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Herbalism
A Tradition of Healing
Linda Diane Feldt
RPP, NCTMB, NC, CPE
Holistic health Practitioner
Outline of this presentation
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Overview of CAM and alternative healing
The practice of herbalism
Herbal training and education
Concerns and challenges
Herbal companies and certification
Using local herbs
Nourishing and medicinal herbs
A few local herbs and how they are used
Case studies
Next steps
Major Categories of Alternative
Healing
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Integrated healing systems
Hands on techniques
Biological substances
Energy based healing
Mind/body spirit awareness
Adapted from NIH categories
My Practice
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Student of the healing arts since 1973
Full time private practice since 1981 (10-20 per
week)
Primarily use Herbs, Cranialsacral therapy, Polarity
therapy, and massage.
Sliding scale
Diverse population
Pain, injury, lifestyle, prevention, with or without
conventional medicine
Age range prenatal to 104
Also teach, write, volunteer
What makes a professional
practice
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Standards for practice
Scope of practice
Continuing education
Code of ethics
Association membership
Able to refer, available for referrals
Herbalism
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Traditional Healers
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Native American, Ayurvedic, Tibb, Unani,
Tibetan, etc
Traditional Chinese
Western Folkloric
Western Scientific
Earth-centered
Ethno-botanical
example categories from the American Herbalist Guild
Herbalism Training and
Education
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College and University courses
Electives within schools that teach wellness,
holistic health, bodywork or somatic practices
Apprenticeship programs both formal and
informal
Correspondence courses
Herbalism Training and
Education (cont.)
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Traditional initiation and training often
combined with religious/spiritual practices
Self taught
Promotional material and workshops provided
by manufacturers
Multi level marketing materials
Certification provided by herb manufacturers
Western Folkloric Tradition
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promotes ethical harvesting of plants
uses the whole parts of the plant, in season
encourages consumer involvement
emphasis is on nutritive aspects of herbs
primarily uses plants that grow locally, and
encourages direct involvement with the plants
by growing and wildcrafting
Western Folkloric Tradition (cont.)
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uses a holistic approach to support body
systems & the individual
encourages sharing of information, stories and
experience with others
can work in a supportive role with
conventional Western Medicine
Concerns and Challenges
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Herbalism is a very broad term that describes a
profession many thousands of years old.
Herbalists and the scientific community have only
recently begun to forge mutual respect, goals, and to
determine ways of working together.
Herbalists must proactively respond to unprecedented
consumer interest.
Concerns and Challenges
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Protecting consumers, supporting scientific research,
and preserving herbal traditions are intriguing
challenges for this profession.
Consumers and health care providers may have
difficulty determining who is qualified as an
herbalist.
Herbal use is now being driven primarily by
advertising and manufacturers, not by health care
providers and traditional sources of information.
Reputable companies
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Harvest ethically
Employ herbalists and support professional
associations
Access to information on
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where plants are harvested - avoid non US unless using
TCM
company philosophy - focus on herbs or marketing?
control of product - don’t just repackage or rebottle from
suppliers
Multi-level marketing deserves special scrutiny
Examples of companies
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HerbPharm
Frontier
Pacific Botanicals
Trout Lake Botanicals
Scientific Botanicals
Phytopharmica
Naturopathic Formulary
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Thorne Research
Eclectic Institute
MediHerb
Bezweken
Women's Transition
Wise Women Herbals
And ??
Herbal certification
The bad
 Prone to consumer
confusion
 Does not ensure potency
 Does not address processing
or preparation
 Does not address safety of
the herb
 Expense may prohibit good
companies from using
certification
The good
 Helpful to ensure
WYSIWYG
 Raising awareness of
importance of herbal quality
 Important to ensure Good
Manufacturing Practices
(GMP)are used
 Can address the real
problem of contaminate
Using Herbs From Your
Landscape
The Foundations of Herbalism
For thousands of years all herbs used were:
 Local
 Common
 Harvested by practitioner or user
 Prepared at time of use or preserved for off-season
 Special non-local herbs were available by trade
Current Practice
This type of use is still relevant today.
