Platelets are extremely important so that your blood clots. If you have a low platelet count you will bruise easily, be tired, and your gums may bleed. The medical term for low platetlets in thromboccytopenia.

There are many diseases and conditions which cause low platelets such as infections, cancer treaments, leukemia, enlarged spleen, and septic shock.

In CLL and other cancers, white cells take over the entire blood system, displacing red cells and platelets. The patient dies by bleeding out internally. One of the therapies they do with patients is to give them an emergency infusion of platelets to prolong their life for a few months. I am going to tell you that, in some cancers and in some patients, Papaya leaf extract maybe able to increase platelets significantly.

My husband has had CLL for about 8 years now. His platelet count was in the 200s until 4 months ago. 140 is low-normal, and anything below that is considered to be entering the dangerous range.

In Jan, his platelet count was 253, which was within the middle range of normal. The next month, it fell to 213, which was worrisome. That was the lowest it had fallen up to this point. His red blood cell count and the range of all of them were low-normal. I began expanding my research to find a possible answer.

The Amazing Rainforest herbs

It was about this time that I discovered a whole world of herbs I knew nothing about, except for Pau D’Arco. These are the herbs that grow in the rainforest areas of the Amazon. These herbs have been used for hundreds of years by local doctors to treat leukemia and various cancers. There is both historical use and research to support its use across different types of cancer. In the next substacks, I will go into some of these herbs.

I ran across the use of Papaya to increase platelets by accident. I thought of it as a digestive enzyme, so I had never researched it further.

It was an experiment to see what effect if any the supplement would have on my husbands platelet count which had fallen to 213.

I bought some to try, and a month later, the lab results showed his platelets had risen to 318. That is over a hundred points in one month..

That was amazing, the highest they had ever been since he got CLL. One month, the only difference in his regimen was the payaya leaf extract.

If you look at the reviews from Amazon on this product, you will find others who report their platelets increased as well. I give him one in the AM and one in the PM. My experience to this point, with CLL you have to continue the product. In my husbands case it is extending his life, because of its support for increasing platelets. In one review his oncologist suggested it, which is rare.

Amalth Papaya Leaf Extract Capsules

1000 mg | Carica Papaya Leaf Supplement | Platelet Support & Immune Support Formula | Papain Enzyme Digestive Health | Plant Based | Non-GMO | (no link here just so you find the product more easily.)

I have to interject here that you need to get your doctors approval for taking this. Copy off the research and history of Papaya and perhaps you can get him to actually read it.

How Papaya Leaves Support Platelets

Papaya leaves contain a unique phytochemical called acetogenin, which is proven to increase the platelet count.

Papaya leaves extract is full of flavonoids, vitamins, and antioxidants which help platelet health. They contain ample amounts especially vitamins A, C, E, and K.

Papaya leaf extract stimulates megakarocyte production in your bone marrow, which are precursor cells that help generate new platelets.

It contributes to thromopoietin activity. Thrombopoietin is a hormone that regulates the formation of new platelets.

Papaya leaf extract, containing antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties reduce oxidative stress and help prevent platelet death.

Historical Usage:

One of the symptoms in Dengue fever, is the destruction of platelets. Doctors in the Amazon used it historically and today for the treatment of this fever. This to me is proof in actual usage by the area doctors. Historical use demonstrates its value.

Clinical Evidence

There are some small studies that confirm papaya leaf extract can increase platelet counts in humans but not a lot of studies specific to leukemia, more evidence in other platelet deficiency problems. It is working with my husband and his CLL.

“Evidence based benefits of papaya leaf extract

Most interest in papaya leaf extract centers on its potential to support platelet recovery in dengue fever and other forms of thrombocytopenia. Multiple clinical studies, including randomized controlled trials, have evaluated standardized tablets or capsules alongside standard care for dengue. In many of these studies, patients taking papaya leaf extract showed faster rises in platelet counts over three to five days, fewer bleeding symptoms, and sometimes shorter hospital stays compared with those receiving placebo or supportive care alone.”

https://www.vinmec.com/eng/blog/does-eating-papaya-increase-platelets-en

In dengue patients, consuming 50 ml/day of papaya leaf juice for four days significantly improved platelet levels compared to controls (Bajaj et al., 2016).”

“Papaya leaf extract has also been studied in chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia, showing supportive effects on platelet recovery.”

https://www.vinmec.com/eng/blog/does-eating-papaya-increase-platelets-en

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11196968/

https://www.vinmec.com/eng/blog/does-eating-papaya-increase-platelets-en

Dosage: Start out with dosage reccomended on bottle label.

Precautions

Allergic reactions, do not take in pregnancy unless cleared by your doctor, possible digestive issues with some people, consult your doctor first before taking papaya leaf extract, and use lowest dosage first if you are sensitive to foods and herbs.

Medications you are taking may interfere with Papaya Leaf Extract so get medical supervision before taking.

Photo by Dollar Gill on Unsplash. Learn what you can do to speed up healing after illness

The first 4 weeks, he just didn’t function much, mentally or physically. It was hard. Over the past two weeks, he has made significant improvement; he can now shave, shower, and take care of his personal needs. That is huge progress. For the first time yesterday, he was able to take out the trash, which is huge. He has improved in his memory, although he has a way to go to get back to the point before being sick with COVID and strep. He will start PT services this week, which should help him dramatically.

We often get impatient and want healing to take place on our time, which is usually yesterday. It takes time after a serious disease or infection, and it is especially true if you are older, like my husband. Give it time, readers. Don’t give up on your loved one, even when each improvement seems to take forever.

What did I do to speed up recovery and strengthen his immune system?

I gave him vitamins such as Vitamin D, Vitamin C, B-Complex in high doses, quercetin, zinc, minerals, electrolytes, and probiotics to strengthen his immune system after he received antibiotics in the hospital. The body is depleted during illness, so you need to give extra-heavy doses of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids to replace what was lost and help the body rebuild its immune system.

Most of your one-a-day vitamins are NOT strong enough to do much good after illness!

Moringa Oleifera-

He gets large doses of these herbal leaves from the Moringa Oleifera tree. Moringa is extremely high in all the vitamins and minerals you need for body health. It is a healing food. So Moringa is important for building the patient’s strength. In countries where there is starvation, they give these leaves to mothers who are starving, pregnant, and nursing. They give them to their children to help them live and get healthier. It is a food that rebuilds with nutrients to help all the body's systems get stronger.

He gets Suma twice a day,

which is an amazing adaptogen from the rainforest, to build up and strengthen his whole body. It is a new herb I didn't know about until 3 months ago. I take it too, now. I have tried Ginseng and several different adaptogens, which did not seem to make a difference, but this improved his health within two weeks. His energy level improved, and his nonexistent appetite improved within a week.

Suma Root Health Benefits

Suma root (Pfaffia paniculata, also known as Brazilian Ginseng) natively grows in South America. Suma is known for its potent adaptogenic properties and is used by local doctors and natives alike. Suma root contains a rich array of bioactive compounds, including pfaffic acids, saponins, and beta-ecdysterone, which contribute to its nutritional and adaptogenic profile.

The amazing health benefits of suma root are listed below:

It enhances brain function and helps protect the brain from damage. Both strep and COVID cause inflammation that damages brain function.

It is an adaptogen herb that helps the whole body work better. It strengthens immune function.

It's anti-inflammatory because diseases and illnesses always increase inflammation in the body. This anti-inflammatory effect also helps cancer patients.

