Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 It's pretty simple, really: plants make you healthy; drugs make you sick. plants protect your liver; drugs destroy it. plants enhance brain function; drugs destroy brain function. plants are naturally compatible with human biology; drugs are naturally toxic to human biology. plants need no slick marketing; drugs require slick marketing. plants were put here by God and Mother Nature; drugs were put here by greedy, criminal-minded drug company personnel who profit from your disease.
Which would you rather trust with your life: Mother Nature, or Big Pharma? |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 All the drugs you'll ever need in your entire life are found in plants, and there are thousands and thousands of plants to choose from. There are plants that lower cholesterol better than statin drugs. There are plants that eliminate depression and plants that virtually halt inflammation and joint pain. There are plants that kill viruses very effectively. Many of those plants are found in your grocery store right now. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Kilham: I have a bias in that I've been working with sex-enhancing plants for 10 years or so, so I'm convinced that, in the sort of "hot plant" category, one will be the sex-enhancing plants. I know there's a lot of garbage out there. A lot of people get crazy spam: "Take this herb, your penis will be longer." That's not what I'm talking about.
Mike: Yeah.
Kilham: I'm talking about genuine, legitimate, sex-enhancing herbs. I also think that we're seeing a very significant increase in interest in the anti-inflammatory herbs -- turmeric, ginger, hops, powerful anti-inflammatories. |
| I want my readers, however many there are, to know about the world of plant medicines, to know about the traditional healers -- the shamans, the countries where these things come from, the people who labor to produce these plants. So I try to bring that whole story to bear, as well as telling about the plants and their effects, and what we know from the science standpoint.
Mike: And if they can't find this book locally, can they order it online?
Kilham: Absolutely. All of the major suspects will supply this book.
Mike: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, even maybe www.medicinehunter.com? |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| There are plants that lower cholesterol better than statin drugs. There are plants that eliminate depression and plants that virtually halt inflammation and joint pain. There are plants that kill viruses very effectively. Many of those plants are found in your grocery store right now.
Wouldn't it be funny, and sad at the same time, if we had this big outbreak of bird flu and people were lining up outside public health facilities in mile-long lines to get vaccines, and yet walking by the grocery store and the cure for bird flu without even knowing it? They won't even have a clue. |
Brigitte Mars, A.H.G.
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 Mugwort repels moths, cockroaches, and rodents (but if overused as an insecticide on plants can inhibit plant growth). It is sometimes smoked as a tobacco substitute. When dried, it makes excellent tinder for starting a fire. |
| In cold conditions, such as poor circulation, warming plants may be called for.
I must admit that at this time not everyone can agree on whether an herb is cold, cool, neutral, warm, or hot. As American herbalism evolves, the concept of temperature will become a more integral part of our healing tradition, with more agreement among herbal practitioners.
Moisture
Asian medicine speaks of dampness and dryness as conditions of imbalance in the body. Dampness is evidenced by swelling, edema, diarrhea, and other conditions. |
| I've given them in alphabetical order, rather than in order of strength, because different plants can have different effects on different people, and so gauging the strength of one action against another is an imperfect science.
MEDICINAL USES
This section describes the ways in which the plant interacts with the body. It includes both internal and topical uses, and it offers a list of ailments for which the plant can be a useful part of treatment. |
| FAMILY
Families are lovely, and plants have them too. Families rank just above genera in the system of biological classification. Understanding which families the different healing herbs belong to can help you begin to see the bigger web of relationships among them.
ETYMOLOGY
The meaning of a plant's name, whether its Latinized binomial or its common name, connects us to its history of use. In understanding why a plant was given a particular name, we begin to understand the nature of the plant itself. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| Kilham: I have a bias in that I've been working with sex-enhancing plants for 10 years or so, so I'm convinced that, in the sort of "hot plant" category, one will be the sex-enhancing plants. I know there's a lot of garbage out there. A lot of people get crazy spam: "Take this herb, your penis will be longer." That's not what I'm talking about.
Mike: Yeah.
Kilham: I'm talking about genuine, legitimate, sex-enhancing herbs. I also think that we're seeing a very significant increase in interest in the anti-inflammatory herbs -- turmeric, ginger, hops, powerful anti-inflammatories. |
Brigitte Mars, A.H.G.
