Earth Day: Plants for Health

Natural Standard celebrates Earth Day by highlighting several plants for health.

Feverfew: Feverfew is a short perennial bush reaching a height of 15-60 centimeters that grows naturally throughout Europe and the Americas. The leaves have a strong smell and bitter taste. Because of feverfew's chrysanthemum-like leaves and yellow daisy-like flowers, it is often mistakenly identified as chamomile.

Feverfew is most commonly taken by mouth for the prevention of migraine headache. Most of the available human studies are not high quality and report mixed results. However, overall they do suggest that feverfew may reduce the number of headaches that occur in people with frequent migraines.

Garlic: Garlic is a member of the lily family, which also includes hyacinth, tulip, onion, leek and chives. The bulb, which has a white skin encasing multiple individual cloves, is used both medicinally and as a spice, and may be used fresh or dehydrated.

Multiple studies in humans have reported that eating garlic may cause small reductions in total blood cholesterol and low-density lipoproteins ("bad cholesterol") over short periods of time (4-12 weeks). Effects on high-density lipoproteins ("good cholesterol") are unclear. This remains an area of controversy. Numerous human studies also suggest that garlic may lower blood pressure.

St. John's wort: The genus Hypericum is found throughout the world and encompasses 378 known species. Of these, Hypericum perforatum is the medicinal herb commonly known as St. John's wort. The herb's name is named after John the Baptist, as the plant generally begins to flower around the 25th of June, the feast day of St. John the Baptist.

St. John's wort has been extensively studied in Europe over the last two decades, with more recent research in the United States. Short-term studies (1-3 months) suggest that St. John's wort is more effective than placebo (sugar pill), and equally effective as tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) in the treatment of mild-to-moderate major depression. Comparisons to the more commonly prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants, such as fluoxetine (Prozac®) or sertraline (Zoloft®), are more limited. However, other data suggest that St. John's wort may be just as effective as SSRIs with fewer side effects. Safety concerns exist as with most conventional and complementary therapies.

Willow bark: White willow is native to Europe, Asia and North America, and may grow in temperate to tropical climates. Willow trees grow 6-18 meters high with supple branches. The yellow male flowers and the green female flowers form catkins, cylindrical clusters of flowers approximately 6-7 centimeters long. The outer bark ranges from yellowish-green to brownish-gray in color and is fairly smooth. The inner bark is smooth and white to pale yellow or cinnamon brown color. The bark of young, two to three year-old willow branches is harvested during the early spring and dried. Willow products include liquids, creams, ointments, tablets and capsules and are typically imported from Eastern Europe.

Willow bark is a traditional analgesic (pain relieving) therapy for osteoarthritis. Several studied have confirmed this finding. Additional study comparing willow bark to conventional medicinal agents for safety and effectiveness is warranted.

For more information about feverfew, garlic, St. John's wort or willow bark, please visit Natural Standard's Foods, Herbs & Supplements Database.

Comments

[MS]

Feverfew with magnesium have been helpful in some patients with migraines at a clinic I attended but there are no current studies looking at the effectiveness of this combination. St. John's wort has many drug interactions because of its induction of the CYP3A4 enzyme and possible increase in P-glycoprotein expression. Therefore individuals must consult with a health care provider before taking it.

[J Squared]

In a lot of botanical cosmetic products, willow bark, is listed as an ingredient and claimed as a natural remedy for the treatment of acne. This effect is most likely due to its anti-inflammatory properties. It would be quite informational for consumers if more studies were being conducting for the use of willow bark as a topical skin treatment, and also be compared to salicylic acid, which also is used as a keratolytic for various skin conditions.

[NA]

This is a great overview of a few of the plants that are often used or consumed for their potential health benefits. Patients frequently ask about the uses and side effects associated with these plants so it is important to be familiar with them. With St. John’s Wort, it is important to keep in mind the potential interaction it has with serotonin reuptake inhibitors when counseling a patient. I thought it was interesting to read that St. John’s Wort was named after St. John the Baptist and that the plant begins to flower during his feast day in June.

