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The Worst Weeds are Your Best Medicine

David Winston, RH(AHG)©2014-18

The common and weedy plant materia medica

Reasons:– GMPS have made it much more costly to produce herbal products.

– Overharvesting has made some herbs scarce or expensive.

– Many popular Eclectic remedies, Fringe Tree, Culver’s Root, Blue Flag, Stillingia, etc., are little-known and rarely used today.

– Many western trained medical practitioners are uncomfortable using herbs that have little or no research data, even though they have an extensive history of traditional and ethnobotanical usage.

– Herb users (layman and professionals alike) often find it much easier to give an “astringent” or a “adaptogen” assuming that herbs with the same generalized properties will have the same action

The Traditional Pharmacopoeia is vast.

In the USA and Great Britain there is a trend toward relying on an ever-dwindling materia medica.

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Our reliance on so small a Pharmacopoeia can and has caused a number of problems to develop. Many once common herbs are now threatened or endangered species.

– the chances of adulteration increases

– as our materia medica shrinks, so do our options for treatment

Benefits:

• adventurous, hardy weeds that are common throughout much of the USA and are abundant and easily procured

• reduce herbicide use

• prevent invasive habitat destruction

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Aster – Aster puniceus, A. tartaricus, A. cordifolius, A. novae-

angliae (synonym: Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)

• An effective nervine and antispasmodic

• In TCM, Zi Wan (A. tataricus) root is used for coughs due to wind/cold (irritive spasms with white mucus) or wind/heat (irritive spasms with yellow or green mucus).

• Michigan herbalist Jim McDonald uses the flowers of the New England Aster (A. novae-angliae) as a respiratory antispasmodic for asthma, coughs, and bronchitis

Barberry – Berberis vulgaris, B. thunbergii, B. aristata

• Can be used to treat UTIs, gastritis, gastric ulcers, sore throats, bacterial diarrhea, acne rosacea, aphthous stomatitis, fungal or bacterial sinusitis ), thrush, periodontal disease, bacterial vaginosis or vaginal candidiasis, athlete’s foot, conjunctivitis and Otitis media

• Bitter tonic and cholagogue used to “dredge the liver”

• Used for hepatic torpor with clay colored stools, impaired fat digestion, dyspepsia, and large red pimples on the back, neck, or buttocks

• Barberry fruit is used in Middle Eastern medicine for hypertension, diarrhea, to reduce allergic response, and to protect the liver against acetominophen and carbon tetrachloride-induced damage

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Canada Fleabane – Conyza canadensis

• Inhibits passive bleeding in the stomach, lungs, intestines, kidneys, and bladder. It also can be of benefit for oozing menorrhagia or uterine fibroids with continual low grade bleeding

• The essential oil, combined with an equal part essential oil of Cinnamon, is known as Ellingwood’sCompound and was taken to stop internal bleeding

• The fresh or recently dried herb is also very effective for treating watery diarrhea, dysentery with blood in the stool, and it helps reduce bleeding and mucous discharges in people with IBD

Chicory – Cichorium intybus

• A bitter tonic, cholagogue, a mild hepatoprotective agent and a rich source of FOS which act as a prebiotic to help nourish the bowel flora

• Hepatic torpor, impaired fat digestion, biliousness, intestinal dysbiosis, dyspepsia, elevated blood lipids and a sluggish bowel

• In human studies a Chicory root extract modestly improved arthritic symptoms such as pain and stiffness and regular consumption of Chicory coffee reduced blood and plasma viscosity, as well as inhibiting proinflammatory cytokines

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Cogon Grass – Imperata cylindrica var. major

• The rhizome cools the blood and acts as an antihemorrhagic agent It is effective by itself or combined with other hemostatic herbs for hemoptysis, menorrhagia, epistaxis, blood in the stool, or gastric bleeding

• A soothing diuretic used for cystitis, hematuria (it is especially effective nephritis, dysuria, to enhance uric acid excretion and for damp-heat jaundice

• Clears heat from the lungs and stomach and can be useful for dry coughs, hot/dry asthma, thirst, vomiting, hematoemesis and nausea

Dodder – Cuscuta spp.

• Commonly used as a kidney yang tonic to nourish the Chinese liver and kidney and to strengthen the eyes

• Used to treat impotence, low back and knee pain, premature ejaculation, and urinary frequency

• As a liver/kidney tonic it helps treat tinnitus, dry eyes, dizziness, and poor vision

• Dodder herb is used as a liver tonic/cholagoguefor hepatic torpor and constipation.

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Eclipta – Eclipta prostrata (synonym E. alba, E. erecta) • The herb is used to tonify the liver and kidney yin: dizziness, tinnitus, blurred vision,

weak knees, low back pain, and prematurely graying hair

• Bleeding caused by deficient liver/kidney yin with heat in the blood

• In Ayurvedic medicine, it is also used as a rasayana to enhance memory and cerebral circulation and to calm the nerves.

