The Everything Guide to Herbal Remedies (35 page)

• Arnica
(Arnica montana)

• Artichoke
(Cynara cardunculus, C. scolymus)

• Butterbur
(Petasites hybridus)

• Calendula
(Calendula officinalis)

• Chamomile
(Matricaria recutita)

• Dandelion
(Taraxucum officinale)

• Echinacea
(Echinacea purpurea)

• Eclipta
(Eclipta alba, E. prostrata)

• Feverfew
(Tanacetum parthenium)

• Milk thistle
(Silybum marianum)

• Yarrow
(Achillea millefolium)

Salicylic acid is part of a group of chemicals called
salicylates,
which occur naturally in many plants and are also produced synthetically for use in a variety of consumer products.

Many people are sensitive to salicylates, and so should avoid them in all their incarnations. Skip salicylates if you’re taking prescription blood thinners or diabetes medications. Herbs with salicylates include:

• Cayenne
(Capsicum annuum, C. frutescens)

• Cinnamon
(Cinnamomum verum, C. aromaticum)

• Clove
(Syzygium aromaticum)

• Fenugreek
(Trigonella foenum-graecum)

• Ginger
(Zingiber officinale)

• Grape
(Vitis vinifera)

• Grapefruit
(Citrus paradisi)

• Licorice
(Glycyrrhiza glabra)

• Peppermint
(Mentha x piperita)

• Sage
(Salvia officinalis, S. lavandulaefolia)

• Turmeric
(Curcuma longa)

• Willow
(Salix alba)

Here are a few things to keep in mind when using herbs or herbal products:

• Be informed.
Use resources such as this book and the many organizations listed in the Appendices to research the herbs you’d like to use. Be sure to find out about your individual health needs and not just general guidelines.

• Talk to your doctor.
Doctors bemoan the fact that very few of their patients talk to them about the herbal products and other supplements they’re using. Even if your doctor isn’t particularly well versed in herbalism, he should know what you’re taking and should be able to advise you accordingly. If you think your doctor isn’t open to the use of herbal remedies, find a different doctor.

• Shop smart.
Always buy your herbal products from reputable manufacturers and retailers. Remember that you can’t count on the government to make sure that the products you’re buying are safe and effective.

• Follow the rules.
Always obey the manufacturer’s guidelines for dosage. Read the label each time you buy a new supplement, and remember that products can vary widely in concentration. If you can’t find the information on the bottle, look it up.

• Choose your battles wisely.
Don’t use an herbal remedy when you need the potency of a pharmaceutical. If you’ve got an active bacterial infection, get the antibiotics. If you’re in agony, get the prescription painkillers. Herbal remedies are effective, but they’re almost always less potent than pharmaceutical drugs.

• Don’t forget …
that medicinal agents lurk in many places. For example, alcohol counts as a sedative, so don’t drink if you’re taking an herb or medication with sedating properties. Coffee is a stimulant, garlic is an anticlotting agent, and tea can have diuretic properties.

Herbs are available today in myriad forms, from fragrant bunches of flowers and leaves to tiny, uniform tablets sealed into plastic bottles. All those choices can be exciting—or unsettling—and many consumers are no doubt missing out on the benefits of herbs because they simply don’t know what to make of them. They also might be unsure of the safe use of herbal remedies: how to take them, how much to take, and where to go for help if they need it.

Herbs can be bought—and used—in many different forms. They’re sold individually or in combination formulas, in topical or oral preparations, processed and packaged or
au naturel.

• Bulk herbs.
This is the plant at its most natural (unless you count the way it was when it was still growing). Bulk, or crude, herbs are the medicinal or therapeutic parts of a plant that have been harvested and separated from the nontherapeutic parts.

• Powdered herbs.
These herbs have been dried and ground up. They can be used to make teas, poured into capsules, or taken straight.

• Teas: Infusions and decoctions.
A tea or decoction is made by drawing the herb’s constituents—its pigments, essential oils, nutrients, and phytochemicals—into water, which acts as a solvent to dissolve the plant matter (a tea is steeped, a decoction is boiled). Leaves and flowers are generally made into infusions, and roots and bark are made into decoctions.

• Tinctures.
A tincture is an herbal extraction that uses a chemical solution (most often alcohol) as the solvent. Tinctures are stronger than crude or powdered herbs and teas/decoctions, and are easy to take (they’re also readily absorbed into your bloodstream).

• Extracts.
Herbal extracts are sold as liquids or solids (capsules or tablets) and are also easy to use.

• Essential oils.
These are highly concentrated oils—not thick or greasy, but watery and volatile. Essential oils are plant extracts that contain only the “essential” ingredients: the plant’s phytochemicals and its fragrance. Used in aromatherapy, essential oils are either inhaled or applied directly to the skin (usually after being diluted in a
carrier
oil, such as almond or sesame oil). They’re also incorporated into topical herbal treatments such as lotions and creams.

