Herbs & Herbal Remedies @ Green Papaya

The Food and Drug Administration includes coriander in its list of herbs generally regarded as safe. For otherwise healthy non-pregnant, non-nursing adults, coriander is considered safe in amounts typically recommended.

Coriander should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor If coriander causes minor discomforts, such as stomach upset or diarrhea, use less or stop using it. Let your doctor know if you experience any unpleasant effects or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly in two weeks.

Great for the Garden

Coriander is a bright green, 3-foot annual with lobed lower leaves and lacy upper leaves. Its seeds are small, spherical, ribbed, and brownish. They develop in clusters and when fresh emit an odor that has been compared to burned rubber As they ripen, however, they develop their characteristic spicy fragrance.

Coriander grows easily from seeds sown ½ inch deep in April or May in most parts of the United States. Germination takes up to three weeks, and the plant produces seeds in about three months.

Coriander grows best in moist, well-drained, moderately rich soil under full sun, but it tolerates some shade. Thin plants to 9-inch spacing. Do not over-fertilize. Excess nitrogen impairs the herb’s flavor and aroma.

An extra bonus from growing coriander is the leaveswhich are known in their own right as cilantro, a tasty seasoning herb. To harvest cilantro, cut the small, immature leaves for best flavor.

To harvest coriander seeds, wait until a majority have turned from green to brownish, around the time their aroma stops being unpleasant. Dry and store in airtight jars. The flavor of whole coriander improves with age. Let some seeds fall, and the plant will self-sow.

Coriander is no wonder herb, but who can argue with manna from heaven?

Digestive Aid - Some studies indicate coriander helps settle the stomach, but it’s not as soothing as other herbs - peppermint, chamomile, and caraway, for example. Still, it helps.

Infection Prevention - The ancient Roman use of coriander as a meat preservative has been supported by some Japanese and Russian research. The herb contains substances that kill certain bacteria, fungi, and insect larvae, which attack meats. These same microorganisms can cause human wound infections. Sprinkle some coriander on minor cuts and scrapes after they have been thoroughly washed with soap and water.

Intriguing Possibilities - One animal study shows coriander has anti-inflammatory action, suggesting it might help relieve arthritis. If you have arthritis, try it and see if it helps.

Another study shows it reduces blood sugar (glucose) levels, hinting at possible value in the management of diabetes. Diabetes requires professional treatment, but it can’t hurt to try coriander in consultation with your physician.

Rx for Coriander

Coriander might not be the most potent digestive aid around, but there is one good excuse to select it over the alternatives-its taste. You’ll find it a warm, fragrant combination of sage and citrus. For an infusion, use 1 teaspoon of bruised seeds (or ½ teaspoon of powder) per cup of boiling water. Steep 5 minutes. Drink up to 3 cups a day before or after meals.

Weak coriander infusions may be given cautiously to children under age 2 for colic. For older children and people over 65, start with low-strength preparations and increase strength if necessary.

To use coriander externally, sprinkle some of the powdered herb on freshly washed cuts and scrapes.

Healer from Heaven

Family: Umbelliferae; (includes Carrot, Parsley)

Genus and Species: Coriandrum sativum

Also known as: The fruits (actually seeds) are coriander; the leaves are known as cilantro or Chinese parsley

Parts used: Seeds, leaves

After the Exodus, when the Hebrews were starving in the Sinai wilderness, God fed them manna from heaven, which the Bible says tasted “like coriander.” If manna did what coriander does, chances are none of the children of Israel had indigestion. Warm, spicy coriander, a flavor combination of sage and citrus, has been used as an herbal digestive aid for thousands of years. Science has lent support to the ancients.

Pharaohs’ Favorite

The Hebrews adopted coriander from their former masters, the Egyptians, who used it as a spice, perfume, and digestive aid The Egyptians considered coriander such a basic necessity that seeds have been found in several Pharaoh’s tombs, presumably to prevent indigestion in the afterlife.

Hippocrates and other noted Greek and Roman physicians prescribed coriander as a digestive aid and gas remedy. The Romans also used the spice as a meat preservative.

In India, coriander became an ingredient in curry spice blends and gained a reputation as an aphrodisiac. India’s traditional Ayurvedic healers used it to treat digestive complaints, allergies, and urinary problems, and as an ingredient in eyewashes used to prevent blindness.

Coriander arrived in China from India during the Han dynasty (207 BC to AD 220). At the time it was reputed to enhance lovemaking and confer immortality. Today, Chinese physicians use the herb more modestly to treat dysentery, measles, and hemorrhoids, and as a gargle for toothache.

Around the 8th century, the mythic Arabian princess Scheherazade described coriander as an aphrodisiac in the stories later collected as The Thousand and One Arabian Nights.

Today’s Jawbreakers

Coriander was never a major healing herb in Europe, but it has always been considered a digestive aid, not only in foods but also in candies. In 10th-century England, coriander seeds were used as the centers of hard candies. Queen Elizabeth I loved the candies, which evolved into today’s jawbreakers.

Early American herbalists added coriander to bitter laxative herbs, such as buckthorn: so they would taste better and have less violent action.

Contemporary herbalists recommend coriander internally for indigestion, flatulence, and diarrhea, and externally in salves for muscle and joint pains.

Comfrey has been found to contain chemicals (pyrrolizidines) that in large amounts cause serious liver damage and cancer in laboratory animals. As a result, Canada banned comfrey (and coltsfoot), and herb critics are pressing for similar bans in the United States.

The liver Scare

Comfrey has also been known to cause liver damage in humans. Excessive amounts of the herb can cause a disorder known as hepatic veno-occlusive disease (HVODJ, or Budd-Chiari syndrome, in which the liver’s blood vessels narrow, impairing its function.

