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This week, two guests describe their work with the healing power of medicinal herbs. They draw upon family histories of herbalism along with their own studies of how to use botanical medicines.
You may want to listen through your local public radio station or get the live stream at 7 am EDT on your computer or smart phone (wunc.org). Here is a link so you can find which stations carry our broadcast. If you can’t listen to the broadcast, you may wish to hear the podcast later. You can subscribe through your favorite podcast provider, download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of the page, or listen to the stream on this post starting on March 18, 2023.
The Power of Medicinal Herbs:
For centuries, up until almost the middle of the 20th century, people relied primarily on plants for their medicines. The advent of synthetic drugs created and distributed by pharmaceutical companies helped pushed botanical medicines out of favor. Even though schools of medicine and pharmacy are no longer teaching their students how to use plants for healing, the plants have not lost their power. What should you know about them?
Warding Off Colds and Respiratory Infections:
If you come down with influenza, your doctor can prescribe an antiviral medicine to help speed healing. If your stuffy nose, sore throat and cough are caused by any of the hundreds of rhinoviruses, coronaviruses or enteroviruses that cause the “common cold,” your health care provider doesn’t have much to offer. There are some prescription medicines that can address individual symptoms, such as benzonatate or guaifenesin for cough. In the drugstore, you can buy multi-symptom cold remedies over the counter. But none of them will actually help you get better faster.
Medicinal Herbs Can Help:
One plant that helps speed recovery from respiratory infections is Andrographis paniculata. Most Americans are unfamiliar with this herbal medicine, but research has shown that it has antiviral and immune-modulating activity (Pharmaceuticals, Aug. 24, 2023). Herbalists also recommend it for digestive disorders, calling it the King of Bitters.
That name may offer a clue to why Andrographis is not very well known in the US. Americans are frequently reluctant to eat or drink things that taste bitter. Mimi Hernandez frequently pairs Andrographis with a far more pleasant-tasting and familiar herb, black elderberry. It too has been used to aid recovery from respiratory tract infections, although more and better clinical trials are needed (BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, April 7, 2021).
Is Goldenrod Just a Nuisance?
Many people blame their fall allergy symptoms on goldenrod (Solidago canadensis). According to Mimi Hernandez, that’s probably inaccurate. Allergies are more often reactions to other plants, possibly inconspicuous ones, that bloom at the same time. Goldenrod itself can be used topically to treat skin problems. It has a reputation for acting as an anti-inflammatory or diuretic when swallowed in a tincture or tea.
Other Medicinal Herbs Tackle Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar:
A couple of plants available in the US are more widely used and respected in Mexico and other countries. One of these is hibiscus, a beautiful red blossom that makes a tangy-tasting tea. In Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, this is called agua de jamaica. A few controlled trials have shown that Hibiscus sabdariffa lowers blood pressure in people with mild hypertension (Journal of Advanced Pharmaceutical Technology & Research, Jul-Sep 2019).
Prickly pear cactus, known as nopales, is used in Mexico to help people with blood sugar control. This might be chalked up as an old wives’ tale, but animal research confirms that polysaccharide compounds from the large flat cactus leaves can lower blood glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides (Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Aug. 10, 2023). Mimi Hernandez is enthusiastic about both these medicinal herbs. She has been working diligently to recapture the wisdom of our forebears regarding the power of healing plants.
Herbs in the Practice of Medicine:
Dr. Tieraona Low Dog was already an accomplished herbalist before she went to medical school. Her innate curiosity helped her turn the rigor she learned for medical research to the scientific study of botanical medicines. Dr. Low Dog is one of the best-informed experts we have ever interviewed on the scientific support for medicinal herbs, where it is present. She is also quick to tell us when that support is lacking.
We asked her about a favorite herb, and she chose a common backyard plant that is easy to grow and easy to use: thyme. One of the components of thyme, thymol, helps calm a cough, probably through its action on TRP channels (Respiratory Research, Feb. 8, 2023).
When Herbs May Be Better:
We asked Dr. Low Dog if there are times when herbs may be a more appropriate treatment than prescription drugs. There are certainly conditions for which lifestyle approaches, including but not limited to botanical medicines, are preferred. Occasional sleeping difficulties are among these. Dr. Low Dog often recommends Ashwagandha for those who are “tired but wired.”
Coughs due to colds are another. After all, OTC cough or cold remedies don’t work very well. Instead, she likes to suggest Andrographis or thyme tea and thyme syrup. Ginger tea can be especially helpful for people with chronic hives, a condition that is difficult to treat with conventional medicines. When medicinal herbs are used properly, they may be gentler than prescription products.
This Week’s Guests:
Mimi Hernandez:
Mimi Prunella Hernandez, MS, RH (AHG), is an internationally recognized clinical herbalist and ethnobotanist with a Master of Science in Herbal Medicine. She is a Registered Herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild, and has served as the Guild’s executive director for more than ten years. An award-winning student of the revered ethnobotanist James Duke, she has been practicing and teaching herbalism for more than two decades. Hernandez lives in the foothills near Asheville, North Carolina, where she stewards and advocates for native medicinal plants on the PonderLand Sanctuary.
