herebal use

"mlb" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm kind of new to the use of herbs and the effect they actually have. I was just wondering if
their was anyone out there using them and if they can give me some feedback on them whether
postive or negative.

There are many books available on the therapeutic uses of herbaceous plants, but not all are
authoritative. Many contain absolute nonsense like, "Ginseng strengthens the immune system," or "Blue-
green algae restore balance to the body." Such meaningless blanket statements are not really useful
to one trying to use herbs medicinally.

But the real problem with turning to herbal medication is obtaining a supply. Unless you grow your
own, or stick with the common culinary herbs you can buy at your supermarket, you have to trust your
vendor completely to sell you what you think you are buying. If you buy a carton of milk, or a
bottle of aspirins, you are assured that you are getting exactly what the labels on their containers
claim...no less and no unlabeled additives...as regulated by the FDA. But herbs, sold as
"nutritional supplements," are entirely unregulated. If you purchase a bottle of capsules of, say,
"Feverfew," you have no assurance how much of the actual herb those capsules contain, if any. You
also have no way of knowing what ELSE is in those capsules as filler. Neither the FDA no anyone else
prevents the herb sellers from filling their capsules with common weeds and selling them under many
labels at absurdly high prices. If you think this is not done, you are quite naive.

So your quest for medicinal herbs is going to be difficult, both in finding reliable information,
and in finding reliable product.

Good Luck.

--Rich

As far as herbal "products", consumerslab.com ( which bills themselves as an independent testing
lab) can be useful. Unfortunately they are currently only "rating" about 15 different herbals &
their manufacturers, but it's a start.

There is a "membership fee" for their complete reports, but you can still get the names of at least
a few brands that passed (or didn't) their tests for "purity" & containing what their label purports
they contain, plus basic information on the herbs (or vitamins or...) themselves. Purchasing herbs
out of glass jars would be more problematic.

"Rich Shewmaker" <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

But the real problem with turning to herbal medication is obtaining a supply. Unless you grow
your own, or stick with the common culinary herbs you can buy at your supermarket, you have to
trust your vendor completely to sell you what you think you are buying. If you buy a carton of
milk, or a bottle of aspirins, you are assured that you are getting exactly what the labels on
their containers claim...no less and no unlabeled additives...as regulated by the FDA. But
herbs, sold as "nutritional supplements," are entirely unregulated. If you purchase a bottle of
capsules of, say, "Feverfew," you have no assurance how much of the actual herb those capsules
contain, if any. You also have no way of knowing what ELSE is in those capsules as filler.
Neither the FDA no anyone else prevents the herb sellers from filling their capsules with common
weeds and selling them under many labels at absurdly high prices. If you think this is not done,
you are quite naive.

If I were, for some reason, to decide that I ought to be taking, say, feverfew, my first inclination
would be to find a German supplier, since Germany has meaningful (and strict) regulations for
herbals. My understanding is that Australia also at least in theory does a good job of regulating
"supplements," though the Pan scandal makes me wonder how well the practice comes up to the theory.
What do others think of this idea? What other countries take herbals seriously enough to regulate
them properly?

"Eric Bohlman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Rich Shewmaker" <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

But the real problem with turning to herbal medication is obtaining a supply. Unless you grow
your own, or stick with the common culinary herbs you can buy at your supermarket, you have to
trust your vendor completely to sell you what you think you are buying. If you buy a carton of
milk, or a bottle of aspirins, you are assured that you are getting exactly what the labels on
their containers claim...no less and no unlabeled additives...as regulated by the FDA. But
herbs, sold as "nutritional supplements," are entirely unregulated. If you purchase a bottle of
capsules of, say, "Feverfew," you have no assurance how much of the actual herb those capsules
contain, if any. You also have no way of knowing what ELSE is in those capsules as filler.
Neither the FDA no anyone else prevents the herb sellers from filling their capsules with common
weeds and selling them under many labels at absurdly high prices. If you think this is not done,
you are quite naive.

If I were, for some reason, to decide that I ought to be taking, say, feverfew, my first
inclination would be to find a German supplier, since Germany has meaningful (and strict)
regulations for herbals. My understanding is that Australia also at least in theory does a good
job of regulating "supplements," though the Pan scandal makes me wonder how well the practice
comes up to the theory. What do others think of this idea? What other countries take herbals
seriously enough to regulate them properly?

Strong belief that the Pan fiasco was a total setup , drug companies making a huge push worldwide to
gain control of the VERY lucrative alternative health business . You want the very best herbal
products check out Neways .

---

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In article said:

Strong belief that the Pan fiasco was a total setup , drug companies making a huge push worldwide
to gain control of the VERY lucrative alternative health business .

Yeah sure, those evil drug companies sneaked in during the dead of night and messed up Pan's
machinery to make it dirty and unreliable.

Quoted message said:

You want the very best herbal products check out Neways .

Oh, you mean those guys who publish all the [censored] about "toxins in the home?" (The very same "toxins"
that are present in their own products.)

-- David Wright :: alphabeta at prodigy.net These are my opinions only, but they're almost always
correct. "If I have not seen as far as others, it is because giants were standing on my
shoulders." (Hal Abelson, MIT)