Simon Mills and Kerry Bone
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 H. zeyheri is physically similar to H. procumbens and has become an inferior substitution species, despite its low level of active constituents.
PHARMACODYNAMICS
Antiinflammatory and antirheumatic activity
Many of the studies undertaken to examine the antiinflammatory effects of devil's claw have demonstrated limited activity in the standard inflammatory models. The antiinflammatory effect varies with the route of administration and nature of the condition (acute or subacute). |
Tanya Harter Pierce
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 Many small herb providers carry the Essiac herbs and can sell them to you shortly after harvesting, with instructions on how to mix and prepare them in your own home.
In a similar way, the diet-based approaches which focus primarily on high amounts of fresh vegetables and fruits, such as the Gerson therapy or wheatgrass therapy, may not be as effective as they were decades ago. This may be partly because it is difficult in this modern world to find fruits and vegetables grown in truly balanced, healthy soils. |
D. Lindsey Berkson
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 Another herb, vitex, stimulates progesterone. Susan S. Weed's book Menopausal Years: The Wise Woman Way (Ash Tree Publishing, 1992) gives complete herbal remedies for all menopausal conditions. However, plant products such as cohosh, dong quai, vitex, and American ginseng may stimulate estrogen-dependent breast and uterine cancers. For women at risk, use other herbs or hormone potentiators (that use Korean ginseng). Homeopathic medications have been helpful for some women, too. |
Ben-Erik van Wyk
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 Indian mustard • Dijon mustard
Brown mustard plant Brown mustard seeds
Description This is a perennial herb with lobed leaves, yellow flowers and oblong, beaked, indehiscent (non-shattering) fruit capsules containing several brown or yellowish, spherical seeds. The terms "black", "white" or "brown" are often used interchangeably but mostly refer to B. nigra, Sinapis alba and B. juncea, respectively. In India, the seeds are widely known as rai, while Dijon mustard is named after the main production area of mustard paste in France. |
| Asparagus officinalis asparagus
Asparagus plants
Description A perennial herb with an underground rhizome ("crown") from which long slender, bright green, leafless stems emerge in spring and summer. The flowers are small, white to pale yellow in colour and develop into small rounded berries, green at first but turning bright red when they mature. The edible part is the young stem ("spear") that is cut before it emerges (white asparagus) or usually blanched by covering with soil and harvested when about 20-30 cm long. |
| Uses & properties The fresh herb is most famous as a popular seasoning and garnish for fish dishes, potato salad and other salads. The aromatic fruits are used in pickles ("dill pickles", mainly gherkins), butter ("dill butter"), vinegars, bread, cheeses, sauces and vegetables. In North Africa, dill fruits are popular in meat dishes, while the Scandinavians traditionally use them when preparing crayfish or salmon. Dill is more aromatic than fennel and is always used fresh. Nutritional value Only small quantities are used as seasoning. |
Victoria Boutenko, M.A.
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 The best way to learn which weeds are edible is to sign up for an herb walk with an experienced guide in your local area. This way you can learn to recognize particular edible plants by actually touching, smelling, and tasting them so that you can gather your "wild produce" on your own. Also, there are lots of articles and photos of edible weeds on the internet. You may also find many books that help identify edible plants in your area.
For variety, we include several kinds of sprouts in our diet, but never more than a handful and only one or two times a week. |
Mike Adams
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 In fact, recent evidence has shown that a common herb can rescue injured brain cells even when taken hours after the injury occurs!
- Russell Blaylock, M.D. |
| And thankfully, many food manufacturing companies are adding stevia to their products despite the status of the herb held by the FDA.
I'll talk more about stevia later, but for now I want to bring you back to the main point of this section: that too many consumers frequently turn to products sweetened with chemical sweeteners, and as a result, they are turning themselves into human guinea pigs and consuming chemicals that have never been proven safe for long-term consumption. |
John Heinerman
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 Remove from heat, cover, and steep 45 minutes. Drink while still lukewarm with a squeeze of lemon juice in it and sweetened with a touch of blackstrap molasses. Makes a real gutsy brew that will just about knock any cold unconscious.
Horehound candy makes a super remedy for sore throat and inflamed lungs due to cold, flu, allergies or smoking.
Needed: 1 oz. fresh horehound or 1/4 cup dried; 14/2 cups water; 2 cups honey; 1 cup blackstrap molasses.
Boil water in small saucepan. Add horehound and simmer 10 minutes. Allow to stand off heat for 5 mins., then strain liquid into large, heavy 5-qt. |
Neal D. Barnard and Bryanna Clark Grogan
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 Stevia is an intensely sweet derivative of an herb from Paraguay. It is sold as a dietary supplement (its use as a commercial food additive has not yet been approved).
