The Complete Herbal Guide: A Natural Approach to Healing the Body - Heal Your Body Naturally and Maintain Optimal Health Using Alternative Medicine, Herbals, Vitamins, Fruits and Vegetables (74 page)

As a nervine, Pulsatilla has been used to calm and soothe the nerves, as well as reduce stress and anxiety with particular attention to nerve exhaustion in women. It is said to relieve pain, earache, and neuralgia and tension headaches. The anemonin and protanemonin compounds in the herb are thought to produce a sedating effect, and it is said to be effective in alleviating hyperactivity and insomnia.

Treatment:

Pulsatilla is considered to be an antispasmodic and, as such, is believed to relieve spasms, relax smooth muscle in the gut, alleviate uterine cramps and allay spasmodic cough of asthma, whooping cough and bronchitis.

Herbalists have used Pulsatilla to relieve inflammation and pain in the reproductive organs (including painful conditions of the testes and ovarian pain), painful menstrual periods, vaginal yeast infections and PMS (premenstrual syndrome). It has also been used as an emmenagogue, which helps to stimulate menstruation and regulate its flow.

Pulsatilla is called a diaphoretic that produces perspiration and elimination through the skin, and this action may help to reduce fevers. A 1988 analysis determined that anemonin is a compound that produces a fever-lowering effect.

As an antibacterial, Pulsatilla is thought to be effective in relieving bacterial skin infections, including boils and acne. A 1990 study demonstrated that protoanemonin has in vitro activity against fungi.

Pulsatilla has been used to relieve catarrhal diarrhea, and anemone is considered to be one of the most effective herbs for relieving amoebic dysentery.

Precautions:

Because anemones contain the acrid compound, anemonin, Pulsatilla can be poisonous and must always be used under the direction of a qualified health care provider. The herb is harmful if eaten fresh (and
only
the dried plant is used medicinally), and repeated handling may cause skin irritation. The anemonin compound in Pulsatilla is a powerful irritant, and overdoses cause violent gastroenteritis, vomiting, looseness of the bowels and convulsions. This herb is recommended for use by qualified practitioners only. Pulsatilla is not given to patients with colds.

Dosages:
Take one (1) capsule, one (1) time each day with water at a mealtime.

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Pumpkin Seeds
are a powerful, reliable and safe way to
destroy internal parasites
. Sometimes called a "Male Tonic," Pumpkin Seeds are a natural way to
revitalize the prostate gland, treat inflamed bladder and stimulate male hormone production.
Protein- and nutrient-rich Pumpkin Seeds contain four times the amount of beta-carotene than carrots!

Plant Description:

The
Pumpkin Seeds
are a large, annual, creeping plant that thrives in well-drained soil in full sun. It is native to the Americas and is widely cultivated in warm and temperate climates throughout the world, where the fruit and seeds are included in many foods and the seeds used in herbal medicine.

History:

Pumpkins have been a cultural and dietary staple of Native American cultures since ancient times. The Moches of Peru left a rich artistic record of the Pumpkin's use as a food and offering to the gods in burial sites from the first through eighth centuries, A.D. The Native Americans introduced this variety of winter squash that originated in the New World to the conquistadors, and they, in turn, carried these food plants back to Europe with them.

The name Pumpkin is derived from the Greek word,
pepon
, meaning "ripe" or "cooked in the sun." Pumpkin Seeds have a rich history in herbal medicine in the Americas: The Navajos used them to relieve the intense pain of burns; the Cherokees used them for treating edema, gout, kidney stones, urinary burning, and difficult urination; the Pueblos used them to cure gout and reduce swollen knees and ankles; the Zunis used them to expel tapeworms and roundworms; Jamaican voodoo witchdoctors used them to cure fevers and diarrhea; and the

Yumas used them to heal wounds.

