The Rational Use of Herbs and Adaptogens

What people get wrong about plant medicine

Herbs are an incredible, and arguably the oldest, form of medicine.

They are also one of the most frequently abused and most misunderstood.

If that surprises you to hear, then read on, because this post is for you.

What's wrong with herbal medicine? The average herbalist (amateur or professional) selects herbs to treat symptoms in much the same way a chef might select ingredients. Ginger for nausea. White willow bark for pain. Goldenseal for sinus infections. Boswellia for headaches. Lemon balm for cold sores.

Don't get me wrong, this has tremendous value.

I hear stories all the time about herbs making the difference between disease and health in patients. However, herbs have many limitations. You cannot, for example, fix a magnesium deficiency with herbs. If you live in a moldy building, you can mitigate symptoms of mold toxicity with herbs, but only for so long. If you sleep on the other side of a smart meter, there is no herb that will magically block or mitigate the EMF that you are exposed to. You can always reach for an herb, but reaching for an herb is much like reaching for a pharmaceutical drug - it is a temporary measure that does not resolve the root cause of a disease.

How do herbs work?

When we say "herbs," what we mean are the roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and sometimes fruits of various plants. Each of these components contains different plant chemicals that may have pharmacological actions, as well as nutrients like vitamins and minerals. Take Goldenseal as an example. It contains many anti-microbial compounds, which is why it is effective for sinus infections. Maca, a root from the Andes, contains many compounds that potentiate the activity of catecholamines and corticosteroids, which are the neurotransmitters and hormones that mediate (help you cope with) stress. This means that people tend to use Maca in cases of adrenal fatigue and excessive stress. Beet root contains an abundance of antioxidants, nitric-oxide precursors, polyphenols, folate, and copper - all important nutrients.

When we use an herb (plant medicine), we are using it for one of these two things - its nutritional value or its pharmacological activity.

This brings me to the two major mistakes I see patients making with herbal medicine.

The first is failing to understand how powerful plant-nutrition can be. For example, if you give a patient with a high copper a diet rich in beets, chocolate, avocado, and other copper-rich foods, you can make them feel a lot worse.

The second is using plants the same way people use drugs - to prop up an unhealthy way of life. For example, I consistently find that patients are taking on too much in their lives and are using some combination of coffee (caffeine) and adaptogenic herbs (Maca, Ginseng) to enable their chronic over-achievement habit.

This is not healthy.

If you need a stack of herbs and supplements to get out of bed in the morning, something is wrong with the fundamentals of your diet and lifestyle, and we need to figure out what.

People tend to think that they cannot abuse herbs because they are not drugs. They are "natural" and that somehow makes them safer. They are still crutches that people will use to compensate for chronic errors in their way of life.

This ignores one of the fundamental principles of pharmacology, which both herbalists and mainstream pharmacologists and medical doctors tend to ignore - the principle of tachyphylaxis.

This is a fancy word for "tolerance." If you start with a cup of coffee every morning, you will see a diminishing effect of that coffee. Pretty soon you are drinking a second cup, and then a third, and then a fourth. Your body can change the number of receptors you have to neurotransmitters and hormones to compensate for your ingestion of these substances. The more of a medicine you take, the more the body will try to blunt its effects. This is a simple principle of adaptation. This gives way to withdrawal symptoms when you stop or decrease the dose of the drug (including herbs).

Why do people tend to ignore this principle? Because they fail to identify the root cause of a patient's problem, and then they don't know what to do other than continue using the herbs and supplements that worked in the past. When the therapeutic effect diminishes as the body grows more and more tolerant, they increase the dose.

Frequently, therapeutic effect will drop off of a cliff (so to speak). As in, no amount of the drug or herb will give the patient the relief they have come to expect from it. This happens frequently with adaptogenic herbs and psychoactive drugs.

Why does this happen and why is it so important?

When we use drugs or herbs, we are relying on the body's natural processes and systems to supply the mechanisms upon which the drug works. For example, when we use a drug or herb to boost serotonin, we are relying on the body's natural mechanisms to produce serotonin, release, and respond to serotonin within the nervous system.

What happens when there is not enough serotonin? The drugs and herbs don't work! Which is why people who start with plant medicine frequently fail to get the job done. It is why patients who come to rely on plant medicine frequently come to me when the herbs they had come to know and love ceases to get them the results they desire.

What do I do? I get rid of the herbs and I start from the beginning. What are you eating? How are you living? What are the stresses in your life? What are your toxic exposures? When we get to the bottom of these things, we see patients resolve their chronic health conditions.

This is not to say that there are not cases of miraculous healings with herbs. I see this on a regular basis. But by no means are herbs my first intervention, nor do I ever use them without considering the patient's diet and lifestyle first and foremost.

Where do I get my herbs? Herbal medicine is only as good as the ingredients that you select. Herbs vary a great deal in terms of their potency. Many unscrupulous people today are selling bad product. I strongly question the organic label on herbs from foreign countries. For this reason, I get all of my herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs. Particularly for bulk herbs, they have amazing products. A few things I always keep in my medicine cabinet are ginger, peppermint, maca, ginseng, St. John's Wort, lemon balm, matcha, green tea, black tea, and yerba mate. There are some things, like goldenseal, that I use in capsules that you can see in my online dispensary. I use the stimulant herbs as needed, on difficult days or if I need an extra lift to get through something tedious (like paperwork). Otherwise, I stick to a healthy diet, rest, relaxation, and regularly scheduled recreation.

Next time, we will talk about what I always keep in my medicine cabinet.

Until then, be well,

Dr. Stillman