In one case, a woman developed HVOD after four months of taking six comfrey/pepsin digestive capsules daily and drinking a quart of comfrey tea a day. According to a published report in the New England Journal of Medicine, six comfrey/pepsin tablets a day could cause HVOD within a few months.

In another case, the parents of a boy with Crohn’s disease, a chronic intestinal disorder similar to ulcerative colitis, took him off standard treatment and gave him comfrey tea instead. After two years, he developed HVOD.

Both of these cases involved unusually high doses of comfrey for unusually long periods. HVOD has never been reported in people taking recommended amounts of the herb for brief periods.

The Cancer Question

Experimental animals fed large amounts of comfrey for almost two years developed liver cancer, according to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Roots caused more cancer in the animals than did leaves.

Comfrey also contains tumor-fighting substances, making it one of many healing herbs that contain both pro- and anticancer chemicals. Comfrey contains appreciable amounts of antioxidant nutrients-vitamins C and E and beta-carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A. The American Cancer Society recommends a diet high in antioxidant nutrients to help prevent cancer.

Safety Issue Unresolved

Today, authorities are divided on comfrey’s safety for internal use. Critics continue to villify the herb. A study published in the Lancet estimated a single cup of comfrey root tea might constitute a “significant health risk.”

But Britain’s National Institute of Medical Herbalists says, “No man, woman, or child has been recorded as suffering toxic effects from taking I recommended doses! of comfrey leaf or root as medicine.”

In a landmark study published in Science, cancer authority Bruce Ames, Ph.D., chairman of the Biochemistry Department at the University of California at Berkeley, attempted to estimate the average person’s lifetime cancer risk from exposure to hundreds of man-made and naturally occuring carcinogens. He estimated one cup of comfrey tea posed:

• About the same cancer risk as one peanut butter sandwich, which contains traces of the natural carcinogen aflatoxin.
• About one-third the risk of eating one raw mushroom, which contains traces of the natural carcinogen hydrazine.
• About half the risk of one diet soda containing saccharin.
• And about one-hundredth the risk of a standard beer or glass of wine, which contains the natural carcinogen ethyl alcohol.

Dr. Ames also estimated that comfrey/pepsin tablets carry up to 200 times the risk of comfrey tea.

The lesson is clear: Don’t use comfrey/pepsin tablets. Many other herbs aid digestion without any risk of liver damage.

Anyone with a history of liver disease, alcoholism, or cancer should steer clear of the herb altogether. But Dr. Ames’s work strongly suggests that for the occasional user, comfrey’s hazards have been blown out of proportion. Comfrey has never been implicated in any case of human liver cancer, and the two cases of comfrey-induced HVOD do not constitute a major public-health threat.

A Safe Path

The Food and Drug Administration lists comfrey as an herb of “undefined safety.” For otherwise healthy non-pregnant, non-nursing adults who are not taking other medications and have no history of liver disease, alcoholism, or cancer, comfrey may be considered relatively safe for short-term occasional use in amounts typically recommended.

Comfrey should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. If comfrey causes minor discomforts, such as stomach upset or diarrhea, use less or stop using it. Let your doctor know if you experience any unpleasant effects or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly in two weeks.

Easy to Grow

Comfrey is a hardy 5-foot perennial with large, hairy, lanceshaped leaves, thick, spreading roots, a hollow, bristly stem, and bell-like flowers, which may be white, blue, or purple.

Comfrey can be started from seeds, but it grows best from root cuttings taken in spring or fall. An inch-long piece of root planted in 3 inches of soil almost always produces a plant. Set cuttings 3 feet apart. The herb grows in any well-drained soil and tolerates full sun or partial shade.

Comfrey spreads vigorously. Contain it in a pot, or border it with sheet metal to a depth of 12 inches.

Leaves may be harvested when the flowers begin to bud.

Gather the roots in autumn, after the first frost, or in spring before the first leaves appear. Wash harvested roots thoroughly and cut them into slices to dry. Then powder them in a blender or coffee grinder. Store in a sealed container.

Just as necessity is the mother of invention, safety scares are often the mother of hybridization. University of Minnesota scientists report growing comfrey with no detectable pyrrolizidines. Even the herb’s harshest critics may soon be able to give their blessings to new varieties of the herb.

The ancient Greeks and Romans were right about comfrey aiding wound healing, but the herb’s stickiness has nothing to do with it.

Wound Healing - Comfrey contains a chemical (allantoin), that promotes the growth of new cells, thus validating its more than 2,500 years of external use on everything from minor cuts and burns to major battle wounds. Studies show comfrey also helps relieve inflammation, adding to its wound-treating effect.

Allantoin is the active ingredient in several over-the-counter skin creams, such as Unicare Lotion, for example. Two prescription skin preparations also contain it, Herpecin-L Cold Sore Lip Balm for relief of oral herpes, and Vagimide Cream for irritation associated with vaginal infections.

Comfrey is not absorbed through the skin, and even its harshest critics have never questioned its safety for external use. However, be sure to wash wounds thoroughly with soap and water before applying comfrey.

For wound treatment, comfrey roots are preferable to the leaves. Roots contain more than twice as much allantoin.

Digestive Aid - Some animal research suggests comfrey calms the digestive tract, lending support to its traditional use as a digestive aid.

Myth - Despite the assertions in some recent herbals, one of which calls comfrey “one of the best healers of the respiratory system,” no research to date shows any benefit for the lungs.

Rx for Comfrey

To use comfrey externally, sprinkle some dried, powdered root on clean cuts and scrapes.

Internal use of comfrey continues to be controversial in the United States. If you’d like to put its stomach-soothing powers to the test, ask your physician about using it for a short time. Herbalists traditionally took it in the form of an infusion or a tincture. Comfrey tastes earthy and slightly sweet.

