I attempt to teach folks that where feeling and being healthier, everything needs to have a balance especially when treating our health and trying to nutritionally keep things balanced so we have the proper nutritional tools in our prospective toolboxes.
I’m going to shed some light on medicinal herbs and their potential harm. In my profession, there is a central focus on using herbs, minerals, vitamin supplementation etc. to assist the body with coming back into balance and if someone is experiencing health problems that indicates there is an imbalance.
Symptoms and health problems don’t simply fly around in a crowd saying oh this person looks like a good candidate to drop down on and subject them to fatty liver issues, or hypertension, or hypothyroidism …. somewhere within the body there is a reason something is imbalanced that contributes, is it diet, genetics, lifestyle, stress, combo of all?… The body by God’s design knows how to fix, save and repair itself when it has a balanced amount of minerals, enzymes, vitamins etc. to make that happen. But it really is about balance….
In the past 30 years there has been a significant increase in herbal products, capsules, lotions, teas, and other products available in stores, online, mail order etc. The market is flooded with new products all the time. Seeking out medicinal plants in the quest for remedies that are “natural, holistic and organic.” Annual sales of these types of products have increased substantially, making one wonder is there any advantage to replacing prescription medications with herbal remedies? In some cases each have their respectful place!
When we look at what drives folks towards herbs, is it for their food value, protein content, vitamin ratio, mineral salts, fatty acids? Herbs aren’t being eaten for their nutriment, nutriment the word itself comes from the Latin word Nutrimentum, which means “NOURISHMENT”, which is the equivalent to the Latin words Nutri and Mentum, Nutri means to nourish or feed. The truth is that nutriment is ALL that physiology (body) requires from the outside, meaning we must physically put it IN! Many are choosing herbal supplements, supplements in general because we want something that is food based in structure but also offers some time of medicinal support.
WALK THROUGH HISTORY WITH ME
Since our earliest recorded history, people have used leaves, bark, roots and seeds as medicine. Egyptian writings from about 1500 B.C. describe some 700 plant drugs. Chinese texts on herbs dates to 2800 B.C. Until about a little over a century ago, plant medicine administered with prayer and sympathy was the only medicine people knew or relied upon.
When we look at modern pharmaceuticals that became available, drugs began to supplant especially in the Western world, the herbal teas, tinctures, and poultices of yester year. This wasn’t because herbs lacked medicinal properties. On the contrary, many of the drugs we use today originate from plants. Take aspirin, it’s a synthetic variation of “salicin” which is an ingredient found in the bark of the white willow tree.
A well-known anti-cancer drug, paclitaxel (Abraxane) comes from the bark of the Pacific yew tree. More than 25% of all medicine can be traced back to plants. If you count fungi and other microscopic plants, that proportion jumps to about 50%. Most other pharmaceuticals originate from minerals and animal.
I always ask patient’s to bring in actual bottles of any herbs, supplement, minerals etc. that they are taking daily. Sometimes what they show up with astounds and concerns me….. People are taking supplements, herbs, minerals, in many cases in overload! Then there is the issue of where are the ingredients being sourced from (that’s a topic for a different day).
Example: digitalis (which is the forerunner of “digoxin”) which is prescribed for people with an abnormal heart rhythm. Digitalis was originally derived from the fox glove plant. But NO cardiologist would suggest that patients chew on foxglove leaves because the dosage and effects would be far too unpredictable. Similarly, although you could brew the bark of the white willow which used to be sold and still is in health food stores to treat a headache or reduce inflammation, you wouldn’t know how much bark to use, since the quantity and quality of the active ingredient is going to vary. You’d have to guess as to how many cups to drink of the willow tea to get any therapeutic effect, yet with aspirin the dosage is now predictable and virtually inexpensive.
There must be a balance involved when supporting your health, which should include eating healthier and learn cleaner food choices, help balance any imbalances that are noted through labs/testing. The problem I keep seeing is people are taking herbs, minerals, vitamins etc. as prophylaxis agents using this approach is contributing to the opposite effect in many cases. Or worse, combining too many varieties!
