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Herbs are beneficial for WBC and macrophage activity. Among the more effective herbs might be goldenseal, echinacea, Korean ginseng, Siberian ginseng and licorice.
Most herbs for the immune system don’t affect memory cells, but are general immune system stimulators. They increase the activity of the immune system but are not specific to a particular disease or “antigen”. Rather they increase resistance by mobilizing “effector cells” which act against all foreign particles, versus just against one specific type, say, the measles virus.
Since the discovery of penicillin, it and other chemicals which kill bacteria or viruses have been generously given. However, the realization that it is possible to boost the immune system with herbs, without chemicals or antibiotics, to naturally fight infectious agents is a comforting thought.
Herbal medicine is the oldest documented form of physical healing. There is an increasing interest in herbology, and many are going back to that form of treatment. Herbs can cleanse, strengthen, and protect the immune system and can stimulate the body’s natural reactions and help an individual heal.
Herbal tonics were a major part of earlier schools of medicine. A tonic is any substance that balances the biochemical and physiological events and gives one homeostasis.
There are hundreds of plant materials which can be used to regulate functions of the immune system. Only a partial list will be presented, focusing on immunotonics which increase the vigor of the immune response. Here is a list of the body systems and basic herbs, some of which will be discussed within this manual. Please note that the study of herbs is a course onto itself.
For the immune system:
echinacea
ginseng
gotu kola
astragalus
schizandra
licorice root
lapacho
For the whole body:
yerba mate
echinacea
astragalus
licorice root
stillingia
Korean ginseng
Siberian ginseng
chaparral
hawthorn
sarsaparilla
aloe vera
ginger root
lapacho
For the nervous system
valerian root
ginkgo biloba
hops
peppermint
chamomile
lime blossoms
passion flower
balm
For the digestive system
milk thistle
artichoke
dandelion root
gentian root
ginger root
turmeric
schizandra
For the cardiovascular system
hawthorn berry
butcher’s broom
cayenne
kelp
turmeric
rosemary
motherwort
valerian root
centella
billberry
It is suggested that consultation with an experienced herbalist is considered before herbal treatment begins.
Traditionally this is a blood purifier, tonic and diuretic. It is most commonly used to help protect and repair skin, blood and nervous system in the presence of infectious disease. It contains asiaticoside which has been used for decades in the Far East and for several years in Europe to cure leprosy and tuberculosis. It is often found in herbal combinations along with ginseng and other adaptogens as it appears to improve nonspecific resistance to disease.
Schizandra, an Asian herb, is growing in popularity. This herb is not yet fully understood. It is thought that schizandra probably regulates gastric acidity. It also increases muscular endurance. According to the Chinese there is significant synergy when combined with ginseng. The main focus of this herb however is in the treatment of liver disease.
Glycyrrhizin, known as (GL), is a constituent of licorice which is found to have induced interferon production in mice. In Japan GL combined with glycine and cysteine has been used as an antihepatitis drug. It is thought that licorice compounds ( which have been tested on rats) slightly inhibited the growth of tumors thus may have some minor anticancer properties.
In Russia, since the 1960’s there have been more than 1000 articles of scientific nature written about this ginseng which is native to parts of Russia and China. It is thought that this kind of Ginseng can strengthen the immune system as well as helping the body adapt to both internal and external stress.
This is one herb that has been used by the Russians for radiation sicknesses (manifesting as hemorrhaging, severe anemia, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and headaches). Many scientists believe that ginseng is radioprotective. It has been reported that toxic side effects of anti-cancer chemotherapies have decreased, according to specialists at the Institute of Oncology in the U.S.S.R.
Russian scientists concluded that Siberian ginseng extract increases human resistance to a remarkably wide variety of cancers. They also found that this herb has a profound effect on stress. It seems that it has a calming effect on people who have anxiety.
This Japanese herb strengthens the body’s immune system against invading antigens, regulates the adrenal gland and balances digestion. It appears, as with Siberian ginseng, that panax ginseng has a stimulating, adaptogenic and healing capability.