Evening Primrose – Oenothera biennis

• Well-known for its seed oil (EPO), but the use of the herb is little-known

• The herb is used for IBS, IBD with a mucus or bloody discharge, diverticulitis or dysentery

• One of the most effective herbs for GI-based depression

• Beneficial for genito-urinary problems including bladder spasms, nervous bladder, or blood or mucus discharge in the urine

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Garlic Mustard – Alliaria petiolata

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en• The fresh leaves of this herb boiled with honey or the freshly expressed juice have

been used as a powerful diuretic for edema and cardiac dropsy

• The syrup is also used for coughs, asthma, bronchitis, hoarseness, and to help expel thick phlegm

• Constituents have been shown to have antitumor (lung, breast, prostate, and intestinal cancers) activity, help increase elimination of carcinogenic compounds, and inhibit carcinogenesis

Goldenrod – Solidago virgaurea, S. gigantea, S. canadensis,

Euthamia tenuifolia, E. graminifolia

• The leaf tea is used for high blood pressure

• The root is utilized for diarrhea, dysentery, thrush, aphthous stomatitis and chewed for toothaches

• Constituents have been shown to have antitumor (lung, breast, prostate, and intestinal cancers) activity, help increase elimination of carcinogenic compounds, and inhibit carcinogenesis

• Commonly used as an antiseptic diuretic for cystitis and urethritis and it is used to prevent formation of kidney stones and to help pass urinary calculi

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Ground Ivy - Glechoma hederacea

• Stimulates an increase in bile secretion and movement of the gallbladder sphincter

• Effective for hot/damp bronchitis, pneumonia, hot/damp coughs, sinus congestion, and chest colds

• Clinical use over the past 25 years has repeatedly shown that regular use of Glechoma tincture can increase lead excretion via the urine

Honeysuckle – Lonicera japonica• The flowers clear blood heat, fire poison, pathogenic fire, or wind/heat: high fevers

with swollen glands (mumps), painful urinary tract infections, bacillary dysentery, strep throat, pneumonia, conjunctivitis, acute mastitis, internal and external abscesses, styes, tonsillitis, septicemia, sinusitis, ulcerative colitis, herpes, and intestinal abscess

• The woody stems of the Honeysuckle are known as Ren Dong Teng in TCM. They are most commonly used to dispel wind/damp symptoms such as arthritis

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Japanese Knotweed – Fallopia japonica, syn. Polygonum

cuspidatum

• Eliminates damp heat: dysentery, bacterial diarrhea, jaundice, appendicitis, hepatitis, and enteritis.

• Promotes circulation of blood, relieves pain ands used orally and topically for snakebite, rheumatoid arthritis, Lyme arthralgia, burns, trauma injuries, abscesses and boils.

• Its constituent Resveratrol have been shown to have pronounced antiinflammatoryactivity inhibiting NF-B, jun-N-terminal kinase-1 (JNK), IL-6 and C-reactive protein

• Antibacterial and expectorant qualities making it useful for bronchitis, pleurisy and other damp heat lung infections

Kudzu – Pueraria lobata, P. thomsonii

• Multiple parts of the plant can be used for medicine, food and fiber

• Used in Chinese medicine for colds and influenza with fever, dry mouth, headaches, and muscle stiffness of the head and back

• Useful for head colds, sinus congestion, and sinus headaches. Its antispasmodic and antiinflammatory activity make it effective for treating torticollis, occipital headaches irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea, and leaky gut syndrome.

• Vasodilator used to treat ischaemic heart disease, especially angina

• Reduces alcohol cravings

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Mile-A-Minute Weed – Polygonum perfoliatum (synonym

Persicaria perfoliata)

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• Used to treat damp heat conditions such as diarrhea, dysentery, edema, urethritis, jaundice, erysipelas, hematuria, and enteritis

• Topically the leaves have been used for eczema, snakebites, boils, burns and oozing sores

Mimosa – Albizia julibrissin

• Calms the shen, it is an antidepressant, a mood elevator and anxiolytic.

• I use it with Rose petals and Hawthorn flowers/berries for chronic grief and sadness, post-traumatic stress disorder, and stagnant depression

• Moves blood and is used orally and topically to relieve pain, swelling, and inflammation from trauma injuries

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Mulberry – Morus alba

• The bark is used as an antiinflammatory, to clear heat in the lungs and sinuses and lower blood sugar and blood pressure

• The fruit is used for spleen qi, blood, and yin deficiency symptoms including poor appetite, tiredness, anemia, dizziness, impaired digestion, and ringing of the ears

Perilla – Perilla frutescens

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• The leaf is a diaphoretic and antibacterial/antiviral agent and is used to treat colds, sinus congestion, respiratory congestion and damp coughs

• A carminative used for treating flatulence, nausea, vomiting, borborygmus, and food poisoning especially if caused by eating spoiled shellfish

• The seeds are used to relieve damp coughs, asthma with excessive mucus, wheezing, and dyspnea

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Purple Loosestrife – Lythrum salicaria

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• This herb produces an astringent effect followed by a soothing demulcent quality, making it appropriate for treating diarrhea, bacterial or amoebic dysentery, enteritis, irritable bowel syndrome, leaky gut syndrome and as a gargle for sore throats

• ”As an eyewash Purple Loosestrife is superior to Eyebright for preserving the sight and curing sore eyes"

Purslane – Portulaca oleracea

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• Used for clearing heat and toxins from the bowel: hot/damp diarrhea, dysentery, and intestinal bleeding

• Helps reduce excessive menstrual bleeding, dysuria with bleeding, and hemorrhoidal bleeding

• Has shown gastroprotective activity, and helped heal gastric ulcers.

