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General Information, Food & Nutrition
Throughout plant and herb will be used interchangeably.
Our bodies are designed to utilize the nutrients and components of the plants that surround us. Our cells and fluids are accustomed to processing this form of combined chemical structuring. The pure form of manufactured pharmaceutical medication can often cause confusion in our body called side effects. Common sense Guidelines We are all unique and so are our bodies. Allergic reactions can occur and be both serious and fatal. Here are a few guidelines to help you: Buy from a quality and known supplier. Try only a small amount first and pay attention to your body. If you tend to have allergies, make a tea and rub some on your skin to test your reaction. (redness, itching, burning, etc.) Build your dosage gradually with one herb at a time before adding others. Body size, type and metabolism can have an effect on dosage, actions and reactions. When you take any substance continuously you can experience an overload on your kidneys and liver. Take for a period of time and either alternate what you are using or take a break to let your body detoxify itself. There is an exception to this and it is a class called Longevity Herbs found in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Ayurvedic Medicine, from India, that can be taken continuously without build up in our system. Research carefully any plant or mineral you are planning to use. Please use the Useful Links page to access some helpful databases on Natural Medicine. History of Use The use of herbal solutions to the health problems of our bodies changed in America in the early 1900s. Funding for medical colleges went from the pharmaceutical companies only to colleges that incorporated a chemical method of treating disease. The Eclectic colleges, herbal based medicine, could not compete or survive this change. In the medicine of China herbs that build up and balance our bodies are called superior herbs. Herbal medicines that are more symptom specific are considered Inferior herbs. I tend to agree with this outlook because it is easier to prevent disease that to heal a malfunction of our systems. This view of healing is shared in the medicinal system of India called Ayurveda , either the first or the second most ancient system of healing, as well as most of the other healing systems of the world. Most of these early systems recognized the minds effect on the cellular activity of our bodies. Science today is just exploring this area with the advent of Quantum Physics we are just exploring the effects on the mind on cell health. All of these various philosophies of healing cover thousands of years of observation and experimentation by intelligent people on what was effective. Economics Because of economic reasons, little testing has been done on plant-based medicines by modern science. The motive of profit has funded the development and use of pharmaceutical drugs. Plants are not a captive of commercial enterprise and therefore not the potential source of profits that are represented by drugs which you can obtain the patent rights for. What scientific validation that has been done on herbs tends to reinforce and explain the use and actions arrived at by native peoples around the world. Through out this work you will find that I will use herb and plant interchangeably. This is because I do not think of them as two different terms. The parts of each plant used can vary as well as their actions and I have tried to include which part is applicable where possible. Due to our Global World the spread of plants has matched the travels of people and when you see 'From:' listed by each herb it is the believed site of origin. Many herbs used in TCM are found in the United States as landscape plants at your local nursery. A valuable herb used in Ayurveda, Eclipta alba, is hard to locate in the United States unless you live in the South where it grows wild as the False Daisy. Conventional versus Alternative Alternative medicine is the term now used for herbal forms of healing as well as other approaches like acupuncture and homeopathy. This is probably a correct usage. Plants offer an alternative to the symptom only management actions of modern drugs. Plants tend to use subtle methods that are an alternative to the side effects often found in conventional treatments. Our bodies are used to dealing with the plant-based components and this complexity gives them the ability to support or alter the physiological process of our body in many areas simultaneously. For most herbs these actions will be subtle and slow in comparison to drugs but they do what drugs cannot do and that is to help cure or heal a dysfunction called illness. I prefer to start with a more natural approach to healing first. A few years ago I found that my body was not producing enough thyroid hormone. This condition is called hypothyroidism and can have some long-term negative effects on the whole body. Conventional medicine would have put me on a synthetic hormone replacement for the rest of my life. Maca is an herb and food of Peru that stimulates the pituitary gland which monitors hormone levels and Guggul, which is a resin from India, which stimulates the thyroid gland are what I chose instead. With the help of these plants my condition was not only reversed in about five weeks but has not returned as of now. The cost of these herbs was under fifty dollars instead of a fourteen-dollar per month cost for the rest of my life.
