Herbs, also known as materia medica, are categorized into the following forms:

• Medicinal herbs
• Medicinal plants
• Medicinal anima products
• Medicinal materials

In China these are all called Chinese medicine. In USA, they are called herbs to distinguish from the synthetic medicines prescribed by your medical doctors and approved by FDA.

Herbs can be taken as the following forms:

1. Raw Herbs: Your practitioners weigh the herbs first, and then pack them for you to cook about two hours to make the decoctions. This is called the first generation of the Chinese herbal tea.
2. Granule Herbs: Your practitioners weigh the granules first, and then pack them for you to split it up at home to make the decoctions. This is called the second generations of the Chinese herbal tea.
3. Single Concentrated Herbs: Your parishioners pack them ready for you to make the decoctions. This is called the third generation of the Chinese herbal tea. This is the safest herbal tea in USA so far due to the visibility of what you know you are taking and the strict expiration date enforcement. This is also the first choice of herbs our clinic using for our clients.
4. Patent Herbal Tablets: Ready to take right away, but they are not exactly fit for you. You may fit few of the indication on the bottle but the rest of them may not help your condition at all.

The practice of Chinese herbal medicine stretches back more than 5,000 years, embracing all the domains of nature - earth and sea, seasons and weather, plants and animals, and all the elements that constitute the universe. Contemporary Chinese medicine represents the cumulative clinical experience and time-tested theories of five millennia of continuous practice by traditional Chinese physicians. It remains the world's oldest, safest, and most comprehensive system of medical care, developing as dynamically today as it has throughout it long history.

The World Health Organization of the United Nations (WHO) notes that of 119 plant-derived pharmaceutical medicines, about 74% are used in modern medicine in ways that correlate directly with their traditional uses as plant medicine by native cultures. Herbal medicine is the most ancient form of health care known to mankind. Herbs have been used in all cultures throughout history. Extensive scientific documentation now exists concerning their use for health conditions, including pain management, allergy, asthma, premenstrual syndrome, indigestion, insomnia, heart disease, liver disease, cancer, and HIV.