Today let’s talk about a little secret in traditional Chinese medicine for treating illness: “tonify the mother when deficient, drain the child when excessive.” If you understand this phrase, you’ll have grasped more than half of the rationale behind TCM treatment.

First, “tonify the mother when deficient.” In TCM’s Five Phases, the zang-fu organs are interrelated like parent and child. When we feel that an organ is deficient and needs tonifying, we should first consider which organ is its “mother.” For example, if the spleen is deficient and strengthening the spleen alone is ineffective, try tonifying both the heart and spleen. Because heart fire can generate spleen earth; Gui Pi Wan is a good formula for strengthening the spleen and nourishing the heart.

As for "if excess, drain its child." This means that when an organ is overactive, we relieve it by targeting its "child." For example, if liver fire is excessive, since the liver (wood) generates heart fire, we clear the heart fire; doing so can also regulate excessive liver fire.

Overall, TCM treats disease by identifying the body's imbalance and using the inherent tendencies of Chinese herbs to restore balance. This is a major principle of our traditional Chinese medicine treatment—simple and practical!