Advantages
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Low or no cost
No fear of adulteration
Know plant part and if picked at best time
Fresh
Gets you out in nature
Personal/spiritual experience with plant(s)
Medicine or Food?
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In traditional herbalism plants are used for both
Substantial healing can occur by nourishing the body
or systems of the body
Many herbs occupy both roles
The nourishing herbs are far less likely to have
unwanted side effects
Weeds in Michigan are often higher in available
nutrients than conventional foods
Nourishing herbs
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Nutrient rich
Bio-available
Generally considered safe, side effects uncommon
Dosage and strength less important
Tend to be local, whole, and common
Large amounts used, in contrast to medicinal plants
Includes tonics
Supportive to body systems
Long term use is usually beneficial
Nourishing Herbs cont.
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Internal use
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Infusions
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Whole plant
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Water based
Vinegar based
Cooked
Raw (salad)
External use
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Compress
Poultice
Salve
Medicinal Herbs
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Dosage and strength important or critical
Tend to utilize more toxic parts of plant
Stimulate or sedate
More likely to have side effects
Are often plants that are less common, or rare
Long term use is generally discouraged
More extensive knowledge is needed to use safely
and effectively
Medicinal Herbs cont.
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Internal Use
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Tinctures
Extracts provided in capsules or other
Standardized components of plants
Drug preparations derived from plants
Injections of extracts
Capsules (not necessarily effective)
External Use
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Poultice, compress, bolis
Salves
Michigan Herbal Allies
In Michigan we are surrounded by herbal
helpers. When you begin to learn them, it
changes the experience of being outside and
your ability to interact with nature.
Help is all around you. It is a very powerful
thing to experience regularly. Finding and
making you own medicine creates
independence, and provides other options to
the conventional insurance/medical systems.
Just a few of the hundreds
In your yard:
plaintain, dandelion, motherwort, lamb’s quarters, echinacea,
Groundsel, shepherd’s purse, chickweed, mallow, self heal
Coming in from the woods:
stinging nettle, cleavers, garlic mustard, poke, red raspberry
From the surrounding countryside:
mullein, yellow dock, burdock, chicory, red clover,
St. John’s wort, yarrow
Plantain Plantago
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Used in salads, for bites and
skin irritations, soothes oral
cuts and radiation burns
Leaves chewed, poultice,
juiced or salve. Seeds of
some species ground and
used internally for diarrhea
and constipation
Plantain (cont.)
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Externally speeds
healing, stops bleeding,
draws out foreign
matter, kills bacteria,
decreases itching,
decreases pain.
Grows in driveways,
paths, near sidewalks,
lawns.
Dandelion Taraxacum officinalis
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Famous for liver
support and
nourishment, rich in vit.
A, diuretic
Relieves gas and
heartburn (20 drops
tincture before meals)
All parts are edible
Dandelion (cont.)
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Grows in lawns, fields,
and where it is needed.
Used as tincture (leaves
and root), eaten as
green, steeped in
vinegar, bitter infusion
Echinacea
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A plains flower
perennial, Ech. purpuria
grows easily in
Michigan gardens
Roots are harvested in
fall of third or fourth
year and tinctured fresh
Echinacea
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Echinacea angusifolia
harder to grow, roots
can be dried.
Uses are commonly
known, note that
Echinacea can be used
to stimulate or nourish
the immune system.
Anti-viral.
Echinacea
stimulate
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Two Actions
nourish
useful for a limited time
useful when a fast result
is required
can have possible side
effects
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useful for an unlimited
time
useful when a long term
result is required
especially indicated for
recovery from long term
or chronic illness
side effects are unlikely
Lamb’s Quarter Chenopodium
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Eaten for high calcium
and carotenes
Available early spring
through fall (if picked
regularly)
Can be blanched and
frozen for winter
nourishment
Lamb’s Quarter (cont.)
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Excellent green for
making calcium rich
vinegar
Grows in disturbed
ground
Easy to identify by
“chalky” appearance
Use in place of lettuce
for salad base
Nettle Urtica
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Leaves eaten for
calcium, iron, protein,
micronutrient content.