If you’d I ike to use an herbal stomach soother on a regular basis, try peppermint, ginger, or any of the other herbs listed as Digestive Aids.

Comfrey should not be given to children underage 2.

Controversial Wound Treatment

Family: Boraginaceae; (includes Borage, Forget-me-not)

Genus and Species: Symphytum Officinale

Also known as: Bruisewort, knitbone, boneset, healing herb

Parts used: Roots and leaves

For years herbalists have touted comfrey as “an absolute must” an herb with “a healing and soothing effect on every organ,” “ideal for the amateur herbalist” “perfectly safe and harmless.” But ever since liver-damaging, cancercausing chemicals were discovered in it, scientists have blasted it as “definitely hazardous to health.”

Healer or hazard? The truth lies somewhere in between.

Battlefield Casts

The early Greeks first used juicy comfrey root externally to treat wounds, believing it encouraged torn flesh to grow back together. The Roman naturalist Pliny “verified” this practice with the observation that boiling comfrey in water produces a sticky paste capable of binding chunks of meat together.

Comfrey paste hardens like plaster, and cloths soaked in it were often wrapped around broken bones on ancient battlefields. When the paste dried, the result was a primitive but effective cast. This treatment earned comfrey the popular names “knitbone” and “boneset.” (Comfrey should not be confused with the other Boneset)

During the first century, the Greek physician Dioscorides began prescribing comfrey tea internally for respiratory and gastrointestinal problems.

By the 1500s, herbalists were recommending comfrey tea-not paste-to mend broken bones. One early English herbal suggested it “helpeth [people who have] broken the bone of the legge.”

The 17th-century English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper recommended comfrey roots, “full of glutinous and clammy juice,” for “all inward hurts … and for outward wounds and sores in [all] fleshy or sinewy parts of the body … [it] is especially good for ruptures and broken bones.” Culpeper also prescribed the herb for fever. gout, hemorrhoids, gangrene, and respiratory and menstrual problems.

Internal Soothing

As plaster replaced comfrey paste for casting broken bones, names like knitbone were discarded. Comfrey came to be used internally to soothe inflamed mucous membranes. America’s 19th-century Eclectic physicians prescribed it for diarrhea, dysentery, cough, bronchitis, and “female debility” (menstrual discomfort).

Mexican midwives still apply comfrey to vaginal tears. In the Philippines, the herb is used to treat arthritis, diabetes, anemia, lung infections, and even leukemia.

Not many modern herbalists have been daunted by the discovery of cancer-causing chemicals in comfrey. A few herbalists, such as Michael Weiner in Weiner’s Herbal. recommend using comfrey only externally, because of its cancer taint. But most modern herbalists pooh-pooh any association with cancer. They continue to tout it enthusiastically for ulcers, ulcerative colitis, internal hemorrhages, bronchitis, bleeding gums, hoarseness, and digestive complaints.

Coltsfoot contains chemicals (pyrrolizidines) that in large amounts can cause serious liver damage in the form of hepatic veno-occlusive disease (HYOD). This is a condition in which the liver’s blood vessels narrow, impairing its function. In addition, experimental animals fed diets containing large amounts of coltsfoot developed liver cancer, according to a report published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The discovery of hazardous substances in coltsfoot spurred several authorities to condemn the herb as dangerous, even “carcinogenic.” But in Germany, where herbal medicine is considerably more mainstream than it is in the United States, it continues to be widely prescribed, and physicians consider short-term use safe.

A recent laboratory investigation shows that coltsfoot does not cause damage to human chromosomes, which suggests it is not carcinogenic. Carcinogens almost always cause chromosome damage.

On the other hand, pyrrolizidines can cause liver damage.
Anyone with a history of alcoholism or liver disease should not use coltsfoot.

Use with Caution

The Food and Drug Administration lists coltsfoot as an herb of “undefined safety.” For otherwise healthy non-pregnant, non-nursing adults who have no history of alcoholism or liver disease and are not taking other drugs with potential liver toxicity, coltsfoot is considered relatively safe in amounts typically recommended.

Coltsfoot should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. If coltsfoot causes minor discomforts, such as stomach upset or diarrhea, use less or stop using it. Let your doctor know if you experience any unpleasant effects, if a cough does not improve significantly in two weeks, if fever develops, or if you cough up brown or bloody phlegm.

Unusual Leaves

Unique among healing herbs, coltsfoot’s flowers precede its leaves. The golden blossoms are among the first wildflowers to appear in spring. But the plant’s broad, hoof-shaped leaves do not appear until after the flowers have withered.

Coltsfoot is a low-growing perennial with flowers resembling marigolds. It’s so easy to grow, it may overrun a garden. But it works well in containers.

Coltsfoot is best propagated from root cuttings planted in spring or fall. It likes a moist, clay soil under full sun or partial shade. Flowers should be gathered in full bloom and dried. Leaves should be harvested when mature.

Scientists are sharply divided on coltsfoot. The German medical text Herbal Medicine calls it “the remedy of choice” for cough, adding, “coltsfoot tea has proved particularly effective in emphysema.” But herb conservative Varro Tyler, Ph.D., calls it carcinogenic and “no longer appropriate therapy”.

Cough and Asthma - Coltsfoot may help treat respiratory problems in several ways. It contains a substance (mucilage) that may soothe the respiratory tract.

A German study using experimental animals showed the herb increases the activity of the microscopic hairs in the breathing tubes that move mucus out of the respiratory tract.

Another experiment shows that the herb suppresses a substance (platelet activating factor or PAF) in the body that is involved in triggering asthma attacks.

Rx for Coltsfoot

If you want to put coltsfoot’s traditional cough-suppressing powers to the test, you should consult with your physician. Use of this particular herb continues to be somewhat controversial in the United States. Coltsfoot (and comfrey) have been banned in Canada and herb critics in the United States are pressing for a similar ban.