In studies on laboratory mice, researchers found that panax ginseng helped in the recovery of thrombocyte blood platelets, important in preventing radiation damage. These studies suggest that panax ginseng stimulates bone marrow functions and red blood cell formation. Taken over time, ginseng functions as a tonic which has progressive benefits.
This herb is found in the rain forests and mountains of South America. It holds promise for effective treatment of cancers, such as leukemia, candida, and may have some effect on arthritis. It is applied internally or externally for the treatment of colds, flu, skin ulceration, boils, and gastrointestinal problems. Lapacho has been used to ease pain, kill bacteria, increase urinary output, and as an antidote to poisons.
Documented research started as early as 1884 when E. Paterno isolated the active constituent, lapachol, and in 1927 L.F. Fieser synthesized the substance. More recently in the 1960’s and 1970’s, through the work of Theodoro Meyer in Argentina, laboratory data showed that application of the herb was effective upon different kinds of cancer .
Brewers yeast is one of the most perfect foods known, a concentrated yeast loaded with protein, minerals and vitamins. Rich in nucleic acid, it is believed to help slow the aging process.
“Aggressive research shows that garlic effectively reduces the blood cholesterol levels in two ways,” according to Earl Mindell, R.PH.D., in Garlic: The Miracle Nutrient. First, it slows down endogenous cholesterol synthesis, your body’s own manufacture of cholesterol. Secondly, he added, garlic helps your body transport fats from the tissues where they are stored to the bloodstream, which enables them to be eliminated from your body.
According to Mindell’s study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, involving 62 coronary patients who, after 10 months of consuming garlic, showed a decrease in their low density lipoproteins (“bad” protein), and an increase in high density lipoprotein (“good” protein).
Garlic – which has the amino acid called alliin, plus trace minerals, germanium and selenium – has been used for thousands of years, both as a food and a medicine. When taken on a daily basis, garlic has been said to help in the prevention of heart disease, lower blood cholesterol, increase HDL’s, decrease LDL’s, and inhibit clot formation. Garlic has also been found to slow the growth of fungi. It also has been reported to slow candida albicans, histoplasma capsulatum (fungus in dust), and the fungi associated with athlete’s foot. Garlic has a detoxification effect and is also known as being a natural antibiotic.
The onion is also a food which has been documented to aid in immune enhancement. A person can have around 5 pounds of intestinal bacteria. The onion with alliin has a bacterial fighter called quercetin. Also the onion is a rich source of vitamins and minerals along with necessary trace elements.
There are more than 200 hundred species of aloe. The radioprotectants are aloe vera, aloe arborrescens, aloe striatula and aloe saponaria. Aloe vera has been documented to soothe burns and improve X-Ray dermatitis.
Chaparral, which grows in northern Mexico and southwestern part of the United States, is a strong herb. It contains a potent antioxidant called NDGA, short for nordihydroguaiaretic acid, which helps protect against the effects of radiation and chemical pollution. According to research, NDGA has potential as an anticancer and antitumor agent.
This herb is also a natural antibiotic and is used to treat both bacterial and viral infections. Usually taken in small quantities, it used with other herbs such as echinacea and goldenseal. Chaparral, as with other herbs, should be used with consultation from a qualified herbalist or physician.
Bio-strath is a Swiss liquid herbal yeast product studied since 1954. It appears to protect against radiation as well as to improve metabolism and the assimilation of nutrients in those exposed to radiation. This herb is a combination of yeast and carefully selected wild herbs worldwide which have not been sprayed with pesticides. There appears to be a great deal of documented information on this herbal yeast with its multi-nutritional benefits.
Green teas are cured without fermentation, whereas black tea is fermented during curing. There are sizable amounts of caffeine in these teas, and can contain up to 27 percent tannin, which has astringent and antibacterial properties. Large amounts of these teas (several cups or more) can create insomnia, nervousness, or digestive disturbances. Tannin also has been found, when taken in large amounts, to be a carcinogenic.
Green tea was used in Chinese traditional medicine as early as the 6th century. It has been stated the green tea can clear one’s mind, remove phlegm, remove poisons from the body, and aid digestion.
Black tea, according to studies, can help counteract the effects of radioactive strontium in humans. This is attributed to substances called catechin, which can absorb radioactive isotopes and remove them from the body before they reach bone marrow.
