Sunday, October 28, 2007

Best Herbal Remedy for Anxiety

Before we look at the best herbal remedy for anxiety it's important to look at what physiological imbalances cause anxiety.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) views symptoms of anxiety, nervousness, restlessness and depression as the result of blood deficiency or lack of yin. And so naturally the best herbal remedy for anxiety will include herbs that specifically build the blood and yin or fluids in the body.

Why is building blood crucial for treating anxiety permanently? An easy way to understand how the yin/yang balance affects anxiety is simple. Your body, like everything in the universe is a balance of yin and yang, or hot and cold, water and fire.

You have blood and fluids in the body or yin that is transported and transformed by yang or energy processes such as digestion, eliminating toxins and breathing. Without sufficient water or yin to hold the yang /fire it escapes and like heat, yang energy rises.

This untamed energy rises to your heart or mind causing anxiety, heart palpitations, hot flashes, headaches, hypertension and a variety of troublesome symptoms. Building blood is the first thing acupuncturists and other TCM practitioners focus on when treating patients with anxiety.

For the purpose of this article we will be investigating TCM herbs as the best herbal remedies for anxiety. They include these three herbs which specifically enrich blood and transport it to the heart; Dang Qui (Angelica Sunensis), processed Rehmannia Root (Rehmannia Glutinosa; in mandarin: Shu Di Huang) and Red Sage Root (Salvia Miltorrhiza; in mandarin: dan Shen).

Dan Qui and in combination with processed Rehmania, a warming remedy, is especially effective for conditions with signs of coldness. Red Sage root a bitter herb is more useful when there is a tendency to develop dampness or mucus excess in the body.

Another very powerful blood and yin builder although not an herb is Royal Jelly.
Royal jelly is a thick, extremely nutritious, milky-white, creamy liquid secreted by the hypopharyngeal glands of nurse bees. Queen bees live exclusively on royal jelly and it accounts for their incredible size and longevity. They average 42 percent larger and weigh 60 percent more than the worker bee. Amazingly, they live 40 times longer than worker bees, seven years as compared to seven weeks.

Royal Jelly has been used in TCM for centuries an interestingly enough is a significant source of Vitamin B12, folic acid and Iron, the nutrients most often needed to cure blood deficiencies.

Severe blood and yin deficiencies can eventually lead to chronic diseases such as diabetes. Tonifying yin is always a lengthy process as it takes many years for such an imbalance to take root.

TCM aims to re-balance the whole body-mind-and spirit system using natural alternatives such as herbs that speed up the process.

If you suffer from anxiety consider this route if you are willing to be patient for the root problem to be rebalanced permanently, this is not a quick fix alternative, neither a band aid patch job. Always consult a professionally trained practitioner before taking any herbs.

Vanessa Simpkins is an alternative health practitioner who specializes in teaching others how to stay healthy using natural traditional Chinese medicine and acupressure. If you want to get in touch with Vanessa or learn more about alternative health please visit: http://www.naturally-a-womans-way.com

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