Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Broccoli, garlic, onions and sprouts all have powerful anti-cancer effects, as do dozens of rainforest herbs (Cat's Claw, for example), Chinese herbs and western herbs. But the FDA threatens and censors any company that dares to mention cancer prevention on its supplement products. Why is the FDA enforcing a policy of nutritional ignorance with U.S. consumers? Why does the federal government want people to remain ignorant of methods for preventing or treating cancer?
You probably already know the answer to all these questions, because the answer is the same for each one: Corporate profits. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Mike: A lot of people are used to seeing western herbs in this kind of packaging or going to a health food store and finding western herbs, but even though traditional Chinese herbs are more common now, people still tend to associate them with Chinese herbal medicine shops. You are Westernizing the packaging and the naming of traditional Chinese medicine. I think that's innovative.
St. Clair: Well, we've actually been doing this now for about 12 years, and, initially, some of our formulas were used just in practitioners' offices and not in health food stores. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 We use Chinese herbs, western herbs, flower essences, gem elixirs and our flower essences are mostly Indian orchids, so they have a really high frequency. All of our products can be eaten and they are food for the skin.
Mike: Can you talk a little bit about what is not in your skin care products?
Ashley: Sure, we do not use anything that is not a natural preservative. We do not use any parabens. We do not use any EDTA, anything at all. Everything that we use to preserve would be salt, sugar, honey and grapefruit seed extract. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 REPPED: You may be surprised to learn that as much as prescription drugs are now being shown to be dangerous for human health, there's also a big problem in the way people turn to alternative medicines such as Chinese herbs, western herbs, nutritional supplements and superfood supplements. And that problem is not in those remedies themselves, but rather in the way people use them to address their health challenges.
But to fully explain that problem, let's take a closer look at how people view prescription drugs. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 I'm talking about traditional Chinese medicine, western herbs, Ayurvedic medicine, acupuncture, massage therapy, homeopathy and other modalities in the alternative medicine realm. Organized medicine says "Those aren't proven -- only our stuff is proven. Your stuff is not proven." But of course, all their stuff is the circular reasoning I was talking about. They dismiss everything outside of the corrupt system that generates profits for them.
Organized medicine is a lot like a cult
You see, scientific medicine is whatever the high priests of organized medicine deem it to be. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Amazon herbs, western herbs, Chinese herbs and even medicinal mushrooms from Japan.
NutrientReference.com is a reference database of healing nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and phytonutrients like anthocyanins or saponins. Using this online reference site, you can find out which nutrients help certain health conditions, or even which foods contain specific nutrients.
SupplementReference.com is the smallest of these sites, listing dietary supplements like psyllium, glucosamine and others that don't quite qualify as individual nutrients. |
Mike Adams
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 In the world of western herbs, the most prominent liver-promoting herbs are dandelion, yellow dock and, of course, milk thistle, with its active phytochemical silymarin. In the world of rainforest herbs, there are quite a number of herbs that promote liver function, and again I recommend that you check out the Amazon Herb Company for more information (see my contact list in the resources section).
I also strongly recommend that you visit Chinese herbalists, because Chinese medicine is particularly good at helping the liver work well again. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| What we're trying to do is make Chinese herbal medication easier to understand. The western herbs are much more written about. Chinese herbs sometimes can't even be pronounced, let alone understood. So we've tried to take the mystery out of it by using names like Blood Sugar Balance, Clear Lungs, Sinus Clear -- things that people can understand. By doing that, we've had a lot of success because one thing I think people do understand is that the Chinese knew what they were doing and still know what they're doing when it comes to herbal medicine. |
Lesley Tierra
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 Other herbalists feel that certain particular Chinese or Ayurvedic herbs have unique abilities which no known western herbs can provide yet, and so they are included in formula with western herbs for their unique uses. Korean Ginseng is a well known example.
All formulas are specific for certain conditions and ailments and usually the package will say so. Because of the current legal restrictions in the United States on prescribing and diagnosing, most herbal formulas cannot usually state their exact uses and indications, as this may then be construed as prescribing and diagnosing. |
David Hoffman, FNIMH, AHG
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 If we examine the properties of western herbs traditionally used to treat immune system problems, it can be argued that the traditional alteratives, tonics, and digestive bitters address deep immune issues in a similar way to better-studied Asian herbs.
