Written by Suzanne M. Diamond, M.Sc.
Four humble herbs with an
impressive history for helping
people to improve their
health and overcome disease
include burdock root (Arctium
lappa L.), sheep sorrel herb (Rumex acetosella
L.), Indian rhubarb root (Rheum officinale
L.) and slippery elm bark (Ulmus
rubra Muhl.). A traditional herbal formulation
made with these four herbs is
gaining recognition as a good remedy for
treating a wide range of health problems.
The below information covers some of
the impressive research on these four
herbs and helps to shed light on how this
synergist blend can afford so many profound
health benefits.
BURDOCK ROOT(Arctium lappa L.)
Not far from your doorstep, if you look,
you can usually find the soft green leaves
of burdock, common in most neighborhoods—
and based on much scientific
and historical data, the root of this plant
can dramatically enhance your health by
boosting your immune system, improving
digestion and thwarting cancer in
many different ways. Regularly incorporating
burdock root in your daily regime
may even be able to increase your lifespan
based on anti-aging results found
with animals. There are many other documented
and accepted health benefits of
regularly drinking burdock root tea based
on the German Pharmacopoeia, including
the relief of gastrointestinal complaints
and bone and joint conditions.
Burdock root, also known as gobo or
Poor-man’s potatoes, is an important food
in Japan known for its many healing properties.
Burdock root can safely be eaten
as a root vegetable and is popularly eaten
by Japanese people and sushi lovers of all
nationalities. When grown in loamy soil,
the root grows into a very long, creamy colored
tap root similar in appearance
to a carrot but much longer. It can grow
deeper than most root veggies and is
known as a good source of trace elements
and minerals accessed from deeper
soil layers. Unlike carrots and potatoes,
burdock root does not contain starch it
contains complex carbohydrates called
fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) including
27–45 percent inulin. When people eat
starchy roots, this causes a sharp rise in
blood sugar and blood insulin levels. But
burdock root provides the body with soluble
fibers that do not affect blood sugar
or blood insulin levels. This makes burdock
root and FOS particularly beneficial
for diabetics. FOS and inulin have many
scientifically documented health benefits
including acting as a beneficial prebiotic
by feeding beneficial intestinal microflora
(BIM) while also eliminating potential
gut pathogens, optimizing colonic pH,
boosting bone strength through increasing
calcium and mineral absorption from
food, supporting serum enterolactone
and enterodiol concentrations, helping
to control blood sugar levels and reducing
cholesterol. Other foods that contain
inulin include chicory root, onions, Jerusalem
artichokes and bananas.
According to Bengmark (2005), researching
out of the Institute of Hepatology,
University College, London Medical
School, U.K., inulin has prebiotic qualities
and can affect intestinal immune cells and
potentially repair the gut wall and thereby
improve overall immune function. Several
recent scientific studies have documented
significant immune-enhancing effects of
inulin and oligofructose.
Taking herbal formulas that contains
burdock root, rich in natural oligofructose
and inulin, have been found to afford
many digestive benefits and favorable results
have been shown with a number of
digestive disorders according to Tamayo
and colleagues (2000).
SHEEP SORREL (Rumex acetosella L.)
Sheep sorrel is a common herb found
abundantly at roadsides and is otherwise
known as sour grass because of its tart
leaves. The leaves are popularly used in
herbal teas for rejuvenating health and
cleansing toxins from the body. Sheep
sorrel has powerful phytoestrogen activity
(phytoestrogen means plant-estrogen)
based on in vitro studies conducted by
U.S. hormone researcher, Dr. David Zava
in 1998. Sheep sorrel came in tenth out of
150 herbs tested for phytoestrogen activity;
the list was headed by soy beans, licorice
root and red clover herb, all legumes wellknown
for their phytoestrogen activity.
Sheep sorrel is an important component
of ESSIAC® tea and products, together
with three other herbs, burdock
root, slippery elm bark and Indian rhubarb
root. Early research on sheep sorrel
herb by famed Canadian nurse Rene M.
Caisse and R.O. Fisher, M.D., in Ontario
in the 1920s and 30s, found that sheep
sorrel liquid extract given to mice with
artificially induced tumors caused cancerous
tumors to markedly regress and
disappear. The other herbs in ESSIAC were
said to help with cleansing and eliminating
the dead cancer cells and other toxins
from the system. Nurse Rene Caisse
also reputedly had success with treating
cancer patients with ESSIAC together with
sheep sorrel extract—including one case
cured and two cases improved accepted
by a Cancer Commission set up by the
Canadian Government in the 1939. There
are many more anecdotal reports and
some well documented cases of success
with ESSIAC for dramatically improving
people’s health very quickly.
Human clinical studies with other
phytoestrogen-rich foods and herbs,
such as flaxseed and red clover, have also
produced profound anti-cancer results.
For instance, clinical studies with breast
cancer patients given muffins containing
50 grams of ground flaxseed daily
(flaxseed contains phytoestrogens called
lignans in its seed coat) versus placebo
muffins (without flaxseed) conducted by
Dr. Paul Goss, Dr. Lilian Thompson and
colleagues in 2000 at the Princess Margaret
Hospital in Toronto, Canada, and a
further clinical study conducted by these
same researchers with post-menopausal
breast cancer patients taking 25 grams
of flaxseed daily documented significant
anti-cancer effects within 30 to 40 days.