ARE HERBS CONSIDERED “MEDICINE” IN CONTEXT BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN NUTRIENTS?
Let me point out that the “active” ingredients within herbal remedies ARE chemical compounds that fall in a category of “non-nutritive”. Meaning the body can’t utilize them in the creation of functional cells, organelles and tissues. Any drug or herbal product that has a true pharmacological effect also has a toxic effect which can result in compromised health. (read that twice if you must)! Many drugs utilized by doctors are purifications and refinements of medicinal herbs. Medical doctors and Naturopathic doctors are taught that drugs are toxic.
During one of my first pharmacology lectures in school, it was emphasized that all medicinal drugs or otherwise are poisonous to varying degrees.
Active chemicals in drugs are the same as those in herbs both “works” pharmacologically (effects in the body) by blocking or interfering with cellular metabolism through blind random chemical interaction at a molecular level. There is a chemical process that happens within the body when we take either a prescription or herbal, mineral, vitamin, etc. THAT’S why we use them!
When we look at drugs, the exact dose and its toxicologic properties are more accurately predicted, compared to medicinal herbs. The body must work to expel toxins, as it does other noxious material.
We need to understand that the active chemicals in drugs are the same as those in herbs: meaning…. both “works” pharmacologically, blocking or interfering with cellular metabolism through blind random chemical interaction at the molecular level.
Look at drugs/prescriptions, the exact dose and its toxicologic properties are more accurately predicted which is why the bottle has a “PRESCRIBED” dosage, compared to medicinal herbs that folks seem to think can be dosed as they deem fit?
When you begin to understand that a substance is considered pharmacologically active when it has the power to stimulate or interfere with natural body functions, so the faster the body responds, the more poisonous the substance is, and the stronger the toxic properties can be. Herbs are not valued as nutrients, but for their pharmacologic (poison/chemical) content. The nutrients we need (sugar conversion, amino acids, fatty acids, proteins, minerals, vitamins, enzymes, etc.) are amply contained in fruit, vegetables nuts and seeds, meats, grains we eat. Nutrients in the herbal category doesn’t fit the same criteria.
What IS valued in medicinal herbs though is their “therapeutic or curing” effect.
IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEDICINAL AND CULINARY HERBS?
Culinary herbs and medicinal herbs are DIFFERENT. Culinary herbs, are used in extremely small amounts to enhance the flavor in our food dishes, I personally cook with a wide variety. This is far different than concentrated mega doses used medicinally for an entirely different purpose: to suppress symptoms.
What I am trying to point out here is when one doesn’t understand the difference between drug effects and health effects and swears by implementing herbs, efficacy matters, dosage matters, duration of taking them matters! YES, I recommend some patients take different herbs or supplements, but the dosage is specified and duration is also specified. I’m all about giving the body what it shows that it needs, vs lets take this just in case!
Let me point out that medicinal herbs are classified by their pharmacological properties and identical to the classification’s in drug pharmacology. There ARE herbal cathartics, laxatives, emetics (that induce vomiting), stimulants and diuretics.
I discussed willow bark earlier as a source of salicylic acid, it’s the active ingredient in aspirin. Willow bark is classified as an antipyretic (anti-inflammatory) by herbalists and Naturopathic doctors just as aspirin is by the pharmacist and medical doctor. Both contain the same active substance and have the same pharmacological properties.
Both are known for their pharmacological effects, which BOTH cause toxic side effects when taken in large enough doses. In smaller doses, their harmful effects are less noticeable, BUT they accumulate over time in the body, and begin to cause overages and shortages nutritionally especially if you take for extended periods of time. Do you know how many of my patient’s state oh I’ve been taking this for years? I question that ALL the time as to WHY?
Because it offered relief or they initially felt a benefit and they are afraid to stop taking it. Yet because of the extended long-term use, they now are battling something different because it caused an imbalance. When relief is felt, discontinue use, and I CHOOSE to test vs. guess for a reason, the proof is in the results!
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IS IT AN HERBAL MIRAGE?
