Herbal Actions Profile: Alterative

Transcription

1 Alteratives The alterative action is likely one of the most important herbal actions in the western system of herbalism. It is also one of the most vague. In general, a plant containing the alterative action is said to open the channels of elimination of the body and affect the bodies natural detoxification processes. It s important to consider here that our body works to detoxify not just things like pesticides, chemicals or environmental toxins like many people think, rather it is the normal waste products associated with metabolism. This includes proteinaceous wastes, cellular debris, hormones and other standard byproducts of our bodies metabolic processes. So if we are thinking about the various channels of elimination of the body, we see that there are 5 primary organ systems responsible for throwing off waste products. They are: 1. Lungs: Responsible for detoxifying carbon dioxide from the bloodstream, as well as elimination of airborne materials. 2. Kidneys: Responsible for removal of water soluble waste products through the urine. This is either directly after cellular metabolism or after further breakdown in the liver and enhancement of water solubility. 3. Bowels: Responsible for cleansing of physical wastes from the body through the stool. Many oil soluble toxins are also excreted through the stool via the bile secretions from the gallbladder. 4. Liver: Major organ of detoxification. The liver is the central hub for preparatory metabolism as well as the detoxification processes. It excretes fat soluble toxins with the bile to be secreted into the GI from the gallbladder. The liver also makes certain compounds water soluble to enhance their elimination from the kidneys with the urine. 5. Skin: It s really easy to overlook the skin, but it is actually the largest organ of detoxication! Our body secretes both water and oil soluble toxins through the sebaceous and oily secretions of the skin, as well as water soluble ones through the sweat. It is quite common for people with depressed metabolism and bad blood to display the need for alteratives via chronic skin conditions such as eczema. Thus with our definition of alteratives so far, we see that our remedies will have affinities for these various organ systems, either singularly or in combination. This leads to a very complex and diverse range of plants under the alterative category. Another way of defining this action is through metabolism. The old doctors described an alterative as any remedy which alters or adjusts the metabolic processes of the body. Metabolism in general has 2 parts: the anabolic phase builds up tissue through digestion, absorption and utilization of nutrients from for (thus digestion is a major factor here) and the catabolic phase breaks down the waste products and eliminates them from the body. Thus an alterative is any remedy that would affect the bodies capacity to digest, absorb, distribute, and utilize nutrition as well as properly break down, metabolize, and excrete the waste products. This is a pretty big process which involves many different organs, systems, tissues and physiological processes- making our definition and delineation of alteratives even more vague! But, for the most part, they tend to have the strongest affinity for the catabolic side of metabolism, meaning that they tend to work more on the detoxification and elimination side of Materia Medica Monthly Herbal Actions Profile Page 1

2 the process. That being said there are a small handful of remedies that act to help nourish the tissues through their nutrient content- interestingly enough a handful of these also act on the catabolic side! So what are they used for? Where would you think to utilize an alterative medicine? The old doctors in the west called it bad blood syndrome, which was oftentimes associated with an accumulation of waste products and toxins stagnating within the tissues and congesting the channels of elimination. As such, we would generally see dampness accumulating (edema, swellings, puffiness, swollen lymph nodes), poor sluggish digestion (constipation), chronic skin conditions (eczema, acne, boils), infections (low grade fever, septicemia, chronic infections, low immunity), chronic fatigue and low energy levels, to the most severe which would be things like tumors, malignancies, and cancer. What s important to consider here is that it is most often associated with an accumulation of dampness within the tissues of the body. Because the vital force is intelligent (brilliant actually), it strives to cleanse this dampness from the system by initiating an inflammatory response to burn and purge the fluids from the system. This oftentimes leads to a secondary heat response, thus the general energetic constellation that most often calls for alteratives is the pattern referred to as damp heat. This concept of bad blood goes all the way back to ancient Greek medicine and has it s reflections in almost every other medical traditions from around the world. In Ayurveda they describe it as the accumulation of ama, a thick congealed sticky phlegm that congests and accumulates within the channels of the body (both physical and energetic). In Chinese Medicine they simply called it damp accumulation, and when the heat manifests it would damp/heat. Samuel Thomson described this state as an accumulation of canker within the tissues, the Greeks called it humors in the blood, and the Physiomedicalists referred to it as the damp/stagnation tissue state. Knowing this pattern in which they are best used for is the key to using alterative, or detoxifying plants, holistically and intelligently. It s critical to understand that most, if not all, of these plants tend to be draining and drying to the constitution. This is naturally what you want since the core pattern being treated is dampness. Generally speaking, they make you defecate more, urinate more, sweat more, and open everything up to move out of the body. Thus alterative plants are typically always contraindicated in excessively dry constitutions. There are certainly exceptions to this rule, but it is a good one to follow initially. This is important because what we see in the modern western world and alterative products industry is the detoxification craze where everyone thinks they are full of pesticides, parasites, and heavy metals and need to detox. Thus they turn to many of our alterative remedies which are known to detoxify the body, but don t take into consideration the older definitions of what toxicity was, and more importantly the constitutional factors involved in extensive or extended use of these plants. It s very common for people to damage their constitution from misusing this class of materia medica. Materia Medica Monthly Herbal Actions Profile Page 2

