The side effects of CWM are well known. Chemical medicines can be transmitted everywhere in the body through blood circulation. They change the threshold of information transformation, hence changing the function of the partial tissue. This change restrains the regular function of the tissue. However, the pharmacology of Chinese herbal medicine is different. Being composed of plant products, Chinese herbal medicine has similar components to living entities, such as proteins, amino acids, alkaloids, and tannin. Obviously, these materials have minimal side effects and favorable treatment effects due to their similarity to human body cells. They help restore the energy equilibrium and enhance the tissue function in the human body. Therefore, the herbs have an automatic and bidirectional selectivity, along with an intelligent function.
Since herbal medicine does not directly attack the sick parts but rather aims to restore the inner environment, the choice of the proper herbal medicines and the correct dosage are important. The herbal treatment in TCM is guided by the Yin–Yang theory and the five phases theory. According to these theories, living creatures exist by adapting to changes in the outside world with a one-to-one correspondence. If a certain reaction of this living entity resembles the reaction of the human body to an environmental change, then both have responsive intercommunity. The human body can utilize this living entity to restore its function. Some research indicates that herbal medicine (acting differently from Western chemical medicine) bears the energy and information that is invisible to the casual observer limited by the three-dimensional world. The energy and information can directly affect the energy circulation, control the closing and opening of cells, and control the gathering and releasing of energy in the human body. This helps remove the blockage and restore the circulation of energy.