Subject: The Green Pharmacy

[Guest guest]

" JoAnn Guest " <angelprincessjo

Thu Nov 27, 2003 4:11 pm

The Green Pharmacy

 

This is taken from the 'foreward' of the Green Pharmacy, written by

James A. Dukes Ph.D, former head botanist at the USDA.

It has some wonderful tidbits in it which I thought you might enjoy

reading this Thanksgiving Day, (if you can stay awake after all that

turkey), <LOL Looks like snow here. I guess we can expect it, the

season is in full swing.

Wishing a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving for Every One in my Groups!

 

Cheers,

JoAnn

 

Since the first edition of The Green Pharmacy, I have received

numerous letters and e-mails from readers. Many have written not

only to thank me for the book and to ask advice but also to tell me

how they've used herbal remedies. Their stories add to

the " anecdotal evidence " --plant medicine really does help people in

hundreds of ways.

 

Now that The Green Pharmacy has also been translated into a number

of different languages, I hope that the good news will be carried

even further. In time, perhaps this information will be as readily

used by doctors and pharmacists as it is by readers. I have

absolutely no doubt that we can all benefit from a greater

understanding of " green pharmaceuticals. "

 

Of course, there are many reasons behind the current wave of

interest in herbal medicines. Fear of synthetic pharmaceuticals is

just one factor. We all know that synthetic medicines--the hardcore

pharmaceuticals--often have dramatic activities. But we also know

that they can have even more dramatic side effects as well. In one

decade, over half the drugs approved as safe and efficacious by the

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had to be recalled and relabeled

because of unanticipated side effects.

 

But there's another reason for the surge of interest in green

pharmaceuticals. All living herbs contain thousands of chemicals,

and when you select herbal medicine, you are getting the benefit of

the combinations of those chemicals. When you take a single,

monochemical, synthetic compound, on the other hand, it will

probably help if it has been well-proven and if your diagnosis is

correct. But only rarely can it address related, minor problems--of

which there can be dozens.

 

An herbal remedy is far more likely to help if you have been

misdiagnosed or if you have related problems. Thousands of " buffered

reactions " are going on in each of our cells as those cells try to

keep us in a state of optimal health. With herbal medicine, you help

your cells maintain that state of optimal equilibrium.

 

Plant food and herbal medicine help in another way as well: by

providing nutrients that are essential to life. Research has now

shown that many of us are deficient in several nutrients essential

to optimal health, if not essential to life itself. Many of these

important, natural ingredients are found in herbs, but not in

synthetic pharmaceuticals.

 

When synthetic drugs are made from plants, we tend to isolate one or

another chemical and throw away the rest of the plant and its

medicinal potential. The fava bean, for instance, contains

ingredients that could be extracted and used as " magic-bullet "

pharmaceuticals--such as L-dopa, which is used in the treatment of

Parkinson's disease.

 

But why throw away the rest of the bean to make a proprietary

monochemical medicine that can be patented by a pharmaceutical

company? We should, instead, be studying the synergistic energies of

all those phytochemicals and discovering how they work so well

together. Those are the studies that will lead us to a true

understanding of the many healing qualities of medicinal plants.

 

Among the readers' letters, there have been a number of queries

about the medicines that I recommend for myself and my family.

Naturally, my own first choice will always be green pharmaceuticals.

Peering into my " medicine chest, " I see that more than 95 percent of

the medicines I take regularly come from the green pharmacy, and I

take most of them for preventive reasons. In fact, over the course

of one year, I took fewer than a dozen pharmaceuticals--all anti-

inflammatories for a painful knee. The rest were herbals.

 

Every day, I take celery or celery seed concentrate for the

prevention of gout. It contains nearly two dozen anti-inflammatory

compounds.

 

I also take garlic. Since some history of colon cancer runs in my

family, I use the garlic to help prevent cancer. It also helps

prevent colds and flu. For the same reasons, I boost my immune

system with echinacea.

 

Among my other " chosen " herbs are saw palmetto to prevent or slow

deterioration of the prostate, bilberry to guard against vision

loss, and milk thistle, a measure against deterioration of the

liver. Ginkgo also occupies an important place in my medicine chest.

It helps prevent memory loss, and it might even slow the advance of

Alzheimer's. (No signs of that yet, but I'll be careful all the

same.)

 

I also include kava kava, on occasion, to help relax during

stressful times and St.-John's-wort to help my mood when the winter

blues begin to set in. Among their other benefits, these herbs have

a preventive side since stress and mild depression take their toll

on the immune system.

 

Finally, there's evening primrose, with its gamma-linolenic acid.

Combined with hawthorn and ginkgo, this herb can help prevent heart

problems or prostatitis. And I have licorice in my medicine chest to

help prevent ulcers.

 

All those herbs--and scores more--are described in detail in this

book. In the pages ahead, you'll learn how these herbs can prevent

or heal an enormous variety of health conditions, ranging from

allergies and altitude sickness to warts, worms, wrinkles and yeast

infections. You probably won't need all of them. But perhaps you'll

decide, as have so many other readers, which of these many herbs

you'd like to add to your personal medicine chest.

 

As I noted in the first edition of The Green Pharmacy, this book is

the culmination of many decades of work with medicinal plants

throughout the world and many years of plant-hunting, from China to

Costa Rica, from Peru to Pennsylvania, from the hills of Virginia to

the upper reaches of the Amazon.

 

For most of my 35-year career, I worked for the U.S. Department of

Agriculture (USDA) as a botanist specializing in medicinal plants.

Technically, I'm what is known as an ethnobotanist, which simply

means that I've studied how plants are used as food and medicine in

many different cultures. During my career, I've personally seen

medicinal herbs successfully treat conditions that high-tech

pharmaceuticals could scarcely touch.

 

In Part One of this book, " Your Guide to the Green Pharmacy, " you'll

find my advice about finding, preparing and even growing herbs.

You'll also find my advice and safety cautions about using them.

These are based on personal experiences as well as an extensive

database of scientific information about the various chemicals and

compounds found in plants.

 

In Part Two, " Choosing the Herbs that Heal, " I have applied a rating

system of sorts to highlight the herbs and herbal remedies that I

believe to be the most effective for each of the diseases and health

problems. The most highly recommended herbs have a three-leaf

rating. For alternate remedies, however, be sure to pay attention to

herbs with two-leaf and one-leaf ratings. (I could have used

stars, of course, but leaves seem a lot more appropriate in a book

called The Green Pharmacy.)

 

 

http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/41/1.cfm