Enzymes in the intestine ensure the unlocking of component parts of food. Some plant-based ingredients can intensify or block the effects of these enzymes. That’s why the effect of some medications can be increased by drinking grapefruit juice, and reduced by St. John’s wort, which is also effective in treating depression.20, 21 These enzymatic proteins, called CYP, can also play a particularly vital role during cancer treatment when the patients consume vitamin or herbal cocktails without consulting a doctor first. This can slow down the chemotherapy or make it too strong.22
Plants always contain a variety of substances that keep one another in check, bolstering or stopping their individual effects. This is one of the reasons why plant-based preparations generally take longer to unfold their full effect. Modern medications are based on a single active agent: That’s why an aspirin pill containing 500 milligrams of acetylsalicylic acid relieves pain quite quickly while extracts of willow bark, which contain the ingredient of aspirin in addition to other substances in their natural form, need more time. But on the other hand, plant-based preparations are better tolerated and have fewer side effects.
Paradoxically, in Europe herbal medicine has been punished for this multi-target principle and better tolerance. In the 1980s, numerous preparations disappeared from the market because as a mixture of active agents they were unable to provide the required proof of an individual active agent. In 2004, European legislation made it a little easier to obtain approval, but herbal medications were withheld from cost reimbursement by large health insurance companies. The justification was that due to their very good tolerability they don’t have to be classified as available only on prescription. That’s why patients in Europe today have to pay for a very tolerable plant-based drug out of their own pockets while the chemical version that carries more side effects is usually covered by insurance.
Many people are interested in herbal plant-based medicines and willing to bear the costs themselves. But still, the right dosage and high-quality preparations are important here. Please do consult with your physician or pharmacist. Details are important when aiming for optimum herbal medicine treatment. During my consultation hours, I often hear about failed attempts of trying to find sleep with the aid of valerian extracts, for example. When I inquire about this further, it often turns out that the dose taken was far under the necessary dose of 600 milligrams for valerian—in which case valerian simply can’t work.
The severe side effects that conventional single-ingredient drugs (such as cortisone, antirheumatics, or pain medication) often cause are rarely questioned, whereas people are particularly critical when it comes to the side effects of medicinal plants. This can be seen in the case of kava kava, which is an effective help against anxiety and nervousness and which was withdrawn from sale in 2002 due to reputed severe liver damage in some patients, then approved again, then banned once more. Now it’s been approved yet again. The liver damage, as it turned out, was most likely not tied to the drug at all.
St. John’s wort is fighting a similar battle. Many studies have proven that St. John’s wort is an effective treatment option for slight to medium depression. Moreover, it has fewer side effects than chemical antidepressants. Since it activates the CYP-enzyme path in the liver, St. John’s wort can, however, enhance the breakdown of other medications taken at the same time. That’s why it shouldn’t be used when certain other drugs have been prescribed.23 But many patients are so unsure after reading the numerous press reports that they assume St. John’s wort is dangerous in general. That’s definitely not the case. (And we mustn’t forget that other preparations, too, have their respective interactions.) St. John’s wort is an excellent plant-based medication for the treatment of depression when the possibility of drug interaction is taken into account.
EFFECTIVE THERAPIES USING MEDICINAL PLANTS
The versatility of medicinal plants can be seen in another therapeutic area in which St. John’s wort can be used. Applied to the skin, the oily extract of St. John’s wort, the “red oil” (named because of its red color), has a topical anti-inflammatory effect.24 You can try using it for skin inflammations or bruises.
In Ayurveda and in Traditional Chinese Medicine, numerous plants and their extracts are combined and used, even in severe, complex diseases. In Germany, it’s predominantly individual plant extracts that are used—analogously to the synthetic medications—for the targeted treatment of symptoms or health problems mainly in less severe illnesses. Thereby only a fraction of the potential effect of herbal medicine can be achieved.
The domain of medicinal plant therapy in Germany are coughs and sneezes:
Extracts of ivy, primrose, buckhorn, or thyme help against coughs.
Sage, thyme, cress, and horseradish help against sore throats.
Cranberries prevent, and bearberry leaves help against, inflammations of the bladder.
In 2016, two studies were published on the use of cranberry extracts to counteract inflammations of the bladder, with confusingly contradictory results, causing a lot of media discussion. One large-scale study showed that middle-aged women with chronic inflammations of the bladder actually did suffer fewer infections when they drank cranberry juice regularly.25 In a smaller study published only a few weeks later, it turned out that cranberry extract was ineffective in treating an already existing, severe, purulent inflammation of the bladder in patients in a nursing home over the age of eighty-five.26 Many media sources then issued a blanket claim that cranberry was generally ineffective to treat inflammations of the bladder. The small, but crucial difference remained unmentioned: Cranberry helps to prevent—but not to treat.
