There’s an old joke that goes: “If you want to hear God laugh, make a plan”. In November I hatched a plan to conduct a pilot study on a traditional herbal tea. The objective of the preliminary, mini-trial was to determine whether an herbal blend known as SLP Tea could help promote better sleep quality in a handful of my readers. I didn’t hear any divine chuckles, but not everything turned out quite as I had hoped. Initially, I enrolled 6 volunteers into my experiment. 3 of the 6 were ultimately able to comply with all of the guidelines I set for the study.
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If you’ve ever listened to talk radio on the weekends then you’ve probably come across more than a few infomercials selling so-called “nutraceuticals”. Nutraceutical is a term that marries the words “nutrition” and “pharmaceutical”. A common feature of these sales pitches is to offer a money back guarantee. This is an attempt to address the widespread skepticism of many people when hearing programs that pitch products that seem too good to be true.
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Many years ago I worked as a consultant for a number of health food stores. One day a customer remarked to me that his faith in herbs was largely based on the fact that human beings have grown up in the presence of medicinal plants since the beginning of time. He noted that the same could not be said for modern day medications. That’s certainly a valid but, ultimately, incomplete point. A more balanced view might be that humans have historically occupied this planet along side both dangerous and healing botanical neighbors. Read more »

Old herbs may not be able to learn new tricks, but humans can certainly learn new tricks about old herbs. Over the past few months, there’s been an impressive string of studies published about various herbal remedies. Some of the data supports traditional uses of these botanical agents. But I’ve also discovered a few wild cards in the medical literature. The result of my research will be a three day expose on the latest and greatest information about the modern use of medicinal herbs. Read more »

There’s a place in my mind that’s permanently devoted to natural health. It’s a living, breathing metropolis that has a cast of characters numbering in the hundreds. The foods, practices and supplements that make up of the population of this fictitious land are very similar to the bit players, heros and villains that inhabit any good story. In short, they need to constantly evolve and reveal more about themselves in order to remain interesting to readers and viewers alike. Read more »

In the world of high fashion models there are certain physical traits that you expect to find in the men and women strutting down the catwalk. But every once in a while an unlikely superstar emerges. These individuals generally don’t possess the typical characteristics found in other “supermodels”. They may be heavier, shorter or just downright “unique” in appearance. A similar phenomenon is found in the field of naturopathic medicine. There are plenty of remedies derived from beautiful sources such as echinacea flowers, lavender buds and milk thistle. However other popular supplements are extracted from decidedly unattractive reservoirs. Read more »

Vitamins are a lot like movie stars. At certain points in their careers they experience hot streaks where they’re considered exciting and glamorous. During those periods they’re frequently in the news and are top draws at the box office and health food stores. You’ll see commercials promoting their products and you might even hear occasional gossip about them around the neighborhood. “Did you hear that Russell Crowe punched out his acting coach on the set of Gladiator?!”. “It turns out that Nancy didn’t have ‘work done’. She’s just been using that new Vitamin C skin cream sold by that doctor on PBS.” But inevitably, almost all celebrities and nutrients also discover the flip side of fame. Critics and scientists stop singing their praises and people stop buying their wares. It’s a tough time to go through, but it also affords the possibility of a comeback. Read more »

A few years ago I went on a 7-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera with my family. By all accounts it was destined to be an experience where many fond memories would be formed. We were surrounded by exotic and picturesque locales. The time spent on land and sea could not have been more restful and restorative. Even the food was surprisingly good. But coming back home was a completely different story. By that, I’m not referring to an endless barrage of choppy waves or otherwise tumultuous weather conditions. The problem was my stomach. The following two weeks were crowded with digestive issues, the likes of which I’d never encountered before. My state of health was so volatile and unpredictable that I was afraid to leave the house. I simply couldn’t rely on my “insides” to cooperate with my “outer” plans. Read more »

Kids often times wonder why things are the way they are. Parents know this phenomenon all too well. Rarely does a word strike as much dread in a father and mother’s heart as the word “why”. The answer to such a question usually isn’t that complicated. But rather it’s the understanding that any answer given will often prompt the follow up question - “But, why?”. I think I may be able to help out with this. The next time you instruct your daughter or son to eat their broccoli, Brussels sprouts or cauliflower and they ask you why, you can simply tell them that: “Cruciferous vegetables contain glucosinolates that assist the body in detoxifying xenochemicals and discouraging aberrant cellular and hormonal processes that can ultimately result in malignancies”. Works every time! Read more »