Can also be made into
infusion.
Tincture or infusion aids
kidneys, adrenals
Salve or tea used for
burns
Nettle (cont.)
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May decrease insulin
resistance
Infusions, soups,
vinegars maximize
nettle’s rich nutritional
value that nourishes
many body systems.
Grows near water and
high nitrogen sources
Garlic Mustard Allaria petiolata
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Seriously invasive plant.
You are encouraged to
pick it (roots and all)
nearly anywhere you
find it.
Save the top 1/3 and
compost the rest.
Garlic Mustard (cont.)
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Use fresh in salads,
blanch and freeze as pot
green, great in sauces
and soups, use in place
of garlic in many
recipes.
Medicinal benefit
unknown, but as
nutritious as most
greens.
Mullein Verbasci
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Traditional use to stop
smoking (substitute)
Leaves, infusion, and
tincture nourishing for
lungs
Oil from flowers used
for earaches
Mullein (cont.)
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Leaves used to help
effectiveness of coughs, to
reduce asthma, to calm lung
inflammation
Found by roadsides,
meadows, beginnings of
paths and in gardens.
A startling plant in the
second year, can grow 6-9
feet.
Yellow Dock Rumex crispus
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Root used as tincture to
promote iron
absorption, nourish
liver.
Root used as oil as
wound healer (bruises,
tissue damage, trauma)
Yellow Dock (cont.)
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Leaves used as food
(great as pesto)
contain high amounts
of easily absorbable
iron.
Great plant for
treating anemia
(tincture of roots)
Will only grow in
iron rich soil, fields
and open land
Burdock Arctium lappa
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Tincture of the root is used
for skin diseases, antitumor, as a deep alterative
The root can be eaten (first
year and spring of second
year only). Used raw, in stir
fries, or pickled
Found in pour quality
disturbed ground, open
fields
Burdock (cont.)
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Root contains high
levels of inulin, may
help blood sugar
stabilization
Leaves as poultice or
compress used to heal
burns (including from
hot pepper oil)
Leaves as poultice
quickly heal skin
abrasions
Other ideas
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Learn 1-2 plants per year
Learn each plant thoroughly - were it grows,
why it grows there, what parts are used, when
are they harvested, what it tastes like, and how
to prepare it for maximum benefit.
Case Studies
Highlighting The Different Ways
Herbs are Used
Herbs can be used for:
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Acute conditions
Chronic problems
Prevention
Nutrition
System strengthening
Easing transitions
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Repair
Substitutes for drugs
Psychiatric care
A complement to
conventional treatment
… and some examples
when using herbs would
be detrimental
Acute Conditions
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Sudden menstrual flooding
History includes large fibroids and heavy
periods
Used blessed thistle under the tongue to arrest
Flooding stopped within minutes, MD
consulted
Similar use by midwives for hemorrhaging
after delivery
Chronic Problems
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53 year old female with congestive heart failure
Heart attack at age 46, ongoing treatment fro complications
Diagnosed with staph infection following heart catheterization
Treated with broad spectrum antibiotics with no effect
Treated with additional antibiotics with no effect
Used 30 drops of echinacea every 3 hours, in water, with improvement of
symptoms in two hours
When echinacea was stopped, symptoms returned
When echinacea was continued, symptoms decreased within hours
Echinacea was used at ten drops a day until death 7 years later.
Any time the 10 drops a day was skipped for more than 2 days, symptoms
returned
Chronic Problems cont.
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Case Study 21 year old female
Had been diagnosed and treated for mononucleosis
Had been past active phase for more than two months when consultation
occurred
Client reported continuous symptoms of fatigue, general depression, and
was unable to return to a full time schedule as a UM student
Client used 10 drops of Echinacea tincture a day, in water
Within two weeks, this client reported greater alertness, ability to return to
full schedule, no fatigue, and no depression
Client directly attributed recovery to Echinacea
No other therapies or changes were made during the time period in
question
Preventative
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5 year old girl, 38 year old female
Both have daily exposure to kids at day care
and are frequently ill with colds, ear infections,
and pink eye.
