The Herbal Scoop

The Herbalogic Blog

Spotlight on Herbs: Fresh Ginger Rhizome (Sheng Jiang)

Spotlight on Herbs: Fresh Ginger Rhizome (Sheng...

The most familiar herb in the pharmacy took the longest to earn its own name. Ginger is the herb everyone assumes they already understand. It's in the tea, the ale,...

Spotlight on Herbs: Fresh Ginger Rhizome (Sheng...

The most familiar herb in the pharmacy took the longest to earn its own name. Ginger is the herb everyone assumes they already understand. It's in the tea, the ale,...

Spotlight on Herbs: Tou Gu Cao (透骨草)

Spotlight on Herbs: Tou Gu Cao (透骨草)

The herb whose name is its job description. There's a category of herb names in Chinese medicine that function as pure clinical poetry -- two or three characters that tell...

Spotlight on Herbs: Tou Gu Cao (透骨草)

The herb whose name is its job description. There's a category of herb names in Chinese medicine that function as pure clinical poetry -- two or three characters that tell...

Spotlight on Herbs: Costus Root (Mu Xiang)

Spotlight on Herbs: Costus Root (Mu Xiang)

An herb that arrived in China as an import, earned a name that wasn't quite its own, and became indispensable anyway. There's a note in the classical literature about how...

Spotlight on Herbs: Costus Root (Mu Xiang)

An herb that arrived in China as an import, earned a name that wasn't quite its own, and became indispensable anyway. There's a note in the classical literature about how...

Chinese Goldthread (Huang Lian)

Chinese Goldthread (Huang Lian)

The most bitter thing in your formula -- and possibly the most useful. In April 2005, I was in Lhasa studying Tibetan medicine when I got something bad. Bloody, mucusy...

Chinese Goldthread (Huang Lian)

The most bitter thing in your formula -- and possibly the most useful. In April 2005, I was in Lhasa studying Tibetan medicine when I got something bad. Bloody, mucusy...

Chinese Quince Fruit (Mu Gua)

Chinese Quince Fruit (Mu Gua)

--> It started as a love poem. It ended up in your back. Someone in ancient China -- probably around 700 BCE, give or take -- threw a quince at...

Chinese Quince Fruit (Mu Gua)

--> It started as a love poem. It ended up in your back. Someone in ancient China -- probably around 700 BCE, give or take -- threw a quince at...

Spotlight on Herbs: Chinese Angelica Root (Dang...

The herb whose name is a promise -- and whose job is to keep it. There's a folk story about how Dang Gui got its name. A man left home...

Spotlight on Herbs: Chinese Angelica Root (Dang...

The herb whose name is a promise -- and whose job is to keep it. There's a folk story about how Dang Gui got its name. A man left home...

Spotlight on Herbs: Bupleurum Root (Chai Hu)

The herb that named itself after something nobody can quite agree on The name "Chai Hu" is a small mystery that has been circulating in herbal medicine circles for a...

Spotlight on Herbs: Bupleurum Root (Chai Hu)

The herb that named itself after something nobody can quite agree on The name "Chai Hu" is a small mystery that has been circulating in herbal medicine circles for a...

Spotlight on Herbs: Biota Seed (Bai Zi Ren)

The tree that outlasts everything -- including your nervous system's objections There's a tree that grows on dry, rocky slopes in northern China that has been associated with longevity since...

Spotlight on Herbs: Biota Seed (Bai Zi Ren)

The tree that outlasts everything -- including your nervous system's objections There's a tree that grows on dry, rocky slopes in northern China that has been associated with longevity since...

Spotlight on Herbs: Bamboo Shavings (Zhu Ru)

The fastest-growing plant on Earth, deployed for its calming properties. Make of that what you will. If you've ever watched bamboo grow, you know it doesn't do anything slowly. Some...

Spotlight on Herbs: Bamboo Shavings (Zhu Ru)

The fastest-growing plant on Earth, deployed for its calming properties. Make of that what you will. If you've ever watched bamboo grow, you know it doesn't do anything slowly. Some...

Spotlight on Herbs: Angelica Dahurica Root (Bai Zhi)

Spotlight on Herbs: Angelica Dahurica Root (Bai...

The herb that opens what a head cold slams shut The angelica family is a large and somewhat confusing one. There is Angelica sinensis — that’s Dang Gui, which shows...

Spotlight on Herbs: Angelica Dahurica Root (Bai...

The herb that opens what a head cold slams shut The angelica family is a large and somewhat confusing one. There is Angelica sinensis — that’s Dang Gui, which shows...

Spotlight on Herbs: Anemarrhena Rhizome (Zhi Mu)

Spotlight on Herbs: Anemarrhena Rhizome (Zhi Mu)

The herb your body reaches for when the furnace won’t turn off There is a particular kind of tired that is different from ordinary tired. Ordinary tired means you want...

Spotlight on Herbs: Anemarrhena Rhizome (Zhi Mu)

The herb your body reaches for when the furnace won’t turn off There is a particular kind of tired that is different from ordinary tired. Ordinary tired means you want...

Spotlight on Herbs: American Ginseng Root (Xi Yang Shen)

Spotlight on Herbs: American Ginseng Root (Xi Y...

How a Jesuit priest’s letter changed the American economy, and why this ginseng runs cool In 1716, a French Jesuit missionary named Joseph-François Lafitau was living among the Mohawk people...

Spotlight on Herbs: American Ginseng Root (Xi Y...

How a Jesuit priest’s letter changed the American economy, and why this ginseng runs cool In 1716, a French Jesuit missionary named Joseph-François Lafitau was living among the Mohawk people...

Spotlight on Herbs: Albizia Bark (He Huan Pi)

Spotlight on Herbs: Albizia Bark (He Huan Pi)

The herb that traditional Chinese medicine literally named “collective happiness” There is a tree growing in parks and yards all over the American South that most people walk right past...

Spotlight on Herbs: Albizia Bark (He Huan Pi)

The herb that traditional Chinese medicine literally named “collective happiness” There is a tree growing in parks and yards all over the American South that most people walk right past...

The Science behind Quiet Mind

The Science behind Quiet Mind

Herbalogic Quiet Mind is a variation of a classic formula called Gui Pi Tang.  What follows is an AI generated literature review of the formula Gui Pi Tang (GPT) which...

The Science behind Quiet Mind

Herbalogic Quiet Mind is a variation of a classic formula called Gui Pi Tang.  What follows is an AI generated literature review of the formula Gui Pi Tang (GPT) which...

The Science behind Decompress

The Science behind Decompress

Our formula Decompress and Decompress MX are based on a formula that was originally called Xiao Yao San. It is one of the most researched and most used formulas in...

The Science behind Decompress

Our formula Decompress and Decompress MX are based on a formula that was originally called Xiao Yao San. It is one of the most researched and most used formulas in...