Sucralose (Splenda) is a calorie-free sweetener made from cane sugar to which chlorine has been chemically added, greatly increasing the sweetness of the final product. Sugar alcohols, such as mannitol, sorbitol, and xylitol, are low-calorie sweeteners sometimes used in candies, chewing gum, and desserts. They have about half the calories of table sugar. There are, of course, other artificial sweeteners. |
Jonathan V. Wright, M.D. and Alan R. Gaby, M.D.
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 Herb teas are OK, except those containing citrus.
Refined Sugars
Eliminate table sugar and any foods that contain it, candy, soda, pies, cake, and cookies. Other names for sugar include sucrose, glucose, dextrose, corn syrup, corn sweetener, fructose, maltose, and levulose. These must all be avoided. Some patients
(those without suspected "blood sugar problems") are allowed 1 to 3 teaspoons per day of pure, unprocessed honey, maple syrup or barley malt. This is decided on an individual basis. If you are restricted from all sugars, please do not eat dried fruit. |
Joe Graedon, M.S. and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D.
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 John's Wort
The medical community has had a very hard time grappling with research suggesting that an herb might be as good as an antidepressant like fluoxetine (Prozac) for relieving depression. Nevertheless, there have been dozens of clinical trials demonstrating that St. John's wort can be effective in treating mild to moderate depression.200 In some studies, St. John's wort works as well as prescription antidepressants, and it usually has fewer troublesome side effects.
St. John's wort has long been prescribed in Europe for treating depression and other mood disorders. |
John Heinerman
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| The same steps can also be followed with great success in treating carbuncles, boils, venereal disease, herpes sores, swollen testicles and breasts.
Nice Salve Relief for Itching, Rashes
Chickweed brings great comfort to the miseries of chronic itching and severe rashes. Just make a salve using fresh chickweed, if possible; otherwise the dried powder will have to be used instead.
Needed: l-l/2cups coarsely cut fresh chickweed (or 1/2 cup liquid chlorophyll with 1 cup powdered chickweed); 2 cups pure virgin olive oil; 6 tbsp. beeswax. |
| This is good for cataracts, detached retinas and occasionally glaucoma.
CHICKWEED
(Sir i.i art a media)
Brief Description
This apparently feeble member of the pink group is actually a lusty annual with matted to upright green stems that take over many areas. Commencing its growth in the fall, it vigorously thrives through the sleet and snowstorms of winter, even in the far north, survives most weed killers, beginning to bloom while the snow is often still on the ground, and many times it finishes its seed production in the springtime. |
| Cover and steep for 40 min. Wash the face and neck often. Packs consisting of a wash cloth or small terrycloth hand towel soaked in the tea, lightly wrung out and then applied to the entire facial area for up to 10 minutes several times a day should help to tighten up loose skin folds. Gradual results should become evident within 2 weeks. One of the first things to look for is a new kind of life feeling in formerly tired, worn-out skin.
Calms Epileptic Seizures
The late naturopathic physician, John Lust, recommended cleavers for epileptic seizures. A tincture probably is the most effective. |
Jonathan V. Wright, M.D. and Alan R. Gaby, M.D.
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| In a survey of 270 individuals with migraines who had taken feverfew every day for prolonged periods of time, more than 70% believed the herb decreased the frequency and/or severity of their attacks. Seventeen of those who had seen a positive response to feverfew participated in a double-blind study, in which they were either continued on feverfew or given a placebo. Individuals taking the placebo became significantly worse, with increases in the frequency and severity of headaches, nausea, and vomiting. In contrast, those who continued on feverfew maintained their previous improvement. |
| In addition, saw palmetto is less expensive than finasteride—approximately $20 per month for the herb, compared with $60 per month for the prescription medication.
The dosage used in most of the clinical studies was 320 mg per day of a saw palmetto extract standardized to contain 85% fatty acids (a single daily dosage of 320 mg has been found to work as well as 160 mg twice a day). However, some of our patients have found that lower doses are effective for them (either initially or for maintenance). We usually advise our patients to start with 320 mg per day. |
| Type 1 diabetics given an extract of this herb for 6 to 8 months experienced, on average, a 23% reduction in fasting blood glucose and a 25% decrease in insulin requirement.15 Type 2 diabetics given the same extract for 18 to 20 months also showed a significant reduction in blood-sugar levels; 5 of 22 patients were able to discontinue their blood-sugar-lowering medication and all of the others (except one) were able to reduce the dosage. |
| Where's this wonder herb been for all this time?" Mrs. Livingston asked. "Just peaceably growing in hedgerows? I know—not patentable, right?"
"Actually, hawthorn's been used extensively in folk medicine for heart and artery problems for centuries."
"Well, I'm glad you doctor-folk are finally catching on again! Is that everything?"