Low dose of Echinacea used long term: 2-3
drops for the 5 year old and 10 drops for adult.
Both experience marked decrease in
frequency and severity of illnesses.
Preventative cont.
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42 Year old male with family history of heart
disease
High blood pressure, diabetic
Hawthorne given at 20 drops of tincture twice
a day
Overall improvement of blood pressure, other
effects unknown and unable to verify
Nutritive
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Infusions provide readily absorbable nutrients, vary
with herb used.
Nettle urtica provides protein, calcium and iron. Esp.
helpful for anemia, pregnancy (3rd trimester)
Red Clover mineral rich
Oatstraw appears to provide trace minerals helpful for
endocrine system, some evidence affects fertility
Anecdotal information is very positive for using
specific infusions to help with allergies, infertility,
poor nutrition, blood sugaring balancing, and many
other problems.
System Strengthening
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35 year old female
Sub clinical hypothyroid condition suspected
based on symptoms (include. always cold,
weight gain, sensation in throat, moody,
depressed)
Use 1 tsp bladderwack seaweed daily
All symptoms improve within 3 weeks
Bladderwack is suggested fro both hypo and
hyper thyroidism. Contains thyroxin.
Transition
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42 year old female post surgery complete
hysterectomy
Removed from hormone therapy after cancer is
found
Trouble sleeping, hot flashes, and mood
swings for over 3 months
Uses 10 drops motherwort tincture at night, all
symptoms resolved within one week.
Repair
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42 year old female experiencing significant
nerve pain following needle biopsy on lung,
lasting more than 4 months
St. John’s Wort oil applied topically
Pain decreased within days, continued to
progress with continued use
See related article on nerve regeneration www.holisticwisdom.org/articles
Substitute for Drugs
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32 year old female with plantars warts
Had previously tried surgical removal and
topical drug therapies with painful results and
return of the warts.
Applied a homeopathic preparation of Thuja
salve for two weeks and warts were gone, after
more than 6 years they have not returned
Psychiatric
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43 year old male with SAD diagnosed by his
psychiatrist
Had difficulty using light box treatment
Wanted to stop prescribed SSRIs, stopped on his own
Symptoms made much worse
Took St. John’s Wort tincture 20 drops 2x day
Positive effect within three days of use
Complementary to Conventional
Treatment
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23 year old female with ALL treated with
chemotherapy drugs
Used milk thistle extract during each treatment, as
well as 2 x a day 20 drops in water
Liver tests consistently came back normal
Nursing staff questioned her about her high energy
levels and unexpectedly good liver profiles
My later conversations with her medical team
confirmed their initial surprise, and their belief that
the milk thistle was a significant factor.
A few examples of times to not
use herbs
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Over tired pregnant woman with cold - rest and
simple instructions
Uterine artery embolization - a procedure in which a
part of you is “killed”
Bone marrow transplant - avoid immune stimulant
herbs
Self treatment of symptoms without considering
cause - estrogen replacement
“Cleansing and purifying” - an illusion and myth
Removal of skin tags - leave the intentionally
damaged area alone, heal it after
To Learn More
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Spring and fall weed walks
Peterson’s Guide to Medicinal Plants with
Stephen Foster
Purchase remaindered wild flower books ($23) and use pictures (ignore text)
Free monthly herb classes sponsored by
People’s Food Coo-op (fourth Thurs.)
Free monthly herb classes sponsored by Whole
Foods
Next week
A lab devoted to the hands-on experience of
making herbal preparations including tinctures,
salves, poultices, infusions, and more.
Come prepared to be a bit messy and work with
materials new to you as well as familiar. It may
recall the early practice of pharmacy, and we’ll
have fun in the process.
The results will include products you can take
home and use.
Contact Information
Linda Diane Feldt
P.O. Box 3218
Ann Arbor MI 48106-3218
734-662-4902
[email protected]
www.holisticwisdom.org
Dogs harvesting herbs