Where to Start Both conventional medicine and natural healing have their place. The best place to start with either system is the food and spices of our daily lives. Having read and used hundreds of books and years of study in this field, the importance of giving our body the fuel it needs to function and heal is universal and obvious. This is a place to start on your road to better health and it is as important as the rest of what we feel is important. Without health all else suddenly seems less vital or urgent. Caution and Warnings If conditions are major and serious or you are already taking medications you need to have a complete communication with your physician. The interaction of drugs, medical procedures and herbs can be conflicting and even fatal. Please take the time to talk to your health care professional and to do your own research before you begin using herbal solutions to your health. To help you in your study you will find some useful lists under the Glossary & Lists page on this site. The trend in America is one of consumerism and that brings some benefits and risks. Nutritional and herbal products are more readily available now than ever before but so are the dangers. Companies are in business to make a profit and reputable ones will do it with honesty and service. Other companies and individuals will sell whatever is a fad without the quality or even the right herb included. When this happens it can either make you think an herb is not working or worse can include a dangerous adulterant that can harm rather than not heal you. Expectations If you expect a quick fix for any condition with herbs you are looking in the wrong area. Plants do not work on symptom management only. With herbs the actions will be broader based and more varied so the areas affected and benefited are more diverse. Plants tend to heal and strengthen the areas they touch so curing or reducing the damage are side effects you can live with. Things to Consider Our bodies are unique and so are the actions and reactions that occur when we use anything internally. You can be allergic to a substance that others are not. Your tolerance and absorption are unique to you. Please understand that plants can harm and injure or even kill. Take the time to be responsible in their use and do the research to match the actions of herbs to the uniqueness of your body and disease. This caution you owe to yourself and your loved ones. ___________________________________
Back  How does our body get what it needs to function and to repair itself? Food is supposed to be the building blocks our cells use to carry out the daily job they have to keep us healthy. Inside of the food we eat are things called vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. These nutrients are the things we need to stay healthy and fend off disease. History Napoleon ordered his scientists to find a means to preserve food to prevent his soldiers from starving. As they conquered the surrounding rural areas, the farmers would burn the crops and run off with the food. So canning was invented to stop starvation and that process is still going on today. Today Now we are still trying to fill our basic nutritional needs with a starvation prevention diet. When you process food in large quantities, many of the nutrients are lost. To make a substance called fresh produce not decay, which is natural, we must add preservatives. The boxes and cans that line our grocery shelves are full but the contents are mostly empty. When you need a Doctorate in Chemistry degree to read the label, you know that is not a natural state. What are the effects of these non-natural ingredients on our bodies? Who knows what the long-term effects of a diet of preservatives and deficiencies have on the cellular function we call life? How different our food is today from the delicious flavors and vibrant colors of our grandparents gardens. How fortunate the few of us are that live where life is slow and the land accommodating enough to grow our own food. What are they? So what are these things called nutrients found in our food? These building blocks of our cells consist of vitamins, minerals and phyto-chemicals, from plants, that support the working process of our body at its most basic level. Our cells use these ingredients to give us energy, and to repair or replace them selves. How is it used? The process our body uses to extract these building blocks is called digestion. This starts in the mouth with maceration, when we chew our food it gets broken down into smaller and more available pieces. Next we add saliva to begin the chemical break down of carbohydrates and to add moisture to the rest of the ingredients. When we swallow this process continues in the stomach. Here the mixture is blended with the digestive juices and bile to continue this separation of components our bodies need. This mix is called bolus or partially digested food As the bolus leaves the stomach to travel the length of our intestinal tract the process continues. The bacterium that lives inside of us are called flora and provide the final step in the release of these necessary components of health and life. As they become available, these components are absorbed through the lining of our intestines into the blood stream. The bolus continues along our bowels to remove the toxins left there by the waste created from digestion and the cellular waste eliminated by our body. This then passes out of the intestines in the form of feces. The blood is now free to transport these component or building materials to the cells. The cellular processes are many and their needs vary depending upon the functions they are required to perform. This cellular processing is called metabolism and goes on in our entire system to maintain the integrity of what we call life and health. We are What we Eat This simplistic explanation is only to emphasize the importance of the old saying we are what we eat. Our cells cannot be expected to perform the individualized jobs or functions assigned to them without the proper nutrients. Deficiencies Scientists have made great strides in the understanding of the major units of nutrition and the effects of deficiencies. They are now coming to a realization that those minor elements of plants can have a profound effect on our health. The deficiency of the vitamin called C is a condition called scurvy, but what are the damages done in a long-term minor deficiency of any of the nutrients. Is our body trying to make due with a shortage of building blocks and having to use the wrong materials to survive? Might these conditions lead