The Everything Guide to Herbal Remedies (4 page)

Bach came up with thirty-eight flower remedies, all based on the homeopathic principles of similarity and potency. He chose flowers that reflect the condition that needs attention (the aspen tree, which seems to quake before a storm, gives us the remedy for anxiety and apprehension, while impatiens is prescribed for individuals who are hasty and—you guessed it—impatient).

Herbs can also be incorporated into the menu, and they deliver their benefits as easily when they’re served as a food as when they’re taken as medicine. Edible herbs with proven health benefits are called
functional foods.

Several varieties of edible mushrooms are considered medicinal. In particular, reishi
(Ganoderma lucidum),
shiitake
(Lentinula edodes),
and maitake
(Grifola frondosa)
appear to support immunity, fight infection, and even offer protection against diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Mushrooms contain carbohydrates called
polysaccharides,
which stimulate the immune system. Some specifically stimulate the “natural killer” cells, which can recognize and attack cancer cells.

Many types of mushrooms are also loaded with antioxidants, and studies show that some varieties have more antioxidant power than brightly colored vegetables like carrots and tomatoes.

Studies suggest that other polysaccharides may help protect bone marrow from the effects of chemotherapy and enhance its ability to fight cancer. Research also shows that mushrooms typically contain large levels of a material called
chitin,
which can lower cholesterol.

Eating soybeans (or soy-based products like tofu and tempeh) has been proven to improve your health in many ways. The
isoflavones
in soy have proven anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, and cancer-fighting benefits; eating soy has also been linked to a reduction of menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes.

They might wreak havoc on your breath, but these two herbs—actually part of the same genus of plants—can do wonders for your health.

Studies show that both onions
(Allium cepa)
and garlic
(Allium sativum)
contain
sulfur compounds
that can help with diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. In other research, garlic has been shown to prevent artery damage caused by LDL—or “bad”—cholesterol.

Ginger
(Zingiber officinale)
is a healthy addition to many dishes, whether you use the root fresh or dried and powdered. Studies show that it can reduce many types of pain and inflammation, including the type associated with rheumatoid and osteoarthritis.

Ginger can also relieve nausea and vomiting from many causes, including seasickness, anesthesia, and pregnancy.

Eating dark chocolate made from
Theobroma cacao
has proven health benefits, including lowering blood pressure, improving cholesterol levels, fighting age-related cognitive decline, preventing blood clots during prolonged travel, and even reducing the risk of certain cancers. And drinking cocoa helps, too. A new study found that older men (aged sixty-five to eighty-four) who consumed the most cocoa had half the risk of dying during the study’s fifteen-year span than those who got none.

Herbalism has a long history of efficacy and safety, and has earned its place in the pantheon of modern medicine. Here’s why:

Many herbal remedies have hundreds, if not thousands, of years behind them. And while pharmaceuticals are often tested for short-term safety only, drugs that have been used as folk medicine over millennia have been proven safe and effective over the long term.

Moreover, herbs are generally used for more than one condition, as opposed to drugs, most of which are used for a single purpose.

Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, but generally speaking, herbs are much easier on your body than their pharmaceutical counterparts. Consider the drugs used for depression: Side effects for popular antidepressants like Prozac and Celexa include impaired thinking, sexual problems, insomnia, and headaches. In contrast, herbal remedies like lemon balm
(Melissa officinalis),
rhodiola
(Rhodiola rosea),
and Saint John’s wort
(Hypericum perforatum)
fight depression with relatively few unwanted effects.

The basic tenet of herbalism—and all schools of natural medicine—is that it’s better to work for optimal health all the time than to wait until disease strikes. For example, herbalists have long recommended herbs like American ginseng
(Panax quinquefolius)
to help stave off the common cold. And a new study shows that consuming dried extracts of the herb reduces both the incidence and the severity of colds.

Additionally, herbs contain many constituents that work together to alleviate specific symptoms—and to address an underlying problem and strengthen the overall functioning of a particular organ or system. And herbs are often used together to foster health.

For example, a multiherb combination containing licorice
(Glycyrrhiza glabra),
chamomile
(Matricaria recutita),
peppermint
(Mentha x piperita),
and lemon balm
(Melissa officinalis)
is used to treat heartburn, nausea, and vomiting—and strengthen the digestive system.