"For now." I handed her the list, along with another list of recommended laboratory tests. Looking at these, she got up slowly to go, and then sat back down again. She gave me a peculiar look—a combination of an inquiry and her best glare. |
| An herb known as gugulipid (Commiphora mukul) has been shown to reduce serum cholesterol by more than 20%, without producing any significant adverse effects.19 Beta-sitosterol, a steroid found in many plant foods, has also been reported to lower serum cholesterol. In selected cases, thyroid hormone is an extremely effective cholesterol-lowering agent.
Conclusion
The potential benefits of any cholesterol-lowering regimen (particularly drug therapy) should be weighed against its risks. |
John Heinerman
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| Even the culinary form of ground thyme has some medicinal application for various skin problems. Mix together 1 tsp. ground thyme, 1/2 tsp. lime juice, 1/2 tsp. onion juice with just enough honey to form a soft, sticky paste. Then apply directly on open, festering sores and boils of any kind and leave for 12 hours or so. Change again or wash away when showering or bathing and apply some new paste. This will help to heal them a lot faster, Messegue discovered. |
Thomas Bartram
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 To be treated by or in liaison with a qualified medical practitioner.
LASSITUDE. See: WEAKNESS.
LAVENDER. Lavendula vera. Lavendula angustifolia. Flowers.
Constituents: flavonoids, coumarins, triterpenes, volatile oil.
Action: inhalant, antidepressive, antispasmodic, cephalic, pleasant antiseptic, carminative, rubefacient (oil), sedative, anticonvulsant. Antimicrobial. (B.N. Uzdennikov. Nauch. Tr. Tyumen. Sel-Khoz. Inst., No 7, 116 1970) Uses. |
Michael Tierra
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 There seems to be some research which supports this opinion.
It has been found that whole sassafras when fed to rats and mice does result in the formation of live tumors. However, when the safrole, which accounts for part of the characteristic aroma and flavor of sassafras is removed, the rats still develop liver tumors. It would seem that something in sassafras simply does not agree with the metabolism of rats.
In 1977, however, Swiss toxicologists performed a study giving sassafras by mouth to human volunteers regularly over an appropriate period of time. |
Patrick Quillin, PhD,RD,CNS
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 Among the more promising Oriental herbs for cancer patients are Codonopsis available from China herb Co. (800-221-4372) or Frontier Herbs (800-669-3275).
SKIN CANCER. A special note about basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma. These cancers are extremely common, with about 800,000 medical office procedures done annually to remove minor skin cancers. Surgical excision is about 90% effective as a long term cure. Melanoma is a much more lethal and rare form of skin cancer that requires professional attention. |
Maesimund B. Panos, M.D. and Jane Heimlich
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 But the self-help herbalist has no way of knowing what constitutes a "safe" dose, since this information is seldom provided in herb books. In the Journal of the American Medical Association, a doctor recently reported three cases of poisoning, one fatal, resulting from three young women, independently, dosing themselves with large amounts of oil from the pennyroyal plant.
Homeopathy bears no relation to the free-spirit approach and practices of herbalism. Homeopathy is scientific medicine; its rules were developed by following the procedures of the scientific method. |
Ray Strand, M.D.
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 Above all, know that when you choose to start taking an herb or group of herbs, you are actually using drugs. Respect this truth and have the courage to inform your doctor of everything you are taking. |
| Studies reveal that three out of four patients will not communicate to their doctors that they are taking an herb or group of herbs.14
The best illustration of this point is St. John's wort. Many people take St. John's wort to treat their depression, because it works similarly to the antidepressants physicians prescribe, such as Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, and Effexor. As I've said before, patients are self-medicating and self-treating more now than ever before. Only when their symptoms do not improve do they typically consult their physician. |
Thomas Bartram
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| China.
Action. Anti-infective against Coxsackie virus. Immune stimulant. Antiviral. Uses. Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). Upper respiratory infection. For increased white blood cell count, improved sleep habits and to stimulate appetite in patients receiving chemotherapy and radiation. (American Health 1989 8th Oct. -100) To increase production of interferon. Gastric ulcer therapy. Influenza. The common cold. To combat Coxsackie B myocarditis. Of value for incontinence and frequency of urine. Inhibits HIV-1 replication in cells acutely or chronically infected. Preparation. Decoction. |
| Boil, half an hour. Drink all over 1 -2 days for water retention. Roasted beans: nutritious coffee substitute. French bean water (after cooking beans without salt) used traditionally in France for a soaked-lint compress for leg ulcer.
Powder. Capsules, 200mg. Dose: 8 capsules: 2 in morning, 3 at midday, 3 in the evening, at beginning of meals. (Arkocaps)
BEANS, BROAD (Viviafaba), leguminosae. |
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