There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of herbs that have been used to promote health and reduce disease suffering for thousands of years. These herbs are staples in some cultures, being consumed as a part of their daily diet, while in others they have been used as a means of medicinal intervention. Most of us have heard the term “herbs”, while only a smaller percentage think beyond being used as a culinary boost. To that smaller percentage, being more aware of the healing properties possessed by some herbs, the ability to use those herbs comes with knowledge, not just about function, but about purity and other standards. No two herbs are alike and even more, in today’s market, no two herbs of the same name are likely identical in function, purity or even true identity. There are a few things to keep in mind before we cast judgement on herbal abilities through just reaching for what is available on the store shelf.
The world has changed from what it was a hundred years ago, let alone even just 10 years. Our societies have changed, but so has our ecology or world health. In ancient times, herbs were home grown, often being specific to certain geographical regions. They were not mass produced, but more care and attention was given to their growth on a personal level. In some cases, the herbs due to location, were harvested with much effort, climbing mountain peaks and enduring tough terrains. Not so much in today’s time, which is good but can also come with its downsides. Today’s herbs are often mass grown in climate controlled facilities, but in others they are impacted by our environment and pollution.
Herbs are not generally treated as pharmaceutical medications and in some cases not even to the standards of foods. They are regulated by the FDA, here in the United States, but even then, standards are often a gray zone, being left up the manufacturer in general. In some other countries, this regulation is taken further, being almost to the level of prescription medications, which is good on one hand, but does limit access on another.
In using herbs myself and conversing with others about their use, a few things become apparent. First, we tend not to be aware of the differences in quality and purity from one herb supplier to the next. Second, we also tend not to understand the concept of dosing and implications behind it. These are both important topics, as they can not only influence the chances of success, but also can reduce complications.
Herb Quality & Purity
If you buy Cinnamon in a capsule at the local box store, is that the same as Cinnamon bought from a wholesale supplier? It’s a good question and to most, they would answer yes, they are the same. In reality, they could be, but on the other hand, they may be entirely different. The fact is that herb quality and purity, even identity, can vary from one supplier to the next. In some cases, the cheaper the source, the less reliable the herb, but that is not always true.
When purchased in bulk from reputable third party suppliers and used in the manufacturing process, herbs are required to come with what is termed a CoA or Certificate of Analysis. This CoA is provided to the purchaser by the supplier, when dealing with a reputable supplier. As part of the FDA requirements, the manufacturer is then required, on a variable basis, to ‘certify’ that supplier, which means we then repeat the laboratory testing at our expense to verify the parameters. This can be costly but is a necessary thing. It really doesn’t matter what country that herb comes from, because testing is going to verify whether if we use it or not. In fact, many herbs are indigenous to certain countries, so we have no choice, but rely on our testing to determine usage.
What parameters?
The first thing we are looking for is herb identification. If we are buying cinnamon, as an example, we need to know that it is truly cinnamon or Cinnamomum verum. The herb can look, taste and smell like cinnamon, which is termed organoleptic identification, but to be sure, we do some laboratory testing. In most cases, the herbs do test out positive of identification with most reputable suppliers, but some do not. The more we work with herbs, we will be able to detect subtle differences and tip us off that something is not right.
The second thing is that we have bacterial and fungal levels that need to be determined. No herb is going to be sterile and indeed, we don’t want it to be sterile. Just like no apple, banana or other real food we eat is sterile. Just not going to happen and really, we don’t want it to be. We do of course, want them to be free of truly pathogenic bacteria, which may include bacteria like E. coli, Salmonella and Staph aureus. As a part of our laboratory testing, we also submit samples for culture, which is then returned to us with colony counts for aerobic bacteria and the pathogenic types. Ideally, we want a lower aerobic count and non-detectable pathogenic strains. Our government has set standards to producers of herbs, in which case they must be sterilized, mainly by heat exposure, prior to resale to manufacturers. This sterilization process helps to get that aerobic count down lower, which is a positive, but on the downside, this process can also impact the efficacy of the herb. Heat often denatures or destroys proteins and other co-factors, actives and nutrients present in an herb or food. Thus, we can gain some benefit through lowered bacterial counts, but may loose some efficacy in the process. If we eat an apple, it will have bacterial contamination as a natural thing, more so if we home grow that food. That bacteria can be beneficial to us on some health levels, as long as the organisms are not pathogenic in nature.