• Asthma patients were given Purslane tea, which inhibited airway reactivity and caused a significant but short-lived bronchodilatory effect

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Ragweed – Ambrosia artemisiifolia, A. trifida©

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y/2.0/• The pollen is the cause of the vast majority of autumn hay fever, but the leaf can be

extremely effective in relieving hay fever.

• Can reduce sinus congestion and overproduction of nasal mucus

• I use Ambrosia for sinus headaches, Otitis media, and post-nasal drip

Self Heal – Prunella vulgaris

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• Soften hardnesses: lumps, cysts, enlarged lymph nodes and is used for goiters, lipomas, mumps, mastitis, lymphosarcoma and scrofula

• Used for pathological heat in the liver: liver fire headaches, acute conjunctivitis, hypertension, vertigo and painful or light sensitive eyes

• Effective as a compress for removing splinters of wood, metal, or glass

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Sow Thistle – Sonchus oleraceus

• An aquaretic, digestive and hepatic tonic

• Clear damp heat conditions: dysentery, mastitis, tonsillitis, infectious hepatitis and enteritis.

• Stops bleeding in cases of hemoptysis, epistaxis, menorrhagia, and hematemesis.

Spicebush – Lindera benzoin• Can be used for treating colds, influenza, coughs, nausea, indigestion, croup,

flatulence and amenorrhea

• Also used for dysuria, fungal infections, asthma, dysmenorrhea, hernia pain and diarrhea

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Sumac – Rhus glabra, R. copallina, R. typhina, R.aromatica• Effective for urinary tract infections, thrush, aphthous stomatitis, ulcerated mucous

membranes, gingivitis and for a leaky jing gate

• Fragrant Sumac is useful for urinary incontinence, interstitial cystitis, profuse clear urination associated with diabetes and some Eclectic physicians felt it helped to control diabetes as well

Sweet Melilot – Melilotus officinalis, M. alba

• Coumarins do not thin the blood (dicoumarol does), they help strengthen vascular integrity, reduce capillary leakages and inflammation

• Used orally and topically for trauma injuries with edema, varicose veins, and hemorrhoids

• Very effective for sharp, stabbing nerve pain: sciatica, ophthalmic, gastric, renal, or ovarian neuralgia, severe dysmenorrhea and neuralgic headache

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Tag Alder/Red Alder– Alnus serrulata/Alnus rubra

• A decoction of the bark was traditionally used as a mouthwash for thrush

• The Eclectics used Alnus orally and topically for large red painful pimples (comodones) on the back, neck, or buttocks which do not come to a head

• Used orally and topically to treat acne rosacea and it is a bitter tonic used to stimulate liver and bowel function

Thistle – Cirsium arvense, C. vulgare, C. japonicum

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• A decoction of the bark was used as a mouthwash for thrush

• The Eclectics used Alnus orally and topically for large red painful pimples (comodones) on the back, neck, or buttocks which do not come to a head

• Used orally and topically to treat acne rosacea and is a bitter tonic used to stimulate liver and bowel function

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Tickseed – Bidens pilosula, B. aristosa, B. frondosa, B. tripartita, B. bipinnata, B. vulgare

• Bidens pilosa is used in Chinese medicine to reduce inflammation in the urinary and gastro-intestinal tracts

• Kidney and bladder heat (cystitis, pyleonephritis, urethritis), hepatitis, dysentery, hemorrhoids, and appendicitis

• Significantly reduced fasting blood sugar, HbA1c and when given with antidiabetic medications it improved glycemic control

• It is useful for treating BPH. Bidens, White Sage and Mullein root are the only three herbs that I know actually shrink a swollen prostate

• Increases uric acid excretion and treats gout and gouty arthritis

Wild Carrot – Daucus carota• The seed has a long history of use as a contraceptive and/or abortifacient

• A carminative used for gas, nausea, borborygmus, and an antiseptic diuretic useful for low grade cystitis, a mucus discharge from the urethra or prostate. It also enhances uric acid excretion in people with gout or gouty arthritis

• In the UK, the seed is combined with Parsley Piert and Pellitory of the Wall to help prevent or expel kidney stones

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Yellow Dock – Rumex crispus• Does not actually have high iron levels, but when it is given with iron rich herbs or

foods it seems to enhance iron absorption and hemoglobin levels

• Well-suited to chronic skin problems that are red and weeping with a serous discharge

• Bitter tonic and cholagogue for hepatic insufficiency, impaired fat digestion, and nervous dyspepsia with epigastric fullness, gas and pain extending into the left side of the chest

• Dry, irritative laryngeal/tracheal coughs

• Dock leaves make an excellent poultice for skin problems such as dermatitis, psoriasis, and topical fungal infections.