In European countries where coltsfoot is routinely used, the herb is taken as an infusion or tincture. As the taste is somewhat bitter, it is often taken with a little honey.

Coltsfoot should not be given to children under the age of 2.

Herb conservatives in this country recommend slippery elm as a safe herb to calm coughs.

World’s Oldest Cough Remedy

Family: Compositae; (includes Daisy, Dandelion, Marigold)

Genus and Species: Tussilago Farfara

Also known as: Cough plant Coughwort, Horse Hoof, Horse Foot

Parts used: Leaves, flowers

Coltsfoot has been a cough-suppressing mainstay of Asian and European herbal medicine for 2,000 years. And it’s still widely used today In addition to using the herb to treat cough, Chinese physicians have long prescribed it for asthma, colds, flu, bronchial congestion, and even lung cancer.

India’s traditional Ayurvedic doctors prescribed powdered coltsfoot in the form of snuff to treat cough, headache, and nasal congestion.

For cough and asthma, the ancient Greek physician Dioscorides and the Romans Pliny and Galen recommended a coltsfoot treatment that today sounds ridiculous-smoking the herb. But this approach continued for more than 1.500 years.

With characteristic exaggeration, 17th-century English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper touted coltsfoot not only for “wheezings, shortness of breath, and coughing,” but also for fevers, inflammations, and burning in the “privy parts” (genitals).

Apothecary Signs

In Paris around the time of the French Revolution, coltsfoot was so popular that signs bearing its golden flowers were the standard symbol hung outside apothecary shops.

Colonists introduced coltsfoot into North America, and the Indians adopted it as a cough remedy. For whooping cough, the colonists soaked blankets in buckets of hot coltsfoot infusion and wrapped them around the ill person. The 19th-century American Eclectic physicians prescribed coltsfoot for all respiratory problems and digestive upsets.

Contemporary herbalists recommend the herb for respiratory problems. Some say poultices of the fresh, bruised leaf may be applied to burns, swellings, and inflammations.

Coffee may increase anxiety, blood pressure, cholesterol, heart and respiration rate, and secretion of stomach acid. It may cause insomnia, irritability, and nervousness. Caffeine has also been implicated in cancer, heart disease, anxiety neuroses, and birth defects. One recent report noted: “If caffeine were a newly synthesized drug, its manufacturer would almlost certainly have great difficulty getting it licensed under current [Food and Drug Administration] regulations. If it were licensed, it would almost certainly be available only by prescription.”

More than the Jitters

When you drink more coffee than you’re used to. what happens? As every coffee drinker knows, you get jittery and impatient and have trouble falling asleep Individual reactions to caffeine vary, but over time, large amounts cause “caffeinism,” a condition with the same symptoms as anxiety neurosis: nervousness and irritability, chronic muscle tension, insomnia, heart palpitations, diarrhea, heartburn, and stomach upset. In fact, many people are misdiagnosed with “anxiety neurosis” when the problem is actually caffeinism, according to a report in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Not everyone who quits or cuts back develops withdrawal symptoms, but most do. The throbbing headache usually begins within 18 to 24 hours and lasts a few days. Constipation is also possible for a day or two.

Special Orders for Special Conditions

• Coffee increases secretion of stomach acid. Those with ulcers or other chronic digestive disorders should use it sparingly, if at all.
• Three cups of brewed coffee can boost blood pressure as much as 15 percent. If you have this risk factor for heart disease and stroke, discuss your coffee consumption with your physician.
• Even a moderate coffee habit, a cup or two each morning, may boost blood cholesterol levels by about 5 percent. Five to 10 cups a day may boost it by as much as 10 percent.

But recently, researchers discovered that only boiled coffee appears to raise cholesterol. Drip and instant apparently do not, for reasons that remain a mystery.

If your cholesterol level is high enough to put you at increased risk of heart disease, discuss your coffee consumption with your physician. If you don’t stop drinking it, make sure you use only drip or instant.

• Independent of coffee’s action on cholesterol and blood pressure, it also increases risk of heart attack. Drinking five cups a day almost doubles heart attack risk, and ten cups almost triples it, according to a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

If you have heart disease or a history of stroke, discuss your coffee consumption with your physician.

• Many animal studies link caffeine with an increased risk of birth defects. The doses given to the experimental animals were much higher than what even heavy coffee drinkers consume. But prudence suggests that pregnant women limit their consumption.
• Coffee has been linked to cancers of the breast, bladder, ovaries, pancreas, and prostate gland. All of these reports have subsequently been disputed. Several have been thoroughly debunked. Coffee’s contribution to human cancer, if any, remains unclear. However, the roasting process introduces pro-cancer chemicals into coffee beans. People with a history of cancer might want to limit their consumption.
• Some studies link caffeine to painful, non-cancerous breast lumps (fibrocysts). a normal but annoying condition. Women bothered by a fibrocystic breast condition might try cutting out all caffeine-in coffee, tea, cocoa, chocolate, soft drinks, and over-the-counter drugs-and seeing if their condition improves.
• In one study, women who drank two to four cups of brewed coffee a day suffered five times the rate of bloating and other premenstrual symptoms of those who abstained.
• Coffee interferes with iron absorption, a potential problem for people with iron-deficiency anemia, or for women who experience heavy menstrual flow.

Coffee and Conception

Women who drink 1 cup of brewed coffee a day are only about half as likely to get pregnant as those who don’t, according to a study conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health. Women attempting to conceive, especially those with a history infertility, are advised to limit their intake of beverages or drugs containing caffeine.

On the other hand, researchers agree caffeine should not be used as a contraceptive, because its fertility-reducing effect is highly unreliable. You’d be foolish to use it as a contraceptive.

How Safe Is It?