Orthopedic and organic diseases can be treated with the right medicinal plants:
Special tree bark extracts or rampion help in arthroses and back pain.
Psyllium husk helps against inflammations of the bowel.
Stomachaches from irritable bowel syndrome can be alleviated with myrrh and peppermint oil.
Peppermint oil generally relaxes the muscles in the gastro-intestinal tract and can thus prevent painful cramps. That’s why it’s recommended to take peppermint oil capsules or drops before a colonoscopy. However, the muscle-relaxing effect can cause heartburn as a side effect since the esophageal sphincter that sits between the stomach and the esophagus is loosened.
Medicinal plants are also useful for:
migraine prevention (butterbur and wild chamomile)
gynecological hormonal discomforts (black snakeroot and monk’s pepper)
heart diseases (hawthorn)
liver disorders (milk thistle)
Of the countless plants and plant compounds that are used in China and India, only a few have made it to the European market in the form of medications so far. Ginseng, for example, is used as a nutritional supplement in the complementary treatment of diabetes mellitus. The plant-based medicinal product PADMA 28, which contains more than twenty plant-based individual substances and is from Tibetan medicine, is now produced as a drug in Switzerland and has become well known. A few smaller studies were able to prove the effectiveness of PADMA 28 in diseases that occur due to calcification of leg arteries,27 and many patients to whom I’ve recommended PADMA 28 have experienced an alleviation of their symptoms. Yet still, this plant-based medication has not been able to assert itself among specialist physicians.
It’s difficult for plants that, despite having a long tradition, haven’t been researched in a sufficient number of studies. For the treatment of rheumatism with incense there is only limited data available, and due to a lack of funding this is not going to be rectified in the foreseeable future. And so, I only recommend incense as a second choice in case conventional medicine doesn’t achieve a sufficiently positive effect or can’t be tolerated. One patient suffered from pain in the joints and swelling day in and day out, despite taking different antirheumatics. Then she took, f
ollowing the recommendation from her rheumatologist, six capsules of incense every day—and her symptoms improved immensely. Naturally, an individual case like this is not scientific proof, but it does emphasize the need to pay attention to the potential of phytotherapy.
For me, phytotherapy plays a significant role in medicine. The body knows plants. In the early stages of illness in patients who are sensitive to chemical pharmaceuticals, a therapy with medicinal plants can support healing without interfering too much with the body’s regulation. This takes time. That said, if the medications show no effect after three months, I advise my patients to discontinue them.
Studies from China and India show the extent of the potential there is to tap. Chinese medicinal plant therapy is effective in treating dementia, irritable bowel syndrome, rheumatism, or vascular diseases.28 But it may take another few years before Chinese and Ayurvedic medicinal plant therapy can be evaluated better and more safely.
The Fifteen Most Important Areas of Application of Phytomedicine
Anxiety disorders and stress: lavender
Depression: amber
Sleep disorders: valerian, lemon balm, passion flower, hops
Liver diseases: milk thistle
Cardiac insufficiency: hawthorn
Diabetes: ginseng
Atherosclerosis, intermittent claudication: PADMA 28
Inflammations of the bladder: nasturtium, horseradish, cranberries, bearberry leaves
Irritable colon: peppermint oil, fennel, caraway, anise
Inflammation of the bowel: myrrh, psyllium husk, tormentil
Migraine: wild chamomile, butterbur (migraine prevention)
Tension headache: mint oil (applied locally)
Arthrosis: rosehip extracts, tree bark extracts (e.g., willow bark), turmeric
Early-stage dementia: saffron, ginkgo
Cancer (supplementary therapy): mistletoe
CHAPTER NINE
My Treatment Methods
Treating Eight Common Chronic Diseases Successfully
Severe chronic diseases aren’t easy to treat. They often require the continuous intake of heavy medications or invasive surgical procedures, which can be significantly helpful but also carry a lot of side effects. As part of integrative medicine, which combines naturopathy with conventional medicine, we strive to treat our patients with as few side effects as possible and to use lifestyle changes to optimize their convalescence and hopefully even reach a full recovery, “de-chronification.” It is then often possible to lower the dose of medications. But this requires a certain self-discipline and awareness. Patience is also necessary, because what has been building up for a long time in symptoms and illness needs time to disappear. Especially so if one wishes to avoid severe side effects.
The following pages illustrate the different paths conventional medicine and naturopathy take, where they harmonize well with one another, and where they take different approaches, using eight common chronic diseases as examples. The list of my “Top Ten” for each disease makes no claims of being complete and is not ordered according to any priorities. It is not a substitute for a conversation with your physician.