Lastly, it’s a rare herb that’s used to treat just one body part or system. Most treat several things at once—and new research is backing up that whole-body approach. Consider green tea
(Camellia sinensis):
It’s been associated with head-to-toe benefits ranging from reduced cognitive decline, lowered incidence of heart disease and many cancers, and improvements in overall mortality rates. It’s used successfully to fight oral bacteria, allergies, bladder infections, and genital warts—and even appears effective against antibiotic-resistant “superbugs.” Try to find a drug or therapy in conventional medicine that can make those claims.

Herbs are, without question, the first drugs that humans have ever had. And over the centuries, our herbal pharmacy has expanded to include thousands of medicinal plants, each containing a blend of constituents that we’re only now beginning to understand. But the real appeal of herbal medicine, of course, is what it can do for you: what diseases it can cure, what complaints it can fix, and how it can make you feel better overall.

Herbal remedies are most easily understood when they’re grouped according to the jobs they do within the human body. There are hundreds of medicinal herbs out there, and herbalists break them down a few ways:

A
tonic
is an herb that is used to address the health of an entire bodily system. Some tonics also work as
adaptogens
(see below). Tonics can be taken for an extended period of time, like a multivitamin, to keep things running smoothly. They’re nontoxic and considered completely safe when used correctly.

Specifics
are used to treat a specific symptom—a stomachache, for example. They are taken for a short time only, until the problem is resolved (or until you decide to try a different remedy). Specifics are also generally safe, but they can cause problems if you take too much of them.

Many herbs have more than one action, and some work as tonics in one system and as specifics in another.

Herbs are also classified according to their actions. For example, some trigger a response in the digestive system (they include carminatives and digestives), and others address the nervous system (sedatives and stimulants).

Tonics and adaptogens are a unique type of medicine. They produce what herbalists call a “nonspecific” response, meaning that depending on the organ or system that’s being treated, the herb might improve your physical endurance, reproductive and sexual functioning, or resistance to disease.

Tonic herbs are defined as those that address the health of an entire bodily system and alleviate weakness.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), tonics are known as superior medicines—the best of the best—and are typically used to strengthen and fortify a system that needs “toning” or “tonifying” (it’s failing or just not performing optimally).

There are herbs that have general tonic abilities, meaning they’re used to increase your overall energy, or chi. Other TCM tonics address specific systems and functions, and some have more than one kind of tonic activity:

• Astragalus
  (Astragalus membranaceus)
  is an immune tonic.
  
• Cordyceps
  (Cordyceps sinensis) is
  a kidney and adrenal tonic.
  
• Eleuthero
  (Eleutherococcus senticosus)
  is an immune and chi tonic.
  
• Goji-berry
  (Lycium barbarum, L. chinense)
  is an immune tonic and blood tonic.
  
• Reishi
  (Ganoderma lucidum)
  is a heart tonic.
  

Ayurvedic medicine recognizes a class of herbs known as
rasayanas,
or rejuvenating medicines, that are similar to tonics in that they support the overall functioning of the major systems of the body. The rasayanas include:

• Amla
  (Emblica officinalis, Phyllanthus emblica)
  
• Tulsi
  (Ocimum tenuiflorum, O. sanctum)
  
• Gotu kola
  (Centella asiatica)
  
• Turmeric
  (Curcuma longa)
  

Western herbalism recognizes a group of herbs that work as
nervines,
or nerve tonics, helping to restore balance to the nervous system and emotions and treat problems in the digestive and cardiovascular systems that are caused by anxiety and stress. Nervines include:

• Chamomile
  (Matricaria recutita)
  
• Passionflower
  (Passiflora incarnata)
  
• Hawthorn
  (Crataegus monogyna,
  
• Reishi
  (Ganoderma lucidum) C. oxyacantha)
  
• Skullcap
  (Scutellaria lateriflora)
  
• Lemon balm
  (Melissa officinalis)
  
• Saint John’s wort
  (Hypericum perforatum)
  

An
adaptogen
is something that protects an organism from the ill effects of stress, which can be caused by both physical and psychological agents. In herbal medicine, an adaptogenic herb is one that helps the body deal with stresses—trauma, injury, emotional upset, physical exertion, and so on—without getting sick.