It’s difficult to conceive of any circumstance in which you’d purposefully eat the bark of a tree. Fruit from a tree, sure. Seeds? Possibly. Leaves? That might be pushing things a bit, but still plausible. But tree bark?! Technically, you can eat some varieties of tree bark in a survival situation. But I think most people would need to be in pretty dire straits to resort to that last ditch option. Fortunately for us all, a select group of scientists have been studying the health benefits of a specific tree bark in an attempt to derive a natural medicine from it. I’m pleased to report that their promising research now allows mankind to benefit from the goodness of tree bark by swallowing a pill rather than chewing on “tree skin”.
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One of the hardest “sells” in natural medicine is demonstrating that there can be substantive differences between products that seem similar. Many years ago a skeptical customer was discussing a supplement with an employee at a health food store. At that time, I was a consultant who assisted the owner of that establishment to choose which lines and products to stock. I overheard the conversation and decided to try to help out. The position of the customer was that all echinacea products should be comparably priced. His view was that they all came from the same plant, the same soil, the same planet and therefore should reflect that in their price point. My first approach was to provide details about the specific differences between the brands he was considering - variable concentrations of active ingredients, flower vs. root extracts, the scientific research conducted on certain products, etc. I was unable to sway him with that data. So I tried a different tactic. I asked, “Is it reasonable to pay the same amount for a brand new BMW as you would a used Honda Civic?” “Of course not”, he scoffed. I continued, “Why not? They’re both made with similar materials. They both have four tires and a steering wheel. You can use both cars to get to where you want to go.” Read more »

A few weeks ago, I visited a local emergency room and was greeted with a special flyer that described symptoms and precautions pertaining to the H1N1 virus. Over the past month or so, the “Swine Flu” has directly affected several people that I know. In each instance, all of these friends and acquaintances have recovered completely. But judging by a review of various journals, magazines and newspapers, it doesn’t seem as though the level of interest and preoccupation with H1N1 has diminished substantially. Part of the reason is likely due to a very minimal number of cases where this particular strain of influenza has lead to tragic outcomes. One such instance was the focal point of a recent Larry King Live program. Read more »

Keeping up with medical news is a lot like keeping track of the stock market. New information is continuously being released and must be considered in order to have a well rounded picture of what’s really going on. I try to present an accurate assessment of each subject that I write about. However, the accuracy of the information is only current at the posting date. A week or two after I publish an article, there’s frequently something new that I could add. That’s why I regularly post updates on topics that I’ve already covered. Read more »

South African geranium (Pelargonium sidoides) is a medicinal plant that is attracting a lot attention in the scientific community. This cold and flu season may be a good opportunity for this traditional herbal remedy to broaden its reach. There’s a great deal of attention and concern about the H1N1 novel flu virus these days. No one knows how much of an impact this current viral strain will ultimately have. But we do know that upper respiratory infections will certainly affect millions upon millions of people in the coming year alone. Therefore, I think it’s advantageous to know about as many safe and natural resources as possible. These immune boosting supplements may help protect us from the risks that we know about and those that may or may not come to pass. Read more »

If you took a poll that asked people to identify the most popular vitamin in the world, you’d likely find that Vitamin C tops the list. But if you posed that same question to researchers who are currently conducting scientific studies, their answer would almost certainly be Vitamin D - and I’m not just referring to researchers in the field of nutritional science. Specialists from all over the medical map are expressing an interest in the role that the “sunshine vitamin” may play in conditions ranging from asthma to cardiovascular disease to diabetes, and even lesser known conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). These days, the scientific literature is simply lit up with references to ergocalciferol (Vitamin D2) and cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3).
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Most holistic healing is prescribed in an individualized manner. A “one size fits all” approach is rarely adopted. In short, natural health practitioners attempt to treat each patient based on their own unique needs. But how do naturopathic physicians decide on which treatments are best? They often integrate personal experiences with their knowledge of traditional healing techniques and awareness of the most current scientific findings. Read more »