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| Distilled water is the best medium for drawing out the therapeutic properties of the plants, as it is a more neutral medium. However, I do not recommend using distilled water that has been stored in plastic jugs, because the plastic contains xenoestro-gens, substances that mimic the effects of the hormone estrogen, which may be a carcinogenic risk. The plastic also imparts a plastic flavor to the water. I also do not recommend using municipal tap waters that contain chlorine, fluoride, and other components that should be avoided. |
Rainer W. Bussmann and Douglas Sharon
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 The same plants are frequently used by a variety of healers for the same purposes, with only slight variations in recipes. All species found were well known to the healers involved in the study, and were often easily recognized by their vernacular names by other members of the population. This indicates that these remedies have been in use for a long time by many people.
Plant Uses
A total of 215 taxa belonging to 158 genera and 76 families are now on record. Of these, 214 could be identified, most of them to the species level. |
Brigitte Mars, A.H.G.
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| The common name tuckahoe is an Algonquin word for plants with edible roots.
Also Known As
Cantonese: fook leng
English: China root, hoelen, Indian bread, tuckahoe Japanese: bukuryo Korean: pongnyong Mandarin: fu ling
Part Used
Entire plant (fungus growing underground) Physiological Effects
Antitumor, cardiotonic, chi tonic, diuretic, expectorant, hypoglycemic, restorative, sedative, tonic
Medicinal Uses
Poria is an important herb in Asian medicine, where it is used to drain dampness in cases of health conditions related to fluid retention. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| Plants enhance brain function; drugs destroy brain function. plants are naturally compatible with human biology; drugs are naturally toxic to human biology. plants need no slick marketing; drugs require slick marketing. plants were put here by God and Mother Nature; drugs were put here by greedy, criminal-minded drug company personnel who profit from your disease.
Which would you rather trust with your life: Mother Nature, or Big Pharma?
Be sure to watch my satire video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch? |
Rainer W. Bussmann and Douglas Sharon
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| Familia / Family: POLYGONACEAE
Partes usadas / Plant part used: Toda la planta, fresca - Whole plant, fresh
Administration / Administration: Topica - Topical
Preparacion / Preparation: Poner un par de plantas en 2 litros de agua hervida, a veces mezcladas con Matico y Geranio - Put a pair of plants in 21 of boiling water and sometimes add Matico and Geranio
Usos / Uses: Granos, Para lavar Heridas de Ganado - Boils, Wash wounds of livestock
Calahuala
Polypodium spp. |
| In 1996, the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters published a comprehensive work on the ethnobotanical use of plants by three indigenous peoples of coastal Ecuador1'51. In May of 1997, Douglas Sharon - following a precedent established with the help of a Peruvian curandero, Eduardo Calderon at the end of the 70s - was invited to join a group of Ecuadorian scholars in teaching a course on traditional medicine at the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the University of Loja. |
| Catamayo, Palanda, and Amaluza areas of Loja province, when they went into the field for harvesting and to the markets to buy plants. In addition, curanderos and parteras were visited in their homes during the 10 months of fieldwork to observe the preparation of remedies, and the authors participated in multiple healing rituals with each healer. Plant uses were discussed in detail with colleagues, after seeking prior informed consent from each respondent. |
| The number of plants used represents only a fraction (about 5%) of the flora of the region. The families best represented are Asteraceae with 32 species, Euphorbiaceae, Lamiaceae and Solanaceae (11 species each), and Apiaceae, Fabaceae, Lycopodiaceae (9 species each). One hundred eighty-two (85%) of the species used are Dicotyledons, 20 Monocotyledons (9.3%), 12 ferns (5.5%), and one unidentified lichen was used. ni a mtc ~£ i riMro/TTv
One hundred seventy-nine species (83%) are indigenous to Southern Ecuador, while 36 species (17%) are introductions. |
Rainer W. Bussmann and Douglas Sharon
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 Do not mix with other plants. Patient should bathe with tepid water, 2 or 3 times as needed.
Usos: 1. Gases, Despues del parto para detoxicar; 2. Mai Aire -Uses: 1. Bloating, After-birth detoxifier; 2. Bad Air / Mai Aire
Topical
Helialiso
Prunus serotina Ehrh.
Familia: ROSACEAE - Family: ROSACEAE
Partes usadas: Hojas, frescas o secas - Plant parts used: Leaves, fresh or dried
Administration: 1., 2. Topica - Administration: 1., 2. Topical
Preparation: 1. Mezclar con Altamisa, Ajenco, Ruda y Romero y hervir por 20 minutos. Bano: 3 veces por semana. 2. Moler 300g y macerar en alcohol. |
| Preparation: Put a pair of plants in 21 of boiling water and sometimes add Matico and Geranio.
