Herbal detox - parasites, colon cleanses, etc.
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 10:03:25 -0500
To: Herb herb.lists.ibiblio.org
From: Victoria Satta victoria2.goeaston.net
Subject: Re: [herb] Herbal detox
Good morning everyone...
I have a couple of questions: what herbs and protocol do you recommend for managing candida, parasites and a colon cleanse?
From: Henriette Kress hetta.spamcop.net
That begs the question: how have you arrived at candida, parasites, and the need for a colon cleanse?
From: Victoria Satta victoria2.goeaston.net
>how have you arrived at candida, parasites, and the need for a colon cleanse?
Yes Henriette! I have consulted with an herbalist on the parasites and the need for a colon cleanse. I have some products, but I want to compare what I have with what you might suggest to be sure that I'm doing the right thing.
As far as the candida is concerned, I've had that confirmed by a medical intuitive. I've been reading a lot about it and my symptoms seem to agree with the candida. Is there really any way to tell for sure?
From: Henriette Kress hetta.spamcop.net
> and my symptoms seem to agree with the candida. Is there really any way to tell for sure?
Yes. Lab tests, from stool and/or blood, for both the candida and the parasites. Medical intuitives, shrug. Kinesiology, stay _far_ away from any kinesiologist who tells you that you have parasites. They want to sell you supplements, and they don't have a clue.
Anyway, what's called "parasites" is usually an inflammation in the ileo-cecal juncture... for which walnut is pretty much a specific. Along with getting rid of the _irritant_, which is found in your diet. So you do the 2-weeks completely without gluten-containing foods (check labels), then you eat normally for a week, then you do the 2-weeks completely without any milk whatsoever (check labels), then you eat normally, then skipe all and any Solanaceae for two weeks, and if it's none of those, do a food diary for a few weeks, to find the culprit.
As for parasites: there's lots of different ones, and you therefore have to know which you have (identified by _lab_ tests), before you can even begin to start to look for herbs to battle'em. Note that some things that are called parasites are in fact symbiotes - we feel better with them than without them.
Some do need battling. For giardia and the like you could try quassia, bitterwood, Pricrasma, or Picraena - they're herbally pretty much identical, even if they're not quite the same, botanically. And if you want to avoid picking up things like giardia in the first place you might want to keep some quassia chips in your drinking water. It'll get bitter -- but no amoebas.
For candida: do the candida diet, do things like Epilobium leaf (any species will do), help the liver, and do something about your immune system.
Colon cleanser, pass. I don't do colon cleansers.
From: "jim mcdonald" multiflorum.hotmail.com
Whenever I see posts with the word "detox", I think how desperately people need to learn about the LONG TERM use of alteratives as nourishing, balancing, normalizing tonics. Herbs like Burdock, Cleavers, Nettle & other alteraives are herbal foods that, when used ~consistantly~, often eliminate the need for flushes, purges, thises & thats.
Learning about the unique niches that individual alteratives fill allows you to customize a formula that will address whatever your "weak spots" are. For example, if stress and adrenal exhaustion are an issue, include Nettle & Oats, if lymphatic stagnation is an issue, include Cleavers or red root, if there's constipation, think about Yellow Dock, Dandelion or Oregon Grape. Burdock helps to normalize the activity of the sebaciuos glands; Hawthorne improves the function of a weak heart. If there are areas of more immediate concern, like septic infections, you can add Echinacea or Wild Indigo to the formula till they're cleared up...
These are just some examples, not a blueprint. Learn what these herbs do and how to use them to treat your individual situation, and you'll be able to get a LOT farther than doing X number of days on this detox formula or that colon cleanse... and don't even get me started on gall bladder flushes.
I repeat: using nourishing alteratives on a regular basis to tonify is MUCH more effective than following this or that detoc regime... there's a time and a place for such things, but its not as often as people do them.
From: "Michelle Morton-niyama" lakshmi.kingcon.com
Yes, like Jim, I am more in favor of supporting bodily systems, as opposed to "detoxing". Many of the detox regimes are harsh and leave the body in a weakened state... why not nurture and nourish and help the body to do what it knows how to do?
From: Victoria Satta victoria2.goeaston.net
>I am more in favor of supporting bodily systems, as opposed to "detoxing".
I am interested in what you consider to be "supporting bodily systems" and how when the body cannot do it by itself (I think mine cannot)... then isn't detox the proper way to go?