“Research has also linked suma root with the following health benefits:

• May benefit people with sickle cell disease. Test-tube research suggests that suma root extract may improve the shape of red blood cells, which are commonly misshapen in people with sickle cell disease (16Trusted Source). Red blood cells are often misshapen in CLL as well.

• May improve digestion. Animal studies suggest that the root may help reduce gut damage and markers of inflammation in rats with inflammation of the colon (5Trusted Source, 17Trusted Source).”

• Dosages of Suma are not exact and are generally given as follows, according to Healthline. Always test your body on anything new, get your doctor’s approval first, and go slow to begin with. Herbs and drugs do interact with each other sometimes in a very negative way.

“Suma root manufacturers or sellers generally recommend drinking 2 daily cups of suma root tea or consuming 500–1,500 mg of dried root capsules 2–3 times per day.

Alternatively, it’s commonly encouraged to dissolve 1–2 grams of powdered suma root or 1–2 mL of the root extract in a beverage of your choice up to 3 times daily.” from the Healthline page.

Probiotics:

Important, since your immune system needs your gut microbiome to work properly to defeat pathogens such as strep and Covid. Antibiotics destroy your gut biome. It can take weeks or months to rebuild your gut system.

A healthy gut is central to immune function, with around 70–80% of immune cells residing there, where the microbiome, gut barrier, and immune tissues interact to regulate immunity and inflammation.

The Probiotic Supplement which we use and I recommend to you is Naturebell, with each capsule containing 200 billion CFU and 40 different strains. The bottle contains 240 caps. For cancer and rebuilding the immune system after heavy antibiotic use, take 2 caps twice a day, not once a day as on the bottle, until your loved one recovers. The bottle label states that it is lab-tested, made in the US, and GMO-free. Those labels on the bottle are important in selecting quality products.

The following is from A1, but I see no reason not to use the explanation, because it is accurate and precise. It would take me a long time to restate all of this when it is not needed.

The Gut-Immune Interface

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is not only responsible for digestion but also serves as a major immune organ. The gut houses the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), including Peyer’s patches, the appendix, and isolated lymphoid follicles, which collectively coordinate immune surveillance, antibody production, and the maturation of immune cells such as B cells and T cells. Secretory IgA (sIgA), produced in the gut, neutralizes pathogens and maintains mucosal homeostasis. The intestinal epithelial barrier, composed of tight junctions and mucus, prevents harmful substances from entering the bloodstream, supporting immune tolerance and defense.

casi.org+4

Role of the Gut Microbiome

Trillions of microorganisms in the gut, collectively called the gut microbiome, produce metabolites like short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)—butyrate, acetate, and propionate—that influence immune cell activation, differentiation, and anti-inflammatory responses. SCFAs enhance the integrity of the gut barrier by promoting tight junction proteins and mucus production, while also modulating T cell activity, including regulatory T cells (Tregs), which help maintain immune balance. Beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacterium, Faecalibacterium, and Roseburia are associated with stronger immune resilience, whereas dysbiosis—an imbalance in gut microbes—can lead to leaky gut, chronic inflammation, and increased susceptibility to infections or autoimmune conditions.

casi.org+5

Early-Life Immune Education

The gut microbiome plays a critical role in immune system development, especially during infancy. Early microbial colonization educates immune cells to distinguish between harmful pathogens and harmless substances, establishing immune tolerance and reducing the risk of allergies and autoimmune diseases later in life. Germ-free animal studies show that the absence of gut microbes impairs lymphoid tissue development and reduces key immune cells, highlighting the microbiome’s essential role in immune maturation.

biologyinsights.com+3

Diet and Lifestyle Influences

Dietary and lifestyle factors profoundly affect gut-immune health. High-fiber, plant-rich diets support microbial diversity and SCFA production, while fermented foods provide probiotics that enhance gut barrier function and immune modulation. Nutrients such as vitamins A, C, D, E, zinc, selenium, and glutamine support both gut integrity and immune function. Conversely,

Western-style diets high in processed foods, sugar, and saturated fats can reduce microbial diversity, compromise the gut barrier, and promote inflammation. Lifestyle factors like adequate sleep, stress management, moderate exercise, and cautious antibiotic use also influence gut microbiota and immune resilience.

NutriAdmin+3

Birmingham Gastroenterology Associates+4”

I hope, by this Substack, you realize that you need to give your body time to heal; it needs to be strengthened and repaired so it can be rebuilt. That takes extra nutrients to do this.

This is a raw substack, but I am one of many thousands of wives, husbands, and families taking care of someone they love who is either dying from a disease or from a memory disorder.

My husband has CLL, but his recent hospitalization after becoming sick with COVID and strep throat left him in a state that may not get better. Two weeks of sickness took a man who could walk a mile with our dog and do chores to a man who can hardly function physically and has lost considerable memory and executive mental function. The doctor stated that it could be forever, or he could recover some of what he has lost.

I went from the strong one to the only one who is functioning both physically and mentally. All in two weeks. We went from going to church to him refusing to see people, refusing to try, and not caring. It was an abrupt change of roles, responsibilities, and lifestyle.

I don’t know which is harder. It is watching someone slowly lose who they are, or watching the ravages of a disease. The disease is usually quicker, while the mental deterioration can go on for many years, slowly claiming them piece by piece.

The focus each day is on the one dying or who is impaired mentally, and what needs to be done. The caregiver's entire existence centers on the patient's hourly and daily needs.

You carry on because you have no choice. You put one foot in front of the other and just do it. When people ask you how your loved one is doing, you give them the report.

How many see what their caregiver is going through, and the impact on that person, and how they are managing.

Most of us who are caregivers put on a brave face and say that we are managing fine. We state don’t worry. It is not until the hours of darkness when we are alone that we admit to God and ourselves, we are one nerve off the only nerve left.

We cry silent tears for our loved one slipping away and for ourselves as we watch the process. We break inside and then put it back together and go on. It is required. You have no choice.

Inside, you are slipping away. Inside, you are losing who you are. Inside, you are drowning at times with the chores, the cleaning, the loss of sleep, the loss of who you ever were before your loved one got cancer or memory loss.

The silence of one who no longer talks at all, to conversations that make no sense at all, leads to starvation for normal conversation. You just want some normalcy in your life.

The constant realization that a conversation is not understood, cannot be understood, and will be less understood in the future hits with every conversation. You know that it will only get worse with time, not better. You are grieving for your loved one as you lose them one piece at a time. You are grieving for yourself as well, knowing your life will never be like it was.

What can the caregiver do to preserve their sanity and health while caring for those we love?

Don’t say you're fine when you are not. Admit to someone you are one nerve off the edge. If no one knows how poorly you are doing, how can they help with a hug, words, or a cup of coffee while sitting on the porch steps?

Find someone with whom you can discuss your sadness, your anger, and your frustration with what is going on. That can be a friend, counselor, minister, or someone else.

Find a time to cry to let out the emotions. Find a time when you can break down without upsetting the one with cancer.

Journal your way through the pain and sadness. Let all the emotions out in one way or another.

Join a group for the caregivers of cancer patients who are going through all the emotions and pain you are experiencing.

Listen to music that quiets your nerves, pain, and thoughts.

Read the Bible or whatever book lets you escape for a few minutes.

Go outside in the sunshine with your coffee or tea and rest your mind and body, if only for a few minutes. Take whatever break you can and rest your thoughts.