Use of the seeds were adopted in traditional Chinese medicine in the seventeenth century, where they were considered to be a symbol of prosperity and health, and the Pumpkin known as the "Emperor of the Garden."
  Pumpkin Seeds are rich in antioxidant vitamins A, C and E, many valuable minerals (especially zinc), amino acids (including the rare amino acid called myosin and the unusual cucurbitin, which is good for worm infestations), essential fatty acids, fiber and four times the amount of beta-carotene than found in carrots.

Medical Uses:

Pumpkin Seeds are known to be a powerful and effective anthelmintic that will kill and expel worm infestations in children and adults. The unusual amino acid, cucurbitin, in Pumpkin Seeds is said to make the herb one of the most efficient remedies for killing intestinal parasites, including tapeworms and roundworms.

Rich in zinc, Pumpkin Seeds have been used as an effective treatment for enlarged prostate.It has been called a male tonic that helps to revitalize and maintain the health of the prostate gland (especially helpful to older men), and it is also thought to be a stimulant to male hormone production.

Pumpkin Seeds are a soothing diuretic that have a calming effect on irritated tissues and basic cystic inflammations that result in irritating and scalding urination.Pumpkin Seeds have been used for centuries to relieve irritable bladder.

Another rare amino acid in Pumpkin Seeds is called myosin, and it is the primary protein constituent of nearly all muscles in the body and important in the chemistry of muscular contraction.

Pumpkin Seeds are said to be helpful in alleviating nausea, motion sickness and travel sickness.

Some promising research in Japan has indicated that the high fiber content in Pumpkin Seed offers a huge defense against some malignant diseases and ailments associated with the digestive system.

Pumpkin Seed is highly nutritious, especially in beta-carotene, as well as vitamins and minerals that can be obtained only from very few other fruits or vegetables.

Pumpkin Seeds have been thought to be useful for psychological treatments, and some studies have demonstrated that the L-tryptophan content in the seeds may help ease depression.

Treatments:

Used externally, Pumpkin Seed oil is useful for healing wounds, especially burns and for chapped skin.

Precautions: None

Dosages:
Take two (2) capsules, one (1) to two (2) times each day with water at mealtimes.

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Pygeum Bark
is the drug of choice when European doctors wish to help men with prostate disorders. It has been
effective in treating enlarged prostate
or benign hyperplasia (BPH),
inflamed prostate
and
urinary problems
associated with prostate complaints (particularly frequent nighttime urination and diminished volume). Pygeum Bark is a
natural way to help maintain good prostate health
.

Plant Description:

Pygeum Bark
is dark, brown-to-black, with a rough, blocky texture, and it is removed from the
Prunus Africana
, a tall evergreen tree that is found in the upper slopes of the tropical Afromontane forests of Cameroon, Madagascar, Zaire and Kenya. The tree produces glossy, dark green, minutely serrated leaves that smell of almonds when crushed and elongated clusters of small white flowers. The tree also bears red fruit (berries) that are an important food source for many exotic birds, and it thrives in volcanic soil in the cooler highland temperatures, measuring over one hundred feet in height.

Pygeum is a relative of the wild plum and has been important as an extremely valuable commercial hardwood commodity, as well as an important factor in traditional African medicine, where it was used as a remedy for urinary and bladder ailments, malaria, chest pain and fevers.

In the 1960s, a liposoluble complex was discovered in the bark that was proven to be effective in treating prostate gland enlargement, and Pygeum became an important export to pharmaceutical companies worldwide, most notably to France, where it is sold under the brand name,
Tadenan
, and to Italy, where it is patented under the name of
Pygenil
. 

It is the drug of choice given by European doctors in cases of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and it should be noted that prostate enlargement is becoming an increasingly more prevalent condition with American men as the population ages. Some of the constituents included in Pygeum Bark are fatty acids, phytosterols (beta-sitosterol, beta sitosterone, campesterol), pentacylic terpenoids, sitosterol glucoside, tannins, ferulic and ursolic acids.

