The Power of Healing Herbs

By Donald Payne

Hello again, dear readers. I would like to thank all the ethnobotanists, who travel all over the world and live with indigenous peoples to study which plants these cultures use for what ailments. After consulting with the shaman or herbalist of the respective tribes, these ethnobotanists then bring home various plants to determine in a laboratory why the shamans believe the plants have certain effects. Often the ethnobotanist researchers have seen with their own eyes the miraculous effects of these plants, and then when they do laboratory research they can identify the compounds responsible for such curative powers.

So many of the herbs we use today to effectively treat certain conditions we owe to these researchers. Without their work many plants might never be discovered, and this, dear reader, is a part of what my mission has become—to help you discover the wonderful properties of many “new” herbs, so that your abilities for self-healing and knowledge of herbal healing will grow. No growth equals stagnation, and whenever anything stagnates it becomes diseased (think of stagnant water).

Today we use so few of the available herbs to augment our health. Thousands of herbs have thousands of applications for our health problems, especially in these days of so much stress and pollution, both inner and outer!

You should also know that if we do not consume these herbs, the farmers can’t sell them to make their livings. Then they stop growing them in favor of more popular herbs, and then these great medicinal herbs we didn’t consume grow scarce or go extinct. If you know about the herbs and use them, the growers grow them, and the species thrive. So let us begin to grow our herbal knowledge in this article.
Allow me to introduce you to an amazing herb—Rhodiola rosea.

Rhodiola rosea, also known as golden root or roseroot, belongs to the plant family Crassulaceae. It grows primarily in dry sandy ground at high altitudes in the arctic areas of Europe and Asia. Between 1725 and 1960, various medicinal applications of Rhodiola rosea appeared in the scientific literature of Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, Russia, and Iceland. Since 1960 more than 180 pharmacological, phytochemical, and clinical studies of it have been published.

Traditional folk medicine used Rhodiola rosea to increase physical endurance, work productivity, longevity, and resistance to high-altitude sickness, and to treat fatigue, depression, anemia, impotence, gastrointestinal ailments, infections, and nervous system disorders. In 1960, Dr. G. V. Krylov, a Russian botanist and taxonomist in the Department of Botany of the Russian Academy of Sciences, found that extracts of the Rhodiola rosea root contained powerful “adaptogens” (see note). Research revealed that it protected animals and humans from mental and physical stress, toxins, and cold. The research also led to the discovery of a group of phenylpropanoids that are specific only to Rhodiola rosea; they are rosavin, rosin, and rosarin. The phenylethanol derivatives salidroside and tyrosol, again indigenous only to Rhodiola rosea, were found to be the most bioactive.

So what do I use Rhodiola rosea for? Number one—stress. Rhodiola helps us adapt to everyday stress in our lives, and for patients on prescription antidepressants, it has been shown to help with mood and normal enjoyment of life. Number two—fatigue, chronic or otherwise. Usually six to eight weeks of use helps the person regain a sense of enthusiasm and increase life productivity.

Rhodiola rosea has been used as an adjunct for Adriamycin (chemotherapy for breast cancer patients) with great results. It increased red blood cells and patients had more energy for their daily exercise.

Decades of research has made so much information available. The brand I rely on is made by Gaia Herbs. Its quality is unsurpassed and it really helps with my stressful days, and my energy level has improved. I trust Gaia for quality and potency of all the right constituents.

On another note, as we approach summer, we leave behind one of the wettest springs in history. That means flowers and pollen and allergies! For your allergies this year, try some of the Eclectic Institute’s formulas, Nasal Support, Nettles/Quercetin, or its straight Nettles herb. All of its herbs are prepared fresh (not dried like those of most companies) and then freeze-dried to protect the volatile oils and other naturally occurring compounds. My wife has used the Nasal Support (nettles/eyebright) formula for the last three years very successfully. It relieves stuffiness and swelling in her sinus membranes.

Another great allergy formula from another great company is Country Life’s Aller-Max. Aller-Max contains nettles, quercetin, pantothenic acid, and several other ingredients in high potency. This is a high-powered approach to fighting allergies.

Happy summer solstice,
Donald Payne

P.S. A note about “adaptogen” tonic herbs. They are “normalizing”—where we have too much of something in one area they help decrease it and they also augment that which is too little. They take care of the side effects of stress. There are enormous bodies of information on how mental/emotional stess affects our biology in a negative manner and the adaptogens help decrease those side effects. How grateful I am to discover this amazing category of herbs. Also, after I attended a seminar with Omar Cruz (a herbal educator) and learned about adaptogens, something he told about the mind and stress has convinced me to never again eat in front of the television set. And to take my adaptogens every day. For all of our benefit you should too!
Blessings!

Donald Payne is a nutrition specialist at S&S Produce in Chico CA. He has dedicated his life to alternative ways of dealing with allergies and staying healthy. He studied and practice Oriental Medicine in Chicago. He also studied acupuncture and alternative healing methods that led him into a long career in health foods.

This article was re-published using permission from the Lotus Guide Magazine and it is copyrighted. No reproduction of this article is allowed without the express consent of the Lotus Guide Magazine.

The Lotus Guide Magazine is produced and published out of Chico Ca.
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