Until recently, the Food and Drug Administration listed coffee among the herbs generally regarded as safe, but publicity concerning caffeine’s many health hazards has prompted the agency to reconsider coffee’s status.

For otherwise healthy non-pregnant, non-nursing adults who have no history of ulcers, hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, anxiety, fertility problems, or heart disease and are not taking other medications containing caffeine, coffee is considered relatively safe in amounts of up to three brewed cups per day.

Coffee should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. If coffee causes insomnia, stomach distress, anxiety or any of the other problems discussed above, use less or stop using it Let your doctor know if you experience any unpleasant effects or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly ill two weeks.

Pretty as a Houseplant

Coffee grows in tropical areas around the world. The plant is an evergreen shrub 01 small tree with two-seeded, bright crimson fruits. The green seeds (beans) are extracted and roasted to produce the dark brown, oily beans recognized the world over. (Most of the world’s supply consists of the Arabian arabica species. But liberica, from Liberia, and robusta, from the Congo, are also cultivated worldwide.)

You can, however, grow a coffee plant purely as an ornamental if you live in a sunny, humid area where the temperature does not dip below 60°F. The plant requires full sun, moist air, moist soil, good drainage, and regular feeding. Coffee plants are also available as house plants. Again, they require full sun and high humidity. They grow well in greenhouses, but not in homes with forced-air heating, which tend to be too dry. Consult your local nursery or plant store.

Caffeine, the stimulant in coffee (and cocoa, tea, mate, and cola drinks) is also an ingredient in many cold, flu, sleep-prevention, and menstrual remedies-uses that are direct outgrowths of its role in traditional herbal healing.

Coffee’s caffeine content depends on how it’s prepared. A cup of instant contains about 65 milligrams. Drip or percolated coffee has 100 to 150 milligrams. A cup of espresso contains about 350 milligrams.

Caffeine is such an integral part of our culture, we seldom realize how much of a drug it is. The fact is, caffeine is classically addictive. Regular users develop a tolerance and require more to obtain the expected effect. Deprived of caffeine, regular users usually develop withdrawal symptoms, primarily headache.

The media regularly report health problems linked to coffee, but they never discuss its many possible healing benefits.

Pick-Me-Up - No doubt about it: Coffee is a powerful central nervous system stimulant. For those who drive long distances, it helps prevent dozing at the wheel. And it counteracts the sedative effects of antihistamines, which is one reason it’s included in many cold remedies. It does not, however, help people sober up after overindulging in alcohol.

Increased Stamina - Attention, athletes: Coffee may improve physical stamina, according to a report in The Physician and Sports medicine. The International Olympic Committee forbids the use of more than seven cups within 3 hours before Olympic events.

Asthma - A few studies show coffee helps prevent asthma attacks. The caffeine opens the bronchial passages in the lungs, thus supporting one of the herb’s traditional uses.

Weight Loss - Coffee may help some people lose weight.

It may boost the number of calories you burn per hour-your metabolic rate-by about 4 percent. In people with weight problems, that translates to a significant increase in calorie’ burned after a meal, according to one study.

Jet Lag - Jet lag is the disorientation, insomnia, and fatigue that develop after flying across time zones. Coffee may help shift the body’s natural time cycle (circadian rhythm) after abrupt time-zone changes Some jet-lag authorities recommend drinking coffee in the morning when traveling west and in the late afternoon when traveling east.

Rx for Coffee

Coffee has a wonderful, pleasantly bitter taste. Americans have more than proven that that’s sufficient incentive to drink it regularly You might also enjoy coffee as a pick-me-up for its stimulating effects, to possibly help increase stamina, prevent asthma attacks and jet lag, or with meals as a possible weight-loss aid.

For an infusion (otherwise known as a cup of java), use I heaping tablespoon of ground beans per cup of water. Brew it using your favorite method-or buy instant and follow directions on the label. Drink up to 3 cups a day.

Coffee-flavored food items (yogurt, ice cream, etc) also contain caffeine If you use them, adjust your coffee consumption downward.

Coffee should not be given to children under age 2. For aider children and people over 65, start with low-strength brews and increase strength if necessary.

Beyond the Boost

Family: Rubiaceae; (includes Gardenia, Ipecac, Cinchona)

Genus and Species: Coffea Arabica, C. Liberica, C. Robusta

Also known as: Arabica, Mocha, Java, Espresso, Capuccino, Latte

Parts used: Roasted, ground seeds (”beans”)

Next time one of your skeptical friends starts giving you a hard time about using herbs, here’s the perfect comeback: “Do you drink coffee?” Coffee is America’s most widely used herbal infusion. The average American drinks 28 gallons a year. But coffee does more than help us “take a break.” It may help prevent asthma attacks. It may boost physical stamina. And it may help people lose weight and overcome jet lag.

Coffee can also cause significant health problems. Few Americans appreciate just how potent it is. Coffee should be used as carefully as any other healing herb. Its active constituent (caffeine) is an addictive drug.

Tribal War Tonic

Our word coffee comes from Caffa, the region of Ethior where the fabled beans were first discovered. Archeolog’ evidence suggests that prehistoric East Africans loved cotfee’s remarkable stimulant properties. They ate the red, uriroasted beans (”cherries”) before tribal wars, extended hunts, and other activities requiring alertness, strength, and stamina.

The beverage we know as coffee emerged around A.D. 1000, when Arabians began roasting and grinding coffee beans and drinking the hot beverage as we do today.

In view of coffee’s enormous popularity, it’s surprising how slowly the habit spread. For 500 years, coffee remained in the Middle East Around 1500, spice traders introduced it into Italy, and within 150 years, it had spread throughout Europe.

Until the l Zth century, Arabia supplied all the world’s coffee through the port of Mocha, which became one of coffee’s names. Then the Dutch introduced the plant into lava, and the island quickly became synonymous with coffee.

