That healing feeling: Medicinal herbs break new ground
By Carol Stocker, Globe Staff, 04/18/96
It used to be that the word herbalist would conjure up this image: a crone
with a walking stick in a flowing robe, keeper of charms and mysterious
potions. But today when you sneeze, it's your next-door neighbor who's apt to
suggest a dose of purple coneflower (echinacea) to head off that cold.
More than a third of all Americans have used ``unconventional medicines,''
according to a 1993 article in the New England Journal of Medicine. And 8
percent of Americans surveyed by the Food and Drug Administration in 1994 said
they had used herbal supplements in the preceding year.
Gardeners, of course, have always had an affinity for culinary herbs. Now,
more and more are experimenting with medicinal herbs as well. Despite the
appeal of these plants, gardeners should be cautious: It can be dangerous to
nibble indiscriminately.
People who grow their own medicinal herbs are, by and large, knowledgeable
and cautious, employing only those herbs recognized as safe and gentle.
Penny King, a biologist with the American Botanical Council in Austin,
Texas, throws a few sprigs of rosemary from her herb garden into her bath
water to relax her muscles after a hard day of weeding.
Seigj Halva, a plant scientist at the University of Massachusetts at
Amherst, got her doctorate in horticulture with a specialization in herbs from
the University of Helsinki in her native Finland. It was Halva's mother who
taught her how to grow and make the chamomile and peppermint tea she now gives
her own children if they have a sore throat, believing ``it soothes them.''
Though it's easier to buy ready-made herbal preparations at a health-food
store, Halva believes ``fresh herbs have more of the essential oils, and I
prefer the flavor. They don't taste like hay.''
Why would Linda Amidon spend the past two weeks clearing her South Boston
back yard to plant a medicinal herb garden? As a manager of Harnett's
Homeopathy and Body Care in Harvard Square, she gets a terrific discount on
prepared herbal supplements and can order almost anything she wants. ``It's my
honest opinion that it's so much easier just to buy preparations,'' she
admits. ``But I'm just so in awe of the beauty of the herbs themselves that I
want to grow my own. It's like making a dress rather than buying it. There's a
lot of power in being able to heal yourself.''
Seed catalogs are boldly joining this somewhat controversial area,
heralding herbs' medicinal uses. ``I've been really looking through the Seeds
of Change catalog for the last six months, circling things,'' says Amidon.
Catalog prose, with its superlatives, can make the most ungainly sunflower
sound like an interior decorator's dream, render the stinkiest marigold
beguilingly pungent and proffer the blandest zucchini as a tasty morsel.
FDA regulations prohibit health claims on herbal packaging, and store
clerks are similarly tight-lipped. What they do is tell you to buy one of the
$10 books they sell to find out what to try for your headache. Though these
preparations are being sold as medicine, they are technically labeled
``dietary supplements.''
Some seed catalogs exhibit little such reticence. The Seeds of Change
catalog from Santa Fe, N.M., gives this detailed description of Europe's and
America's best-selling herbal remedy, echinacea: ``Said to stimulate the
immune system in production of white blood cells (T-cells) and increase
lymphatic filtration. It is also reported to have tumor-inhibiting properties.
Fights infections, both viral and bacterial.''
The Johnny's Selected Seeds catalog from Albion, Maine, which added a large
new medicinal herbs section this year, describes angelica thusly: ``Tonic
against infection, to improve energy, and to stimulate circulation.
Antibacterial and antifungal. A warming expectorant.''
``If we were peddling medicine, we couldn't make claims that are
unsubstantiated,'' says Johnny's founder and chairman, Rob Johnston. ``But we
send instructions on how to grow the plants, not how to make the medicine.''
Arthur Whitmore disagrees. He's a spokesman for the Center for Food Safety
and Applied Nutrition at the FDA (and a gardener) who says seed catalogs have
to comply with the same restrictions as health-food stores. According to the
Dietary Supplement, Health and Education Act of 1994, that means no claims
that haven't been substantiated by FDA testing guidelines.