It is also reported that the catechin are associated with antioxidative abilities similar to the effects of vitamins C , E, and selenium.
Kelp is used for rheumatism and arthritis, high blood pressure, thyroid deficiency, infectious disease, constipation and GI symptoms. It is thought to act as a hypotensive, as well as an antibiotic and nutritive.
Tumeric provides an inhibition of platelet aggregation, anticholesterol action, and fibrinolytic activity allowing clotting. Turmeric negates the action of harmful chemicals boosting the liver as a filter. Herbs also regenerate cells in some cases.
Chinese astragalus root, astragalus membranaceous, is widely used throughout the Orient as a tonic food and medicinal plant. In Asia, this plant is sold as dried slices of root, six to twelve inches long. Research has indicated that the root and its extracts are powerful simulators of the immune system. In China, astragalus has been used for thousands of years, and was first mentioned in the Divine Husbandman’s classic of the Materia Medica, an ancient Chinese medicinal text, said to “tonify the spleen, blood and Qi”
Astragalus stimulates virtually every phase of immune system activity, increasing the number of “stem cells” in the marrow and lymph tissue, and stimulating their development into active immune cells which are released into the body. Perhaps the best evidence to date for the powerful immune-stimulant effects of astragalus comes from the University of Texas Medical Center, in Houston. There scientists tested damaged immune system cells from cancer patients, and compared them against cells from the blood of normal human subjects.
Astragalus extracts were able to completely restore the function of cancer patient’s immune cells. In some cases, the compromised cells were stimulated to greater activity than those from normal human subjects. Astragalus has also been found to stimulate the production of interferon, and increase its effects in fighting disease. Another study probed the activity of macrophages, the cell responsible for invading microbes.
The activity of the macrophages was significantly enhanced within six hours of treatment. This particular extract also significantly inhibited the growth of tumor cells in mice, especially when combined with the extract lingustrum lucidum.
Echinacea is a very popular American wildflower and garden plant, and is also known as the purple coneflower. It’s also one of America’s most popular herbal immunotonic, and is one of the best known and most researched of immune-stimulants.
Among the Native Americans, echinacea was very popular. It was also used by the Dakotas as a veterinary medicine for horses. By the early twentieth century, echinacea had become the best selling medicinal tincture in America and was used for a variety of internal and external conditions. By 1910 it had been dismissed as worthless by the AMA, and echinacea fell into disuse in this country by the 1930’s.
Europeans, especially the Germans, began growing and using echinacea and to this day have produced the best scientific documentation of its value. They found out early that the herb could keep the ratio of red to white blood cells within acceptable limits. It was also found that echinacea increased the production of white blood cells when the numbers were too low, and decreased the white blood cell production when the numbers were too high.
The extract’s popularity in the U.S. grew rapidly during the 1980’s and the plant is now again among America’s best selling herb extracts. Echinacea appears to stimulate phagocytosis, the consumption of invading organisms by white blood cells and lymphocytes. To prove this, scientists incubated human white blood cells, yeast cells and echinacea extract. They examined the blood cells and counted the numbers of yeast cells consumed by the blood cells. Extracts of echinacea increased phagocytosis by 20-40%.
Another test which is performed is called “the carbon clearance” test, which measures the speed with which injected carbon particles are removed from the bloodstream of a mouse. The quicker the mouse can remove the injected foreign particles, the more its immune system has been stimulated.
In the book Echinacia Exalted (Ozark Beneficial Plant Project 1985) Steven Foster writes:
“The immune system-stimulating effects of echinacea is one of the most important scientific findings to date for this genus. Immune-stimulants are compounds that stimulate the immune system in a nonspecific manner. The pharmacological effects of nonspecific immune-stimulants fade relatively quickly, they have to be administered quite frequently or continuously. An increase in phagocytosis (by macrophages) and granulocytes are important factors in immune-stimulation. Immune-stimulants could become alternatives or adjuncts to chemotherapy, and may help prevent infections by activating the immune system in person whose immune response has become impaired. Immune-stimulants are potentially useful in some cancers and infectious diseases.”