HYPERTENSION
Hypertension has become a widespread disease in Western societies. Roughly 40 percent of adults and more than 80 percent of those over the age of sixty-five are suffering from it.1 Studies among indigenous peoples show that hypertension practically doesn’t exist in those communities initially, but becomes frequent with the introduction of a Western lifestyle.2, 3 This is a clear indication that hypertension is predominantly the consequence of a certain lifestyle. Obesity, consumption of alcohol, lack of exercise, stress, and a bad diet that contains too much animal protein, animal fats, salt, and too few vegetables and fruit are all factors that cause hypertension. Usually these factors add up so that hypertension is less a disease but rather a symptom of the overexertion of the body.
Treatment Approach of Conventional Medicine
There are several very good medications with which hypertension can be treated effectively. But for quite a few patients these medications don’t work (the patients are “resistant to therapy”), while others suffer from side effects. Modern and elaborate treatment methods, on the other hand, interfere in the body. For instance, the nerves of the renal arteries can be atrophied with a catheter (hormones and secretion performance of the kidneys play a role in hypertension). Another road of treatment is the implantation of pacemakers at the carotid arteries. Both procedures, however, have not yet delivered any scientific proof for their effectiveness. It seems a little absurd to me to treat a disease that is predominantly dependent on lifestyle with invasive technological and costly methods—especially if they are not accompanied by a change in lifestyle.
Treatment Approach of Naturopathic Medicine
There are plenty of naturopathic approaches to therapy whose effectiveness is scientifically substantiated and that work in practice. Of course, an individualized approach must be taken: Some people have high blood pressure even though they exercise, due to their genes and meat-based diet. In that case, more exercise is futile, and only a change in diet can help. Medication may still be necessary. Other people have an excellent diet but suffer from continuous stress in their job—in that case the biggest successes are achieved with meditation, tai chi, and yoga. Some foods not only lower blood pressure, but are also healthy for the heart. Walnuts, for example, protect the vessels, and flaxseed and psyllium lower the LDL cholesterol level, which is a risk factor for a heart attack or a stroke. Since inflammations in the mouth, as well as parodontitis, carry a heightened risk for subsequent vascular diseases (the bacteria travel through the body), I always ask patients about the condition of their teeth and recommend dental hygiene, a thorough cleaning technique, and regular flossing.
My Top Ten for Hypertension
A vegetarian or vegan diet: Substitute meat with vegetables, tofu, and soy, as soy protein lowers blood pressure. If you don’t want to give up cheese and milk, you should at least severely limit the amount you consume.
Therapeutic fasting: It’s effective to practice therapeutic fasting twice a year and/or fast intermittently, e.g., fourteen hours of prolonged night-fasting.
Superfoods: Among them are vegetables containing nitrate, such as beetroot (if you want to consume it in the form of juice, you should drink at least 8.5 ounces a day), spinach, and arugula; walnuts and pistachios (unsalted); as well as flaxseed. Use either shredded flaxseed or grind it up yourself. Flaxseed oil can also lower the blood pressure, but if you eat whole flaxseeds, you will profit from its additional health-promoting effects (such as prevention of breast and prostate cancer). Blueberries, which you can eat fresh, frozen, or as a powder, also lower elevated blood pressure. Ideally, you should eat one of these food products once a day.
Superdrinks: Drink two to three cups of hibiscus or green tea every day. After having hibiscus tea, you should drink some water or rinse your mouth since the acid it contains can damage the dental enamel.
Native, fruity olive oil: Use it in large quantities if possible. Extracts from olive leaves also lower the blood pressure, but they have to be taken in the form of pills—chewing the leaves is not enough.
Meditation: I recommend meditating for at least thirty minutes every day.
Yoga and tai chi/qigong: Practice in a class once a week and every second day for fifteen minutes at home.
Bloodletting or donating blood: Either one is effective for people with elevated ferritin levels or “thick blood” (elevated hematocrit, which your GP can measure by doing blood work).
Exercise and/or endurance sports: Ideally, you should exercise for 150 to 300 minutes every week.
Regular hydrotherapy: Most effective here are
Scotch hose treatments (note that after a heart attack, a resting period of three weeks is necessary) and temperature-increasing arm and sauna baths (without using the cold immersion bath), once a day if possible.
CORONARY HEART DISEASE AND ARTERIOSCLEROSIS
Cardiovascular diseases are among the most common diseases in humans. For many years, they have been one of the leading causes of death in the industrialized world. Coronary heart disease develops over the course of many years before a blood clot actually obstructs a damaged part of a vessel, which then causes a heart attack or a stroke. That’s why one of the cornerstones of therapy in this case is the treatment of individual risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, or lipid metabolic disorder, particularly, heightened LDL cholesterol levels. The most important measure to take when suffering from this vascular disease is to quit smoking.
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