Watch the birds, check out your flowers, check out the squirrels, and see that the world is still going on despite your life being stuck.

Realize that this time, which seems like forever, will end at some point. You need to get through the time in between. Try to remember who you are and take care of yourself. Eat, take vitamins, try to get some exercise, try to keep your brain functioning and healthy, rest when you can, and find someone to give you breaks from your loved one.

Admit you are breaking and you need help.

Ask a neighbor or someone from your church or community to come by and sit with your loved one so you can have a few minutes by yourself. I know it is hard to ask, but do it anyway. Learn to say YES when people offer you help. Learn to say YES, I do need a break. I do need to talk. I do need to vent. Yes, I am breaking at times.

To all my readers going through this pain, I send a hug, prayers, and I do know what you are feeling and going through. Here is some love to soothe your pain.

In 1789, a famous English botanist and herbalist named Nicholas Culpeper wrote a book, Culpeper's English Physician and Complete Herbal, in which he described the amazing qualities of dandelion, including its ability to remove obstructions in the liver, gallbladder, and spleen.

So historically, dandelion’s medicinal properties have been known and used for hundreds of years for the same ailments and purposes, even though they have not done large clinical trials, which they won’t because there is no money in it for the drug manufacturers. There are hundreds of small research studies, lab studies, and rat studies that all support dandelions’ reported health and healing benefits.

What health benefits does dandelion offer to your health?

Dandelion is a powerhouse of antioxidants, including beta-carotene and polyphenols, that help neutralize free radicals in your body. Here in this country, in the Appalachians, people have historically and today use dandelion tea in their home remedies to maintain health. The Amish, who are among the healthiest Americans, use it today as well. What they know about keeping health up naturally ought to be a course in general education.

Dandelion has been used throughout the ages to support liver function, promote healthy detoxification, and improve overall liver health. Research shows that the humble dandelion and its properties may be important in treating liver problems, including acetaminophen-induced liver injury, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and alcohol-related liver damage.

In some studies, dandelion helps to lower sugar levels. improve insulin sensitivity and support the management of type 2 diabetes.

Dandelions contain a number of compounds that help to reduce inflammation in the body. Inflammation is a part of most diseases, including cancer and heart disease.

Its ability to reduce inflammation also helps to lower blood cholesterol, which plays an important role in healthy heart function. Dandelion helps to reduce fluid retention, which is also beneficial for lowering high blood pressure.

Dandelions’ role in killing cancer cells

Dandelion is part of my husband’s program to fight CLL. He takes the extract in capsule form 2 times a day. It supports his liver, which is still very healthy. It supports other detoxification processes needed to fight CLL. It is one supplement he gets every day. It is one of the herbs you can plant that grows almost everywhere. In the city, it is hard to grow your own, since code enforcement here, for instance, issues fines if you let them grow.

“A number of animal-based and test-tube studies have found that dandelion root may be useful in the prevention and treatment of certain types of cancer, including liver cancer, leukemia, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, esophageal cancer, and prostate cancer.”

“For instance, a 2011 study from Canada treated skin cancer cells with dandelion extract and found that it began killing cancer cells within just 48 hours of treatment.”

“Another study in Oncotarget showed that dandelion root extract killed 95% of colon cancer cells within 2 days..”

So, despite the lack of large pharma clinical studies, dandelion’s medicinal properties have been known and used for hundreds of years for the same ailments and purposes.

They haven't done large clinical trials because there is no money in it for the drug manufacturers. There are hundreds of small research studies, lab studies, and rat studies that all support dandelions’ reported health and healing benefits.

The American health system does not want to find a cure for cancer.

It is a far too lucrative business to shut down. What would oncology doctors do for income if they were not giving patients chemo, radiation, and surgery? What would surgeons do for income if you were well, if they concentrated on how to prevent illness and cancer, not cut things out? There have been trillions invested into cancer research in this country, yet thousands die from cancer even after standard medical treatments.

Dandelion supports the immune system and fights bacteria

Research shows that dandelion has both antimicrobial and antiviral properties, especially against staph infections and foodborne pathogens. It may be one of the tools to use when fighting bacterial infections

Your body was created with an immune system meant to protect you from disease and cancer.

That immune system needs healthy food, exercise, and nutrition to support the various systems that make it up. It means dealing with stress in a healthy way. It needs you to find ways to support your mental and emotional health. If the majority of people worked on the elements I just spoke about, they wouldn’t need oncology. I won’t even go into my view on vaccinations, especially the COVID shots. People in this country see doctors as Gods who know all. Look around you at the deaths and cancer surging. If they are God’s who have all the answers, they are doing an awful job. You need to take back health care decisions for your life.

The next Substack will give you some pointers and information on how to use dandelions in home remedies. When and how to pick them. What parts of the plant are used for? I hope you will come back to read that article.

In the ER, the doctor ordered tests and CT scans of his lungs down through his pelvis. Both the COVID and strep tests came out positive for both of us. They kept Marty there and began giving him fluids and antibiotics.

The CT scans showed many swollen lymph nodes. The doctor was not experienced in CLL. Since we had not seen an oncologist in quite a while, he basically thought Marty’s condition had turned into Lymphoma cancer or some other cancer. He pretty much refused to let Marty go home and ordered him to be taken by ambulance up to an oncology center near Denver.

I had COVID and strep, so they would not let me go up to. I was sick but not in a critical way. So he ended up in the oncology unit basically because of this doctor.

So in those 4 days, they performed a number of cancer blood tests, as well as treating him for lung issues and strep. I can say that they consulted me on what they were doing. I did get some important consultations with the doctors.

After 4 days up there, they released him with antibiotics to be taken at home. He came home so weak from being sick that he wasn’t functioning physically or mentally well. Most of these symptoms are covid after effects, such as weakness, mental impairment, and remarkably not who he was before he got sick. His CLL didn’t help the situation, to say the least.

The results of all the oncology tests and diagnosis are that he has CLL, just like the doctors said several years ago.

It had NOT turned into a more rapid killing cancer of any kind. His lymph node involvement is part of the stage 2 symptoms. His spleen is not involved at this point. His red blood cell system and platelets were fine. He was still in watch-and-wait with CLL staging. They did not find anything remarkable in the CLL part of his health. So the regimen with herbs has worked.

Papaya extract and effects on platelets.

I am going to write a whole article on this subject. I found the research by accident.

I started using papaya extract on him for his platelets. That has been shown to improve platelets. In one month, his platelet count rose from 213, which is low-normal, to over 300. That is conclusive evidence that papaya can raise platelet counts in CLL. I thought I would tell you that. I had paid for tests myself a month before. They then tested his blood several times at this Oncology center.

It is now the middle of March, and I am completely well with no lasting COVID effects, either mentally or fatigue-wise. My husband is improving a little at this point, but he needs help to function. The COVID aftermath with him is severe. I am trying to rebuild his system, both physically and with brain-herbs such as Lion’s Mane. We have been married since 2009, and he has never been in this state. I am going to use the system for some evaluations we need. I am going to continue his regimen for CLL, which is an alternative medicine. He needs me most of the day at this point.

I am delaying the brain and Lyme course I was going to start this month. I just can’t do all of it while concentrating on getting him back up from all of this. I will update you all on this. I do hope you understand and will be patient until I can write more.

Medicinal mushrooms are part of a diet that boosts immune function.