She is the author of National Geographic Herbal: 100 Herbs from the World’s Healing Traditions
Her website is https://www.mimiprunellahernandez.com/
Mimi Hernandez, MS, RH, author of National Geographic Guide to Medicinal Herbs
Dr. Tieraona Low Dog:
Tieraona Low Dog, MD, is a founding member of the American Board of Physician Specialties, American Board of Integrative Medicine and the Academy of Women’s Health. She was elected Chair of the US Pharmacopeia Dietary Supplements/Botanicals Expert Committee and was appointed to the Scientific Advisory Council for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Her books include: Women’s Health in Complementary and Integrative Medicine; Life Is Your Best Medicine and Fortify Your Life: Your Guide to Vitamins, Minerals, and More. Her website is drlowdog.com
Dr. Tieraona Low Dog describes natural ways to treat heartburn
Listen to the Podcast:
The podcast of this program will be available Monday, March 18, 2024, after broadcast on March 16. You can stream the show from this site and download the podcast for free.
Jo
I need a remedy for effects from food poisoning. I got very sick three weeks ago with violent vomiting, and my bottom end shut off. I then had constipation for two weeks till trying some tinctures of digestive enzyme, gall bladder and colon help. I wound up having to use a suppository the other day, and much of the backup evacuated after I was sweating and praying for an hour. I thought I was going to have a heart attack!
The next day about a half hour after my first meal, I had to go, and pronto! A large amount of solid and loose stool came out, and I was afraid to go too far away from a bathroom all day. It’s still hard to eat much, as I feel nauseous not long after my first meal of the day, and I’m afraid I might have to go potty real quick. I want the urgency, pain and nausea to stop. I’m also a diabetic with high blood pressure. And today I found out I have some hemorrhoids from all this. Any advice please.
Mary J
I suspect that I’m not your only regular reader who would appreciate more articles like this one, rather than comments on drugs.
Jeanni
I am seventy nine and I take no prescription drugs. I just don’t feel like the side effects of drugs are worth the risk. Why are there side effects to every prescription drug? Is it because they really don’t belong in your body?
For example I was born with what they called a heart murmur which is now called mitral valve prolapse. My whole life I have had missed beats, heart flutters and thumps. I have never had shortness of breath, fainted or felt chest pain and it has never slowed me down in any activities that I participate in.
I had an episode six years ago where my heart was racing for more than an hour and that had never happened before. Usually the missed beats, heart flutters and thumps are brief and only last a minute or two. The doctor was aware of my mitral valve prolapse but diagnosed me with AFIB and gave me a prescription for Pradaxa which is a blood thinner. I took it for a month and I honestly felt like I might die. I had shortness of breath and felt like I might faint if I did anything physical. I would have to go sit down for about twenty minutes before I could continue what I was doing.
So I went off Pradaxa did some research and found that grape juice is a natural blood thinner. I drink 8oz, a day and have not had any of the symptoms that I have had all my life with my heart since then. And I have been drinking grape juice for four years now. A plus for me is that a varicous vein that I have had in my left leg for over fifteen years is now gone and my blood pressure reading has lowered to the normal range. It was a little higher before I started drinking grape juice.
Tom
I’m pleased to note that Kold Kare is back in business and now available. Perhaps the other Kare-N-Herbs products will also end their hiatus.
Kirk
My father was a chemist and engineer, who went to college in the 1950’s. He gave me a book titled “pharmacognosy”, which he had from his college days. It was mostly about herbal medication. Unfortunately I didn’t think there was a lot of truth to herbal medicines being effective, as at the time I went to Pharmacy school it was all about chemical pharmaceuticals, and the OTC herbal market didn’t exist like it does today. At that time the hyperinflation of drugs hadn’t yet occurred, I was sold on the pharmaceuticals made in the lab by professors, drug companies, etc.
After experiencing the negative effects of anti-inflammatories and other manmade medications, I quit the use of most pharmaceuticals, as there’s too much that is not known about how they work, and the detrimental effects of chronic use. Few are as safe as the FDA or drug manufacturers would have you believe. Live and learn I guess.
I don’t recall how I got into reading The People’s Pharmacy, but I started to realize there’s a lot more to herbal sources of medication, and synthetic drugs aren’t near as safe or effective as one might be led to believe. Unfortunately that book got lost in multiple moves to new homes. I would be much more interested in it’s contents these days.
It’s a crime how the People’s Pharmacy is treated by Google and other search engines. You have helped open my eyes to the drawbacks of medications like the statin drugs for example, and I learned Vicks Vaporub does work on toe nail fungus. The wisdom of past generations is not old wive’s tales, nor are the effects of herbal supplements just a placebo effect. Nor do they work in 100% of the population. That doesn’t invalidate their usefulness.
Elle
Hello, do you know of any herbs that can help with arthritis? I have severe issues with my knees.
Thanks!