Herbal medicine as poison to the body

[Smile]

[SheepishLord]

What, have you taken up reading as a new hobby?

[Lozen]

Fascinating. I always saw herbs as strengthening and nourishing... never heard this version of it before.

[thaddeus]

This article makes way too many sweeping generalizations about herbal remedies. At some point it talks about general herbal remedies, then talks about extracts of the remedies that are taken as drugs, then throws in some generalized nonsense about how they work in body as 'poisons'. What's the point to this? If I make a tea out of He Shou Wu with Goji berry why am i poisoning my body? It's just food. The article makes a valid point about extracting the active constituent and making a drug out of it, but isn't that obvious already? One can argue that *any* pill is a poison...

but now that I think about it, anything you ingest in your body is a 'poison' in the sense it generates free radicals. Even the air we breathe and the emotions we feel generate free radicals.

T

[Cameron]

If Max thinks so must be true.

 

*Prepares for 2012 dimensional shift*

[affenbrot]

there has been a similiar (shorter) article in a german newspaper lately.

To me it is very obvious which interest groups are responsible for spreading this kind of news!

 

affenbrot

[Smile]

Me likes reading. Me reading long time.

 

By the time i finished reading that article, you probably finished 2 books already. So who is the dumb ass now? ohhh, wait a minute...

 

This article makes way too many sweeping generalizations about herbal remedies. At some point it talks about general herbal remedies, then talks about extracts of the remedies that are taken as drugs, then throws in some generalized nonsense about how they work in body as 'poisons'. What's the point to this? If I make a tea out of He Shou Wu with Goji berry why am i poisoning my body? It's just food. The article makes a valid point about extracting the active constituent and making a drug out of it, but isn't that obvious already? One can argue that *any* pill is a poison...

I would say that people focus on herbs instead of focusing on the right diet. If your diet consists of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, etc., you don't need herbal suplements, because your body gets all the nutrients in the most optimal way.

 

If Max thinks so must be true.

You know it.

 

 

there has been a similiar (shorter) article in a german newspaper lately.

To me it is very obvious which interest groups are responsible for spreading this kind of news!

Sounds like a lot of peole misunderstood what that article was about.

Edited April 3, 2006 by Smile

[Lozen]

I went to an ethnobotany conference that was specifically about herbs as food. In fact, many people I know only use herbs in food form (tea, vinegars, and herbs you can cook with.) I do think some people need more than just a good diet--some people have deficiencies where specific plants are indicated. But every herb book I've ever read and class I've ever been to emphasizes food first--good quality (organic if possible) fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains (in limited amounts), nuts and seeds, and good quality fat and protein.

 

I primarily use herbs as foods (dandelion greens, burdock root soup, nettle tea, verbena tea, etc.) but have found that using tinctures when I'm sick is a lot easier and has positive affects.

 

I agree that extracting certain plant elements is dangerous. But sometimes even Western medicine is necessary. I guess I like the old Tracker School adage, "What's gonna kill you first?" Would have a hard time telling a cancer patient (for example) to just eat more apples.

[Cameron]

[thaddeus]

I would say that people focus on herbs instead of focusing on the right diet. If your diet consists of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, etc., you don't need herbal suplements, because your body gets all the nutrients in the most optimal way.

I think the herbs exist for a reason, and we discovered their healing effects over time. Apples will not relieve pain or kill bacteria. Everything has a place..

T

[Smile]

I think the herbs exist for a reason, and we discovered their healing effects over time. Apples will not relieve pain or kill bacteria. Everything has a place..

T

You are right- apples don't kill bacteria. Your immune system is designed to do that. But if your immune system is exosted by unhealthy lifestyle and food so it can't fight off the disease, don't you think you have to correct the way you live first instead of taking herbs? But that of course takes times and effort. And will.

[Ian]

[neimad]

i agree in part.... herbs as medicine should be unnecessary if the diet is adequate.

 

however i would consider that an adequate diet would consist of herbs as a part of it.

 

herbs are like superfoods, with higher concentrations of minerals, vitamins, antioxidants and beneficial phytochemicals.... they are just plants, same as the vegetables we eat.

 

sweet potato is a root, so is ginseng. whats the diff?

 

spinach is leaves, so is damiana.

 

almonds are seeds, and so are feonugreek.

 

and on and on......

 

not much is needed, but some is. otherwise why would have all cultures all round the world used herbs as a part of a normal diet???

[thaddeus]

You are right- apples don't kill bacteria. Your immune system is designed to do that. But if your immune system is exosted by unhealthy lifestyle and food so it can't fight off the disease, don't you think you have to correct the way you live first instead of taking herbs? But that of course takes times and effort. And will.

Good point. I'll think of something...

But as someone pointed out in a later post, herbs are food for the most part. If I don't eat enough vitamin c, i'll get scurvy (and as linus pauling pointed out probably heart disease too). So if I eat a lemon, is that taking an herbal remedy? If I've been running from a predator and my adrenals are tired and I eat a ginseng root, is that a poison? There's just something wrong with the idea of saying ALL herbs are poisons and we don't need them because we have food plus whatever our current philosophy says is a healthy life style.

Perhaps an 'herb' is something more powerful than a 'food'. Since it's impossible to live without any stress, we may need these powerful food sometimes to bring us back to balance. I don't see that as a bad thing.

Anyway, interesting ideas nonetheless..

T

[affenbrot]

Sounds like a lot of peole misunderstood what that article was about.

arrgh, I missed the mark. . Again!