By Lee Wellard, MH, HHP, ND PhD
Herbal Medicine, sometimes
referred to as Herbalism or
Botanical Medicine, is the use of
herbs for their therapeutic or
medicinal value. An herb is a plant
or plant part valued for its
medicinal, aromatic or savory
qualities. Herb plants produce and
contain a variety of chemical
substances that act upon the body.
• One more interesting fact is that the World
Health Organization or WHO estimates
that 80% of the population of the world is
now using Herbal Remedies.
• Another fact which is related to herbal
medicines is that a whopping 7000
compounds used in modern day medicine
have been derived from plants and herbs.
The whole is greater than the
sum of the individual parts
• Also what is important to bear in mind is that a herb just
does not have one single use but has multiple actions
affecting multiple body systems. Take St. John’s Wort
again as an example, it is a nervine that calms anxiety,
stress and anxiety-related depression, but it also aids
repairs when nerves have been damaged, it has an anti-
viral action, it is also helpful for healing damaged
intestinal mucosa and it can be used for menopausal
nervousness & menstrual cramps. Therefore St. John’s
Wort is just not a herb for a single issue but a complex
herb that works on many underlying issues in multiple
body systems.
Psalm 104:14 He causeth the grass to grow for the
cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may
bring forth food out of the earth;
Over 100 bible references to
herbs and spices
Exodus 37:25 And they sat down to eat bread: and they lifted up their
eyes and looked, and, behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from
Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to
carry [it] down to Egypt.
Principles of Herbal Medicine
• Herbs must be preserved to maintain effectiveness.
• Herbal teas and extracts are the best ways to take herbs.
• Herb dosages vary depending on herb used, weight of
person, form they are taken in and condition of person.
• Herbs are best used if the cause of disease is ascertained.
• Herbs are not a substitute for poor lifestyle habits.
• Herbs should be used intelligently, and in therapeutic levels
deemed appropriate for the condition.
• Herbs are not to be relied upon continually, unless they are
used for nutritional support.
Contraindications
• There are simple herbs
and roots that every
family may use for
themselves and need not
call a physician any
sooner than they would
call a lawyer. over this
subject. {2SM 279.1}
Handful of Herbs
“This is God’s method. The herbs that grow
for the benefit of man, and the little handful
of herbs kept and steeped and used for
sudden ailments, have served tenfold, yes,
one hundred fold better purposes, than all
the drugs hidden under mysterious names
and dealt out to the sick. {PH144 12.2}
Safety & Effectiveness of Herbal
Remedies
• 0 Deaths
• 21 Major reactions
• 527 Moderate reactions
• 603 Minor reactions
• The report from the Poison Control Center does not give us
details as to the way in which the herbs were given and the
amount, but only the effect. I would also like to mention that
many herbal preparations are alcoholic based, and therefore
present a higher risk to children who may inadvertently be
consuming high amounts.
Bronstein AC, Spyker DA, Cantilena LR Jr, Green JL, Rumack BH, Giffin SL. 2008
Annual Report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers' National
Poison Data System (NPDS): 26th Annual Report. Clinical Toxicology (2009).
47, 911-1084.
Safety issues often distorted by
medical websites
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/features/risky-herbal-
supplements#4
• Twenty-seven studies met the study entry criteria.
A total of 3,126 patients with depression were
included. St John's wort extract did not differ from
Both St John's wort extract SSRIs in clinical response, remission, and mean
and SSRIs are effective in reduction in Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression
treating mild-to-moderate score. St John's wort extract had a significantly
depression. St John's wort lower rate of adverse events compared to SSRIs
extract is safer than SSRIs. (summary relative risk: 0.77; 95% confidence
interval: 0.70, 0.84, P=0.00) and had fewer
Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. withdrawals due to adverse events. St John's wort
2016 Jul 11;12:1715-23. extract had superior safety in the management of
doi: 10.2147/NDT.S106752. patients with depression.
eCollection 2016.