The Stress Response

Stress is defined as the disruption of the body’s innate balance, or
homeostasis,
through external agents, and the body’s response to it.

In most cases, the stress response is a good thing: It helped our ancestors outrun predators, fight for mates, and survive those cold nights in the cave. But sometimes, stress can be bad. Chronic stress has been linked to a host of diseases and conditions, including premenstrual syndrome (PMS), obesity, insomnia, diarrhea and constipation, anxiety and depression, and suppressed immunity—which can lead to everything from the common cold to cancer.

The Advantage of Adaptogens

Like tonics, adaptogenic plants offer what scientists call “nonspecific” resistance to stress and fatigue, eliminating or reducing the variations in homeostasis that stress produces. They take things a step further, however, by exerting a normalizing effect on an organ or system.

Adaptogens help the body adapt by either increasing or decreasing a particular physiological function. Thus, if something—your adrenal response, for example—needs to be turned on, an adaptogen can do it. And if that system needs to be turned down, an adaptogen can do that, too.

Here are some of the best—the best-known and best-researched—herbal adaptogens:

• Ashwagandha
  (Withania somnifera)
  
• Rhodiola
  (Rhodiola rosea)
  
• Asian ginseng
  (Panax ginseng)
  
• Schisandra
  (Schisandra chinensis)
  
• Cordyceps
  (Cordyceps sinensis)
  
• Tulsi
  (Ocimum tenuiflorum, O. sanctum)
  
• Licorice
  (Glycyrrhiza glabra)
  

An analgesic is a painkiller (the word
analgesia
comes from the Greek words an, meaning “without,” and
algia,
or “pain”).

Herbal analgesics are considered superior to pharmaceutical painkillers such as ibuprofen because they don’t carry the same side effects. Herbal pain remedies often work as well as pharmaceuticals, and many are used topically (applied to the skin instead of being ingested), which makes their effects more targeted.

Here are some of the more popular herbal painkillers:

• Camphor
  (Cinnamomum camphora)
  
• Feverfew
  (Tanacetum parthenium)
  
• Cayenne
  (Capsicum annuum, C. frutescens)
  
• Goldenseal
  (Hydrastis canadensis)
  
• Devil’s claw
  (Harpagophytum procumbens)
  
• Willow
  (Salix alba)
  

An anti-inflammatory agent is anything that reduces inflammation—redness, tenderness, and swelling (or
edema)
—in the tissues. Anti-inflammatories are often effective analgesics as well, since inflammation frequently produces pain along with swelling.

Although it’s the source of many health problems, inflammation can actually be a good thing—it’s the body’s way of protecting itself from injury or infection. Problems start when inflammation gets out of hand or goes on for too long. Chronic inflammation can cause swelling and discomfort that never go away and can damage cartilage, bone, and other tissues.

The first choice in over-the-counter (OTC) pain medicines for most Americans is a
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug,
or NSAID. Most NSAIDs work by inhibiting enzymes (two types of cyclooxygenase enzymes, called
COX-1
and
COX-2)
that produce pain and inflammation.

NSAIDs are the most widely used type of pain relief in the United States, and include OTC remedies like ibuprofen (Advil), naproxen (Aleve), and aspirin, and prescription COX-2 inhibitors like celecoxib (Celebrex). NSAIDs can cause a host of problems, including serious kidney, heart, and gastrointestinal problems like ulceration, bleeding, and perforation of the stomach.

In many cases, herbal anti-inflammatories provide the same kind of relief as pharmaceuticals—without the scary side effects. Here are some of the best-known herbal anti-inflammatories:

• Cayenne
  (Capsicum annuum, C. frutescens)
  
• Sage
  (Salvia officinalis, S. lavandulaefolia)
  
• Chamomile
  (Matricaria recutita)
  
• Tea
  (Camellia sinensis)
  
• Rosemary
  (Rosmarinus officinalis)
  
• Yarrow
  (Achillea millefolium)