[Herb-students] The thick and thin of it all

[Al Stone]

You probably know that herbs come in a variety of temperatures.  There
are herbs that
are described as very hot, hot, slightly hot, warm, slightly warm,
neutral, slightly cool,
cool, slightly cold, cold and very cold.

But did you know that herbs can also described as thick and thin?

This isn't in reference to the shape of the cut of the herbs, but has to
do with their thermal
nature.

A thick cool herb for instance has a cool property, but it is a slow
sustained action
whereas a thin cool herb is quick to act, but it doesn't last very long.

When I learned about this, I couldn't help but think about something I
learned in a
meteorology class in college called "thermal capacity" which is the
capacity of a substance
to maintain its temperature.

I think this can be best described by looking at something with a high
thermal capacity
(analogous to the thick herbs) and a low thermal capacity (like the thin herbs).

When you boil water and you turn off the heat beneath it, the water
remains so hot that if
you put your finger into it within the first few minutes, you'll burn
yourself.  However if
you take something wrapped up in aluminum foil out of a hot oven, it
will be cool
enough to touch in a few seconds.

Water has a higher thermal capacity than foil.  If water were an herb,
it would be thick. If
foil were an herb, it would be thin.

Clinically, the thin herbs are used for acute conditions that require a
strong burst of
medicine that will quickly address the pathogenic influence.  External
conditions of Wind
Cold and Wind Heat would be examples of acute pathologies that benefit
from thin
herbs.  Examples of thin herbs would be Ma Huang (Rx. Ephedra) and Bo He (Hb.
Mentha).

Thick herbs on the other hand are utilized for chronic Deficiencies and
other long term
pathologies that benefit from their slow, but steady actions.  Gan Jiang
(Baked Ginger) is
an herb that provides a constant warming action that is appropriate to a
long term
pathology.

Although most books don't really mention thick and thin in their
assessments of herbs, it
is wise to at least be aware that of the importance of lining up the
needs of the pathology
with the herbs that are best suited to address those needs.  External,
acute, and Excessive
pathologies will benefit from the fast though brief acting medicinals
while Internal,
chronic and Deficiency type pathologies will benefit from the slower
acting but sustained
actions of thick herbs.

Which herbs are thin, and which are thick?  I dunno, what do you think?

-- 
Al Stone L.Ac.
<AlStone at BeyondWellBeing.com>
http://www.BeyondWellBeing.com

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.