Fruits Picked from the Forest of Medicine, a Conversation with Andy Ellis, L.Ac.
TCMzone had the pleasure of meeting with Andy Ellis, founder of Spring Wind Herbs, a sought out teacher and practitioner in the field of Chinese Herbal Medicine and a specialist in the field of herbal medicine, specifically using bulk herbs.ย ย Andy has over 40 years of experience in the field and has authored several books.ย For more information about Andy, check out our interview below.
What was the driving force or motivation to practice herbal medicine and create the company that you have today?
A: It started in 1992 while I was teaching herbal medicine at the American College of Oriental Medicine in San Francisco, California.ย To supplement my income, I ย started Spring Wind Herbs in California with my wife.ย ย We started as a small herb dispensary and after a few years grew to be a company selling bulk herbs to Chinese medicine practitioners and to companies who produce products for practitioners.
Where do you source your herbs from now?
A: China, Taiwan, and locally here in the USA.
I understand your business is primarily raw herbs, why did you choose that over other forms such as granules and pills?
A: I like to say โBulkโ herbs instead of โRawโ because โRawโ is more like something you picked outside without it going through drying, wine-frying, dry-frying or other Pao Zhi processes.ย I like using bulk herbs in my practice because they are the strongest and purest form and have the most Qi.ย ย A lot of my patients come to me when they have exhausted all other options with their healthcare conditions, and I do use a variety of forms, including granules, honey pills, topical applications and acupuncture.ย I usually start patients with bulk-herb formulas in order to achieve faster results and later switch to granules or honey pills for convenience. It is not uncommon that I may ask a patient to use more than one form of herbs at a time. For example, washing down their granular formula with a tea made from one or two bulk herbs.
Do you find it hard for patients to comply with taking bulk herbs?
A: I try to feel out what the ย patient will comply with.ย Most patients I see have serious or long-term disorders and ย have exhausted all of their treatment options.ย I find that when a patient is desperate to get better, they are more willing to try whatever I prescribe them. ย These patients are more likely to be compliant with taking bulk herbs.
Do you carry any other herbal forms in your company besides the bulk herbs?
A: Yes, we carry honey pills, granules, and topical formulas ย in the forms or ointments, lotions, liniments, compresses, and soft plasters. When I studied in Taiwan and China I concentrated on internal medicine but also specialized in dermatology and treatment of trauma. These specialties are reflected in the products we produce and carry.
Many practitioners and patients are often concerned with quality of herbs especially when patients hear they are coming from China.ย What types of testing does your company do to assure there arenโt any pesticides, & other harsh chemicals, present in the end product to the consumer?
A: While I do not intend this interview to be an advertisement for Spring Wind, I do feel it is important for our industry to be transparent about what safety measures we take with our products.
In the 1990โs I discovered that herbs from China often were exposed to chemical pesticides. We began testing for pesticide residues. At first we tested commonly used herbs and expanded the program until now we test the vast majority of our herbs. In addition, we generally accept only a non-detected result for our herbs the exception being a category of herbs we label as low-level pesticides. We try to be as transparent as possible with the guidelines for the various grades of herbs that we carry so that practitioners can make informed decisions when they purchase herbs from Spring Wind.
We carry several grades of herbs including Organic, Premium, In-house Tested, Grown without pesticides and conventional. The definitions of each of these categories can be found at our website, springwind.com. Specifically, https://springwind.com/pages/grade-definition-for-spring-wind-bulk-herbs
What do you think about taking Chinese Herbs in tincture form verses the bulk, granule or pill form?
A: ย This is not a subject I know much about because my teachers, by and large, did not use alcohol extracts. Also, in the history of Chinese medicine, medicinal wines (่ฅ้ ) and Ding (้ ), which are the two forms of alcohol extracts used in our medicine, were infrequently employed. When they were used, they were mostly applied to Yang vacuity conditions like impotence and to certain blood stasis disorders such as Heart Bi and injuries to the muscles, tendons and bones. This is owing to Chinese medicineโs classification of alcoholโs function as both ย warming and moving, Of course, liniments are a topically applied tincture and have always beenย very common for the treatment of trauma.
I understand you are the author of several books with Notes from South Mountain being one, what are some others?
A: Yes, I co-authored, co-translated, co-authored several books over the years. Here are a few:
- Fundamentals of Chinese Medicine
- Fundamentals of Chinese Acupuncture
- Grasping the Wind
- Notes from South Mountain: A Guide to Concentrated Herb Granules
- Formulas and Strategies 2nd Edition
- The Clinical Experience of Dr. Shi Neng-Yun
- A Walk Along the River (vols 1&2)
Sherri Taylor, L.Ac.: I personally have 3 out of the 7 books you mentioned.ย I have heard of Notes from South Mountain, I would be interested in reading that to gain some more herbal insight.ย Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today, itโs been a pleasure.