Total Body Wellness Through Tonic Herbs:
The New Revolution in Herbal Medicine
by Daniel B. Mowrey, Ph.D.
In the following article I would like to share with my readers a vision of
how you can best affect total body wellness through the use of herbs. This
vision is the end result of years of study, research and personal use of herbs.
Many of the resources of American Phytotherapy Research Laboratory (APRL) have
been devoted to this undertaking and the results have been very satisfying.
First, however, I would like to review the current status of herbal medicine in
this country and briefly explore the strengths and weaknesses of our system, as
well as the reasons for some of our problems.
Since the rebirth of serious interest in herbs in the 1970's in America, literally hundreds of companies have brought myriads of different herbal products to the market. Several dozen books on herbal medicine have been written and the level of education in this area has risen dramatically. Yet despite all of the effort ( and to some extent because of it) pockets of ignorance still persist, and a certain confusion about herbs and their beneficial properties is evident. The new consumer is often overwhelmed by the lack of consistency in the written material, by the lack of disciplined research on most of the plants, and the rising tide of do's and don'ts surging from the pens of would-be experts.
Contributing to our problems is the medical model of disease that dominates our thinking. Much of what has been written about herbs ( my books included) has been heavily tainted by our educational experiences about health and disease, and that education has more often than not reflected the medical model. This model holds that most disease is germ-induced, and the cure of the disease is effected by killing the germ or inoculating the patient against the disease. Diseases that are not germ-induced may nevertheless be categorized according to the drug that "cures" them: anti-cholesterol, hypotensives, pain killers, anti-inflammatories, anti-cancer, etc. This model is so ingrained that even our herbal books reflect the same mentality: we have herbs that fight cholesterol, herbs to fight cancer, herbs to kill germs, herbs to induce bowel movements, herbs to fight arthritis, diabetes, senility, muscle aches, insomnia, and so forth. According to this view, the distinction between herbal medicine and orthodox medicine is simply between the relative toxicity and synthetic nature of drugs versus the relative safety and naturalness of herbs. Drugs are powerful, synthetic agents that usually have a lot of side effects; herbs are mild, natural substances that usually have fewer side effects. Recent writings in herbal medicine have even tended to blur these rather obvious distinctions. Thus, we are learning that some, if not most herbs, can be toxic if used for prolonged periods of time, or in high dosages; that some combinations of herbs yield interactions that should be avoided, and that certain semi-synthetic derivatives of herbs are supposedly as good as or better than the original "natural" plant material (e.g., hydroxycitric acid from Garcinia cambogia).
Although users and purveyors of alternative medicine talk a lot about whole body wellness, 90% of all herbal products currently available are strictly direct reflections of the orthodox medical model of disease. They do not address or support whole body wellness. We need herbal products that are truly wellness oriented, whose primary function is to restore and maintain wellness. Can this need be fulfilled, and if so, how?
It has been my experience that there exists a whole category of herbs whose benefits have been lost to our understanding through decades of misinformation and fuzzy thinking. These are herbs which exhibit a balancing effect on whole body systems and individual physiological processes; that is, they maintain these processes on an even keel, neither overactive, nor underactive. I call them tonic herbs, and I believe they hold the answer to the question posed above. Tonic herbs. Powdered. Encapsulated. Whole. The tonic concept is of ancient origin, yet it encompasses properties that are more modern than anything dreamed of under the orthodox medical model. Relying on orthodox pharmaceutical language and patterning herbal remedies and combinations after the medical model has resulted in the loss of knowledge concerning tonic herbs, their unique properties and their relationship to total body wellness. In this paper I will attempt to correct that situation.
Our first task is to define the term "tonic." This necessitates removing any preconceptions about the word that may exist. For example, the true meaning of tonic has nothing to do with snake oil, patent medicine, hair lotions, liquid extracts, or tinctures. You should even put aside any understanding you may possess of so-called 'adaptogens,' an otherwise useful term that occupies just a small space in the grander tonic landscape.
©1995, Victory Publications 8305 788599941026
Daniel B. Mowrey, Ph.D. earned his advanced degree in experimental psychology from Brigham Young University. His specialized areas was psychopharmacology, with related studies in biochemistry, neurology, anatomy and physiology. His interest in medicinal botany began while in graduate school and his dissertation reflected that interest. Over the next several years his research in this area lead to the publications of several books, among which are: Herbal Tonic Therapies, The Scientific Validation of Herbal Medicine, Guaranteed Potency Herbs: Next Generation Herbal Medicine, and Fat Management: The Therogenic Factor
