Prevention Interviews Natural Standard

Prevention magazine interviewed Dr. Catherine Ulbricht, co-founder of Natural Standard Research Collaboration and Senior Attending Pharmacist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, to learn about the effectiveness of historical therapies that remain popular today.

In the article, Dr. Ulbricht notes that many medications are derived from plants. “Practically all of the most widely used drugs have an herbal origin,” Ulbricht said. “The number one OTC medication, aspirin, is a synthetic version of a compound found in the willow tree. Many statins are based on fungi, and Tamiflu® originated from Chinese star anise.”

The article discusses both the traditional uses and scientific evidence for several natural products. For instance, cayenne pepper has historically been used as a pain reliever and as an aphrodisiac. Scientific data suggest that capsaicin, the active ingredient in cayenne, may improve circulation and help alleviate pain. Additionally, some early evidence suggests that it may have weight-loss effects and help regulate blood-sugar levels. Other featured botanicals include lemon balm, onion, plantain, parsley and hawthorn.

Because herbs and supplements can potentially interact with other therapies, they should be used cautiously. To learn more about potential interactions, please visit Natural Standard's Interactions Checker database.

Comments

[herbal healing]

Great article. I love hearing about ancient therapies that are actually shown to be effective. We often forget that foods can also have dramatic effects on health and can even have therapeutic effects on some medical conditions.

[alex]

Wow, it's interesting that a lot of the topics in the article are everyday foods. It's easy to forget that foods like garlic, onions and peppers have physiological effects on the body, which may translate into therapeutic benefits.

[DF]

Glad to see Dr. Ulbricht featured in the Prevention article. For more on lemon balm, books by herbalist Rosemary Gladstar have lots of recipes for teas that include this calming herb.

[rgorensh]

I did not realize that traditional and alternative medicine are so closely linked, although I guess it makes perfect sense. Plants like anise, willow tree, cayenne pepper, lemon balm, onion and plantain were used to regulate pain, blood sugar levels and weight for thousands of years. Although stemming from this knowledge, with the development of modern chemistry, traditional medicine quickly veered away from herbs. Now, as more and more research is done to test the efficacy of these herbs, traditional and alternative medicines are merging once again.

[herbal]

Indeed, it is very exciting to see more and more research come out about herbs and supplements that have been used for hundreds of years. Good, solid, clinical data will make alternative therapies something practitioners of Western medicine can commonly recommend. With more and more data about safety and efficacy, perhaps tighter regulations about the sale and manufacturing of natural products will emerge and add to the strength of recommendations by healthcare practitioners.

[Ray Brown]

Wow, I never knew that parsley can be used for urinary tract diseases. The only natural remedy I knew of was cranberry juice, so it’s great to know about another! A very large percentage of the population, especially women, will suffer from a urinary tract infections during their lives, and perhaps parsley could help. This article recommends drinking a tea or a tincture made from common parsley if you have a urinary tract infection. This is great to know!

[DM]

This article was very interesting. I had no idea onions could be used for diabetes. In a clinical study, diabetic patients were prescribed a specific diet for 2 weeks. For the first week 1 group ate 3x20g of fresh onion daily, while the other group ate 3x200g green beans daily and then switched for the second week. The results showed that the onion group had lower blood sugar levels from baseline.

More clinical studies are needed to really evaluate the efficacy of this therapy, but encouraging patients to eat more onions, especially raw or lightly cooked when they have the most benefit, can’t hurt. This can be combined with a healthy diet filled with fruits and vegetables, which can further lower blood sugar levels.

[Maria S]

Yet again, Natural Standard and Dr. Catherine Ulbricht teach me something new! Before reading this Prevention magazine article about traditional botanical remedies, I didn’t know that two very different plants go by “plantain.” Besides the banana-like fruit, there is a small, leafy plant that can be good on the skin for insect bites and poison ivy. Psyllium, which is a common fiber supplement ingredient, also comes from this “other plantain.” It sounds like it isn’t as good for eating as the banana-like plantain, though.

[mia3]

It is great to know that this article is helping people discover that most modern pharmaceuticals have a natural origin. I hope this will help people who are apprehensive or wary of natural products or alternative medicines understand that there are real, tangible benefits from remedies outside of those of the western realm.

While Western medicine has its place and has accomplished some amazing feats, there is nothing wrong with going back to the basics so to speak. Articles like this should encourage people to discuss alternative therapies that can have a beneficial effect and possibly fewer side effects than other traditional medicines.