Downtown herbalists prepare all-natural remedies

Trays of dried seahorses, plates of ginseng and licorice root, and brown piles of flaky cicada shells fill the Kamwo Herb & Tea shop with a bittersweet aroma. On a recent Wednesday morning, the decades-old store bustled with activity as patrons -- Chinese and Western alike -- searched for traditional, Eastern remedies to ease their everyday aches and pains.

Inside the brightly lit shop, located at 211 Grand Street, Kamwo staffers put together packages of raw, unprocessed herbs and roots for their customers. From a wall of white drawers, herbalists grabbed handfuls of plant-based medicines -- magnolia, angelica, and chrysanthemum -- carefully weighing them on delicate scales hanging from the ceiling. Crushing the botanicals with mortar and pestle, or slicing them carefully with a small, sharp blade, they then placed the formulas onto sheets of crisp, white paper, ready to be taken home and brewed into a teacup of warm relief.

Besides its sweet-smelling flower shops and crowded dim sum restaurants, Chinatown offers a range of alternative medical services, local businesses that specialize in a distinctly non-Western approach to treating illness. In addition to acupuncture and massage, these downtown healers provide organic formulas -- involving everything from honeysuckle to deer tails, mulberry leaves to geckos -- for those New Yorkers seeking a more all-natural approach to comfort and care.

As awareness increases about the therapeutic effects of Chinese herbs, more people are experimenting with these nontraditional cures. It is important to consider, however, that just because a substance is natural does not mean that it is necessarily harmless. Herbs like kava and comfrey, for example, have been linked to serious liver damage, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), one of the 27 institutes that make up the National Institutes of Health.

The NCCAM, which explores complementary and alternative healing practices, recommends using herbs under the guidance of a medical professional trained in herbal medicine.

"Some herb ingredients may interact with regular medicines a consumer may be using, which may cause serious problems," says Dr. Qi-Ying Liu, a scientist at the NCCAM. "Therefore, NCCAM recommends that consumers consult their health care provider -- and consult each provider if they have more than one -- if they are using herbs as dietary supplements, especially if they are taking medicines or have medical conditions."

One way to evaluate the credibility of herbalists, according to Dr. Liu, is to ask them about the depth of their experience.

"The composition and amount of individual herbs in each formula need to be adjusted according to individualized diagnosis," Dr. Liu says. "It takes years to become well trained and experienced in Chinese herbal medicine practice."

Thomas Leung, who owns Kamwo Herb & Tea, agrees that those curious about sampling Chinese herbs should always do so under the guidance of trained professionals. Leung suggests checking the credentials of herbalists by confirming whether practitioners are certified by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (www.nccaom.org), a non-profit organization started in 1982 that establishes and promotes standards of competence and safety in both Oriental medicine and acupuncture.

Thomas Leung is a fourth generation herbalist

"Patients that come in to see a practitioner should ask whether they have certification from this organization," Leung says. "You just can't have people running around and calling themselves herbalists." 

Leung, 36, is a fourth generation herbalist whose grandfather, Ching Yiu Leung, started Kamwo more than 30 years ago. The modest, no-frills store -- which claims to be the largest Chinese herbal pharmacy on the East Coast -- offers more than 1,000 different kinds of herbs, 95 percent of which are botanicals. There are also more unusual remedies available, though, such as dried seahorses (hai ma) -- helpful for treating infected lymph nodes, Leung says. 

Raised in Manhattan, Leung graduated from the University of Buffalo with a degree in pharmacy. Training in the medical practices of both Western and Eastern cultures has convinced him that the two disciplines function well when working hand-in-hand.

"Take the example of an asthmatic attack," he says. "You can't breathe. You need to use your inhaler. That's the strength of Western medicine. But in Chinese medicine, the strength is preventative. There are things that you can take that help strengthen your constitution so that you're less likely to have these attacks."

Perhaps reflecting the increasing awareness of alternative medicine within the broader culture, Leung says that about 60 percent of his customer base is now non-Chinese, men and women from varied backgrounds seeking out his herbal therapies, which range in price depending on the plants and roots involved. Mint leaves, for instance, cost about 80 cents an ounce while the same amount of ginseng costs about $12.

