Herbs
Nutritional Specialists, are similar to a Dietary Technician, they
instruct people on nutritional foods and supplements that can help the
body heal. By using herbs and natural supplements that our bodies
are in need of, we supply the vitamins and minerals required to aid in good health.
Herbalist basically do the same thing as a Nutritional Specialist, except due to certain laws, Herbalists
are illegal in Tennessee. They are only allowed to use herbs on themselves and to teach.
As a Nutritional Specialist, I am asked:
“Since you dabble in all these herbs, let me ask you, what would you recommend for…?”
As someone who, “dabbles in herbs”, people will ask me to help them
with whatever disease they may have. I will give them a natural
approach to helping their own body rid itself of that disease. The body
has, with the proper nutrition, an amazing ability to heal itself. Dr.
John Christopher, the founder of The School of Natural Healing, once
said that “there are no incurable diseases, only incurable people.” I
have found this to be, sadly, only too true. Someone once asked me what
to do for Parkinson’s disease, when I asked if he was willing to give
herbs a try and come off prescription medications, he said “no, not at
all”. This is a perfect example of a curable disease and an incurable
person.
Herbs are an amazing part of our planet, most of prescription
medications stem from them. Scientists have taken herbs, isolated the
active chemical constituents of them, broken it down to a concentrated
drug and have added synthetic chemicals. When you isolate a chemical
component of a plant to make it work faster and better, and remove the
rest of the parts, you have a possibly dangerous drug. They are a
synthetic copy of only one part of a plant. That is where side-effects
come from. Granted, yes, herbs can have their own side-effects, but
they are very small in comparison and there is always another underlying
reason. Take the herb, Comfrey, for example; I see this herb as a
great bone and tissue healer, it is fantastic! But the FDA believes
this herb to be the most dangerous of herbs and has banned it from all
internal herbal formulas. The reasoning behind this? People began
reporting liver failure after taking Comfrey, so the FDA did a study on
Comfrey and mice. They injected a highly concentrated version of
Comfrey intravenously into the mice and all the mice died, so they
banned it. What they didn’t show was that it was so highly concentrated
that you would have to drink 400 cups a day of comfrey for 40 years to
kill a person. One of the ingredients of Comfrey is pyrrolizidine
alkaloid, and if it is taken in large amounts could cause liver damage,
though it is very rare. People who should exercise caution are those
with an existing liver condition such as hepatitis or cirrhosis or those
taking liver compromising medications.
When we use a vitalistic approach to health we do not say these herbs will
heal this disease. Rather we'd say to use certain herbs that are high
in the nutrients that will allow your own body to heal itself. If we
give the body the proper nutrients, it can and will, with a healthy diet and lifestyle, bring healing
to itself. Herbs are safe; we just need
to know how to use them properly.
By:
Deanna Rodes
Nutrition Specialist
Nutritional Herbalist
For questions or comments
write to me at:
P.O Box 557
Sneedville, TN 37869
Or call:
(423) 733-0088
Nutritional Specialists, are similar to a Dietary Technician, they
instruct people on nutritional foods and supplements that can help the
body heal. By using herbs and natural supplements that our bodies
are in need of, we supply the vitamins and minerals required to aid in good health.
Herbalist basically do the same thing as a Nutritional Specialist, except due to certain laws, Herbalists
are illegal in Tennessee. They are only allowed to use herbs on themselves and to teach.
As a Nutritional Specialist, I am asked:
“Since you dabble in all these herbs, let me ask you, what would you recommend for…?”
As someone who, “dabbles in herbs”, people will ask me to help them
with whatever disease they may have. I will give them a natural
approach to helping their own body rid itself of that disease. The body
has, with the proper nutrition, an amazing ability to heal itself. Dr.
John Christopher, the founder of The School of Natural Healing, once
said that “there are no incurable diseases, only incurable people.” I
have found this to be, sadly, only too true. Someone once asked me what
to do for Parkinson’s disease, when I asked if he was willing to give
herbs a try and come off prescription medications, he said “no, not at
all”. This is a perfect example of a curable disease and an incurable
person.
Herbs are an amazing part of our planet, most of prescription
medications stem from them. Scientists have taken herbs, isolated the
active chemical constituents of them, broken it down to a concentrated
drug and have added synthetic chemicals. When you isolate a chemical
component of a plant to make it work faster and better, and remove the
rest of the parts, you have a possibly dangerous drug. They are a
synthetic copy of only one part of a plant. That is where side-effects
come from. Granted, yes, herbs can have their own side-effects, but
they are very small in comparison and there is always another underlying
reason. Take the herb, Comfrey, for example; I see this herb as a
great bone and tissue healer, it is fantastic! But the FDA believes
this herb to be the most dangerous of herbs and has banned it from all
internal herbal formulas. The reasoning behind this? People began
reporting liver failure after taking Comfrey, so the FDA did a study on
Comfrey and mice. They injected a highly concentrated version of
Comfrey intravenously into the mice and all the mice died, so they
banned it. What they didn’t show was that it was so highly concentrated
that you would have to drink 400 cups a day of comfrey for 40 years to
kill a person. One of the ingredients of Comfrey is pyrrolizidine
alkaloid, and if it is taken in large amounts could cause liver damage,
though it is very rare. People who should exercise caution are those
with an existing liver condition such as hepatitis or cirrhosis or those
taking liver compromising medications.
When we use a vitalistic approach to health we do not say these herbs will
heal this disease. Rather we'd say to use certain herbs that are high
in the nutrients that will allow your own body to heal itself. If we
give the body the proper nutrients, it can and will, with a healthy diet and lifestyle, bring healing
to itself. Herbs are safe; we just need
to know how to use them properly.
By:
Deanna Rodes
Nutrition Specialist
Nutritional Herbalist
For questions or comments
write to me at:
P.O Box 557
Sneedville, TN 37869
Or call:
(423) 733-0088