I discovered mushrooms late in life. It wasn’t until my traditional go-to herbs didn't work for an infected jawbone that I dove into the research and bought my first mushroom powder. I so wished I had added them to my regimen years ago. I use medicinal mushrooms every day, either in a smoothie or hot mushroom chocolate. I personally take Reishi, turkey tail, and a mushroom blend with various mushrooms for my immune system. We also take Lion’s mane to support healthy brain function. After two concussions and Chronic Lyme disease that is very important to me.

I have had great success using mushrooms to bolster my immune system and my health. I encourage you to study them and try them. Mushrooms need to be used every day for them to work. It takes time to build up your immune system.

The more I study and research them, the more fascinated I become by their value for health, diet, cancer prevention, and boosting immune function. Take time to research them yourself! You will not be disappointed in what you read!

Why is it important to investigate medicinal mushrooms?

Deaths and Hospitalizations From Use of Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS)

In 1997, it was estimated that “Each year, use of NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) accounts for an estimated 7,600 deaths and 76,000 hospitalizations in the United States.”

(NB: NSAIDs include aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac, ketoprofen, and tiaprofenic acid.)

In 2020 The CDC gives this data below on cancer deaths in the US

• “136,084 people died of lung cancer (63,135 females and 72,949 males).

• 51,869 people died of colorectal cancer (23,826 females and 28,043 males).

• 46,774 people died of pancreatic cancer (22,495 females and 24,279 males).

• 42,275 females died of breast cancer.

• 32,707 males died of prostate cancer.

• 28,227 people died of liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancer (9,591 females and 18,636 males).

• These numbers are despite billions of dollars spent on cancer research, chemotherapy drugs, and radiation treatments.”

How often does your doctor talk to you about your nutrition, diet, exercise habits, drug habits, or smoking habits? Not one doctor, even my husband’s heart doctor, asked about any of these important lifestyle factors.

It was I doing research and paying out of pocket for lab tests that proved that my husband had severe iron deficiency anemia and a thyroid issue because of the iron deficiency. It was my research work that now shows Rocky Mountain spotted fever can indeed impact health for months or years.

Doctors have no time to read research studies or keep up with journals with new information that could impact your health. They rely on what they learned in medical school, no matter how outdated that knowledge is.

Why medicinal mushrooms should be included in your tools for good health and to fight cancer and other immune disorders.

Medicinal Mushrooms have been consumed for thousands of years by their native peoples as both food and medicine. The fact that mushrooms have been consumed and used for thousands of years is a tribute to their effectiveness. Medicinal mushrooms are today used by oncologists in countries like China, Japan, and China to fight cancer and other diseases.

Researchers here in the US do not accept this historical usage, whether it be for food or medicine. They only take the results from double-blind placebo-based research studies where mushrooms are given in huge dosages or given as injections along with medications.

Most research studies must include chemo or radiation along with mushrooms to get funding. Mushrooms have been used for cancer treatment and to boost immunity for thousands of years with success, but that does not count for your doctor. That is why your doctor will not, in most cases, talk about medicinal mushrooms or suggest you add them to your health protocol.

People in Japan, China, Russia, Mexico, and other countries use mushrooms as part of their diet. For years, people foraged for these medicinal mushrooms in the forests nearby. Most of these medicinal mushrooms must be processed before being eaten. Many of these mushrooms grow from the bark of trees. Some grow in the ground.

I will interject a warning here that foraging mushrooms should only be done by people who are experienced and knowledgeable about which mushrooms are safe to eat and which are poisonous.

Once picked, each type of mushroom must undergo an extraction process to release its medicinal properties. This mushroom extraction process may include water, alcohol, and heat. The mushrooms must be picked from areas free from heavy metal contamination and agricultural chemicals.

Here in this country, many people just use button mushrooms on their pizza or in a salad. They have no idea about their real health or medicinal value. Even the button mushroom has significant health benefits.

How Mushrooms Help Your Immunity and Disease Resistance

If you have health issues or cancer, you need to upgrade to the mushrooms that have been most researched for their true medicinal properties. What are the properties that make medicinal mushrooms tools to fight cancer and other immune system problems?

Mushrooms contain Beta-glucans!

Beta-glucans have been the basis for thousands of research studies in the fight against cancer. Studies show their effects on the immune system and on cancer fighting.

All mushrooms contain beta-glucans, but certain medicinal mushrooms contain higher amounts of beta-glucans. “Beta-glucans induce anti-cancer activity through direct anti-tumor activity and prevention of angiogenesis. The former is mediated through a thymus gland dependence, activating cytotoxic macrophages, monocytes, neutrophils, natural killer cells, dendritic cells, and various cytokines, including interleukins and interferons, triggering complementary and acute phase response.” from Medicinal Mushrooms, the Human Clinical Trials by Robert Dale Roberts.

Mushrooms contain Water-soluble Polysaccharides

Important and essential nutrients for an effective, healthy immune system that has the capability to fight off disease and cancer.

“A major class of immunologically active molecules in mushrooms and other fungi and their action on the immune system has been extensively studied.” Medical Mushrooms: A Clinical Guide by Martin Powell.

More Medicinal Mushrooms Properties

Mushrooms contain Triterpenes, Phenols, Sterols, Statins, Indole compounds, enzymes, including digestive enzymes, Chitin, and other properties, which all contribute to improving overall health, digestive health, gut health, and immune system health, and are protective of the heart, liver, and other organs of your body.

If you really want to get into the scientific literature on what all these properties are and how they affect the body, read the following three books:

Medicinal Mushrooms, a Clinical Guide by Martin Powell

Medical Mushrooms, the Human Clinical Trials by Robert Dale Rogers

Healing Mushrooms, a Practical and Culinary Guide to Using Mushrooms for Whole Body Health by Tero Isokauppila, founder of Four Sigmatic.

These are all part of my mushroom library, but these are heavy reading with clinical studies, so dive into these if you want to see how much research has been done on medical mushrooms. If you want to read in-depth about how and why you should include mushrooms in your diet and health regimen.... these books will convince you!

I hope this site, its articles, research, and news will help you on your path to getting those answers.

Cathryn Freer, the Herbladyisin signing off for today.

https://www.realmushrooms.com/7-medicinal-mushroom-benefits-for-health/

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/benefits-of-mushrooms/

https://naturalforce.com/blogs/nutrition/medicinal-mushrooms

So Monday morning came, and no Missy. Monday night, no Missy. I knew then we had a problem. We live in a town neighborhood with lots of houses around us, and all have garages where kitties can get locked up. So I called animal control, TNR, and the street department. No cats run over. I then put notifications on our local Facebook pages. I did everything I could think of first. I also noticed that her brother and sister seemed to be roaming more. Perhaps that meant they knew where she was. After going up several alleys calling her name, it was not good.

It was now Thurs. My gut still told me she was locked up, but where? So that afternoon, we followed the cats around the block, and they hung out by the house where they were actually born under the porch at. We called, but no Missy. We waited until the woman came home to see if she would check her garage.

No missy. We then went to walk home and passed the house right behind our alley. The neighbor had told us these neighbors had left on vacation on Sunday, the day she disappeared. That house had garages on both the alley side and the street side. We had gone to the garage on the street side several times that week.

So we started calling, and sure enough, there was a faint meow. Now we knew where she was, but the neighbors wouldn't be back for another 4 days. She would have been dead by then. We went back to the neighbor where we had gone first to see if she could call the people on vacation.

She had a key to their garage and took us over. One happy yowling cat came running out. We took her home and thanked God for finding her before she roasted in there.

