Wisdom of Healing

There are several interesting health myths that have their origins in medical and scientific journals. These myths trickle down to the articles that we read in news journals, alternative health and women’s magazines. These myths stem from the scientific reductionist viewpoint that looks at the isolated parts of the whole as if they were actually the whole itself.

Now, I certainly do not mean to imply that the study of the separate constituents has no value; this is exactly how many pharmaceutical medications originate. Instead, what I’m attempting to do is to dispel the confusion about several very different types of herbal products. When an herb is comprised of hundreds of complex constituents, a single one of those constituents cannot and should not be considered to be the same as the whole herb, being spoken about and used interchangeably.

Here is my favorite (or should I say ‘least favorite’) example of this; turmeric, according to research, has approximately 100 constituents. One of those constituents is called curcumin, and curcumin has been considered by some researchers to be the one ‘active constituent’ (or the curcuminoids are considered the ‘group of active constituents’). Research has shown that, although curcumin provides noted activity against excess inflammation, the extract of the whole turmeric, with all its other active and inert constituents, has significantly more activity. And although curcumin supports detoxification of the liver and blood, the full-spectrum turmeric extract has been shown to provide us much greater detoxification than the isolates alone.

In fact, isolated constituents have never been found to work more effectively than the whole herb, spice or mushroom without also having potentially harmful side effects. With virtually all herbs and fungi, the whole provides the benefits along with the checks and balances to prevent possible side effects.

Many of the turmeric products on the supplements market are not really turmeric at all. These products are labeled as turmeric on the front, but if you read the fine print on the ‘Supplement Facts Panel’ (the fine print box found on the back), you would see that there is 95% curcuminoids (including the curcumin). According to nature, 5-11% of the root is comprised of curcuminoids. This means that most of the turmeric root was disposed of and the capsule was filled with a small fraction of turmeric’s actual constituents. Personally, I would prefer these kinds of products be labeled as over-the-counter drugs with clever names than to mistakenly refer to them as herbal products.

Another concern with these altered products is that those curcuminoids were isolated from the whole root through one of the chemical extraction processes used by the pharmaceutical industry. Hexane, acetone or (my favorite) PERC (dry-cleaning fluid) may have been used to isolate the chosen constituents, and small amounts are usually left behind in the finished product. I think it ironic that dry-cleaning fluid might be contained in our daily detoxification product!

Green tea contains more than 500 constituents. Again, as a result of research, there is one special constituent that has been deemed by scientists to be the most active. This constituent is called EGCG, and the story is really quite similar. EGCG is in the family of catechins, which are potent antioxidants.

Green tea has been shown to support weight loss, reduce oxidative damage caused by free radicals, prevent cancer and heart disease and improve immune function. Products containing the isolated EGCG are often sold with claims of the same benefits as the whole, complex green tea.

Research was done on both green tea consumption and green tea extract usage. Just as with the whole turmeric root, the complex whole herb of green tea appears to support health and detoxification more effectively than the isolated EGCG. In fact, it seems that when you remove even one ingredient, caffeine for example, green tea has little, if any effect on detoxification and inflammation.

Saccharides, some of the important building blocks of our healthy cells, are found in several herbs and in all medicinal mushrooms. One of the most common sources for some of the Saccharides being isolated for products on health food store shelves is the Aloe vera plant. I repeat the running theme here; these Saccharides, so essential for our healthy cells, are not the same as the whole Aloe vera, Shiitake or Maitake. They cannot be; one is singular, simple; the other complex, multifarious.

Here is another important example, a nutrient that’s recently gotten a lot of press. Lycopene, a powerful antioxidant in the carotenoid family, is usually found in red fruits and vegetables. Lycopene has gotten quite a bit of publicity in the last few years for its potential to protect us from cancer, especially cancer of the prostate, diabetes and osteoporosis. Research showed that men who ate the greatest amount of tomatoes seemed to have fewer prostate issues. Researchers determined that the activity in the tomatoes was due to the Lycopene. Upon the release of this important new information, many new Lycopene products arrived in stores and were selling out in no time. But a funny thing happened when the researchers looked at the isolated Lycopene; it had no antioxidant activity. It didn’t work. Lycopene, it seems, must be present in the tomatoes, watermelon, papaya or avocado to help protect our health.

So, if it sounds like a chemical, it is most likely a chemical. If you can go out in nature and pick it or dig its root, then it’s really natural. And when it is isolated from something that formerly lived and grew in nature, it was probably separated with a chemical solvent, and is therefore no longer truly natural.

Most of the nutritional supplements on the market are called ‘natural’, but in reality, they aren’t even close. Please stay tuned for more on how vitamins and other supplement products are processed and made, and which supplements are truly the most natural, safe and effective.

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