inspection and this medicine being right for you are different things, and the system does not do the second one for you.
The Saying That Herbal Medicine Makes You Gain Weight
In the claim that herbal medicine made someone gain weight, three different things are mixed together. Water retention, improved digestion, and already gaining weight to begin with. I distinguish these three by weighing you.
How are red ginseng and health supplements different from herbal medicine
Red ginseng and herbal medicine differ not in their ingredients but in the way they are used. What is in the box is the same for everyone, but the box does not know you. The word 'natural' does not mean safe.
May I Give My Child Herbal Medicine?
A child is not a miniature adult. The very machinery that processes medicine is different. With a child I set the goal narrow, the duration short, state the cautions first, and use it. And the children who must be sent on, I send on.
What Herbal Medicine Does — Not Working in the Body''s Place, but Letting It Repair Itself
To the question of what herbal medicine does in the body, I do not answer in one sentence. The body is not that simple. But the direction is clear — herbal medicine is not a medicine that replaces a broken part, but one that restores the environment across several axes so the body repairs itself.