Yes, medicinal herbs work, people feel better, what I need folks to understand is the WHY, herbs just like drugs have naturally occurring components (chemical structure) if you will that interfere with some portion of natural body processes, that is why we use them, It stimulates or forces changes within.
Joint pain, headache, abdominal/digestive issues, inflammation pain, all indicate that the body is responding to some form of irritation or imbalance by actively purging either accumulated waste material or metabolic debris that has gotten past a point of toleration. Inflammation signals an effort on the part of the body to rid itself of whatever is offending normal cellular processes or responses. These are naturally early signs of SELF-INTITIATED repair. First rule that you should ask yourself is the “why” what caused or contributed to the problem, yet instead the first thing peeps do is seek to simply stop the symptom because and I GET it, it’s not comfortable. It’s inconvenient, I’m not saying don’t do anything to ease the symptom but unless you are willing to look at all the facets, you will continue to simply chase symptoms vs. getting on board with making needed modifications either in diet, lifestyle, stress modulation or all of them.
Now back to the herbs, the uncomfortable symptoms disappear when we use them or drugs, since the body will be in self defense mode we force it to abort the self-healing moment, self-initiated acute elimination crisis (the mass ejection of internal pollution) to deal with the more immediate emergency at hand: which in this case is now the herb or drug remedy. My point I am trying to make here is sometimes using the herbs or drugs to short circuit the uncomfortable self-healing process should be delayed depending on what you’re battling. Take time to figure out what the cause of the irritation is.
CAUSE OF HEALTH
What’s the definition here…. Health is the inevitable result of a biologically appropriate lifestyle that works in better harmony with mental, emotional and spiritual needs. If we eat, sleep, exercise, socialize and work in communion with nature, we develop better health. If we persistently don’t, we get sick. Persistence in lifestyle habits seems to be contrary to systemic needs which contributes to the issue. Will we always get it right? Nope. Does that mean living on this spinning ball we should obsess and live in a self-imposed bubble because what if? Nope. We are meant to play, live, laugh, eat, teach, enjoy, cry, relax…. All of this…
The conventional concept of illness as being something to be combated leads peeps to search for pills to “cure” what ails them rather that shedding sickening habits and adopting salubrious ones, most want to obviously feel better yet while continuing the diet and lifestyle that initially caused their health issues. You CANNOT heal in the same environment that made you sick to begin with (read that twice, if need be, because it’s the TRUTH). What happens is the perpetual cycle with no real solution. Folks, the Laws of cause and effect can’t be suspended by medicinal or herbal substances alone!
Suppressing illness by devitalizing the body with herbs has no virtue over the same with pharmaceutical drugs. Why? Because herbs also have chemical components, yes, most times with less side-effects over the pharmaceutical counter parts. AGAIN, I’m not saying don’t take them, my intention here is to point out the OVERUSE and EXTENDED LONG TERM use of supplements which also will have a cumulative toxic effect over time. Understanding that most especially in the herbal wheelhouse they have very little nutrient value, the reason we utilize them is because of their specific chemical response to deal with the symptom/illness. Peeps advertise and touting that these bottled herbs which work for A, B or C issues, just stay on it because it fixes or balances. I see and work with so many patient’s that truly take boat loads of supplements multiple times a day yet they REFUSE to change how they eat or what they eat, they refuse to reduce their stress load because they are used to a certain lifestyle or career approach. It’s not going to be your saving grace; it will present as a temporary Band-Aid and at some point, in your health moving forward the Band-Aid will need to keep getting bigger even in the supplement world. We hear about folks taking one medication then needing another to counteract a particular side-effect and it snowballs, yet somehow people have convinced themselves that scenario isn’t applicable in the supplement solution. I’m here to tell you unequivocally that YES it DOES!
