Popular Natural Remedies, Part XIV

This will be the 14th in a series of articles that I have written about natural products. The four natural products that I will talk about in this article all arE Listed in the German Commission E List. In Germany, not only are pharmaceuticals, as we know them, paid for by the National Health Insurance, but some natural products are paid for as well. In order for natural products to be paid for by the German National Health Insurance, it has to be voted upon and approved by the German E Commission. Their work has formed the basis of numerous scientific articles and stimulated good scientific research on dozens of natural products over the last 20 years. In this particular article, I will discuss four products whose names appear on the German Comission E List. Interesting, inclusion by the E List is not an absolute that the product works. However, if a natural product appears on the E List, it is fairly certain that the natural product will be effective for the use for which it is advertised. Also, the natural product's safety in thE Listed dose has been established.

In a book entitled, The Tale of Benjamin's Bunny, it is said "Mrs. Rabbit was a widow. She learned her living by knitting. She also sold herbs and rosemary tea." Rosemary is a product that goes back hundreds and hundreds of years in English folk medicine and lore. Per the Pharmacist's Letter, rosemary's two most likely documented uses are supportive therapy for joint or muscular/skeletal pain and for circulatory problems. Per Tyler's, Honest Herbal, rosemary contains volatile oils of 1-2.5%. The oil contains camphor, borneol, cineole, flavanoid pigments, including diosmin. It is these chemicals that are reported to give rosemary its medicinal purposes. It has been an approved drug on the German Commission E List since November 30, 1985. Two of its three official uses, per the German Commission E List, are for the two aforementioned conditions. It is dosed at 4 to 6 grams of herb per day or 10 to 20 drops of essential oil or equivalent preparations. Per the German Commission E List, there are no known contraindications, side effects, or interactions with other drugs.

Per Tyler's, Honest Herbal, hops has been used in beer for over 1,000 years, primarily for their bitter taste and preservative action. Per the German Commission E List, hops is used medicinally for mood disturbances such as restlessness, anxiety, as well as sleep disturbances. Over one hundred years ago, in the 1880s, a popular advertisement said "take hot bitters three times a day, and you will have no more doctor bills to pay." It was used to advertise a patent medicine containing hops, buchu, mandrake, dandelion, and 30% alcohol. In the four-year period preceding 1884, 2.75 million dollars worth of this product was sold. Not a small amount of money for that time. It has been recognized since Medieval times that hops could be used as a sedative. During these times, people observed that hops pickers tired easily, apparently as a result of an accidental transfer of hops resin from their hand to their mouth. Per the German Commission E List, the ingredient that is believed to impart this sedative property is alpha and beta bitter acids and 2-methyl-3-butanol. Per The Lawrence Review of Natural Products, the alpha acids contain humulone, cohumulone, and adhumulone. The beta acids contains lupulone and congeners. Hops is listed in both The Lawrence Review of Natural Products, as well as the Pharmacists Letter natural products database, as possibly effective for restlessness. It should be noted that currently researchers do not believe that the aforementioned chemicals in hops solely are the cause of the sedative properties. Researchers believe there are other chemicals in hops, that have not yet been identified, that also cause hops' sedative properties. It might be noted that in Europe hops is combined with valerian root, that was discussed in a previous article, as a combination product for the inducement of sleep. Neither The Lawrence Review nor The Pharmacists Letter document any interactions between hops and any drugs, medical conditions, or lab tests. Per the German E List, the normal dose of hops at bedtime to promote sleep is 0.5 grams of the dried strobilus of the hops plant. These are commercially available in a prepackaged amount.

Probably the majority of people reading this article will have heard of eucalyptus oil. It was one of the original monologues in the German Commission E List, originally being published in September of 1986. Per the E List, eucalyptus oil, which is a different product than eucalyptus leaf, is used externally for rheumatic complaints. Eucalyptus oil is actually the compilation of oil extracted by steam distillation from the fresh leaves and branch tops of four different sub-species of eucalyptus plants. The Pharmacists Letter natural products databasE Lists eucalyptus oil as possibly effective when applied topically for the use in rheumatic complaints. Topically, per The Pharmacists Letter, eucalyptus acts as a mild counter-irritant and inhibits prostaglandin biosynthesis. Per The Pharmacists Letter, semi-solid or vegetable oil preparations usually contain 5-20% eucalyptus oil and the alcoholic preparations contain 5-10% eucalyptus oil. The oil is also typically used for a local application by diluting 30 mls of oil to 500 mls of lukewarm water. Avoid the use of the undiluted essential oil. It can cause allergic reactions. The essential oil diluted in vegetable oil is preferred for application to the skin. Avoid use on the areas of the face, especially the nose of infants and young children. I should note that eucalyptus oil is also taken internally. Unfortunately, the dose is so small that, given common household measurement items, an accurate measurement would be difficult, so I did not choose to address that particular application in this article.

Two hundred years ago, when our ancesters got a sore throat, he didn't have Cepacol, Chloraseptic, or Halls to take care of his sore throat. Instead, he might have used a product called marshmallow root. In March 1989, both marshmallow leaf and marshmallow root were added to the German Commission E List of approved natural products for use in irritation of oral and pharyngeal mucosa associated with dry cough. Per The Lawrence Review of Natural Products, marshmallow contains 25-35% mucilage. Per The Lawrence Review of Natural Products, marshmallow reduces the transport velocity of isolated ciliated epithelial cells in the influenced esophagus in vitro, and may be useful in the management of coughs and colds because of its ability to protect mucous layers of the hypopharynx, along with its spasmolytic antisecretory and antibiotic activity. The traditional use of this product is approximately 6 grams per day.