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Echinacea
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Herbal Alteratives: Removing the Obstacles to Cure
by Shayne Foley
When the time arrives that herbal medicines are widely prescribed
by the mainstream biomedical community, the difference between them and
us will not necessarily be the herbs that we use, but more the way in
which we use them.
There are, of course, many schools of thought on how to apply herbs as
medicines.
They can be prescribed allopathically, homeopathically, isopathically,
and so on.
Herbs can also be prescribed naturopathically (i.e., in dynamic harmony
with the
vis medicatrix naturae, the Healing Power of Nature).
One of the basic premises of this vitalistic approach to healing is that,
if you can remove the so-called “obstacles to cure” (i.e.,
remove the body’s own metabolic encumbrance), then the Healing Power
of Nature within the body will affect a cure, provided sufficient vital
force or energetic reserve is available to support it. If the vital force
is deficient, it will often be necessary to build it with tonics before
a cure can
be safely affected. This is particularly important with the elderly and
those weakened, during convalescence.
The various modalities used
by the early Nature Cure practitioners often focused on promoting the
removal of metabolic wastes from the tissues and fluids of the body. For
this purpose, sun bathing, hydrotherapy, fasting, skin brushing, etc.
would often be used. Herbal alteratives or
so-called “blood purifiers”
have also long been employed for this purpose.
At their most basic level of influence, alteratives correct what the Eclectic
physicians frequently referred to as “retrograde metabolism,”
often clearly promoting a removal of cellular waste and aiding to correct
the processes of assimilation. As such, many of our most favored alteratives
are plants which affect the stomach, liver, kidneys, skin, blood, lymph
composition, etc.
Signs of mild sepsis or ‘blood poisoning’ are often indicators
for the use of alteratives. For instance, Dr. John Milton Scudder wrote
that Baptisia (Wild Indigo) is clearly indicated when “deep color,
with purplish, brown, or black tinge is prominent” in the mucus
membranes of the body. Herb Pharm’s Immune Defense Tonic, which
has been formulated specifically for individuals whose immune response
is impaired by poor elimination of metabolic wastes, contains Baptisia
as a key alterative ingredient. Echinacea is also considered an alterative.
In fact, Dr. Finley Ellingwood says Echinacea “is the remedy for
blood poisoning, if there is one in the materia medica.” Burdock
is indicated where skin disorders and irritable coughs or urinary irritation
are present, Comfrey where inflammation of the stomach and the GI tract
is present, and so on. A basic table is offered here to highlight some
of the specific indications of several well-known herbal alteratives.
The basic practice of removing metabolic wastes and building an individual’s
vital force is clearly beyond the working paradigm of today’s dominant
medical community. Vitalistic prescribing speaks to the heart of what
truly separates them from us; it is acknowledgement of the dynamic healing
energy that lies within the body. Alteratives work to enliven this force,
removing the obstacles to cure along the path to a more metabolically
balanced state of vital health.
For more information on herbal alteratives and their key influence, see
the table below.
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ECHINACEA
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Lymphatic tissues and fluids.
Immune deficiency. |
SARSAPARILLA |
Sexual tissues. Diuretic. |
| BAPTISIA |
Where dark mucus membranes indicate toxicity. Suppressed secretion. |
RED CLOVER |
Dry, irritible, spasmodic cough. |
| STILLINGIA |
Irritated upper respiratory mucosa, where secretion is deficient.
Membranes glistening red. |
BURDOCK |
Skin and mucus membrane disorders. Urinary irritation. Promotes
digestion. |
| OREGON GRAPE |
Skin disorders. |
YELLOW DOCK |
Urinary system. Mucus membranes and skin.
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| PLANTAIN |
Inflammatory skin disorders. Urinary incontinence. |
BLADDERWRACK |
Excess adipose tissue. Urinary inflammation. Uterine and menstrual
tonic. |
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