What is interesting is that the cats initially took us to the wrong house. But it was the right house to get her freed. The one house where the neighbor had a key to solve the dilemma. I knew she was locked up, and we had been all around those houses, but didn’t hear her at the time.

It seems we are sometimes so close to solving a problem but miss it over and over. I don’t think prayer is just for big problems. I feel God cares about lost cats. I prayed for help to find her. I prayed to hear her wherever she was locked up.

Prayer is for small things, too. I have learned to never give up with my prayers. Our male cat was locked up somewhere for two months. I never gave up. He came home 62 days later, almost dead from starvation. I continually prayed for God to help him get loose and to find his way home.

No one believed me when I knew inside my heart that he was still alive.

Faith and hope, when all else seems lost, are what is needed at times. It doesn’t matter that others think your crazy or that something is impossible…you know it is possible.

That goes for lost cats and lost dreams and impossible situations where hope seems gone.

So believe even when it seems impossible. Believe when hope is all but gone.

Whoever is out there and needs this story, I hope this helps. Happy Sunday, folks!

How and where was the herb grown?

The herb needs to be grown in good soil, free of contaminants. If possible, organic certified. China and India are where many herbs originate from. The water, soil, and air in these countries are polluted. Lead is a real problem in these countries. Lead can also occur in herbs grown in areas where volcanoes once erupted. It is naturally occurring lead, not lead from industrial pollution, as in India and China.

The Ganges River in India, which waters the agricultural crops, is one of the most contaminated rivers in the world with dead animals, dead human carcases, industrial pollution, chemicals of every kind, and disease. That river feeds all the agriculture throughout the nation. Plants take up the chemicals, and you ingest those chemicals.

What species of plant was picked?

In many plant species, there may be only one or two that are medicinally potent and used for herbal medicine. If you pick the wrong one, you won't get any medicinal value. Herbs have look-alikes, so you must know if the right herb is picked, and what part was picked.

There are problems with cheaper herbs being substituted for the correct botanical species in the formulation. This is especially true of herbs such as goldenseal, which are mixed with less expensive herbs. That is why testing of the plant material is critical.

Herbs need to be picked at a certain time of day, after they have grown to maturity.

Was the correct part of the plant processed?

In some cases, only the root is potent. In other herbs, it is the flowers or the whole plant that are used for healing.

What drying process was used in drying the herbal product?

How long was the herb sitting there before processing?

Was it air-dried and under what circumstances?

Was it stored in a clean processing plant?

Was the machinery clean? Were the people in charge using clean procedures?

If the herb was not processed properly through all these steps, you have a useless product.

You cannot tell by looking at the contents of a cap? Taste may be different. Color may vary on a product. Smell may be an indicator, but not always.

Was the original herb product tested in the US by a 3rd party testing company?

If a company does not talk about its testing procedures, it probably doesn’t do testing. They import the material and use the test scores from the country of origin. That is not good.

Was the plant material tested before it was bottled or packaged? Why is testing so important?

These are the tests that should be performed on products before bottling.

This is an example from Raintree Pharmacy in Florida below. They state this on their website.

“Testing
We ensure to use current industry-standard testing methods. All tests are conducted at FDA-registered facilities that are ISO/IEC 17025:2017 certified and comply with cGMP’s.

Botanical Identification

• Botanical Vouchers from expert botanists

• FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy)

Microbiologic Testing

• Total Aerobics Plate Count USP <61>

• Yeast & Mold USP <61>

• Coliforms AOAC 991.14

• Escherichia Coli USP <62>

• Salmonella USP <62>

  Staphylococcus aureus USP <62>

• Pseudomonas aeruginosa USP <62>

Chemical Analysis

• Random Heavy Metals Testing

1. Arsenic

2. Cadmium

3. Lead

4. Mercury

Storage

• Temperature/Humidity-controlled warehouse

• Facility inspected by FDA

• Facility inspected by the Florida Department of Agriculture.”

How was the herb material bottled or packaged?

Was it bottled or packaged in the country of origin, like India? Is the facility modern and clean, and does it have no access points for mice or rats? How long does the product sit in the warehouse before it's shipped or sold?

Don’t buy products that don't state the testing they perform on the bottle label.

All these steps, from picking to bottling, are extremely important and make the difference between an herb that is potent and safe and one you might as well dump into the trash.

It’s one of the main reasons people say herbs don’t work: they bought a cheap, untested product.

Buy products that show seals on the bottle label, like 3rd party tested, organic certified, GMP, and tested in the US.

Many of you reading this article buy organic certified products and herbal supplements because you feel they are safer. You may think they contain more quality nutrients with less contamination. The reality is that this is not always true. Find out why organic certified products may not live up to the standards you have in your mind and values.

I am going to tell you about my experience importing certified organic moringa leaves from India a few years ago. The reality is, we nearly shut down our San Diego business because of our inexperience, fraudulent organic certificates, and contaminated herbal products.

In 2015, we were living in San Diego. I discovered Moringa Oleifera and its benefits. It is a tree with leaves that are extremely nutritious. I bought seeds, and all of them grew quickly. I had baby trees everywhere. We fell in love with growing them and decided to start a business with my husband to sell them. We named our business Moringa and Healing Herbs.

We spent the time and money to get a nursery license and began selling the trees. It was a beautiful area to grow them. Then we decided we should sell the packaged Moringa powder and tea as well. After investigating several US companies that wholesaled Moringa products, we could not really confirm the quality of the supplements. All were vague about their testing. Vague means they are lying about the tests they perform.

So, we decided to import Moringa products directly from India. That way, we could confirm it was organic and properly tested. Our goal was noble.

After two months of investigation and correspondence, one company stood out from the others. The company's owner sent me pictures of their plantation, samples of their products, and a very realistic, certified-organic certificate.

We sent them $500.00 as a starting order. When the order never arrived, I investigated the company through the Organic Certifying Organization directly in India.

Well, in the end, I was told his certificate was stolen from another company and was fraudulent. We lost all the money. This guy evaded authorities after bilking several other companies in that same period and disappeared into the millions who live there.

Organic Certificates Can Be Forged

Organic certificates can be forged, so they must be investigated by the country itself. This takes a lot of time, effort, and frustration. Many of the plantations are crude, with basic, simple equipment; workers, including children who are not healthy; and a lack of clean water and sanitation facilities.

Cleaning and drying the products are often done in the open air or in less-than-sterile buildings. The storage areas are open to rodent contamination and product destruction. This is India we are discussing. In Indonesia, China, and the Philippines, the same problem exists.

Investigation of the company doesn’t always work either

So we cut our losses, and next, I investigated various companies through the certifying agent in India. I was already emailing the representative about the fraudulent company, and we had exchanged several emails.

That agent recommended a company, confirming it was a great company with certified organic status and quality products. I investigated this company with extensive due diligence. I was now confident in the quality of the product I was buying. I did not have the money to test it myself here in the US.

The shipment is confiscated by port agents.

So we sent them $800.00, their minimum order. Their customer service was excellent. Four weeks later, the shipment entered the US. It was inspected while on board and flagged for label issues. We were then informed that the product would be tested as well.

Next, we received a notice that the product had been found to contain dirt, filth, insect parts, and mouse parts. We would not get the shipment back, and they would destroy it. I was devastated at the news.

The good news is that the shipment was tested. What if I had sold that product to my customers? That was the end of importing products for us. We could not afford to wonder about the possibly contaminated product. We could not, with a clear conscience, tell our customers that the product was safe.