to the malfunctions called disease? New versus Old New research is validating some of the plant uses of old using the techniques of modern science. The understanding of the importance of phyto-chemicals is just now coming to the forefront of attention. In the future, our understanding will be more complete concerning the complexities of this interplay of cellular processes and the intricacies of the plant components that feed us. Imbalance and Disease Imbalances and disease enter our lives when our cells have to try to survive and function without the proper resources. When the needed nutrients are not present, the survival mechanism that is built into our genetic structure demands that cells use whatever is available to work with. Without this trait we would quickly cease to function and die. In the parts of the world we call third world; we see the effects caused by long-term deficiencies of some very basic nutrients. Dependency and Compatibility Metabolism is the term describing the process cells in our body use to utilize the nutrients from food to produce energy and growth. Metabiosis is the condition in which one life form is dependent on another for its existence. For the life form called humans to exist we require the use of the life form called plants. This natural order is what makes me lean toward an herbal or plant based solution to my health whenever possible. Shopping for Herbs Please look at the food you eat as medicine and realize that our bodies look at botanical medicine as food. When we try a new food we take a small amount to see if our bodies like it. Use the same approach to herbal medicine. Take a little and see if it agrees with your bodys unique needs and chemical makeup. A friend of mine is deathly allergic to nuts of any kind, even a little means death for him. All of us can be allergic to something so use caution in all that you try. When you purchase produce you shop for the freshest and best you can afford to buy so use the same method when you buy herbal remedies. You purchase your food from known and reputable stores. That same logic is valuable with plant based medicine as well, so shop where you know you get the correct herb and it is fresh. Responsibility and Research When you consider getting help from the plant kingdom you need to take the responsibility of researching what you intend to put into your body. Most of the time consuming portion of this process I have tried to do for you by putting in front of you herbs from many parts of the world and their main action. This should allow you to select the most compatible plant remedies for the uniqueness of your conditions and physiological make up and find ones available in the area you live in. General guidelines Chinese meals are based on the following balance of foods and serves as a good base to plan our diets. Mexico in the central regions uses much the same ratios. Both of these countries have very low cancer and heart disease rates in common. Today in China childhood obesity has become an issue due to the introduction of fast food and affluence so portion size has increased. Stay with the moderate portions that have kept them healthy for generations. Whole grains
..50 per cent Legumes
15 per cent Vegetables
.20 per cent Fruits
.15 per cent Meat and dairy
....5 per cent Other ideas on Health and Food The vegetarian outlook seems to have some merit and much study. Since this is a very accessible subject I won't spend time here other than to say that the more varied and fresh our produce the more balanced intake of nutrients will be. By some it is believed to take several thousand years for our genetic structure to change. The most well known, Nathan Pritikin and others feel that we should be eating foods that are closer to the diet eaten by our prehistoric ancestors and not the over refined and over processed foods found on our shelves and in our modern diet. A diet low in fats, sugars, highly refined carbohydrates and protein, eaten in a manner that is closer to its natural state is the basis for these diets. Much success has been reported in weight control, energy levels and even some disease remissions with these diets. The plant world is very sensitive to the alkaline and acid balance in the soil. If it does not match the plants particular needs, good growth and production of its fruit are not optimal. Some medical and nutritional professionals over the last 40 years have believed that our bodies are also dependent on this internal acid-base balance. Dr. Racine and his college Dr. Bernard Jensen as well as a Dr. Robert Young PhD of Utah share the belief that disease occurs when the body becomes to acidic. The food we eat and the things we drink can change this balance. Since this is an easy one to incorporate into our lives I have included a list of foods in the back of this book that help to put our bodies in a more alkaline state. Most people with diabetes, cancer as well as many other major diseases, have a higher acidic level in their body. This line of reasoning may have some validity you can apply if you want to try this outlook on health. The PH Miracle by Dr. Robert O. Young and Shelby Redford Young as well as any of the books by Dr. Bernard Jensen will give you more information on this philosophy of health. Dr. D.C. Jarvis, M.D. seemed to lean toward this balance viewpoint in his 1958 book Folk Medicine about New England natural health care. The important thing is to keep an open mind as you delve into areas outside of your day to day knowledge. Check and cross check as much as possible things you find and think might help. If you are on medications or an herb comes with cautions refer to a professional trained in the use of these plants. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Ayurvedic are the oldest medical system in the world. A text on surgery was written over 2000 years ago by a surgeon named Sushruta whose practices opened the way for plastic surgery that is still used today. Maurice Messegue was one of the most famous French Herbalists of the 1940 era with unusual methods of administering his treatments but a very high cure rate on cases that had been abandoned by the conventional physicians of the day. Maria Treben of Austria who had a following that stretched around the world. The knowledge of many of the healers through out history has been lost because the means to pass it on was not available except to an apprentice or family member. With the advent of the computer and now the internet the world can share this wonderful gift, to give health using natures plants. ___________________________________ | 
