Alzheimer's And Herbs Before You Start

This is a valuable insight into the world of herbs few know about. I thought I would tell you a little about herbs and how I feel about different variations. These are my own opinions. I feel you need to be informed and this might make you think. If I come across info I don't hide it like others do.

When using herbs to help with Alzheimer's disease use a supplier that will tell you where they get their herds. I always use herbs that are organic, wild-crafted (wild harvested) or I grow or collect in the wild myself. I buy from people that sell herbs in bulk. This is usually one pound and up. Some will sell as little as 4 ounces. Rare expensive herbs may be sold by the ounce.

Please do your own research and know that many of the books on herbs may not have reliable information. Isn't that true about everything these days. Just be aware that if it's in a book doesn't mean it's right. Some of the most bought books have the least value. Some of the herbal magazines are also spreading disinformation. Some on purpose and some don't know any better.

There's always some biochemist trying to isolate the magic bullet in nature. What they do is try to pick the one ingredient they think is responsible for the action and then they set it to a certain percentage. You'll often hear the an herb has been standardized to have a certain amount of a chemical. That a study has found this modified herb to be effective to some degree in a study.

I wonder if this is just a sales gimmick. Where does the money come for these studies. It involves isolating a single chemical which sounds the way the drug companies work. The herbal companies will sell these processed herbs and make a lot of money. After these herbs have been standardized can you really call them herbs?

A lot of herbal companies that put herbs in bottles jump on the band wagon. They hear about a study and put out a standardized herbal product to match what the study says it used. This is money driven. They know people will be looking for a standardized herbal product that matches the study. This is based on the idea that it must be one chemical - one alkaloid and that's wrong.

Another reason I am not for standardized herbs is they are using some kind of process to accomplish this. They will do it as cheap as they can. What chemicals are used. Is there anything in the end product that wasn't there in the beginning.

What they don't want you to know is the herbs may contain more of that chemical to begin with. If there is. When they standardize it they may be actually reducing the strength of the herb. That doesn't matter to them. It only matters that the percentage matches the study.

You might see references to ratios like 10:1 (ten to one). Where they take 10 pounds a make a pound of more potent product. If there is a pesticide residue on the herb this will be increased as well. You don't think they have a special process to remove these pesticides do you? Do they care? They don't think you will find out.

Many herbs imported into the United States are gassed with Ethylene Oxide to kill bacteria. Believe me you don't want your herbs treated with this stuff. It is very dangerous and can cause cancer or worse. Herbs can be treated with Ethylene Oxide and still be called organic. Can you believe that. I'm sure there are other countries taking measures to treat herbs and food coming from other countries.

Many drugs the pharmaceutical (drug) companies make originated from plants. The chemicals they make aren't an exact match. They say herbs don't work. Why do you think drug companies research the chemical composition of plants searching for alkaloids and testing each one to see if it's responsible for the healing effects of that plant. If they find one that shows promise they try to make it the lab. But they say herbs don't work only their pills. Some body isn't telling the truth.

Take Premarin for example. You have probably seen in the news this is used for women and supplies estrogen. Before World War II they would get biologically identical estrogen from plants. Putting our brilliant knowledge to use some genius said, we can get a cheaper source if we use the urine from pregnant horses. The miracles of modern chemistry.

It's not bio identical to humans but it's an estrogen. All we need to do is take a pregnant mare and stick a catheter up the horses urethra and collect the urine in a container. A little magic in the lab and presto change-o we have a pill. We can call it Premarin. Look at the spelling. See it. PREgnant MARe urINe. PRE-MAR-IN. PREMARIN. Yum!

This is only an example and just the tip of the iceberg. There are many manufacturers, brands and different hormone replacement drugs not just for estrogen. Where do they come from? Do they increase the chance of getting cancer or will they speed up the growth of an existing cancer?

Most of us have heard of the actress Suzanne Somers. If not you can do a search. You can bet she isn't taking Premarin. She's very well informed and she found a doctor to help her by using bio identical estrogen. Every time I see her on television she is talking about health and how bio identical hormones have changed her life. Way to go Suzanne. I just hope she's using bio identical hormones from plants and not cadaveric hormones harvested from dead people.

Strange that they say herbs don't work but that's where the got most drugs and they continue to search plants for new drugs. You can tell when an herb is interfering with their profits. How you ask? They have it declared dangerous and tie in dozens of weak claims that the herb has killed some one. Yet their poison can kill many thousands and disable even more and all they need to do is put a warning on the label.

Other drugs come from bacteria and other creatures of god. Not out of the head of some super chemist in the lab. There are also plants that don't contain alkaloids and still they heal and the pharmaceutical companies can't figure out how they work. They have eyes to see but they are blind. Perhaps by choice. If the drug companies can't patent it and charge a fortune for it they say it doesn't work.

It's not one but many chemicals and compounds working together and you can't make them in a chemical plant. The only kind of plant that can make them is the kind that grows with it's roots in the soil. All herbs have so many things in them they don't know what they all are. But when you buy your prescriptions they only have one active chemical in them with binders, flow agents, dyes and coating chemicals.

I feel this way about working on any serious condition. Not only for dealing with Alzheimer's disease. I'll talk more on the herbs I use after I discuss some of the basics.