• Topical treatments.
These include ointments (salves), gels, lotions, infused oils, and creams, and can contain wildly varying amounts of herbs. Some have a medicinal or therapeutic dose of something—enough calendula
(Calendula officinalis)
to relieve your rash, for example—while others have just enough to make the product smell nice.

Choosing and using herbal remedies shouldn’t be an ordeal, and it shouldn’t require a degree in botany or medicine (or both). But there are a few important issues to consider.

Consider potency: Some herbs can do their work at their natural concentration: Flaxseed
(Linum usitatissimum),
for example, can be used straight. Other herbs need to be concentrated.

For example, a handful of ginkgo
(Ginkgo biloba)
leaves won’t do much for you on its own, as it takes several pounds of natural ginkgo to make a dose of real therapeutic value.

An herbal product that’s been standardized is guaranteed to contain a certain amount of one or more specific compounds, which have been identified as the active, or therapeutic, ingredients. Herbalists agree that the best standardized extracts, at least as far as herbal medicine is concerned, are made from crude (whole plant) extracts, not isolated constituents. Thus, the label will read “Grape Seed Extract with Resveratrol” and not “Resveratrol” or “Antioxidant Complex.” Herbs that are typically sold as standardized extracts include:

• Bilberry
(Vaccinium myrtillus)

• Garlic
(Allium sativum)

• Ginkgo
(Ginkgo biloba)

• Grape
(Vitis vinifera)

• Hawthorn
(Crataegus monogyna, C. oxyacantha)

• Kava
(Piper methysticum)

• Milk thistle
(Silybum marianum)

• Saw palmetto
(Serenoa repens)

• Saint John’s wort
(Hypericum perforatum)

Unlike pharmaceutical preparations, which typically offer very limited choices (will that be gelcaps or caplets?) or a single, one-size-fits-all formulation, herbs give you a variety of options. Here’s how to navigate them:

Buying bulk herbs is a much more tactile experience than buying ready-made remedies. It also gives you a chance to see exactly what you’re getting. If you have a choice between fresh and dried, herbalists recommend the fresh in most cases.

When you’re buying bulk herbs, be sure to give them a sniff first. Every herb will smell like something, even if it’s just grass.

If you’re buying dried herbs, remember that an herb that’s fragrant when it’s fresh should be fragrant when it’s dried, too. Herbs that are colorful while they’re growing should be colorful in the store (and dried herbs should retain much of the color they had when fresh).

Most tinctures are made with alcohol, but alcohol-free products made with glycerin are also available. A tincture’s concentration will be listed as a ratio: The first number indicates the amount of herb (this will be a 1), and the second indicates the amount of solution. Many tinctures contain one part herb and five parts solution, and so have a ratio of 1:5. The smaller the second number, the stronger the remedy will be.

Herbal extracts are sold as liquids or solids (capsules and tablets) and can be anywhere from 1 to 100 times more concentrated than crude herbs. The concept works like the one used for tinctures, but it’s explained differently: The first number indicates the concentration, the second represents the herb in its natural state (it’s always a 1). The bigger the first number is, the stronger the preparation will be.

For example, an extract that’s four times as strong as the crude herb has a ratio of 4:1. Fluid extracts are often sold in a 1:1 potency, meaning they’re not concentrated.

Different herbs and herbal preparations have different considerations, but almost all should be stored the same way: in dark-colored, airtight glass containers kept in a cool, dry place. Herbs can quickly degrade and lose their medicinal muscle when exposed to even small amounts of sunlight and oxygen.

Every herb has its own lifespan, but, generally speaking, you can keep fresh herbs until they get slimy (or until you dry them). Dried herbs will generally keep about a year when stored correctly.

Powdered herbs generally keep just a few months before losing effectiveness. A tincture should be kept in its original container (most likely a dark-colored glass bottle with a dropper top). Stored correctly, tinctures will keep up to two years.

Both dried and liquid herbal extracts should keep about a year. Essential oils will keep indefinitely. Many commercial lotions and potions contain chemical preservatives, which give them the shelf life of a Twinkie (read: forever). But truly natural products contain natural preservatives, such as vitamin E, which don’t last as long.

Generally speaking, you can keep a product that doesn’t contain synthetic preservatives for a few months—or until it changes consistency or starts to smell funny. Keeping it in the refrigerator should extend its life. Always check the expiration date on any packaged herbal product.

Health food stores and herbal shops are usually friendly places, but it can be daunting to face row after row of unfamiliar things. Here are a few rules to live (and shop) by:

Sounds obvious, but many plants have similar names, and buying the wrong one is easier than it sounds. For example, “danshen” sounds a lot like “dang shen,” but danshen
(Salvia miltiorrhiza)
is used to treat cardiovascular disease, while dang shen
(Codonopsis pilosula)
is an immune tonic and energy booster. To make things worse, some people spell “dang shen” as “dangshen.” Be sure you know both the common and botanical name of the plant you’re buying.