Chaparral
Chaparral: Chaparral is considered to
be a probable cause of hepatoxicity
in most medical websites, however
the FDA softened their stance on it
as “may be associated with acute to
chronic fulminant liver failure.”
• According to the National
Library of Medicine, “Liver
injury attributable to chaparral
was first reported in 1990 and
According to the book, “Dietary subsequently more than a
Supplements: A Framework for dozen cases of severe liver
Evaluating Safety, page 398”, only 1 in injury attributed to chaparral
15 case reports of chaparral-associated have been published.”
hepatotoxicity was it reported that a
chaparral tea had been ingested.”
Comfrey
• The four widely-reported
cases of liver toxicity, all
occurring in the 1980s, were
outlined in a presentation by
the National Institute of
Medical Herbalists (London),
to the Department of Health in
January 1993 (29):
Kava Root
• The University of Maryland in an article
on Kava made the following statement:
“However, there is serious concern that
kava may cause liver damage. More
than 30 cases of liver damage have
been reported in Europe. However,
researchers have not been able to
confirm that kava is toxic to the liver. It's
not clear whether kava itself causes
liver damage, or whether taking kava in
combination with other drugs or herbs
is responsible.But the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) issued a
consumer advisory in March 2002
regarding the "rare" but potential risk of
liver failure associated with kava-
containing products.”
Pennyroyal
• Pennyroyal oil, however, is highly
toxic, and even small doses (one
tablespoon, 15 mL) can cause
syncope, seizures, coma,
cardiopulmonary collapse, acute
liver injury, renal insufficiency and
multiorgan failure. Currently,
pennyroyal oil is used in
aromatherapy, as a bath additive
and as an insect repellent, but is
not recommended to be taken
internally.”
https://livertox.nih.gov/Pennyroyal.htm
Biggest Herbal Culprit
• In the book “The Essential
Guide to Herbal Safety” by
Simon Mills, and Kerry Bone, it
states that “It has been
estimated that approximately
70% of severe poisonings
caused by Chinese Herbal
Medicine (CHM) are caused
by churn wu (Aconitum
carmachaeli) and can wu
(Aconitum kusnezoffii) alone.”
page 120.
86.6% of the adverse effects
blamed on 14 plants:
• Another systematic review, not
included in the aforementioned
overview, reported that 86.6% of
the adverse effects of plant food
supplements and botanical
preparations were associated with
14 plants only. Two plants were
responsible for 32% of the adverse
effects reported, that is, soybean
(Glycine max), for which allergic
reactions and hormone-like activity
were demonstrated, and liquorice
(Glycyrrhiza glabra) responsible for
hypokalaemia and hypertension (Di
Lorenzo et al., 2015).
Green Tea
• High in aluminum
• High in tanins that
block iron
absorption
• High in flouride
• 20-5mg of Caffeine
per cup
• Knocks out Gaba
Doctors and Herbs
In a study entitled “A gap between
acceptance and knowledge of
herbal remedies by physicians:
The need for educational
intervention” It revealed that “Of
192 physicians interviewed, most
(60.4%) believed that herbal
remedies were beneficial to
health…Seventy-eight physicians
(40.6%) admitted having used
herbs in the past, and 60 of these
(76.9%) were satisfied with the
outcome.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti
cles/PMC1310610/
Patients reluctant to tell doctors
about their herbal medicines
Nearly one-third of Americans
use herbs. Unfortunately, a
study in the New England
Journal of Medicine found that
nearly 70% of people taking
herbal medicines (most of
whom were well educated and
had a higher-than-average
income) were reluctant tell
their doctors that they used
complementary and alternative
medicine (CAM).
Herbal Remedies on different
health issues
Colds and flu
Herbs for inflammation
Vitex, a ladies best herbal friend
Men's herbal health
Mental health
Herb for energy
Good Herbal Resources