Customers can purchase herbs in raw form and brew them at home or, "we can brew them for you on the premises," Leung says. "We vacuum pack it and people bring it home, warm it up like a baby bottle and drink it."

After purchasing their herbal formulas, New Yorkers interested in alternative clinical services such as acupuncture and massage can step into the Grand Meridian, another seven-room store owned by Leung, which is located directly in the rear of Kamwo.

Customers walk through a glass door and into a tranquil, wood-floored waiting area. After relaxing with a hot cup of cinnamon plum tea, guests can enjoy a massage ($70) or schedule an appointment with one of the acupuncturists ($75) -- all licensed and insured by the state of New York. 

In addition to the kinds of full-service treatment centers run by Leung, there are also a number of smaller, mom-and-pop shops in Chinatown that serve a more limited array of unconventional medicines.

Kar Leung Lo, an immigrant from Hong Kong, started New T.Y.K Trading about 18 years ago. Guests at his business walk into a small, narrow store, located at 87A Bayard Street, jam-packed from floor to ceiling with Chinese herbs, everything from ginseng to angelica root (helpful for women during menstruation, Lo says), and trays of charcoal-black, dried deer tails, which are "good for kidneys," Lo adds.

Speaking through a translator, Lo explained that he worked in Hong Kong for 10 years as an herbalist, learning the craft from his grandfather and father.

"It's a family tradition that I carried on," he said.

Like Thomas Leung, Lo, who is 50, says that in recent years the number of non-Chinese frequenting his store has steadily increased, totaling now about 40 percent of his business. After so many years working in the downtown community, Lo has befriended many of his clients, getting to know personally many of the people he treats.

"Repeat customers actually make up about 70 percent of my customer base," he says. "So I've made friends with a lot of customers. They come and visit me. I like that."

Another option for New Yorkers seeking herbal remedies is Yue Fung Enterprises, a chain of six stores in Chinatown. At the 53-55 Elizabeth Street location, those hoping for relief from a temple-pounding headache or throbbing lower back walk past trays of dried shrimp and oysters and into a spacious, airy room filled with groceries and foodstuff.

Yue Fung provides groceries, dried seafood, and herbs

At each Yue Fung store, there is a traditional Chinese medicine doctor available to assist customers, according to Shelly Gao, assistant general manager of the business. Patrons browse through hundreds of different herbal remedies purchased in China, Hong Kong, and Japan: everything from mushrooms and fungus to thinly sliced deer horn and geckos -- whole lizards dried and tied to wood sticks, heads and claws still attached, used to treat a persistent cough for $6.

Nearby, at Lin Sister Herb Shop at 4 Bowery, Frank Lin looks on as a formula is prepared for one of his patients suffering from allergies: a neat, multi-colored heap of herbs piled on a placemat including xanthium tea, dahurian (a chalk-white root), peppermint plant, and magnolia. This dry Chinese stew of remedies, Lin says, will relieve congestion and headaches -- all for $8.

A Chinese formula for allergies prepared by Frank Lin

Lin, along with his sisters Susan and Jane, started working in the herbal field in 1983, shortly after immigrating to New York from their native China.

"We had the idea for this business when we came here in 1980," says Lin, a middle-aged man with graying hair, dressed in khakis and a white lab coat. "If we went to see a doctor, we found that the medicine was not part of our culture, what we believe in. Also, the prices were overpriced."

Today, the Lins operate treatment centers at 18 Elizabeth Street and on the Bowery, where customers walk past a small library featuring books on Chinese diet therapy and massage and a wall of wood drawers, from which staffers dispense their organic remedies. Upstairs, on the white-tiled second floor, a receptionist helps clients schedule appointments with the acupuncturists ($55 per session) -- all licensed by the state of New York, according to Lin.

Also, for $30, the treatment center offers foot massages. In Chinese medicine, Lin explains, there is the belief that some spots on the underside of the foot relate to organs in the body. Beneath the toes, for example, there is a spot relating to the lungs.

"By doing massages," Lin says, "we can stimulate and balance the functions of the organs."

About 400 people now frequent Lin's store every day, a number that he believes will only increase in the near future.

"Herbs in general will become popular," he says. "It's part of a larger movement of going back to nature."