Surface Immune Activation
These are the many plants known as antimicrobials, or "immune system boosters." The more attention researchers give these plants, the greater the range of mechanisms are found to explain their activity. |
The Life Extension Editorial Staff
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 FM Formula (from Herbal Research) is a mixtute of Chinese and western herbs formulated specifically to combat the symptoms of fibtomyalgia. One study (although not peer-reviewed) showed that when taken for a minimum of 9 months, FM Formula helped to combat a viral condition that a group of British researchers believe is linked to fibromyalgia. This product should be taken while following the Candida control diet to further detoxify the body. |
Alan Keith Tillotson, Ph.D., A.H.G., D.Ay.
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 We usually start with western herbs, due to their ease of procurement, and utilize more complex formulations from the other systems if these are not sufficiently successful.
Urinary Tract Infections
The urinary tract includes the kidneys, bladder, ureters (the tubes that connect the kidney to the bladder), and urethra (the tube that leads from the bladder to the outside). Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are caused by bacteria which usually originate in the urethra before moving backward into the bladder where they can then grow and flourish. |
Michael Tierra
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 Several of the most important Chinese tonic herbs have been included in the chapter "Western Herbs."
The body fluids are comprised mostly of water. Through the control of this vital element, we are able to restore and maintain health and well-being.
The amount of fluids in the body can change very quickly. Our emotions are strongly linked to the balance of fluids in our bodies and thus can also change very quickly. In fact, changes of emotion are frequently related to changes in the water balance. For example, women commonly experience emotional sensitivity just before their menstrual period. |
| Many of the same properties have already been referred to in the chapter on "Methods of Applica-
31 tion" and will repeatedly be used in the description of the important "Western Herbs."
Alteratives: Also known as blood purifiers. These are agents that gradually and favorably alter the condition of the body. They are used in treating toxicity of the blood, infections, arthritis, cancer and skin eruptions. Alteratives also help the body to assimilate nutrients and eliminate waste products of metabolism. |
Michael Tierra, L.Ac, O.M.D.
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 As it turns out, the distinction between western herbs and Chinese herbs is a thin line; besides herbs of the official materia medica presented in this book, just about every common local garden weed—from dandelions to plantain—has its own Chinese name and therapeutic classification according to energy, flavors, organs and meridians affected, indications, and so forth.
In Chapter 6 (Food Therapy), I presented some of the therapeutic uses of common foods, recipes, and ways to incorporate Chinese herbs and foods in daily life. |
| Many of my Western herbalist colleagues, knowing that I had learned a great deal about western herbs and Native American plants in my early studies, have asked me why I have focused so much of my attention on an ethnic healing system that is so culturally distant from my own and relies on plants and other materials from animals and minerals from distant shores. |
| First, many of the so-called western herbs are used both in the TCM materia medica as well as in folk medicine. In fact, many Chinese herbalists seek to use some of these more common herbs that are also used by Western herbalists. Furthermore, with the increasing acceptance of TCM throughout the West, we are finding even more Chinese herbs being grown from both imported seeds and stock as well as becoming some of the most common Western ornamentals. |
Simon Mills and Kerry Bone
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 Not all plants are ascribed temperaments like warming or drying: some, like diuretics and astringents, were considered to have neutral temperaments; in other cases some western herbs have no consistent tradition that would allow these qualities to be safely ascribed.
Plants with antiinfective properties
• Allium sativum (garlic): heating, disinfectant, especially in lungs and gut.
• Berberis vulgaris (barberry): cooling and drying.
• Echinacea spp (echinacea): warming and promoting defences, particularly of throat and upper gut wall. |
Michael Tierra, L.Ac, O.M.D.
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| We see this in the sale of popular western herbs, such as feverfew (Chrysanthemum parthenium), a diaphoretic with broad application for fevers that is unfortunately being recommended and prescribed solely for migraine headaches; and St.-John's-wort (Hypericum perjoliatum), a specific anti-inflammatory for the healing of nerve pains that is unfortunately being popularly sold only as a mild antidepressant. |
Alan Keith Tillotson, Ph.D., A.H.G., D.Ay.
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| The same is true when I am choosing western herbs.
