Henry Pasternak, D.V.M., C.V.A.
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 This perennial, known by herbalists as the purple coneflower, is a native to the great plains of the United States. Echinacea was one of the most popular herbs used by the Native American Indians. They used it to treat coughs, colds, sore throats, infections, toothaches, and even snake bites.
The active components that occur in the various echinacea preparations can be divided into three major groups: caffeic acid derivatives, polysaccharide fractions, and lipophilic components. Both lipophilic components and caffeic acid derivatives have been shown to stimulate phagoctyosis by macrophages. |
Kathi Keville
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 Modern herbalists find that both lemon balm and motherwort help alleviate depression, especially when combined with other antidepressant herbs. And aromatherapists commonly use the scent of lemon balm to treat depression.
One final remedy that I would suggest for relieving depression and anxiety is capsules of GLA, which is found in evening primrose, borage and black currant seed oils. In studies done at the London Children's Hyperactive Clinic in England, evening primrose oil was shown to reduce depression and nightmares in children. |
Margarita Artschwager Kay
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 Present-day Mexican Americans and Mexicans use the roots of matarique for diabetes (the Tarahumara do not have a similar illness category), as do herbalists in Baja California Norte, who also recommend it for problems of the liver, kidneys, and pancreas. It is harvested by curan-deros and also may be purchased at certain Arizona supermarkets.
Phytochemistry. Extracts from roots have yielded new sesquiterpenes such as cacalol, cacalone, maturin, maturi-nin, maturone, maturinone, and dimaturone (Bye 1986: 116-17). |
| Further, these metabolites vary in their concentration depending upon the part of the plant, the season of the year, the chemistry of the soil where they grow—which may explain why herbalists will maintain that there are certain times of year and specific places that are optimal for collecting medicinal plants. These metabolites are often toxic compounds that in appropriate dosage are medicines. |
| However, these references are not consistently useful; herbalists often give varying descriptions and names to the individual plant species they use. Sometimes dictionaries may also be helpful in providing etymological information. For this study, I consulted every useful reference of the above types for each medicinal plant.6
I have a collection of medicinal plants made through the years (and continually added to), either transplanted to my garden or carefully dried. Those given to me from local kitchen gardens are identified under the direction of Charles T. |
| Pliny had said much the same about women herbalists in the first century a.d." Through the centuries, these "known and common garden herbs" have been used in systems of medicine as alternatives to the prevailing official medicine.
The Plant Pharmacy of the New World
Early Studies of New World Plants
The Renaissance was not only a revival of ancient knowledge, it was an eagerness for discovering new things: Columbus's travels to the New World occurred when Europeans were greatly interested in learning new ways in healing. |
Hemp TodayEd Rosenthal
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| Nearly all of the early herbalists and botanical writers of Europe mention hemp, but there is no record of any further introduction of importance in the fiber industry until the last century.
Introduction of Chinese Hemp into Europe
In 1846 M. Hebert sent from China to the Museum at Paris some seeds of the "tsing-ma" great hemp, of China. Plants from this seed, grown at Paris by M. L. Vilmorin, attained a height of more than 15 feet, but did not produce seeds. In the same year M. Itier sent from China to M. Delile, of the Garden at Montpellier, France, seeds of a similar kind of hemp. |
Sharol Tilgner, N.D.
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 This type of herbal treatment does not take into account the individual constitution of the person being treated or the type of therapeutic strategies that have guided medical herbalists for thousands of years. A flood of books on herbalism are now available to the public and the medical profession, most of them written by individuals with no hands-on experience in plant identification, harvesting, medicine-making, clinical herbalism, or even the general principles of holistic medicine. Dr. |
| When calculating for an extract, most herbalists use 100% rather than 95% because the calculations are easier mathematically and the final product is unaffected. Therefore the following calculations are based on 100%alcohol, although 95% alcohol is actually being used.
DRY PLANT LIQUID EXTRACT or TINCTURE DIRECTIONS
Dry plant liquid extracts are easier to make than fresh plant liquid extracts. Your first extract should be from dried material to ensure good results.
Implements and ingredients:
• Finely chopped herbs.
• Glass containers with tight fitting lids. |
| Additionally, it has been thought by many herbalists that echinacea should only be used short term because its effects stop after a period of 1-3 weeks. However there are many individuals who have used this herb long term with successful results. An 8-week double-blind study in 1989 showed echinacea was useful in prevention of respiratory infections. Another study using oral echinacea for 10 weeks showed prevention of recurrent bouts of vaginal candidiasis.256
Echinacea angustifolia is becoming endangered and only organic Echinacea angustifolia should be used.