We eventually got the money back from the company, but this experience taught me several important lessons.

Importing food and herbs is not for the faint of heart.

Importing is a complicated process that requires real expertise to avoid losing your money and your business. If you want to import herbs to sell, you'd better get sage advice first from someone actively working in the business. Importing food and herbal products is even more complicated, filled with all sorts of surprises from port inspectors and the FDA.

How products become contaminated in the steps leading up to your consumption.

• Organic certification does not guarantee that a product is free of naturally occurring contaminants such as dirt, weeds, insects, rodent hair, and feces.

• Despite annual testing in India, the products can still be contaminated during the months without inspections.

• Contaminated water, contamination from the people picking the leaves, equipment that was not disinfected properly, drying procedures that were shoddy, or storage in a building that was not safe from insects or rodents.

• Organic certification does not mean that those organic standards and requirements were followed 100 percent of the time. If you know it’ll be a year before the next inspection, it is easy to cut corners on quality control.

• Organic quality depends on owners who follow those standards every day and take pride in their organic products. The organic certificate is only as good as the owners who either live up to those standards or cut corners.

• The inspections in those Asian countries are highly questionable and often fraudulent. How many companies have the time to check out these foreign growing fields? Do they actually visit their plantations to see their farming practices firsthand? The second company was legitimate, but its organic-certified products were still not safe for consumption.

You cannot assure safety unless the products are tested in a US GMP-certified lab.

You cannot testify to the quality of your products for your customers unless they are tested for heavy metals, E. coli, bacteria, lead, and other contaminants in a US facility.

I offer another example from San Diego, CA, and its farmers’ markets.

While we lived there, we visited the various farmers' markets on weekends. I loved browsing the organic produce. I did wonder how these smaller producers kept up with bringing products to the market, week in and week out.

Then an investigation was triggered by complaints that the vendors were substituting store-bought produce when they were short on their ability to supply their own organic offerings. It turned out to be true.

How do you tell organic produce from store-purchased?

If you have only one box of your own organic produce and need much more to sell to make a profit and pay vendor fees, what do you do? It depends on your commitment to honesty and integrity.

How easy is it to buy some retail lettuce, add it to your organic produce, mark up the price, then sell it as organic, making a profit? In doing so, you made enough to cover the vendor fees. Remember, those vendors pay a price to be a part of the Farmer’s Market in each location. They have many expenses. They have to make a profit.

Here are two more examples below:

Just about two years ago, a farmer was indicted for selling grain as organic when it was not. He got away with it for a few years. He did get caught, but how many people ate that food, thinking it was organic? This happens more often than you would think.

When we lived in Nevada, I went to buy chickens from a woman who also sold shares in her organic vegetable crops, grown in her backyard. She warned me about another woman in the area who substituted store-bought greens for her offerings when insects destroyed the whole crop. She later got caught and fined. She had been secretly spraying her vegetables with unapproved insecticides at night on the days when her shop was closed.

Organic certificates are only as good as the owner farmers who must adhere to the strict organic guidelines. Their honesty about how they grow their crops is the final criterion for determining whether a food is truly organic and free from contamination.

Cultivate friendships with local farmers who live in your area and visit their farms. Talk to them and ask them questions. When you are asking questions, like what are the organic steps that you take in your fields, watch their eyes, listen to their voice, and observe their behavior. When people are lying, they look down, look away from you, and refuse to look you straight in the eyes. Do they avoid giving you answers and explaining the procedures they take? Body language will tell you a lot if you can trust them. You can learn a lot that way.

Be observant and mindful when visiting farmers’ markets.

If nothing else, ask these same questions to the vendor at the farmer’s market. Observe him in the same way. Listen to your gut feeling about the vendor. Ask as an interested consumer, not someone looking to shut him down. Be casual and friendly as you speak with the vendor. A vendor proud of his organic steps will gladly tell you and show his pride. They want to educate people on buying organic and what it takes to grow organically.

Many growers use organic standards but lack organic certification.

You should also realize that some farms use organic standards but don’t have organic certification because it can take months to obtain it. The red tape is endless and enough to discourage anyone from the effort.

Some farms, lacking an organic certificate, may produce and sell higher-quality products than those with the certificate. Again, ask questions and watch body language. Remember, it is the farmers' honesty and their growing practices that make your food healthy and worth buying.

Overall, most organic growers are honest and dedicated.

There are many thousands of organic farmers who produce quality vegetables, fruit, and herbs. They follow the organic guidelines with pride. When organic crops are grown properly, they are healthier and contain more vitamins, nutrients, and trace minerals than conventionally raised crops. It is important to buy organic while being mindful of vendors who may not be trustworthy. Shop smart and use discretion when buying organic.

All for today, Cathryn Freer, the herbladyisin

That first set of shots broke her immune system. Infection after infection was treated with one antibiotic after another for a year. She lost weight and refused to eat most of the time. She got serious rashes that were painful. She cried all the time and was sickly. The doctors had no clue, and when I challenged them that she seemed resistant to the medicines. They told me that you can’t become resistant to antibiotics.

That was in 1981, before doctors realized the problems with the overuse of antibiotics, the destruction of your gut bacteria using antibiotics, and the side effects that can last for months or years. They had no idea they were creating drug-resistant strains of every kind of bacteria, including strep, by the overuse of antibiotics.

According to her doctors all those years ago, it was good medicine to continually give antibiotics to a baby, a toddler. She took every antibiotic available then, one after another, until none worked. Then they just threw up their hands and said, We don’t know. In a way, it was a blessing: since antibiotics didn't work, I had no choice but to look elsewhere for guidance to help her.

Doctors today insist they are always right until proven wrong years later, after patients have been harmed by their arrogant attitudes that they are the only ones who can save your health and life.

I knew her doctors were wrong, so I began to research a child’s immune system. There was a renowned healer in a town nearby named Keith Smith. He had studied under some of the great holistic doctors at that time. I went against my husband, at that time, the doctors, my family, and friends, knowing that the system was failing her and me.

Keith Smith, now gone, was a remarkable healer and teacher. He helped hundreds over 30 years in his area. He was my mentor and teacher.

With his expertise, advice, herbal medicine, and diet changes, she improved over time.

I became a healer because of my daughter, to save her life. That journey led me to study herbal medicine and take more classes. I have never stopped learning and taking classes. Herbal medicine and learning how to use it never ends.

For my husband and me, taking herbs is part of our way of life.

We don’t take prescription drugs. I have used herbs for serious health problems, but I am a trained herbalist with over 40 years of education and practice. You are probably new to herbal medicine and have limited knowledge of how to use herbs safely.

So herbs are safe when used properly with knowledge, training, and used under the direction of someone who has expertise.

This article is directed to those of you who have very limited knowledge of how to use herbs safely.

Using herbal medicine requires a skilled, knowledgeable guide.

In those days, the early 1980’s there was no internet with Dr. Google. You read books, and you found a healer to guide you. I repeat that in the past for hundreds of years, people consulted the local healer, the medicine man or woman in their community, or a family member whose expertise was herbal medicine. Local doctors in this country and throughout the world knew and used herbal medicine. In most communities, there was someone to give you expert advice on the proper use of the herbs for a certain illness.

Most people have no idea today on how to find a holistic doctor or healer. Their doctors bully them when a patient asks about seeking alternative healing. We were thrown out of two separate doctors offices for that. We even got a letter sent to our home saying we could not come back to their clinic. All we did was tell them we wanted to seek a doctor more experienced with Lyme disease.

