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Journal
of an Herbalist
Taking
Too Many Herbs
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By
Karima Burns |
29/03/2002
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Case:
Khalid
Problem:
Khalid came to me because he had recently experienced shaking in his hands and a
twitching in his nose that no one could explain. When he arrived at my office he
revealed a score of other health complaints, as well as the fact that he had
been taking herbal remedies for all of these complaints.
Khalid’s
case was perhaps one of the most extreme I had seen in years. I have often seen
people self-administer herbs with disastrous results, but in Khalid's case he
was taking a large quantity of multiple herbal remedies everyday with no idea as
to what they were or how they worked. I agreed to work with Khalid strictly on
the basis of helping him understand the herbs he was taking and helping him to
modify his herbal remedies.
Khalid
was overweight as a result of a disastrous surgery performed on him twenty-five
years ago. He had had an intestinal bypass surgery, went into a coma as a result
and then had the bypass reversed. Since that day, he had suffered bloating and
poor digestion. As his weight increased he also suffered the typical problems
that come with weight gain - poor circulation and imbalanced blood sugar levels.
He also worried about high cholesterol as both his parents suffered from that
condition.
Despite
his numerous health complaints, Khalid was a cheerful and optimistic man. He was
eager to try new things and believed completely in the world of alternative
healing, although he was also wise enough to consult with a doctor about his
conditions and regularly had medical tests run. He had recently been to India
where he was given some homeopathic remedies and some reflexology treatments.
Before that he had visited Bali and been given some herbal treatment. For the
past two years he had also become interested in herbs and visited the local
General Nutrition Center (GNC) store about once a month to procure any new
product that could be helpful to him.
The
only problem was that he forgot to mention to the GNC clerk what he was already
taking. At the same time, one clerk who knew him well, continued to advise him
to take various herbs although he, himself was not a trained herbalist and had
no idea what the vast quantities and combinations of herbs would do to Khalid.
A
few months after starting his herbal consumption, Khalid suffered numbness in
his hand. This caused him to become even more worried and to return for yet more
herbs. By the end of two years the problem in his hand had spread to the entire
left side of his body and he was plagued constantly with numbness in his left
nostril, left cheek and left hand. Shockingly, each time he returned to GNC he
was given yet another herbal combination to keep him healthy. By the end of two
years he was taking herbal remedies daily for: blood pressure, high cholesterol,
diabetes, circulation and energy.
When
Khalid dropped by a list of the ingredients on the herbal remedies he was taking
on a daily basis I was worried. The number of different herbs he was taking
totaled 60 and some herbs like Ginkgo Bilboa, was found in every package which
meant he was taking too much of this herb every day.
Most
traditional herbalists from Hippocates (360BC) to Avicenna (980AD) to
Christopher Hobbes (1990) recommend that a person first find a single herb that
covers most of the conditions they are suffering from and then work up to
perhaps adding a second or third herb. Even in cases where multiple herbs are
mixed, the properties of the herbs are always taken into consideration and if a
traditional formula is not being used, each combination usually contains no more
than ten herbs.
I
gave Khalid a list of guidelines for taking herbs and advised him to stop all of
the herbs he was taking for at least a month. I advised him to drink a cup of
fenugreek tea for breakfast every day, which cost about $1.00 a month as opposed
to the $97.00 a month he was spending now. Fenugreek has historically been used
to help people with blood sugar problems, high cholesterol and digestive
problems. In addition, fenugreek was often used as a food in times of famine and
is a tonic herb, which can be taken every day, rather than a medicinal herb that
can only be taken for a short period of time. The fenugreek also served another
purpose with Khalid: his diet had become so restrained in recent years that he
had taken to eating only a small bowl of lentils and rice for dinner and nothing
more. The fenugreek would provide him with at least some nutrition at breakfast
time.
A
month later Khalid is feeling much better and the numbness has vanished in both
his nose and his hand.
Here
are the guidelines I gave Khalid:
1.
Always
get the opinion of a professional herbalist before taking herbs. Do not rely on
people who work in health food stores or who sell herbs. No matter how many
training courses they have taken they have usually not been trained in
professional herbalism, which requires knowledge of herbal chemistry and
history. Most training given to herb salespeople is completely informational
(what herb is supposed to cure what) for purposes of marketing. This can often
give the appearance of knowledge when really, all a person has done is memorize
and become familiar with a lot of information.
2.
If
you intend to take herbs or medications be honest with your doctor, herbalist or
salesperson at GNC about how many herbs and medicines you are already taking.
3.
Be sure you know the side effects of the herbs you are taking so you can monitor
your body response to these herbs. Most herbs give warning signs of overdose
such as headaches, numbness or shaking.
4.
Medicinal herbs should be taken for only six weeks at a time and then one should
re-evaluate their situation. Tonic herbs can be taken for longer periods of
time.
5.
Quality of the herb should always be considered. Some herbal preparations are so
manufactured that they are almost not herbs anymore and are instead have become
super strong extractions of various properties within that herb. These
preparations are akin to medications and should be treated with caution. Other
herbal preparations are done so poorly that the glass of water one drinks with
the capsule is more beneficial.
6.
Typology should be taken into consideration when consuming herbs. Some herbs are
not good for everyone. In Khalid’s case a friend had advised he take cayenne
for his circulation, but cayenne is not good for people who suffer high or low
blood sugar so Khalid’s body was not reacting well to the cayenne.
7.
Never take the advice of friends even though they may know a lot about herbs.
Also, one should never take an herb because someone they know with the same
condition said it was good. It may not work the same with everyone. Would you
take your friends antibiotics he had left after a flu because he said they
worked for him?
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