A study done with a prostate cancer patient
in Australia reported by Dr. Fredrick
O. Stevens (1997) and a further randomized,
placebo-controlled clinical study
with prostate cancer patients conducted
by Dr. Jarred and colleagues in England
(2002) using red clover isoflavonoid extracts (160 mg/daily for only seven days
in the case study and for 30–40 days in
the clinical trial) have documented strong
anti-cancer effects for red clover isoflavonoid
phytoestrogens within days/weeks
based on tumorectomies. There were no
serious negative side effects noted in any
of these studies.
Foods and herbs rich in phytoestrogens,
such as flaxseed (lignans), burdock
root (isoflavones), burdock seed
(lignans), milk thistle seed (lignans),
red clover (isoflavones), soybean (isoflaonves),
kudzu root (isoflavones), etc.,
once eaten, are metabolized within the
gut by beneficial intestinal bacteria and
the isoflavonoids and lignans that they
contain significantly increase serum enterolactone
and enterodiol concentrations. According to research conducted
by the Australian company, Novogen,
certain phytoestrogen metabolites function
to inhibit anti-apoptosis proteins in
cancer cells thereby causing cancer cells
to go through apoptosis or programmed
cell death without harming normal cells.
Simply put, phtoestrogen-rich foods and
extracts can cause cancer cells to simply
die and be cleansed from the body without
causing terrible side effects. Many
phytoestrogens have also been shown to
stimulate beneficial anti-cancer enzymes.
The powerful and safe anti-cancer activity
of phytoestrogen-rich foods and herbs
may help to explain the myriad anecdotal
reports of spontaneous remissions in
cancer patients and miracle cancer cures
documented over the centuries with
various herbs and herbal combinations.
More research is needed in this area to
clearly define the anti-cancer activity of
different phytoestrogens.
Many foods, herbs and supplements
contain beneficial phytoestrogens and
other natural anti-cancer compounds
that help to balance hormones in different
ways. Sheep sorrel appears to be one
that may have great promise for cancer
patients. Further human clinical studies
with sheep sorrel are needed to confirm
the beneficial estrogen modulating and
anti-cancer activity of its phytoestrogens
and other active ingredients.
SLIPPERY ELM INNER BARK
(Ulmus fulva Michx. and U. rubra Muhl.)
Slippery elm bark has a long history of
use as a medicine and also as a food that
can be eaten like gruel and is commonly
made into lozenges for sore throats and
coughs. The inner bark of this tree has
been used as folk remedy for treating
cancer and other conditions including:
respiratory problems, throat irritation,
fever, abscesses, dysentery, urinary and
kidney inflammations.
Choi and colleagues (2002) at Pusan
National University in Korea studied slippery
elm bark and found that it exhibited
dose-dependent peroxynitrite scavenging
activities. According to Langmead and colleagues
(2002) at the Academic Department
of Adult and Paediatric Gastroenterology,
London, U.K., slippery elm bark
also exhibited potent antioxidant activity
using in vitro tests based on chemiluminescence
used to detect herbal effects on
generation of oxygen radicals by mucosal
biopsies from patients with active ulcerative
colitis. These researchers concluded
that slippery elm and other herbal extracts
merit formal evaluation as novel therapies
in inflammatory bowel disease.
Lans, Turner, Khan and Bauer (2007)
report the use of Ulmus fulva Michx. in
ethnoveterinary medicines used to treat
endoparasites and stomach problems in
pigs and pets in British Columbia, Canada.
The authors note that Ulmus fulva,
along with other plants used for this purpose,
have mid- to high-level validity for
their ethnoveterinary use as anthelmintics
(deworming agents).
Five case studies of patients with psoriasis
following a dietary regimen including
a pinch of slippery elm bark taken
daily with meals found relief of symptoms
according to Brown and colleagues
(2004) at the University of Hawaii at
Manoa, Honolulu, U.S. The five psoriasis
cases, ranging from mild to severe at the
study onset, improved on all measured
outcomes over a six-month period.
INDIAN RHUBARB ROOT
(Rheum officinale L.)
Michael Castleman in his book, Medicinal
Herbs describes rhubarb (medicinal
rhubarbs, Rheum officinale and R. palmatum;
and garden rhubarb, R. rhaponticum
noted as having similar but less powerful
action) as an odd plant: its roots are medicinal;
its stems make tasty pies but its
leaves are poisonous. He also notes that
Chinese physicians have used rhubarb
root since ancient times prescribing it externally
as a treatment for cuts and burns
and internally in small amounts for dysentery
while large amounts have powerful
laxative action. Formerly, the root was
an important drug in many army camps,
said to stop dysentry in its tracks. The active
ingredients of Indian rhubarb root
include emodin and aloe-emodin, rhein
and other anthracene derivatives.
Conclusion:
According to many studies, adding a
time-tested herbal formula with these
humble herbs to your daily menu may
bring a boon to your health resulting in
many immediately noticeable benefits to
your well-being.
Formal clinical trials are warranted
to evaluate the real anticancer effects of
formulas containing these four herbs.
Such clinical studies need to be carefully
designed, placebo controlled clinical trials
with cancer patients scheduled for
tumorectomies but not receiving chemo
or radiation, in order to avoid confounding
variables from these treatments (i.e.
similar in design to studies assessing
the anticancer effects of flaxseed and red
clover).
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