Do Chinese herb harm kidney..?
Some herbs can cause kidney damage and some should not be used if you already have kidney damage. Other herbs help heal the kidneys, like Milk Thistle Seed extract (silymarin) and Dandelion root. The ones most likely to hurt the kidneys are astringent ones, high in tannins, like Bilberry leaf, White Oak bark, Uva Ursi leaves and Juniper berries. None of these are “Chinese herbs” ; they are Western. I don’t know the individual herbs used in Chinese medicine (except for a few like Ginseng, Dong Quai, et.al.) so I would not take them except under the advice of a qualified herbalist that I trusted. Generally, astringent herbs can be recognized because they are drying to the tongue if you chew them or drink a strong tea.