The third thing is heavy metal contamination. This is an important one. Heavy metals mainly include lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium, but may include a few others. Those are heavy metals that are acquired by the plant or herb mainly during the growth process. They are contaminants that come from the soil, water or even air pollution. Just like bacterial levels, we will never have an herb that is completely negative for heavy metals. They will be there, but the question is in what amounts? Every piece of food that we eat on a daily basis and likely even the water we drink is laden with heavy metals. Again, question is how much? Heavy metals have tremendous health impairing properties as they can impact cell function, cause oxidative damage and accumulate in the body. This is why leaded fuel was removed from the market and also from the paint industry. They are also very hard to get rid of from the body without chelation therapy. So, we want our intake low. Really, we have no idea what the levels are in a piece of fruit we consume, so it can be challenging and even harmful. When it comes to herbs, however, we tend to look for herbs that have less than 1 ppm or any single heavy metal, ideally wanting even less than 0.05 ppm. The lower the better. However, I can tell you that there are some herbs on the open market with levels of lead, as an example, exceeding 5 or even 10 ppm, which is potentially toxic.
The fourth thing is pesticide and herbicide residues. Most herbs will test positive for some of these chemicals, but here again, we are looking or seeking low levels. A zero reading is ideal, but this is not always possible. Now, here some would say that organic is the way to go, right? Not always the case, as the definition and implementation of organic philosophy is not a standard. There are many meanings to this term and I have personally tested some ‘organics’ having higher heavy metal and pesticide levels that a non-organic. Go figure!
Herb Dosing
Once we have arrived on a reputable supplier, given the parameters outlined above, now we need to establish the dose needed for clinical results. This is often the tricky part and also misleading. Despite as much as we want specific dosing instructions for herbs, this is not going to happen. It is almost like a person using oregano in cooking a spaghetti sauce. Some like more, some like less.
There are specific guidelines, but these guidelines are often in Ayurvedic or Traditional Chinese medical related texts. Even then, the dosing can be patient specific with a range of dosing given, more so than a precise amount. A high percentage of herbs are used traditionally in the amounts from 1-2 grams (1000-2000 mg) to upwards of 50-100 grams (50,000-100,000 grams). This can be dependent on the herb, patient circumstances and combination with other herbs. As you can hopefully see, these amounts are often a far cry from what is available over the counter in many products or formulas. In many cases, the herb amount or volume used in quite high, almost going along the line of thought that eating one sprig of broccoli or one leaf of spinach is likely not going to impact your health. Most herbs are foods, on one level or another, used with specific intentions, so dosing can be critical. You won’t, however, see any supplier recommending those ‘actual’ doses on their product label. This is mainly because of concern over patient reactions, given that no one knows what medications they are taking or even what other herbs they are consuming. The second reason is that a higher dose means a higher price to the consumer. If that price is too high, then sales will not be ideal and income lower for that company.
Whole Herbs or Extracts
This is somewhat of a complex topic, but can play a role in truly benefiting from an herb. If we grow broccoli, as an example, then dry it and grind it into a powder, we have the benefits of the entire plant. However, some look at broccoli and focus only on one of the ‘actives’ such as sulforaphane. In fact, some companies may sell a whole broccoli product, while another may be more focused with an 80% sulforaphane extract. Is this good, bad or indifferent?
Really, it depends on how you look at it. A hundred or a thousand years ago, they did not have the biochemical means of extracting and focusing on the ‘actives’ in any one herb. They used the whole plant, root or leaf, in their therapies, which likely contained many actives, not just one. In many research projects, they do focus on the ‘actives’ in their studies, such as sulforaphane, boswellic acids or even curcuminoids. These actives do demonstrate clinical benefit on many levels, but the question is are we missing more by not using the entire plant? This is a good question and one that no one really has the answer to. What I can say is that many herbs are used in their extract form, concentrating more on actives, while in others, we use whole herb forms. Most of the whole herbs are used not only for their potential medicinal benefit, but also because of nutritional implications. Spirulina blue green algae or even green spinach is an example. I do think that what we are seeing over time, with some research, is that more health benefits are to be gained through the use of ‘whole’ herbs as compared to their extracts. Ironically, we are coming full circle back to where we were 100 or more years ago. Lastly, we have to keep in mind that these actives have medicinal properties, but are generally in low levels within that food or herb. If we consume a high potency extract, we could possibly be overdoing it on a certain level, consuming more than what nature had intended. This is even true when we look at an apple, determining that instead of consuming the fruit, we could just take a large volume of vitamin C. In reality, vitamin C is present in a very low level in that apple, but despite exerts a tremendous kick to health due to relation to other cofactors present. We may be missing those benefits just by consuming that pill.
Bottom Line
Herbs can provide tremendous benefits to health. There is no doubt to that statement, however, we are not always getting what we think we are paying for. Quality, potency, purity and dosing are all factors that come into play, which each can influence results and our health. One product may seem cheaper than another, but we have to be cautious about what we are purchasing.
Even with the information presented above, each manufacturer is left up to determining their own standards. To some, this may be a low lead level less than 1 ppm, but to others it may be <5 ppm. The same goes for bacteria and other quality measures. Thus, it can tough to make decisions because this end testing material is generally not available to the public. The more information and knowledge we have available, the better our choices in the end.
At Nouvelle Research, Inc, our standards are high and testing is performed routinely. After all, we are customers of our own products.
Author: Tom Schell, D.V.M., CVCH, CHN