3 So with all of that, let s take a look at a list of some alterative herbs commonly used in western herbalism: Alfalfa (Medicago sativum) Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) Burdock root and seed (Arctium lappa) Cascara Sagrada (Rhamnus purshiana) Cayenne (Capsicum annuum) Celery seed (Apium graveolens) Dandelion leaf and root (Taraxacum officinale) Echinacea root and flower (Echinacea purpurea, E. angustifolia) Figwort (Scrophularia nodosa) Fringe Tree (Chionanthus virginicus) Ginger (Zingiber officinale) Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) Juniper (Juniperus communis) Kelp (Fucus vesiculosis) Nettle leaf (Urtica dioica) Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium) Poke (Phytolacca decandra) Prickly Ash (Zanthoxylum americanum) Red Raspberry (Rubus ideaus) Red Rhubarb (Rheum spp.) Red Root (Ceanothus americanus) Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) Senna (Senna alexandria) Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria) Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) Overwhelmed? I usually am when I see huge lists like that! When you see an herb like Echinacea next to plants like Poke root and Kelp and Alfalfa and Garlic and Burdock it s easy to start scratching your head like huh? what do all of these plants have in common? You use Poke root in a very different way than you use Kelp or Alfalfa. But many books just leave their Materia Medica Monthly Herbal Actions Profile Page 3

4 list of alterative herbs there and you are left to figure out the rest on your own. I do not like huge lists of herbs like this. It lacks specificity and precision. It leaves you hanging in terms of exactly how do you select an alterative that is specific for your client! Taking all of this into consideration, I have found it to be extremely beneficial to further divide and break down the alterative class of herbal medicines into sub-categories based on the plants specific organ, system and tissue affinities, as well as any secondary actions they might have. This helps you to select your remedies more strategically and intelligently based on the specific needs of your client and finding something suitable for them, as opposed to going for a general shotgun approach. Thus, we can further break down our alterative materia medica into the following secondary categories. I will list some materia medica under each category, as well as their effects upon temperature and moisture so you can get a sense of the energetics of the herbs. These lists are excellent resources for you to consult during formulation, remedy selection for a client, as well as to guide your studies in materia medica. Diuretic Alteratives These remedies have an influence upon water excretion via the kidneys and thus help to drain fluids systemically from the body. Burdock (Arctium lappa) Celery seed (Apium graveolens) Dandelion leaf (Taraxacum officinale) Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) Juniper (Juniperus communis) Nettle leaf (Urtica dioica) Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) neutral and amphoteric* slightly Hepatic Alteratives These remedies impact the liver, primarily through their bitter tonic actions, which also stimulates digestion. Burdock (Arctium lappa) Dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale) Fringe Tree (Chionanthus virginicus) Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium) Red Root (Ceanothus americanus) neutral and amphoteric* Materia Medica Monthly Herbal Actions Profile Page 4

5 Diaphoretic Alteratives These plants help to promote sweating during fever, but can also be used for detoxification through the skin. Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) Burdock seed (Arctium lappa) Cayenne (Capsicum annuum) Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) /moist* Immunological Alteratives These remedies affect the bodies capacity to tolerate metabolic waste products by enhancing immune function, containing antimicrobial properties, and/or lymphatic/ diaphoretic actions. Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) Echinacea (Echinacea angustifolia) Elder (Sambucus spp.) Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria) Lymphatic Alteratives These remedies have their impact upon the lymphatic system, helping to reduce swelling and drain the lymph. Many will also influence immunity, as the immune system is strongly rooted in the lymph. Echinacea (Echinacea angustifolia) Figwort (Scrophularia nodosa) Poke (Phytolacca decandra) Red Root (Ceanothus americanus) Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria) Materia Medica Monthly Herbal Actions Profile Page 5

6 Bowel Alteratives See materia medica listed above under hepatic alteratives. Because all of those remedies are bitter tonics as well they tend to increase digestion and bowel movements. Also under here would be stimulant laxatives, such as: Cascara Sagrada (Rhamnus purshiana) Red Rhubarb (Rheum spp.) Senna (Senna alexandria) dry dry dry Skin Alteratives These are remedies that are commonly used for chronic skin conditions such as eczema. Burdock (Arctium lappa) Dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale) Figwort (Scrophularia nodosa) Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium) neutral and amphoteric* Circulatory Alteratives These are essentially circulatory stimulants. Some are more specific for detoxification, but in general increasing circulation during alterative therapy is critical to keep everything moving through the system and to the channels of elimination. Cayenne (Capsicum annuum) Ginger (Zingiber officinale) Prickly Ash (Zanthoxylum americanum) Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) Nutritive Alteratives Remember that alteratives act upon metabolism, which includes the nutritional/ anabolic side. These remedies contain a high nutrient content. Materia Medica Monthly Herbal Actions Profile Page 6

7 Alfalfa (Medicago sativum) Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) Kelp (Fucus vesiculosis) Nettle leaf (Urtica dioica) Red Raspberry (Rubus ideaus) slightly slightly slightly These are some of the important delineations amongst our alterative materia medica that are important to consider when selecting remedies that will be appropriate for your client. It is important to think about first off whether they are constitutionally appropriate and whether the person does indeed need alteratives to begin with. From there it s important to consider the specific affinities and actions that you want your herb(s) to have and use these charts to find some suitable that match what you are looking for. Generally speaking, I think it s a good idea to have general alterative formulas tend to all of the primary channels of elimination. From there the formula can be adjusted and tailored to suit the specific needs of the person by making certain herbs more central and others more as supports. It is also important to remember that most alterative plants are drying, thus you must always assess your client and make sure they are not starting to have signs of excessive dryness (dry mouth, eyes, bowels, skin, etc.) or if they start to have any sort of spasm, cramping, nervous irritability etc. These are all signs of constitutional imbalances occurring and the necessity to tone down the alteratives, reformulate with more moistening remedies, or change up someone s protocol in a way that is more suitable for them. Materia Medica Monthly Herbal Actions Profile Page 7