An Agreeable Stimulant

Coffee has always been more popular as a beverage than as a healing herb. But European herbalists prescribed its stimulant effect to treat opium and alcohol sedation.

America’s 19th~century Eclectics prescribed coffee as “an agreeable stimulant that frequently overcomes the soporific [sedative] effects of opium, morphine, and alcohol.” They also recommended it to treat asthma, constipation, menstrual cramps, and dropsy (congestive heart failure)

The Eclectics also recognized coffee’s downside “If taken too freely, I coffee causes I irritability, trembling, confusion, ringing in the ears, and disorders of the bowel. On the other hand, if one is accustomed to moderate amounts, headache will result if the coffee be withdrawn.”

Folk healers have used coffee for centuries to treat asthma, fever, headache, colds, and flu. But few modern herbalists include it among healing herbs. How odd. Coffee is America’s Most popular herb.

The real safety issues have to do with this herb’s caffeine content. Caffeine is a powerfully stimulating, classically addletive drug. It is associated with insomnia, irritability, and anxiety attacks; increased blood pressure, cholesterol. and blood sugar (glucose) levels; and increased risk of birth defects. (See “Coffee” for a complete discussion of caffeine’s many effects.)

Cocoa and chocolate contain only 10 to 20 percent as much caffeine as coffee, but large amounts can produce classic caffeine effects. Anyone with insomnia, anxiety problems, high cholesterol. high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease should limit caffeine consumption.

Watch for the Burn

Many people find a cup of hot chocolate soothes their stomachs after meals. The only glitch here is that cocoa and chocolate may cause heartburn. The herb relaxes the valve between the stomach and the esophagus, the tube that carries food down to it. When this valve (the lower esophageal sphincter) does not shut tightly, stomach acids splash up into the esophagus, causing heartburn. If cocoa or chocolate gives you heartburn, use less or stop using it.

Cocoa and chocolate are on the Food and Drug Administration’s list of herbs generally regarded as safe. For otherwise healthy nonpregnant. nonnursing adults with no history of insomnia, anxiety problems, high cholesterol. high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease, cocoa and chocolate are safe in amounts typically consumed.

Cocoa should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. If heartburn, headache, or caffeine effects develop, use less or stop using it. Let your doctor know if you experience any unpleasant effects or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly in two weeks.

Where Does Chocolate Come From?

Cocoa (or cacao) should not be confused with coconut, or with coca, the source of cocaine. Trees grow in the tropics, not in the United States.

Once harvested, cocoa beans are roasted and ground into a liquid known as cocoa liquor. Cocoa liquor then undergoes Dutching, the addition of a minute amount of lye to enhance its flavor. (The amount is so small, it poses no health hazard.) The liquor is then further processed to remove its fat, known as cocoa butter. The final product, chocolate, is a combination of the defatted cocoa powder with some cocoa butter added back.

The powder we call cocoa is simply dried cocoa liquor, with perhaps a little sugar added. Baker’s chocolate is processed cocoa liquor with no sugar added Bittersweet chocolate has some sugar added. Semi-sweet chocolate contains more sugar. And milk chocolate has the most sugar, plus milk to make it creamy.

Cocoa contains two chemicals that account for its uses in herbal healing-caffeine and theobromine.

Pick-Me-Up - Cocoa has only 10 to 20 percent of coffee’s caffeine content-about 13 milligrams per cup compared with instant coffee’s 65 milligrams and drip coffee’s 100 to 150 milligrams. As a result, cocoa and chocolate may relieve drowsiness and provide mild stimulation without causing as much [itteriness. insomnia, and irritability as coffee. Try some when you feel lethargic-purely as herbal medicine, of course.

Digestive Aid - The theobromine in cocoa relaxes the smooth muscle lining of the digestive tract, which may be why many people have room for chocolate after a heavy meal. Try some to soothe your stomach after meals.

Asthma - Theobromine and caffeine are close chemical relatives of a standard treatment for asthma (theophylline), which opens the bronchial passages of the lungs. Theobromine and caffeine have similar effects. Even if you don’t have asthma, try cocoa or chocolate for the chest congestion of colds and flu.

Rx for Cocoa

Kiss guilt good-bye. Now there are some genuine, good-foryou reasons to brew yourself a heavenly cup of cocoa. Try it as a pick-me-up or digestive aid. Anyone with asthma should be under a doctor’s care, but there’s no harm in a cup of cocoa for possible relief.

To make cocoa, use 1 to 2 heaping teaspoons per cup of hot water or low-fat or skim milk.

Some children and adults are extrasensitive to the stimulants in cocoa and chocolate. If insomnia, irritability, or hyperactivity become a problem, reduce consumption.

Yes! It’s Good for You!

Family: Sterculiaceae; (includes Kola)

Genus and Species: Theobroma Cacao

Also known as: Chocolate, cacao

Parts used: Seed (often called bean)

Just a few years ago a burst of publicity surrounded a report suggesting that eating chocolate causes the release of brain chemicals responsible for the feeling of being in love.

Researchers theorized this is why the broken-hearted sometimes seek solace in a box of chocolates.

Though this research is yet to be confirmed, there is still reason for chocoholics to rejoice! Your favorite vice may be just what the doctor ordered. Cocoa and its derivative, chocolate, may aid digestion, boost blood flow to the heart. and help anyone with chest congestion breathe easier. Unwrap a chocolate kiss and read on.

Aztec Treat

Imagine a world without chocolate. That would be a desolate world indeed. But that’s how it was until 1519, when Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortez saw Mexico’s Aztec ruler, Montezuma, sip a drink called chocolatl from a golden goblet. Cortez was more interested in the goblet than its contents until the Aztecs informed him the drink was made from beans so valuable that 100 could buy a healthy human slave.