>why not nurture and nourish and help the body to do what it knows how to do?
Of course, what you are saying sounds great, but does a body get to the point that it cannot handle this "stuff" anymore. I have real problems with whatever is going on with me right now, and how do I determine an emergency strategy?
From: "jim mcdonald" multiflorum.hotmail.com
>I am interested in what you consider to be "supporting bodily systems" and how when the body cannot do it by itself (I think mine cannot)... then isn't detox the proper way to go?
If your body is so taxed it can't help itself, ~my opinion~ is that gentleness is called for. Detox diets & colon cleanses are often forceful and exert your body more, which sets you up for needing to do them every month or two... just what those who sell that stuff want. When you think about the fact that most "Cancer Remedies" are blends of alteratives, and NOT Cascara Sagrada, Senna, Aloe & the like, it reinforces the notion that persistant gentleness accomplishes what forceful coersion cannot.
>I have real problems with whatever is going on with me right now, and how do I determine an emergency strategy?
Tough question, over the internet. First & formost is to stop doing things that exhaust and deplete you... often this goes far beyond diet and whether you drink coffee or not. Behavior patterns, thought patterns, poor breathing habits, lack of rest, lack of exercise (repeat !!!lack of exercise!!!... nothing is as exhausting as not engaging in physical exertion)... you have to re-evaluate your diet to include everything you take in and process.
If you need to find a herbal formula without guided help, focus on herbs that are alterative & adaptogenic, avoid herbs with cautions until you understand why they have them and TAKE IT EASY.
Good luck...
From: HerbalSW.aol.com
Henriette:
I am suffering from post partum baby brain. Did you post the specifics of your detox protocol and, if you didn't would you be willing to do so?
From: Henriette Kress hetta.spamcop.net
Hi Catherine,
> Did you post the specifics of your detox protocol and, if you didn't would you be willing to do so?
I work along the same lines as Jim - I give lymphatics, kidney and liver herbs where needed. Lymphatics is cleavers, Bidens, oxeye daisy ... kidney herbs is nettle seed (with green greens (as opposed to black greens) attached), Solidago, Bidens, oxeye daisy. And I throw in liver herbs, according to liver type and liver health.
I like Bidens because it's abundant over here, even if it's rather good at hiding. Cleavers (Galium aparine and other clinging Galiums) is a nice weed in the vegetable garden and sometimes even in an overgrown lawn or two, and I use it interchangeably with yellow bedstraw (Galium verum). They grow in pretty different places: cleavers likes a bit of shade and rich moist soil, while yellow bedstraw likes full sun and dry poor soil.
And I've got a really good spot where I pick oxeye daisy. It's been planted years ago, the place abandoned, and the oxeye daisy has taken over. Therefore, it's easy to pick lots of it. I get that when I pick St. John's wort (over here that's mid-July - the SJW is beginning to flower, the oxeye daisy is on its last legs). Oxeye daisy is very pretty both as a flower and in tea.
From: Sharon Hodges-Rust mwherbs.cox.net
>I like Bidens because it's abundant over here, even if it's rather good at hiding.
Hiding in your sox, pant legs, skirts....
Sharon in Tucson
From: Henriette Kress hetta.spamcop.net
> Hiding in your sox, pant legs, skirts....
The seeds, sure. But the plant hides very well. You only know that there was Bidens on the meadow you just crossed when you look down to see all the seeds you caught.
From: Sharon Hodges-Rust mwherbs.cox.net
I can see we are a bunch of nourishers, what happened to your "Jethro Kloss, Kellogg" spirit? I am with you here I think that there is rarely a place for the strong purge I think kindlier of blood letting, leeches, and maggots, all of which I can think of at least one use.
But over the years I have found quite a few folks who insist on doing things in an intense way, maybe it is a ceremony for them I do not know. A dose or 2 in 1 day of castor oil will empty your intestines fairly efficiently (this is not to be done by pregnant women) and don't do this for more than a day or else you will end up too worn out to get well.
Then start building and your body will be effective in fending off what you have been fighting. Be gentle with yourself good health is a life's work.
I like verbena, Mormon tea, thistle, as builders, and desert willow (chilopsis) for yeast. But it truly is all in the details, life style, diet, allergies, chronic illnesses, emotional well being.
Sharon in Tucson
Related entry: Alteratives.