You need to be working with a doctor either an M.D. or Naturopathic that understands how the body works synergistically, meaning when it comes to nutrients, minerals, amino acids, fats, proteins, antioxidants, essential fatty acids, vitamins, they all must play nice in the sand box, if one element is too high, it can cause other elements to become to low and vice versa. I give my patient’s what their body says they NEED right now! I NEVER recommend multi-vitamins, NEVER… why? Because your body isn’t going to be low or depleted in everything that is in it. So, you then create overages which generate shortages elsewhere. It’s a PROBLEM, but hey advertising WORKS! Take one and done and get on with your day. Are you a picky eater? Just take a multi-vitamin, fix it and forget it. Look around and tell me I’m lying…. Does it seem to be working? Go ahead I’ll wait…..
Unlike pharmaceutical drugs, herbs do contain some nutritive substances. But this isn’t the reason they are used. Edible vegetables also contain nutrients, but they don’t contain significant amounts of volatile oils, and toxin’s that provide medicinal herbs with their pharmacological properties. Hence the reason God supplied us with BOTH! Genesis 1:29-30, Psalms 104:14
The truth is herbs provide little for human nutritional needs, but their chemical content suppresses vital body action. When our vitality is depressed either with over the counter, prescribed or herbal, the body is placed on pause with the built-in cleansing vigor: by God’s design the body knows when it needs to shift into a detoxification process with acute disease or illness, that’s why the body generates a fever, we get achy, loose stools, vomiting, congestion, coughing, etc… Here’s what can happen when I’m working with a patient who has followed the I feel off let me take something type of cycle, and I’m trying to pull them out of this type of cycle and mentality. We change their diet, I’m helping them work through lifestyle changes, exercise modalities that match them where they are at physically, (that’s important too FYI, listening to where they are at physically, and metabolically especially if their cortisol levels are already too elevated from stress/anxiety) …. But when they start making these changes, all those previous acute illness issues from before, when we subdue with over the counter or medications if you will, remember what I stated that we placed the built-in cleansing vigor of a preprogrammed detoxification application on pause… Now I’m jump starting it again because we are building up the nutritional tools in the bodies toolbox correctly and guess what happens, the patient begins to feel sick again…. Now if they choose to implement the new tools and methods of dealing with those acute symptoms, they can successfully get through it. Sad truth is though, it’s like muscle memory, they revert to taking their program off roading and then when I speak with them next time, I find they added this product or that one because…. It made them feel sick….! We must start AGAIN. FOLKS, I cannot change how God almighty created the human body to work… no doctor can… you must learn to work with it and stop fighting against it. YES, God gave us all the plants and herbs for medicine and food. (it’s in the Bible, one of his many gifts) …. The issue isn’t just because you feel sick… the issue is you REFUSE to change, you REFUSE to learn to work in the parameters of teamwork, you and your body!
CONCLUSION
If you stayed with me this far, yep breathe out…. I’m wrapping this one up ….
Lastly…
Please STOP thinking about how every advertised product and their well written information ‘sounds like you” “sounds like what you’ve been missing, that missing piece”. That isn’t always the case… want proof… go look in your cabinet or medicine cabinet, under the sink, wherever you keep your bottles and see what is still on the shelves….. how many times have to caved into impulse buying, taken it for a short while and realized it didn’t fix whatever you needed fixed? STOP taking stuff for the “just in case”. If you’re NOT sick with something, that means your immune system is doing it’s job….. example: some people take elderberry syrup or capsules ALL winter long as a cold/flu preventative. STOP it…… over time you are generating overages and shortages nutritionally because of it… you take something when you NEED it. Point blank!. This is a real PROBLEM in the supplement/natural route!
Now, I’m guessing many of your peeps are going to probably disagree with this thinking I’m nuts, she doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about, that’s okay, because if I’m planting some seeds in your minds that will encourage you to start doing your own research…mission accomplished, part of being a doctor includes “teaching”….
Moderation please and thank you….FIRST…DO…NO…HARM! that is where I’m coming from. There are too many people right now over taking and over doing all forms of supplements. I see the evidence in their test results, and what they present with health wise when they start working with me. I’m not pulling this stuff out of thin air. I’m WORKING with it all the time. sometimes deprogramming the way people think is harder than fixing the physical issue. Do yourself a big favor and work with a doctor that believes in balancing properly. Because it’s important!
Peace out for now….
Dr. Jodi 🙂
Harvested Health LLC. 