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This giant book - 512 pages, 6" wide and 13" tall - is the most comprehensive and luxurious book on the system and wisdom of Chinese traditional medicine yet published in the Western world. This tall, narrow, 1 1/2" thick volume is bound in exquisite Chinese satin.
With effective treatment that has withstood the test of time, Chinese Natural Cures is a comprehensive and infinitely useful compendium of health care advice.
HMO's acceptance of alternative medicine has greatly increased interest in this book's techniques.
From the common cold to insomnia to hypertension to arthritis, diagnosis sections recommend treatments that can be made in the home.
Readers will learn licorice cures for relief of abdominal pain, how to use pistachios to fight impotence, and grapes to promote longevity and strengthen bones - among hundreds of other age-old remedies.
Whether you're suffering from a serious disease or simply want to achieve optimum health, Chinese Natural Cures will show you easy, proven methods to a healthier, longer life.
I use this book often.
Of course, acupuncture and herbs are very important.
However, trying to find and correct the underlying cause is what seperates a practioner from the "master".
Since I am no master, I take all the help I can!
I use this book to make diet recommendations/changes.
The stories of the individual herbs are FANTASTIC! Instead of memorizing "pingying", its far easier remembering the stories! (like the chinese do!)
I wish they had more stories of the individual herbs/foods, however its still a great book to use as a reference!
(Written by Monica)
I enjoy learning about alternative healing methods. I also like to impliment what I learn.
A lot of the things in this books are very interesting, but for me, were far from practical.
As a student of TCM, I would argue that this book is in no way comprehensive, and shouldn't be looked at as a manual or a text book. Instead, we have an interesting read about some of the patterns, and the various dietary and herbal cures out there for them. I found the stories behind the herbs a real pleasure to read, and the food cures for disease patterns was fairly enlightening.
That said, this book will be virtually useless to a non-practitioner, and it certainly won't be replacing my Bensky or my Wiseman texts any time soon. It is acu-candy, pure and simple.
Although this book has a lot of good information, it will take you awhile to find what you need. It is poorly organized and sometimes wordy. While at first the books unique size and silky appearance are alluring, the book is heavy, does not fit well in my bookshelf and the shiny pages can make it difficult to read.
This book by Henry Lu is, by far, the most comprehensive to date. This book included a discussion on Chinese medical theory. For any practicioner of Chinese Medicine, these are wasted pages. For those unfamiliar with Chinese Medicine, this section may be helpful (though I would recommend other sources for a better discussion). I found Henry Lu's numberical weighting of symptoms to diagnose a condition to be confusing and ultimately not helpful. While I liked the section for specific ailments and their dietary recommendations, they are not organized in alphabetical order so that finding what you are looking for is very frustrating. The section on the stories behind the herbs is great and helps them stick in your mind - a nice resource for those who need to memorize the herbs for classes or practice. Overall, this book has a lot of great information that hasn't been presented before, but the poor organization really cuts into it's usefulness when picking it up off the shelf to quickly gather information. Definitely not a "handbook", but pretty good price for the information - if you are willing to pour through it.