Whether it’s because we’ve had a recent issue that has made us more alert to our issues, perhaps getting older and finding new ways to alleviate new aches and pains, or maybe just wanting to take better care of ourselves.
Whatever the reason, there’s a lot of you to take care of, it turns out! And one of the areas where you’ll often feel that something is wrong first is your stomach and digestion system.
Luckily, these are issues that herbal remedies and treatments have been treating and taking care of for decades, if not centuries, at this point.
This leaves you with potentially dozens, if not hundreds, of potential herbs to use to alleviate stomach issues.
A pretty intimidating number, especially if you’re trying to avoid the lower-quality options that might have poor quality or even dangerous elements in them.
Well, that’s what this list is here to help you avoid! We’ve cut out the potentially harmful herbal options for you from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and brought you the best Chinese medicinal items that you can use to treat these problems (see also: Medicinal Mushrooms For Heart Problems)yourself!
Herbal/Chinese Remedies And Traditional Chinese Medicine
Before we get into the weeds of the topic, so to speak, we’d like to first quickly explain some of the philosophy behind TCM and how herbal remedies are intended to work(see also: Herbalism, And How Does It Work?) through it.
Generally speaking, the main aspect that distinguishes Chinese medicine from Western medicine is its holistic/whole-body and spiritual approach to treating issues.
Whereas Western medicine will focus on specific parts of the body and their symptoms, like analysing a machine, TCM prioritizes viewing the body as a whole system, connected by many centres of both physical material and energy, or Qi, as it is also known.
Qi is the energy of the body as it travels across these networks, which can become unbalanced if they are overworked, overstressed, or affected by some kind of malady.
TCM seeks to correct those issues through several different approaches, from acupuncture to physical routines like tai chi, too, in this case, treating the problem with remedies to treat the imbalances of energies.
With all that being said about the spiritual aspects, however, we have also endeavoured to find Chinese remedies where the benefits have been proven to work, rather than focusing on just hearsay.
There is a lot of misinformation when it comes to TCM, after all, so it pays to do a little extra research when deciding if a particular remedy is best for you and your issues.
1. Dandelion
Starting with an option that many people might already be familiar with, dandelions aren’t just a weed that can ruin your garden or pavement, but a great herbal remedy in TCM!
While it has fallen out of fashion in some ways, dandelions have been central to many local recipes and remedies across Europe and Asia for centuries.
However, TCMs are making them popular across the world again in recent years, to remind us of the numerous health benefits that can bring!
Dandelions promote good gut health, especially when blended into teas, soups, or ointments that you can ingest. They’re an effective way of treating bloating sensations in your gut, as well as a way to ease bowel movements through your intestinal system.
Given that this plant is full of fibre, perhaps that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise!
Still, they’re a reliable plant that you can also find anywhere and break down into usable materials yourself, so you won’t even need to go to a supplier to find this for your uses. Simply grab the dandelion flowers and roots growing in your garden, and get to work!
Plus, again, we can’t emphasize enough just how popular dandelion recipes and treatments have been in the past, meaning that there are a ton of ways to ingest them.
Want to use the roots in coffee? Sure! Want to try making a broth or soup with them? Go for it. What about making chocolate with them? That’s right, you can! And all of them have health benefits to them.
We’ll just leave this dandelion herbal tea recipe here for you to check out, and let you see the benefits for yourself!
2. Ginger
Another very popular ingredient in both cooking and TCM, ginger is a herbal remedy that still finds itself used in a variety of different ways in both cooking and medicine, so you shouldn’t be too surprised to see it here too!
Whether you’re using freshly picked and cut roots of ginger, or are using it in its dried, powdered form, either of these types of gingers will help provide remedies for gut issues.
Fresh ginger is perfect for use as an active ingredient for combatting infections around the body, including the sinuses, throat, stomach, and intestines.
Dried ginger also has some pretty beneficial effects, with it having a pleasant warming sensation throughout the body when drunk in a herbal tea.
If you are adding ginger to a herbal tea, we recommend also adding honey to your mix. This will help reduce irritation in your gut even better!
3. Clove
Cloves are another popular plant to use in Chinese herbal remedies, or anywhere else, for that matter.
Thai herb has been a useful way to treat intestinal irritation and pain for centuries, as well as treating nauseous feelings. They’ve also been a great item to include in herbal tea to reduce the chances of vomiting, soothing the stomach’s inner lining.
In short, making an ointment or tea from cloves is a great way of treating all kinds of abdominal pain.
4. TCM Formulas
For the first non-herbal remedy in this list, we have a medicinal item that has the potential to be a great aid to healing gut health, when it is got from the right source and used correctly.
Traditionally made from some blend of Perilla leaf/shiso and pinellia rhizome, these formulas can use a range of different herbal or medicinal bases to treat intestinal pain and discomfort.
However, we recommend exercising caution when purchasing TCM formulas from some TCM vendors.
Some formulas, as well as other TCM products, have been known to contain toxic heavy chemicals and metals, such as lead or arsenic, as well as some less-than-beneficial drugs.
However, if you know you can rely on the vendor’s quality, these make for an excellent relief for those cramps you may be having.
5. Cinnamon
Another popular herb that you’ll be more familiar with as a cooking tool than as a medicinal product, TCM also shows us that cinnamon is an effective way of alleviating stomach pains and cramps.
Try mixing it with a tea blend next time you’re feeling bloated or cramped in your stomach.
6. Orange Peel
While many of us love a good juicy orange, and its high vitamin content, don’t throw away that orange peel just yet. As TCMs show us, that orange peel may have some other uses yet!
In this final entry, we want to show you that orange peel isn’t just a skin that you have to take off your oranges to enjoy them, but a great medicinal remedy to use in TCM too!
Final Notes
So, as you can see, there are plenty of ways to help manage those minor issues that you may get in your belly and intestines from time to time.
I'm Clare, the owner and operator of Off The Couch, where I serve as a qualified Nutrition & Health Coach.
Based in Dublin, Ireland, I offer coaching services both locally and globally, providing personalized strategies in nutrition, stress management, sleep quality, and fitness.
My journey into this field began as I navigated my own chronic illnesses, including early menopause, Interstitial Cystitis, Lyme Disease, and hydrocephalus.