Medical Uses:

Pygeum Bark is a natural support for a healthy prostate gland. The phytosterols compete with androgen precursors and inhibit prostaglandin biosynthesis, thereby reducing inflammation. The triterpenes also exhibit anti-inflammatory activity, and the ferulic acid esters reduce the level of cholesterol in the prostate, thereby also limiting androgen synthesis. All these actions appear to work synergistically to improve the symptoms of BPH, a condition that involves a congested, enlarged and inflamed prostate, accompanied by diminished urine flow and an increased frequency of urination, especially at night.

As our population ages, more men have become troubled with BPH and other prostate disorders, and Pygeum has sometimes been called effective after only a few days, but it may also take several months to show improvement. Pygeum may also be taken as a prophylactic to help prevent prostate difficulties and maintain a healthy prostate gland.

Treatment:

Pygeum's diuretic properties help to increase the volume and flow of urine, and it has been used to help flush and dissolve uric acid sediment from the body, which is also helpful in preventing further sedimentation in the prostate, as well as helping to rid the body of uric acid that would be retained in cellular tissue, causing arthritic calcification and gout.

Precautions:

There have been some reports of nausea and gastrointestinal upset with the use of Pygeum Bark.

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Quassia
is a simple, powerful bitter that is an old-time tonic for the digestive system. It is used in Europe to stimulate the appetite and is also said to soothe gastric upsets, indigestion, and acute dyspepsia. Quassia is thought to generally tone up a rundown system, which may also be very helpful to convalescents who are recovering after illness.

Plant Description:

Quassia
is the name for several tropical trees and for a bitter extract from their bark. The extract containing complex terpenoid compounds called quassinoids is used medicinally as a bitter tonic and a pinworm remedy; it is also used in insecticides, e.g., in flypaper and against aphids. Surinam Quassia comes from the tree Quassia amara of N Brazil and surrounding regions; Jamaica Quassia comes from Picrasma excelsa of the West Indies. Some Old World Quassia species are similarly used. The trees are related to the ailanthus. Quassia is classified in the division
Magnoliophyta
, class Magnoliopsida, and order Sapindales, family Simaroubaceae.

Quassia is a tall, graceful, ashlike tree that is native to tropical America, most notably in the hill forests of Jamaica and Surinam, where it is cultivated as a commercial crop. Quassia is a tender, deciduous perennial that thrives in moist, sandy, humus-rich soil in sun or partial shade. The tree may grow to a height of one hundred feet and requires moderate to high humidity in a minimum of sixty degrees Fahrenheit to succeed. Quassia produces pinnate, coarse-toothed leaves and small, green-white flowers that bloom in late autumn, followed by black, shiny berries, which ripen in the winter. Insect pests never attack the tree, because it is permeated by an extremely bitter resin, whose major chemical constituent is a bitter compound called quashing - an effective natural insecticide. The wood, which is chipped and dried, is used in herbal medicine as an intensely bitter, non-astringent, odorless herb that is fifty times bitterer than quinine and had been used by the native tribes to remedy malaria, dysentery, and venereal disease.

History:

In 1756, Quassia was brought from Surinam to Stockholm by a Swede who had purchased it from a native healer named Quassi, and the drug soon became popular as a digestive tonic and appetite stimulant. In Europe, Quassia is still used as a popular appetite stimulant. Jamaican Quassia soon superceded the species from Surinam in popularity, but the name continued. In addition to it use in herbal medicine, Quassia is a very valuable commercial crop that is an ingredient in soft drinks, candies, baked goods, marmalades, liqueurs, and other alcoholic drinks and as a substitute for hops in brewing beer and ale. It is enormously valuable in the pesticide industry as an insecticide against flies, spider mites, aphids, and woolly aphids. Although it is an effective pesticide, it spares such beneficial insects as ladybird beetles and bees. Some of the constituents in Quassia include volatile oil, quassin, gummy extractive pectin, woody fiber, tartrate, calcium and sodium chlorides, salts, and sulfates.