Echinacea research is still ongoing, and thought that it may become an even more valuable herb because of its T-Cell stimulation abilities. The frequent administration of small amounts of echinacea seems to impart some immunity against common infections and allergic ailments. The herb increases the body’s natural nonspecific resistance to disease, and affects the function of phagocytosis.
Echinacea has been shown to improve the first lines of defense (mechanical resistance) by inhibiting hyaluronidase (enzyme) which can be stimulated by pathogens. Echinacea appears to be involved in the regrowth of connective tissue which has been destroyed during infection. This is because of the direct activating force on the body’s ability to produce macrophages and speed them to the area of infection.
Another way that echinacea augments the immune system is it appears to exhibit a lethal effect on certain forms of cancerous tissue. It is thought that this is done by stimulation of the production of key lymphocytes. In 1978 German researchers discovered that echinacea behaves in a manner similar to interferon, reducing infections from viruses and bacteria. How it does this is not really known as yet.
The valerian root, which affects the nervous system, has been used in Europe for about the last 20 years for treatment of childhood behavior disorders. Valerian root has been shown to increase coordination ability in mice. In Germany there is a condition known as Dysfunctional Autonomic Nervous System, indicated by anxiety, insomnia, hysteria, ulcers, exaggerated nervousness, PMS, and postmenopausal depression. According to Petkov and Manolov Valerian root helps maintain neuro-coronary equilibrium, is a hypotensive anticonvulsant and contains antiarrhythmic properties.
Basil has been used to alleviate bee stings. Saw-palmetto in berries is helpful in chronic cystitis and the prevention of genitourinary tract infection. Aloe vera, taken internally, can work as a mild laxative and has been used to aid in gastric ulcers. Externally aloe vera helps in wounds and sunburns, and alleviates the unpleasant itching of hemorrhoids. It can also be used as a hair conditioner. This is not an herb to be taken internally by pregnant women.
Whenever ingesting anything, it is always wise to seek professional assistance prior to ingestion.
Anise is a natural diuretic and gastric stimulant. Blessed thistle is used as an appetite stimulant. Chamomile has antispasmodic and gastric stimulant properties and is taken for migraines or anxiety. Comfrey soothes the stomach when taken in tea form. Licorice restores membrane and tissue function, balances hormones is a respiratory stimulant and a laxative. Side effects can be high blood pressure or cardiac arrhythmias.
Evening primrose oil has been used to lower blood cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and slow the progress of MS. The active ingredient is gamma linolenic acid (GLA) needed for the body to produce prostaglandin. Parsley is a gastric stimulant. Pennyroyal has been used in tea form for headache relief. Peppermint acts as an antispasmodic, and can treat headaches when taken in tea form. Rosemary leaves are used externally as an ointment to soothe sprains, and aches.
Thyme, internally can soothe bronchitis and laryngitis, while externally can be used as deodorant.
As with any herb, if there are any allergies to pollens, it is always suggested to check with a physician, as allergic reactions can be enhanced with certain herbs.
Here is a list of dangerous herbs: Arnica montana, atropa belladonna (toxic alkaloids), solanum dulcamara, bittersweet, climbing nightshade (poisonous), bloodroot, cytisus scoparius, broom tops; aesculus; calamus (its oil is a carcinogen); heliotrope heliotropium europaeum (alkaloids can cause liver damage), hemlock, lalap root, twining Mexican vine (can cause life threatening bowel activity), jimpson weed (contains scopolamine, stropine, and hyoscyamine), Lily of the Valley (cardiac toxins), lobelia inflata (can produce severe symptoms, collapse, coma, even death), mandrake (similar to belladonna) European (the latter known to contain toxic amines), Morning Glory (Ipomoea Purpurea),or lysergic acid, with unhealthy purgative resin; Periwinkle (toxic alkaloids), Sassafras (carcinogenic), Spindle Tree (violent purgative), tonka bean has been found to contain seeds which cause liver damage, Wahoo Bark (extreme laxative), and wormwood – its oil as been found to damage the nervous system, and has been used to flavor an alcoholic liqueur absinthe, illegal in the United States.