Holistic doctors and healers are much harder to find today. In this country, they are threatened by the standard medical system and must be cautious in how they talk to clients.

In other countries, including Mexico, it is much easier to find a doctor well versed in the use of herbs. If we had money, we would be in Asia getting help right now for my husband with his white blood cell system issues.

That is what is missing today: the lack of experienced healers to help you properly use herbal medicine.

It is difficult to find a healer, and when you do, it is not covered by insurance. People have been so brainwashed by standard medicine that they have no idea how to find a holistic doctor and why they should. It is also a problem that most people have been conditioned to want a quick fix. Give me a pill to solve my diabetes, not a diet or lifestyle change. Often patients want to be well yesterday. It is not long-term wellness they want.

Why is Dr. Google a problem?

Dr. Google is a problem because you take the herbs without proper knowledge of how a particular herb or herbs will affect your individual body system.

Knowing about the herb does not tell you how it will affect your body system, especially if you take OTC drugs and or prescription drugs.

The majority of Americans take numerous OTC drugs, such as aspirin, plus at least two prescription drugs, to sleep or because of chronic pain. OTC drugs like aspirin are blood thinners, and so are many of the herbs…natural blood thinners. Combine them, and you are in trouble. Ginkgo has potent blood-thinning properties, and thousands take it for their brain health. Taking herbs is not something to be taken lightly without knowledge.

Herbal medicine is safe when you know how to use it properly, and should not be combined with prescription medicine.

Herbs are potent natural medicines and should not be taken without study and an understanding of how to use them properly.

Most of you reading this need a holistic doctor or experienced herbalist to help you incorporate herbs into your health program.

Herbs and prescription drugs taken together can be a lethal mix.

Each herb contains many properties with many different effects on the body.

Each herb, or combination of herbs, affects your body and its systems in different ways.

Herbs help different body systems work more effectively. They may help detoxify your body or expel mucus. Some herbs are used only for short-term relief, while others can be taken over the long term. The dosage of herbs depends on weight, the severity of the illness, the condition of the patient’s immune system, and other factors.

If you have had chemo or radiation, it is harder to work with a damaged immune system. Often people wait until the doctor says you have two months to live and we can’t help you anymore before they consult alternative therapies.

If you are in the throws of the last days, it is hard to turn that around.

I have listened to Asian doctors who did work on people that doctors had given up on, some of them far outliving their prognosis given to them by standard oncology doctors.

Some herbs help your heart function better, improve digestion, or improve circulation. Using the herbs does take time, weeks or months, to improve your body functions. That is why you need to know what herbs are most effective for your individual health issues.

Herbal medicine has to be uniquely designed to your health situation. There is no cookie-cutter answer.

Many herbs naturally lower blood pressure and blood sugar, and are natural blood thinners.

Herbs can be dangerous to your health if you take them with prescription drugs. It can land you in the hospital to take prescription drugs and herbs together! I can’t emphasize this enough.

Herbs can either potentiate the effects of the drug, can affect how slowly or quickly the drug is absorbed, or can decrease the effectiveness of a drug. Herbs can clash and often do with drugs, causing side effects that cannot be predicted.

If you are taking antidepressants, psychiatric drugs, or drugs that affect the way your brain works, that can have serious consequences.

If you take thyroid medication and herbs that affect the thyroid function, it will cause serious problems.

If you are taking different chemo and radiation treatments, taking herbs can cause problems in how your body reacts to the treatments.

Each herb contains many different properties that affect health and healing.

Those properties may include killing viruses and germs, such as oregano. Oregano is not an herb to take daily; use it when you are coming down with something. You need to start it early in the sickness.

If you do not take the right amount of the herb, you may not get well. You need to understand that there is a point when standard medicine may be needed.

Many herbs cannot be taken when pregnant because they can cause you to abort the baby. Herbs were used through the centuries to do just that: abort an unwanted baby.

If you are foraging for herbs, there are safe herbs and poisonous herbs that look almost alike, just like mushrooms. You have to learn from an experienced herbalist how to tell these look-alike herbs apart. You need to know which part of the herb to use, when to pick it, how to properly dry it, how it is used or made into an extract. Herbalists spend months and years going to school or learning from an expert during their training.

Most herbs should not be given to babies and children, and should not be given without a holistic doctor in charge. Elderberry does come in a children’s cough syrup or gummies. It still should not be taken if a child is on a prescription drug.

In the old days, before 1910, when herbal medicine was forbidden to be taught in U.S. medical schools, doctors did prescribe herbs and knew how to use them. In each town, there was a person who had herbal medicine expertise and could instruct you on how to use them. Herbal usage was carried down through the family. It was the only medicine used. As a child, your grandma or mom would grow herbs in their garden and teach you how to use them as you grew up. It is a shame, we have moved so far away from those times.

I am ending this here today and will get into the problems with the manufacture of herbs and how to buy herb products that are safe. You don’t want to miss this information.

If you are going to take herbs, do it the right way and get education and direction from a qualified healer or holistic doctor.

This is the same message you get when you search Google or look up herbs on the internet. The Google page will state that herbs are unsafe and unproven. We need more large, double-blind studies before we recommend herbs. Only clinical trials are valid.

Let’s debate the effectiveness of using herbs for healing and whether they are effective.

Your doctor says herbs are not safe or effective! Is this the truth, or the effective slam campaign pushed by drug companies whose main purpose is to discredit herbs and to push their drugs and the profit to be made from them?

Question for all of you reading this Substack?

So, how did herbal use suddenly become ineffective and dangerous to use, according to our US doctors and the internet, after centuries of use by every civilization in the world?

Why are herbs and alternative medicine still used by doctors today in many foreign countries of the world, including Germany, if herbs are not effective?

The remainder of this Substack will address those questions.

The drug companies spend billions on drug advertising paid to the media sources you watch, including social media.

How much money is spent on drug advertising in the US? 10.1 billion overall, with 5 billion allocated to TV ads.

The drug companies and their drug reps educate the doctors on what the drug is used for, its side effects, which are downplayed and the dosages. Do they have a monetary interest in how they educate doctors? absolutely

Would you write prescriptions for Cipro if you knew it could have devastating long-term side effects for patients in some cases? Hopefully not. A good doctor would write a prescription for another antibiotic that is safer with fewer side effects.

“The pharmaceutical advertising industry in the US is a multi-billion-dollar sector, with total healthcare and pharmaceutical advertising reaching over $30 billion in 2024. This includes prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, medical devices, and digital health solutions. The industry is heavily influenced by digital transformation and changing consumer healthcare behaviors. Direct-to-consumer prescription drug spending exceeded $10.1 billion in 2024, with over $5 billion allocated specifically to television advertising. Television advertising shows remarkable growth, with Q1 2025 spending reaching $729.4 million for the top 10 pharmaceutical brands, representing a 29.6% increase from the same period in 2024.The Global Statistics

Drug companies would go out of business if herbal medicine became the main treatment for disease again, as it was for most of the history of mankind. That is the truth of it, especially in the US.

Herbal medicine has been used by doctors and medicine men since time began! Fact

The use of herbal medicine is documented in the Bible and in every ancient manuscript preserved over time. It sustained the health of civilizations until the 1900s, when antibiotics were discovered.

How did ancient civilizations survive without modern medicine and antibiotics?

Ever consider that? You would never have been born if herbal medicine had not been used for all those centuries.

