We’ve heard a lot of talk lately about using essential oils safely. And don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing! But somewhere along the way we seem to have lost sight of the fact that they aren’t the only thing for which we need to take precautions or obtain a little knowledge!
Something I’ve been meaning to write about for a while is natural practitioners who are recommending herbs without having the necessary knowledge to do so safely.
“N.D.” — Naturopathic Doctor, or Not a Doctor?
The first time I encountered this was about thirteen years ago. I went to see an “N.D.” (Buyer beware. At least in my state, that isn’t a regulated term, so it could mean anything from an actual naturopathic doctor who has multiple years of post-graduate school and hands-on experience to an MLM distributor of herbs who knows nothing beyond what’s in her catalog.) She recommended some items and I asked her if they were safe to take during pregnancy. After some not-very-confident-sounding stammering, she finally said that they should be fine because they’re “very gentle.”
Wrong answer.
“Gentle” has nothing to do with it — well, very little to do with it, anyway. My “N.D.” had just demonstrated a fundamental lack of understanding regarding herbs.
Fast-Forward a Number of Years…
…and a midwife recommended a particular herbal tea. This particular tea is a remedy that has been recommended by thousands of midwives over many years; however, I had read about a particular reason another expert recommended not drinking it during pregnancy, so I asked what the midwife thought about this particular line of thought. Her response demonstrated the same fundamental lack of understanding.
So what is that lack of understanding?
A lack of understanding of therapeutic actions.
If You Don’t Know This, Don’t Make Recommendations!
Let me be blunt: no one who lacks an understanding of what a therapeutic action is, and of the descriptions of some of the more basic, common actions, has any business making herbal recommendations. If you don’t, and you are still comfortable using them with your own family, so be it. But making recommendations demands that you have the responsibility to obtain at least a little bit of knowledge first. Otherwise, there is the potential to do considerable harm — like by recommending herbs contraindicated during pregnancy to a pregnant woman, or to a woman who may become pregnant, without fair warning.
Therapeutic Action
A therapeutic action is, basically, the specific effect an herb (or other substance) has on the body. Most herbs have more than one. In fact, I can’t think of an herb that has only one. There are a limited number of actions, but the great variety of combinations makes each herb uniquely useful. Therapeutic actions include things like the following:
diuretic (increases/promotes urination)
febrifuge (reduces fever)
stimulant (increases energy and activity within the body)
anti-emetic (reduces or prevents vomiting)
Why is this so important? Well, not only do you need to know what actions you are looking for, in order to find the right herb for your needs; you also need to know what actions you don’t want, so you can avoid herbs that have that action. One significant example is herbs which are “abortifacient.” That means they are capable of inducing miscarriage — probably something you want to avoid if you’re pregnant!
Other therapeutic actions have the potential to cause a miscarriage, as well, through less direct means. For instance, herbs that are strong intestinal stimulants can indirectly irritate the uterus and induce a miscarriage.
If you have high blood pressure, you’ll want to avoid herbs which are hypertensive.
You do not have to have all of these memorized! You can look them up when you need them. But any holistic practitioner who is recommending specific herbs needs to understand these concepts, or you cannot trust that s/he is able to safely make those recommendations.
Be a wise consumer. Be informed.
This post is being shared at Wellness Wednesday.
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Original article and pictures take titus2homemaker.com site
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