Elder flowers -Sambucus spp. |
| Not an herb, but often used by herbalists.
Part used: Resin.
Taste/smell: Resinous, pleasant.
Tendencies: Warming, drying.
Dosage: 1:4 dry strength liquid extract: 15-40 drops 1-4 times per day.
Use: (a) Hepatoprotective, 270 (b) Antioxidant,105 (c) Expectorant, (d) Antiseptic with soothing and healing properties.
Propolis is used for sore throats, toothaches, coughs, respiratory and urinary tract infections, gum inflammation and as a topical antiseptic.103
Contraindications: It is contraindicated in pregnancy. |
Cynthia A. Foster, M.D.
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 One of the greatest natural healers and herbalists of modern times was John R. Christopher, ND. His herbal remedies were successful for diseases such as anemia, blood poisoning, lack of circulation, heart disease, strokes, cancer, blindness, deafness, diabetes, life-threatening infections such as tetanus, and many more diseases too numerous to mention. Dr. Christopher used to say that there was no such thing as an incurable disease, only incurable people. There are only people who are not willing to take the steps to heal their disease. |
Alan Keith Tillotson, Ph.D., A.H.G., D.Ay.
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 Today, naturopaths, along with European and American medical herbalists, are among the leaders in carrying forward the traditions of Eclectic medicine.
What is a holistic M.D. ?
A holistic M.D. is a licensed physician who has completed standard Western medical training and then gone on to additional education in the philosophies and methods of natural healing. The natural therapeutics holistic M.D.'s study are similar to those of naturopathic medicine, but N.D.'s are educated at workshops or through self-study instead of through university attendance. |
Robert S. McCaleb, Evelyn Leigh, and Krista Morien
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 Conservationists, herbalists, and other plant lovers are increasingly alarmed at the rate at which wild echinacea is disappearing from areas of former abundance in Montana, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. Unauthorized collection—in other words, poaching— is taking place on public and private land, tribal lands, and even nature preserves. |
Donald R. Yance, j r.,C.N., M.H., A.H.G., with Arlene Valentine
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 Only skilled herbalists or doctors trained in the use of this plant and the constitutional uses of cardiac glycosides should use digitalis because it can be toxic.77
Fringe Tree [Chionanthus virginicns)
This herb, seldom used today, has much value for the liver and other digestive organs. It has no cancer-inhibiting effects that we are aware of, but it has a specific use in cancer therapies. It is indicated when the patient is suffering from jaundice, acute dyspepsia, acute or chronic inflammation of the liver, or irritable liver. |
| Pulsatilla (Anemone Pulsatilla)
This herb, also called pasque flower, is often used as a remedy by homeopathic physicians but is seldom used by herbalists. The Eclectic physicians claimed it was very valuable, however, and found that the fresh plant extract was far more effective than any other preparation (perhaps because its life force was preserved). The Greek physician Pliny noted that the flower was named after the wind (anemos) because the flower, which is one of the first spring flowers to bloom, opened only when the wind blew. |
| However, herbal researchers and traditional herbalists already know many herbs that work in harmony with the immune system in an equally remarkable way.
The immune system is the body's way of defending itself against invasion by foreign substances (pathogens). The immune response involves the coordinated efforts of several types of white blood cells. Invaders like viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa all invoke and activate our immune system through a complex process to rid the body of pathogens. Once a pathogen causes the immune system to react, it is considered an antigen. |
Ralph W. Moss PhD
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 In the last few hundred years these herbalists have evolved into medical botanists, pharmacognosists, and molecular biologists.
Coffea arabica (coffee)
Cancer in Early History
As far back as we go in the written medical records as well, we find mentions of cancer and cancer-like diseases. Indeed, as Dr. Jonathan Hartwell wrote, to study the history of cancer is to study not just the history of medicine but of humanity itself. Every ancient culture (except, for inexplicable reasons, the Mesopotamians and Hebrews) knew cancer well and devised elaborate ways to treat it. |
| Traditional herbalists agree that it strengthens and balances the immune system" and is a useful remedy for immune system-related problems such as colds, flu, boils, infections, as well as malaria. It "can combat infection, give great vitality, build up immunity to disease, strengthen cellular structure and help eliminate pain and inflammation..."
A Brazilian doctor named Paulo Martin was often quoted in these articles, attesting to the virtues of the miracle tea. A supermarket tabloid, the Globe, ran the following statement:
"American herbal medicine experts Dr. |
| Out of thousands of possible candidates, these few have often been the standbys of herbalists of all eras. Is this just coincidence? Conscious or unconscious borrowing? Or are they used because they work, and are empirically discovered and rediscovered to have beneficial effects for cancer patients? Only scientific tests can answer that question.