Cortez introduced the Aztec treat to the Spanish court, where it became an instant sensation. The Spanish tried to keep chocolate a secret and succeeded for more than 100 years, but by the 1660s it had spread throughout Europe. Chocolate became especially popular in England and Holland, where the bitter drink was enriched and sweetened with milk and sugar.

Oddly, until the 19th century, chocolate was solely a beverage, sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet, but always a liquid. It was only about 150 years ago that it was fashioned into the blocks and candies we so love today.

“Very Useful for Invalids”

Central Americans have used cocoa for centuries to treat fever, coughs, and complaints of pregnancy and childbirth. They have also rubbed cocoa butter on burns, chapped lips, balding heads, and the sore nipples of nursing mothers.

America’s 19th-century Eclectics recommended cocoa butter externally as a wound dressing and salve. For internal use, they prescribed hot cocoa forasthma. as a substitute for coffee, and as “a very useful nutritive for invalids and persons convalescing from acute illness.”

Few contemporary herbalists recommended cocoa or chocolate as a healing herb. It’s their loss.

Devil’s Food?

Chocolate cake is called “devil’s food.” And no wonder. The product of this herb has long been villified as a cause of obesity, acne, heart disease, kidney stones, tooth decay, headaches, heartburn, and infant colic. Much of this reputation is undeserved.

Chocolates fat content may contribute to obesity and heart disease, but the chocolate used in confections is rarely as much of a problem as their high-fat. high-cholesterol butter and cream. Cocoa and chocolate contain no cholesterol (excerpt milk chocolate, whose dairy ingredients contain a small amount). However, they are high in saturated fat, the kind of fat that can raise cholesterol levels and contributes to heart disease. But a good deal of cocoa’s saturated fat is in the form of stearic acid, which does not raise cholesterol. For the record, here’s how the various kinds of chocolate stack up.

Bad Rumors

Chocolate’s contribution to tooth decay has been blown out of proportion. Some research even suggests that cocoa contains substances that inhibit the growth of bacteria that cause tooth decay. Again the problem with chocolate candy is not its cocoa content but rather the other sugary, gooey ingredients.

There is no evidence that chocolate causes acne, kidney stones, or infant colic. However, chocolate does contain chemicals (tyramines) that trigger headaches in some pee ple, particularly those prone to migraines.

Japanese researchers have discovered that like many spices, clove contains antioxidants. Antioxidants help prevent the cell damage that scientists believe eventually causes cancer.

On the other hand, in laboratory tests, the chemical eugenol, has been found to be a weak tumor promoter, making clove one of many healing herbs with both pro- and anticancer effects. At this point, scientists aren’t sure which way the balance tilts. Until they are, anyone with a history of cancer should not use medicinal amounts of clove.

For otherwise healthy non-pregnant, non-nursing adults, powdered clove is considered nontoxic. However, high doses of its oil may cause stomach upset when ingested and rash when used externally.

Clove or clove oil should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. If clove or clove oil causes minor discomforts, such as stomach upset or diarrhea, use less or stop using it. Let your doctor know if you experience any unpleasant effects or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly in two weeks.

Some smokers switch to clove cigarettes, believing they’re safer than tobacco. They aren’t. Most clove cigarettes are 50 to 60 percent tobacco. And when clove burns, it releases many carcinogens. The Journal of tne American Medical Association has reported many toxic reactions to clove cigarettes.

Grown in Far Places

Clove does not grow in the United States. The aromatic clove evergreen reaches’ 25 feet. Tanzania produces about 80 percent of the world’s supply. Clove also grows in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Brazil, and the West Indies.

Clove oil, like allspice, is 60 to 90 percent eugenol, which is the source of its anesthetic and antiseptic properties.

Toothache, Oral Hygiene - Dentists use clove oil as an oral anesthetic. They also use it to disinfect root canals.

Clove oil is the active ingredient in Lavoris mouthwash and a number of over-the-counter toothache pain-relief preparations, including Benzodent and Numzident.

Toothaches require professional care. Clove oil may provide temporary relief, but see a dentist promptly.

Digestive Aid - Like many culinary spices, clove may help relax the smooth muscle lining of the digestive tract, supporting its age-old use as a digestive aid.

Infection Fighter - Clove kills intestinal parasites and “exhibits broad antimicrobial properties against fungi and bacteria,” according to one of many reports supporting its traditional use as a treatment for diarrhea, intestinal worms, and other digestive ailments.

Rx for Clove

For temporary relief of toothache prior to professional care, dip a cotton swab in clove oil and apply it to the affected tooth and surrounding gum.

For a warm, pleasant-tasting infusion, use I teaspoon of powdered herb per cup of boiling water. Steep 10 to 20 minutes. Drink up to 3 cups a day.

Medicinal amounts of clove should not be given to children under age 2. For older children and people over 65, start with low-strength preparations and increase strength if necessary.

Your Dentist Loves It

Family: Myrtaceae; (includes Myrtle, Eucalyptus)

Genus and Species: Eugenia Caryophyilata or Syzygium Aromaticum

Also known as: Clavos, Caryophyllus

Parts used: Dried, powdered flower buds

Step into any spice shop, take a deep breath, and enjoy the rich, warm aroma that fills the air. Chances are the dominant fragrance is clove, one of the world’s most aromatic healing herbs.

Step into your dentist’s supply room, though, and things smell quite different. But chances are clove oil is one of the items on the shelf. It’s a dental anesthetic-and more.

Ancient Breath Freshener

Clove is the bud of a highly aromatic tropical evergreen tree. During the Han dynasty (207 BC to AD 220) those who addressed the Chinese emperor were required to hold cloves in their mouths to mask bad breath. Traditional Chinese physicians have long used the herb to treat indigestion, diarrhea, hernia, and ringworm, as well as athlete’s foot and other fungal infections.