• Wind is treated in TAM with herbs that calm, warm, and nourish. They also reduce Vata dosha. In TCM, wind is heated with herbs that nourish the blood, herbs that remove heat from the liver, or herbs that nourish the Liver Yin. Western herbalists treat wind with antispasmodic and nervine herbs.
Making TCM Causative Factors Real and Useful
It is easiest to understand how causative factors "exist" during most disease processes when we combine them to describe a problem. |
| A few western herbs that offer benefit during pregnancy include:
• Black haw (Viburnum prunifolium) to relax, nourish, and tonify the female reproductive organs
• Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens) to nourish and strengthen during pregnancy
• Cramp bark (Viburnum opulus) to prevent miscarriages and prepare for birth
For an excellent discussion of all the many issues related to pregnancy and childbirth beyond the scope of this book, I highly recommend The Natural Pregnancy Book by herbalist and midwife Aviva Jill Romm, AHG. |
| Western herbs used for allergy include lobelia, feverfew, echinacea, eyebright flowering herb (Euphrasia officinalis), stinging nettle, ginkgo leaf, and garlic bulb. The combination of the flavonoid quercetin with bromelain is also useful.
• Some additional herbs that have specific antiallergy effects can be found in our earlier discussion of IgG, IgF, eosinophils, basophils, and mast cells. |
| Western herbs reputed to remove uric acid accumulations include cleavers (Galium aparine), hydrangea root (Hydrangea arborescens), buchu leaf (Barosma betulina), parsley root (Petroselinum crispum), parsley piert (Aphanes arvensis), and gravel root (Eupatorium purpureum).
Sciatica
The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the body, running from the lumbar and sacral plexuses down the back all the way to the buttocks and thigh. Compression or inflammation at the base of the sciatic nerve is typically the primary cause of sciatica. |
Michael Tierra
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| In the "Kitchen Medicines" and "Western Herbs" chapters we have tried to eliminate any information that would not be of immediate use to the reader. Those who wish more information may consult the sources described in the Bibliography. We have provided dosages and descriptions of methods of application, and the number of herbs has been restricted so as to minimize the common problem of information overload found in many herb books. |
Alan Keith Tillotson, Ph.D., A.H.G., D.Ay.
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| How do you determine which western herbs you should use to treat a patient whose health problem is best described by the Chinese as "deficiency of kidney Yin," or results from "reversed Vata," as determined by Ayurvedic diagnosis?
How to Learn from Other Cultural Systems of Herbology
I once challenged a Western-trained herbalist to take the 500 best-known herbs of TCM and, using the tools of pharmacology and Western scientific analysis, compound a formula that could stabilize chronic nephritis. He declined, knowing how daunting a task this would be. |
Michael Tierra, L.Ac, O.M.D.
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| Many are traditional
Chinese or Ayurvedic formulas, while others are single Chinese or western herbs. These formulas may be found in most herbal retail stores under the label Planetary Formulas or they can be ordered online at http://www.supplies.planetherbs.com.
HERBAL ORGANIZATIONS
American Herbalists Guild
P.O. Box 70 Roosevelt, UT 84066 phone: (435) 722-8434
The American Herbalists Guild is a professional body of herbalists dedicated to promoting and maintaining criteria for professional practice of herbalism in North America. There is a student membership available also. |
Berkeley Holistic Health Center and Shepherd Bliss
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| He is author of The Way of Herbs (published by Pocket Books) and formulator of the Planetary Line of Herbal products combining distinctive herbal formulas using Eastern and western herbs together; he is also author and director of the East-West Course in Herbology, a comprehensive correspondence course of the study of both western, ayurvedic, and Chinese clinical herbology. For further information write: Box 712, Santa Cruz, California 9S06S.
Roots of the New Herbalism
Ethan Nebelkopf
THE ROOTS of the New Herbalism go back to the beginning of humanity. |
Rudolph M. Ballentine, M.D.
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 It discusses a limited number of Eastern and western herbs from an Ayurvedic perspective.
The New Holistic Herbal, David Hoffmann, Element, Inc., Rockport, Mass., 1992. By a well-known and respected contemporary herbalist, this is a compilation of information on American and European herbs from the perspective and in the terminology of the modern European herbal tradition.
Healing Wise: The Wise Woman Herbal, Susun S. Weed, Ash Tree Publishing, Woodstock, N.Y., 1989. |
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