Alternative practitioners are often accused of being secretive. However, in his book Kloss appears to be open and honest, to the point of naivete. |
| Hemlock is also sometimes used by herbalists, as well. I found the following on the Internet: "On account of its peculiar sedative action on the motor centers, hemlock juice (succus conii) is prescribed as a remedy in cases of undue nervous motor excitability, such as teething in children, epilepsy from dentition, cramp, in the early stages of paralysis agitans, in spasms of the larynx and gullet, in acute mania, etc. As an inhalation it is said to relieve cough in bronchitis, whooping-cough, asthma, etc." (www. alternative-medicines. com/1 hemlo ck. htm). |
| In 1933, the Nazis passed a law giving naturopaths and herbalists nearly equal status with doctors and surgeons. Nazi leader Rudolf Hess remarked, "I have had experience of the value of natural healing on my own body. Science admits that it is faced with failure. The natural remedy, it seems to me, is to return to Mother Nature."
The country was flooded with natural remedies and books on plant therapy. |
| Similar trends were seen of course in other countries: "Fitness classes were crowded; yoga became popular; and homoeopaths, osteopaths, naturopaths, and herbalists were all busier than before" (154). But the back-to-nature trend was strongest in Germany.
Today, about one-fifth of all German MDs practice either homoeopathy, Anthroposophical medicine, or phytotherapy (the German name for herbalism). Government commissions smoothly regulate homoeopathic, herbal and Anthroposophical medicine (313). |
William Duffy
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 European peasants seemed to know what to do about it; wise women, mid-wives, and herbalists prescribed all sorts of wild green plants as "scurvy grass."2
The Christian armies and navies were ravaged by scurvy. While church and state were burning natural healers as witches, sorcerers, poisoners, and dealers in black magic, churchmen and royalty were victims of their own official magic: The notion that scurvy could be cured by the touch of a royal personage, an emperor or king. |
Rowan Robinson
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| Chinese herbalists recommend huo ma ren ("fire hemp seeds") in doses from 9 to 15 grams, up to 45 grams, to nourish the yin (the feminine) in cases of constipation in the elderly, "blood deficiency," and recuperation from febrile diseases. In Chinese medicine hemp seed falls under the categories "sweet," "neutral," and "clears heat," operating through the channels of the stomach, large intestine, and spleen. It promotes the healing of sores and ulcerations when applied topically or ingested. Excessive or prolonged use may result in "vaginal discharge" or spermatorrhea. |
Textbook of Natural Medicine 2nd Edition Volume 2Michael T. Murray, ND
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| Its long history of use by herbalists and naturopathic physicians for the treatment of infections is well documented in the scientific literature. Of particular importance here is its efficacy against Escherichia coli, Proteus sp., Klebsiella sp., Staphylococcus sp., Enterobacter aerogenes (requires large dosage), and Pseudomonas sp.29,30 Berberine, like hydroquinone from
Table 145. |
Robert S. McCaleb, Evelyn Leigh, and Krista Morien
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| At the same time, standardized extracts are somewhat controversial to some herbalists precisely because they are hightech and highly processed. Some people worry that extremely sophisticated or refined herbal products are once again taking us away from nature in the same direction that synthetic medicines have led us. Before we plunge into a debate on the subject, here are some basics about extraction. |
Robyn Landis
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 It is possible to do harm with herbs; there is no question about that. herbalists and doctors alike have used the adage "The dose makes the poison." There are a handful of herbs that are naturally so powerful that they could be harmful if misused. These herbs are identified throughout the book, where relevant. It's important to distinguish the majority (very mild herbs that are therapeutic only in large doses) from the small minority (potent herbs that must be used sparingly). Knowledge of traditional uses is key. |
Robert S. McCaleb, Evelyn Leigh, and Krista Morien
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| Traditional herbalists believe that in the presence of respiratory tract infection, the excretion of garlic compounds through the lungs brings some of garlic's antimicrobial properties into direct contact with the site of infection. This is one possible explanation for garlic's reputation for effectiveness in the treatment of colds, flu, and other respiratory tract infections. |
| Traditional herbalists consider lavender a carminative herb, useful in relieving flatulence, colic, and digestive upsets. Lavender essential oil has been commonly applied externally to help heal burns and wounds, to soothe sore joints, and to relieve headache pain when rubbed on the temples.
Lavender's reputation for supporting digestive function is reflected in its many food uses. The small, bitter-tasting flowers have traditionally been added to salads, honey, wine, cheese, butter, and poultry dishes. |
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