Usos: Granos, Para lavar Heridas de Ganado - Uses: Boils, Wash Wounds of livestock
Acelga, Lengua de Vaca, Hojas de Mala Hierba
Rumex crispus L.
Familia: POLYGONACEAE - Family: POLYGONACEAE
Partes usadas: Toda la planta, fresca - Plant parts used: Whole plant, fresh
Administration: 1. Oral; 2. Topica - Administration: 1. Oral; 2. Topical
Preparacion: 1. Hervir 20g de Acelga en 11 de agua. Tomar 3 veces al dia por 1-1 1/2 meses. 2. Hervir toda la planta con 1/21 de agua. |
Henry Hobhouse
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 Botrytis cinerea is a mold that attacks nearly ripe foliage and fruit in a wide range of plants; it first appeared on potatoes in Ireland in 1795. It covers the affected tissue with a blue-grey mold, which sucks the water from the leaf or fruit and makes the affected parts shrunken and dehydrated.
These three problems are bad enough, and it is a wonder that, without rotation of crops, hygiene, sanitation, or even clean hands any porato anywhere in Ireland escaped to sustain the life of any Irishmen—but two much more devastating plagues were to follow. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Plants use sunlight to generate their nutrition, too, and most animals eat either plants or other animals that originally ate plants. Nearly all life on planet Earth is powered by sunlight. Why does the cancer industry believe sunlight causes death when, in reality, sunlight delivers life?
Once you answer these questions, the reality of the situation becomes obvious: Sunlight is good for you, and sunscreen is a hoax.
Action items
Be sure to read our free report on this: The Healing Power of Sunlight and Vitamin D. This provides tips on how to safely gauge your level of exposure to sunlight. |
Rainer W. Bussmann and Douglas Sharon
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| Weight loss therapies, while plants used for weight gain were insignificant (2 applications, 0.08%; 2 species, 0.4%).
Inflammation
General inflammation of the body was mentioned in 63 applications (2.5%), and 59 plant species (11.5%) were used for such conditions. In addition, Throat and tonsil infections were treated with 7 species (1.4%).
Wounds and Haemorrhages
Wound infections and bleeding resulting from accidents are very common in the Northern Peruvian work environment, and are a major concern especially in rural areas. Forty-seven applications involved Wound treatment. |
Ben-Erik van Wyk
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 Central America and Mexico
The diversity of Aztec and Maya food plants rivals that of the Incas. Many of them became staple foods in other countries and form an important part of modern diets all over the world (consider chocolate, vanilla, popcorn, baked beans, avocado, green peppers and chillies! |
Rainer W. Bussmann and Douglas Sharon
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| The traditional use of medicinal plants in this region, which encompasses in particular the Departments of Piura, Lambayeque, La Libertad, Cajamarca, Amazonas, and San Martin possibly dates as far back as the first millennium B.C. (north coastal Cupisnique culture) or at least to the Moche period (A.D. 100-800), with healing scenes and healers frequently depicted in ceramics. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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| And what is your background in terms of studying the medicinal qualities of plants and phytonutrients?
Kilham: Oh, it's the most peripatetic possible background. I wish I could say, "I've got my doctor’s in ethnobotany from University of Hawaii." It's not that easy. I had Bachelor’s from the University of Massachusetts, where I'm now faculty. But I got involved in this industry in the early 70s, started to become familiar with herbs in the kind of vague, not really knowledge-laden way that a lot of people did back then. |
| There are plants, right?
Kilham: Yes there are. Certainly a lot of people take reishi mushrooms post-chemotherapy, as a matter of course. It's probably the biggest cancer-support herb being used out there. And there are definitely rainforest products as well.
Mike: And then, getting back to the anti-inflammatories, I think you're right on with the Vioxx backlash. The drug is now apparently legal to sell; the FDA has said, "This is safe enough for us." It has to kill apparently more than 60,000 people to be considered dangerous, but people are desperately searching for alternatives. |
Carol Simontacchi
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 Foods in the Nightshade Family
The nightshade family of plants comprises about 2,600 species worldwide, including herbs, shrubs, trees, vines, and major food crops such as potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, and chile peppers. Also included in this group is the tobacco plant. Some of the plants in this family—deadly nightshade, for instance—are known to be poisonous. Others, as you know, constitute an important part of many peoples' diets. Unfortunately, even these seemingly benign plants can often cause problems. |
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