India’s traditional Ayurvedic healers have used clove since ancient times to treat respiratory and digestive ailments.

Clove first arrived in Europe around the 4th century A.D. as a highly coveted luxury. The medieval German abbess/herbalist Hildegard of Bingen recommended the rare herb in her antigout mixture.

Magellan’s Voyage

Demand for clove (and other Asian herbs) helped launch the Age of Exploration. Magellan’s flotilla brought some back to Spain in 1512 when the explorers completed their first voy~ age around the world.

Once clove became easily available in Europe, it was prized as a treatment for indigestion, flatulence, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. It was also used to treat cough, infertility, warts, worms, wounds, and toothache.

America’s 19th-century Eclectic physicians used clove to treat digestive complaints and added it to bitter herb-medicine preparations to make them more palatable. The Eclectics were also the first to extract clove oil from the herbal buds They used it on the gums to relieve toothache.

Contemporary herbalists recommend clove for digestive complaints and its oil for toothache.

In powdered form, culinary amounts of cinnamon are nontoxic, though allergic reactions are possible.

Cinnamon oil is a different story. On the skin, it may cause redness and burning. Used internally, it can cause nausea, vomiting, and possibly even kidney damage. Don’t ingest cinnamon oil.

Cinnamon is on the Food and Drug Administration’s list of herbs generally regarded as safe. For otherwise healthy non-pregnant, non-nursing adults, cinnamon is considered safe in amounts typically recommended.

Cinnamon should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. If cinnamon causes minor discomforts, such as stomach upset or diarrhea, use less or stop using it. Let your doctor know if you experience any unpleasant effects or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly in two weeks.

Exotic Tree

Cinnamon is not grown in the United States. Most comes from Asia and the West Indies. The trees reach a height of 30 feet. Collectors strip the aromatic bark from young branches no more than three years old.

Of course, cinnamon delights the taste buds. But it benefits other parts of the body as well.

Infection Prevention - A sound scientific reason for “flavoring” toothpastes and mouthwash with cinnamon does exist. Like many culinary spices, it’s a powerful antiseptic. It kills many decay- and disease-causing bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Try sprinkling some on minor cuts and scrapes after they’ve been thoroughly washed.

Perhaps toilet paper should be impregnated with cinnamon. One German study showed it “suppresses completely” the cause of most urinary tract infections (Escherichia coli bacteria) and the fungus (Candida albicans) responsible for vaginal yeast infections.

Pain Relief - There’s another reason to dust a bit of cinnamon on cuts and scrapes-it contains the natural anesthetic oil eugenol, which might help relieve the pain of household mishaps.

Digestive Aid - Cinnamon does more than add flavor to cakes, cookies, ice creams, and other high-fat desserts. Once you’ve consumed these delicacies, the herb helps break down fats in your digestive system, possibly by boosting the activity of some digestive enzymes.

Women’s Health - Despite some modern herbalists’ contention that cinnamon helps calm the uterus, the weight of historical evidence suggests the opposite. Pregnant women should limit their use to culinary amounts. Other women might try it to bring on menstruation or after delivery.

Intriguing Possibility - Japanese researchers report that cinnamon helps reduce blood pressure. If yours is high, it won’t hurt to use more.

Rx for Cinnamon

For a warm, sweet, spicy infusion, use ½ to ¾ teaspoon of powdered herb per cup of boiling water. Drink up to 3 cups a day.

Cinnamon infusions should not be given to children under age 2. For older children and people over 65, start with low-strength preparations and increase strength if necessary.

To treat minor cuts and scrapes, wash the affected area thoroughly, then sprinkle on a little powdered cinnamon.

Spice with a Punch

Family: Lauraceae; (includes Bay, Avocado, Nutmeg, Sassafras

Parts used: Dried inner bark

Genus and species: Cinnamomum Zeylanicum, C. Cassia, C. Saigonicum

Also known as: Cassia, Ceylon Cinnamon, Saigon Cinnamon

We sprinkle it on toast, add it to cookie batter, stir it into hot apple cider, and find it in toothpastes and candies. But cinnamon is more than a sweet treat.

It’s one of the world’s oldest healers. And modern science has confirmed its value for prevention of infection and indigestion.

Asian Prize

Cinnamon grew originally in southern Asia. Ancient Chinese herbals mention it as early as 2700 BC as a treatment for fever, diarrhea, and menstrual problems. India’s ancient Ayurvedic healers used it similarly.

When ancient travelers introduced the aromatic herb to the Egyptians, they added it enthusiastically to their embalming mixtures. Egyptian demand for cinnamon (and other Asian spices) played a major role in ancient trade.

The Biblical Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans adopted cinnamon as a spice, perfume, and treatment for indigestion.

After the fall of Rome, trade with Asia came to a virtual halt, but somehow cinnamon still made it to Europe. The l zth-century German abbess/herbalist Hildegard of Bingen recommended it as “the universal spice for sinuses,” and to treat colds, flu, cancer, and “inner decay and slime.”

Back to the Kitchen

By the 17th century, Europeans considered cinnamon primarilya kitchen spice. In healing, they used it only to mask the bitterness of other healing herbs.

But as time passed, cinnamon slowly regained its former reputation as a healer. America’s 19th-century Eclectic physicians prescribed it for stomach cramps, flatulence, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, infant colic, and especially for uterine problems: “[Cinnamon’s] most direct action is on the uterine muscle fibers, causing contraction and arresting bleeding. For postpartum and other uterine hemorrhages, it is one of the most prompt and efficient remedies.”

Modern herbalists recommend cinnamon to relieve nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and indigestion, and as a flavoring agent for bitter-tasting healing-herb preparations. They can’t quite agree about how it affects the uterus. Some say it stimulates uterine contractions. Others say it calms the uterus.