[Jennifer Raquipo]

Here is a link on Aged Garlic Extract and its benefit in inhibiting coronary calcification in patients with hyperlipidemia:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15475033

[Tim]

I'm not trying to knock these plants or anything, they certainly have their place in our culture; but do you know another plant that has amazing beneficial effects on the human body? Vegetables (the kind you eat)! Want to lower your risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and certain types of cancer? Try eating 6-7 servings of veggies every day. What's a serving you ask? One cup raw veggies or a half a cup cooked. Sometimes it's hard to tell what is in your food, though. The Natural Standard website has a great tool to look up ingredients. Go to the Natural Standard website > Tools > Nutrition Labels.

[Tommy]

I thought it might be interesting to point out a dozen or so prescription drugs that were actually discovered from natural substances: aspirin-white willow bark (Salix alba); atropine-belladonna (Atropa belladonna); cephalosporin-marine fungus (Cephalopsorium acremonium); cromolyn sodium-khella (Amni visnagu); cyclosporin-cordyceps (Cordyceps sp.); digoxin-foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), morphine-opium poppy (Papaver somniferum); scopolamine-jimson weed (Datura sp.); taxol-pacific yew (Taxus sp.); theophylline-tea shrub (Camelia sinensis); and vincristine-periwinkle (Vinca sp.). Awesone right! And this is just a SHORT list! Pretty amazing to think that nearly all of our medicines once came from nature, but somehow we got away from that. I think the trend toward nature is happening again, though. That can be witnessed by the continually increasing sales of natural products in the United States. Who knows, pretty soon we may catch up with Europe and the rest of the world.

[Empire Bakuba]

Here is the trial assessing the effects of willow bark low back pain exacerbation. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10936472

Before taking any supplements or herbs consult your primary care physician or pharmacist as they may interact with your current prescriptions.

[Empire Bakuba]

Here is the link assessing the effects of St. John Worts, fluoxetine and placebo on major depression. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16160619
St. John has numerous drug interactions which could be accessed via the Natural standard website. In fact, they just uploaded a drug interaction checker that is neat to tool to assess interactions.

[Empire Bakuba]

Here is the link of the study comparing Hibiscus to lisinopril. Herrera-Arellano A, Miranda-Sánchez J, Avila-Castro P, et al. (January 2007). "Clinical effects produced by a standardized herbal medicinal product of Hibiscus sabdariffa on patients with hypertension. A randomized, double-blind, lisinopril-controlled clinical trial".

While the study did show comparable effects, Lisinopril has been study for quite sometime and has been proven to reduce morbidity and mortality in hypertensive patients. I would advocate a study comparing the long term effects of Hibiscus vs Lisinopril on the reduction of morbidity and mortality.

[Empire Bakuba]

The use of willow bark dates goes way back to the time of Hippocrates. People were advised to chew the bark to reduce fever and inflammation. The pain and fever relieving effects come from salicin.

[Abdulrahman Koshak]

The hibiscus trial
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15330492

[Empire Bakuba]

In reference to Willow Bark comment, yes Aspirin was discovered from there and definitely affirms the power of mother nature. As with all alternative medicines consult with a Pharmacist or Physician before taking them.

[Virginia]

Great blog post! I didn't know St. John's Wort as equally as effective as TCAs for the treatment of depression! The description of feverfew makes me want to go out and plant it in my garden right now!

[Marina]

To Abdul: can you send me the trial saying that hibiscus was comparable to captopril in reducing hypertension? I am a little skeptical.

I have often heard St. John's Wort mentioned and it was generally with regards to that it has so many interactions with so many drugs. I have never questioned that, and assumed that St. John's Wort is a natural medicine that simply must be avoided.

Now, looking at Natural Standard's monograph on St. John's Wart, it appears that many of the studies reporting interactions did not provide very strong and reliable evidence. So further studies are needed to really determine if St. John's Wort does decrease systemic bioavailability of drugs and have other interactions. I would be very much interested in these studies.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Willow Bark is where aspirin was discovered from! So it makes great sense in use for osteoarthritis.

[Abdulrahman Koshak]

I always liked the idea of making comparative studies between conventional medicine and CAM (Complementary and alternative medicine). I think it is more convincing and helps a lot for rising the sound of CAM. As in this article St. John's wort has been compared to tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants, I also want to mention another example. In hypertension Hibiscus standardized extract exhibited comparable hypotensive effect as Captopril (Capoten), an ACEI.