That would be Nigella sativa, commonly known as Black seed or Black Cumin seed, used for over 3,000 years in Southern Europe, North Africa, Southwest Asia and the Middle East, where it has a long history of religious and medicinal use. Although I was aware of the digestive benefits of Black seed used as an oil, the full range of Black seed uses did not come onto my radar until 2021, when a member of an alternative medicine think-tank I was a part of introduced me more of its powerful and far-reaching properties.
Comfrey is, and has been, an extremely popular herb throughout history – recorded for the past around 2,500 years and likely much earlier than our ability to trace. And for most of that time, her medicine has been used internally without safety concerns. But all that changed dramatically in the 1970s and 80s. At that time, scientists with questionable motivations and funding sources, began to mount controversies about 3 important herbs: ephedra, kava and comfrey – with the message that they were toxic and should never be ingested. Scientists sounded the alarm, declaring comfrey was not safe to ingest because it was found to contain a variety of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids (PAs). The PAs were found in the fresh young leaves and in the root, but according to two separate investigations, not in the dried herb.
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are naturally occurring toxins found in a wide variety of plant species. PAs are produced as a defense mechanism against insect herbivores by plants. More than 500 PAs have been found in 200 different plants. All PAs are not all equal, with some being toxic and some harmless. It is well-known that PAs can be hepatotoxic, or harmful to the liver. Actually, to put it more specifically, some PAs can be harmful to humans, depending on the type of PA and the dose given. And of course, given as a pure extraction of a single PA, and injected into lab mice in massive doses, naturally this has been found to cause liver damage.
"Tis the season for renewal. Lots of folks are planning a cleanse of one type or another. As an herbalist, I have always had mixed feelings about the idea of “doing a cleanse.” My concerns come from the rather puritan idea circulating within the holistic community that the body can be “purged” of impurities of one type or another. This desire is commonly channeled into taking a “kit” of herbal formulas designed to cleanse the colon, lymph, blood, etc., often in an all-at-once approach or in a numbered system.
Next, I like to keep it simple. Without being able to assess each person reading this, I would like to recommend a few easy changes that may make a profound difference in your health. I will focus on the digestive system, as that is where nutrients need to be absorbed. It is also a system where inflammation often begins. And finally, it is a system which may be burdened by either deficiency or excess. In this article, I will focus on the following Formulas and herbs: Warming Bitters Blend, Original Bitters Blend, digestive enzymes, Slippery elm (Ulmus rubra), Blackberry leaf (Rubus fruticosus). Keep reading for the good stuff…
We at Sage Consulting & Apothecary are deeply concerned about the implications of a mandatory product registry for dietary supplements. The FDA already has regulatory powers over herb and supplement stores to stop them from selling unapproved drugs as dietary supplements