Whitmore admits that it costs millions of dollars to test a new drug, but
herbs can't be patented and many can be grown in the back yard. So there is no
profit potential for private drug companies to justify the investment in
testing.
And there's little money for public research. A small new Office of
Alternative Medicine at the National Institute for Health is expected to
report on its first crop of herb-related studies this summer.
However, the governments of Germany and several other European countries
have done extensive testing on the efficacy of herbal remedies. Germany's
Commission E has produced detailed reports on the therapeutic value of
hundreds of medicinal herbs, including recommended dosage, side effects,
methods of administration and interactions with other drugs. But the FDA
doesn't recognize the findings of other countries.
And it's all too true that while some herbs can be efficacious, others can
be dangerous in ignorant hands. Steven Foster, an herbal consultant to
Johnny's Selected Seeds, recommends using only gentle herbs. Did he tell
Johnny's what to carry? ``Actually I told them what not to sell.''
Foster recommends herbal remedies for self-limiting conditions such as
minor burns (he uses aloe) or the common cold (he makes echinacea or thyme
tea).
More powerful herbs should be prescribed by a trained herbalist. Since
there's no licensing in Massachusetts for herbalists, patients depend on
word-of-mouth for recommendations of practitioners. Foster suggests finding a
licensed acupuncturist who has also received training in medicinal herb use.
Still, Whitmore says that catalogs making claims about herbal remedies are
technically in violation of federal law. ``But it's unlikely we'd go after a
seed company. However, they could get into trouble if they hurt people,'' he
says. ``You don't want people chowing down on digitalis.''
Labeling and look-alikes also pose a problem. Many poisonous plants
resemble harmless ones. That's one reason why well-respected Sandy Mush Herb
Nursery in Leicester, N.C., will tell you what herbs will dye your yarn or
repel your mosquitoes, but makes no medicinal claims or recommendations.
``We've gotten a lot more requests for medicinal herbs lately, some for
things I've never heard of,'' exclaims co-owner Kate Jayne. Although she and
her husband use herbs for minor health problems, she regards them commercially
as ``a sticky ball of wax. I'd rather err on the side of caution. I have lots
to do around here and no time to deal with being sued. Mislabeling is always
something to worry about.''
Even an expert like Penny King can be fooled. An herbalist once gave her a
plant, saying it was gota kola. ``It's supposed to be a memory booster. So I
was picking the leaves thinking I was improving my memory. But I discovered
the plant was actually in the genus glechoma, which is a diuretic.''
Did it work?
``Yes it did,'' says King. ``But it was not the effect I had expected.''
SIDEBAR
A SAMPLER OF MEDICINAL HERBS
Here is a sampler of medicinal garden herbs generally recognized as gentle
and safe, according to Steven Foster, an herbal consultant for Johnny's
Selected Seeds of Albion, Maine, and an editor for the Journal of the American
Botanical Council. The most familiar medicinal form is as tea, but many also
have culinary applications. Descriptions are taken from the Johnny's catalog.
Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) -- ``Relaxing tea for digestion and as a
gentle sleep aid.''
Fennel (Faeniculum vulgare) -- ``Seeds used in tea . . . as a digestive
aid.''
Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) -- ``A long history of use for fevers,
menstrual cramps and migraine headaches.''
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) -- Flowers are ``calming to the nerves.
. . . Sleep inducer.''
Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) -- ``For colds, flu, depression,
headache, indigestion. Sedative.''
Purple coneflower (Echinacea) -- A tea of the leaves or the roots is used
``to support and stimulate the immune system . . . and to back up treatments
for colds.''
Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) -- ``Indigestion, colds. Antimicrobial,
antiviral. Calm.''
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) -- ``Headaches. Stimulates
circulation.''
Sage (Salvia officinalis) -- ``Digestive and nerve tonic.''
| 
A guide to commonly used herbs
Herbal remedies gain in acceptance
Join a discussion about topics in the Sunday Magazine
