Tonics

Western treatment uses nutrition supplements to enhance the wellness while Chinese refers to these nutrition supplements as tonics. Tonics are used to enhance and correct the immune deficiency. Tonics taken in moderation over a long period of time provide a better result which is based on the concept of balance. Although excessive taking of tonics may not have any significant result on a person, it is always not advisable to take them in excess. This may caused harm due to different individual constituent - body immune level or deficiency or the functioning of the organs. Read article on moderation.

For the four types of deficiencies, the Chinese believe there are four kind of tonic herbs to treat the four types of deficiencies.

1. Energy deficiency is treated with Energy Tonics.
Herbs in this category include ginseng, Chinese yam, licorice, beef, bitter gourd seed, cherries, chicken, coconut, eel, ginseng, goose, herring, mackerel, potatoes, rabbit and red date.

2. Blood deficiency is treated with Blood tonics.
Herbs in this category include donggui (angelica sinensis), glutious rehmmannia and tuber of multiflower knotweed (Polygonum multiflorum Thunb.), beef, chicken eggs, grapes, ham, human milk, oysters, pork liver, sea cucumber, black soyabean and spinach.

3. Yin deficiency is treated with Yin tonics.
Herbs in this category include lily, Chinese wolfberry (Lycium barbarum), sealwort, sesame (Sesamum indicum L.), tremella, wax tree, abalone, apples, sweet apricot seed, tofu, bitter gourd, brown sugar, cheese, crab, oysters, peas, pears, pork tomatoes and yam.

4. Yang deficiency is treated with Yang tonics.
Herbs in this category include dodder (cuscuta chinensis), eucommia bark, longspur epimedium, morinda root, teasel, snake-bed seed, snow lotus, cinnamon, dill seeds, fennel seeds, mandarin orange seeds, shrimp, strawberries, lobster and pork testicles.

Deficiencies Relationship
The Chinese believes blood produces energy. We know that blood carries nutrients to our cells in our body. Without nutrients our organs and muscles will be weak. Therefore for an Energy deficiency person, he/she should consume both energy and blood tonics simultaneously.