Today, traditional medicine is used worldwide. An example is Germany below:

“In Germany, there are approximately 700 herbal drugs that have passed the marketing authorization process. Additionally, there are 3311 fixed combinations of herbal medicinal products licensed or registered. www.bfarm.de”

“One of the driving forces that has resulted in mainstream acceptance of phytomedicine in Germany is the inclusion of phytotherapy in the medical and pharmacy school curricula. In the opinion of several medical groups, “modern phytotherapy is not perceived as alternative medicine, but as a part of so-called traditional medicine” [i.e., conventional medicine] (Schilcher, 1997c). Since 1993 all medical school students in Germany must successfully complete a portion of their board examinations in the area of phytotherapy as a precondition for practicing medicine (Schilcher, 1991). Medical education on medicinal plants and phytomedicines includes regular lectures in universities and medical schools, four one-week courses with 26 hours of lectures in phytotherapy in Weiterbildung (continuing education), lectures and courses in Fortbildung (postgraduate education), the publication of scientific literature (papers and books), the Commission E Monographs, and directions on product uses according to section 11 of the Second Medicines Act (AMG 76) (Schilcher, 1991, 1997c).”Herbs

https://www.herbalgram.org/resources/commission-e-monographs/introduction/complete-65-page-introduction/herbs-and-phytomedicines-in-germany/

Table 5: Conditions Treated with Phytomedicines
by General Practitioners in Germany\

Condition% Treated With
Phytomedicines

Psychovegetative syndrome

25 Diseases of: respiratory tract (esp. types of bronchitis)

16 heart and circulation (esp. arterial, venous, cerebral)

13 digestive organs (gastritis to Crohn’s)

9 locomotor apparatus (movement of limbs)

6 urogenital tract (dysuria in women or BPH in men)8

Source: Schilcher, 1997c based on Härter, Klimm and Salz.”

Today, traditional medicine is used worldwide.

“Traditional medicines (TMs) make use of natural products and are of great importance. Such forms of medicine as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Ayurveda, Kampo, traditional Korean medicine (TKM), and Unani employ natural products and have been practiced all over the world for hundreds or even thousands of years, and they have blossomed into orderly-regulated systems of medicine.” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6273146/

“Traditional medicine use is now a global reality: WHO

Traditional medicine is now a global reality, with a significant percentage of the world’s population using it for various health problems.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 40 to 90 percent of the populations in WHO member states use traditional medicine. This practice is particularly relevant in regions where access to essential health services is limited, offering personalized and holistic care that supports overall well-being.

Traditional medicine is gaining global recognition for its therapeutic effectiveness and holistic view of well-being, despite the lack of dedicated health research funding for it.” biocascades.com

Doctors here state,” There is no research or clinical evidence to support the use of herbs. “

Yes, there are thousands of studies published on herbs, just not huge clinical studies. Germany is one example.

“Because of the high level of professional interest in herbs and phytomedicines in Germany, there is a considerable amount of scientific research conducted. Pharmacological and experimental studies are available mainly for the most important herbs and herbal preparations on the market, such as Valerian root, Echinacea herb and root, Ginkgo leaf special extract, St. John's Wort, Chamomile flowers, Milk Thistle fruit extract, and Hawthorn leaf and flower extracts.” Herbs and Phytomedicines in Germany

If you do the research in PubMed, you will find hundreds of published research studies on turmeric, ginger, and many other herbs that prove the effectiveness of herbs. Yes, they are smaller studies, but they are valid.

Why are there almost no large-scale drug company-run pharmaceutical clinical trials with herbs?

Let’s look at how and why clinical trials are operated.

The company conducting the clinical trial must have funding to conduct a study that costs billions.

Many times, the research is funded by a drug company that has an interest in the end result of the research, which is a drug that will work on an illness and make them billions.

If the drug’s clinical trial fails, they have lost billions of dollars. Most of the time, the drug trial fails because of ineffectiveness or severe side effects. That is why research fraud is rampant. They manipulate the results to get the drug passed into sale, or they hide the data altogether to get it through. My last article showed how prevalent the fraud is.

Have you ever wondered why billions have been spent on cancer research, and people are still dying from cancer? Cancer research projects make billions.

It is notable that, in many parts of Asia, cancer is successfully treated in many cases. That is why Americans with money go to Europe and Asia for cancer treatments not available here. That is not a reality for most people.

There are a few large-scale clinical trials using whole herbs because running such studies costs billions of dollars, and herbs can’t be patented. Companies that fund these research studies will not invest billions if there is no way to generate a return on their investment. They can’t make money on prescribing herbs.

Thus, the drug company isolates the principal active compound and either potentiates it or synthesizes it in its laboratory.

The drug company isolates the main active compound from an herb, which often contains 20 or 30 compounds shown to kill viruses or bacteria, then concentrates that compound or synthesizes it in the laboratory. Many drugs have their beginnings in herbs.

An example is Aspirin.

“Aspirin is modeled after the naturally occurring polyphenol salicylic acid—a compound found in a handful of plants, including Salix alba (white willow), Spirea spp. (wintergreens), and Betula spp. (birch).

All of these plants were traditionally used for conditions involving injury, pain, and inflammation.” https://thesunlightexperiment.com/blog/2018/6/7/9-famous-examples-of-drugs-that-came-from-plants

There are, however, many thousands of small clinical studies on herbs, mostly from countries such as China, India, Russia, Japan, and Peru, whose research studies are not accepted by the US.

Is the lack of large clinical studies the huge issue, that modern medicine makes it?

Consider this fact:

The history of herbal use over centuries constitutes the largest crude clinical study in the world, encompassing many different civilizations that successfully used herbs to treat illnesses and diseases.

Herb use dates back to the Bible, was practiced by ancient civilizations, and continues in many countries today, including Asia. It remains the primary medicine used in those countries today.

If herbs were not effective or safe, the first civilizations would have wiped themselves out of existence centuries ago.

Most civilizations were destroyed by invasion, climate change, and socio-economic factors, including crop loss and drought.

What about the Black Plague?

Herbs did not work well against the black plague but perhaps if they had used a more potent, more effective herb than those available, it might have helped. We will never know. The doctors also lacked the expertise, knowledge, or tools to combat the disease. Modern medicine might not have worked either, since the disease was spread by rats and poor sanitation.

The Black Plague was caused by poor sanitation, a lack of clean water, and rat-borne transmission of the disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. It was thought then that the sickness was supernatural due to evil spells and demons. They used counterspells and incantations against the sickness.

Some people tried to use local herbs to treat the disease. The plague spread so rapidly that they had little time to experiment with herbal remedies against the disease. There might not have been a herb strong enough to work growing in that area. The herbs employed were insufficient to combat the disease.

‘While some herbs possessed antimicrobial properties, their effectiveness in treating the Black Death was limited. The bacterium Yersinia pestis, responsible for the plague, was highly contagious and deadly. Furthermore, the lack of scientific understanding of disease transmission and the role of bacteria meant that many treatments were based on superstition and folklore rather than evidence-based medicine.”

“However, serious diseases were thought to be of supernatural origin, attributed to spells, demons, or offended gods. Treatment involved luring back errant souls or extracting evil intruders through counterspells, incantations, and other means.”

“Superstitions also played a significant role in the medieval approach to the plague. Amulets, charms, and talismans were widely used, often inscribed with prayers or magical symbols believed to offer protection against the disease.”

“The decline of the Black Plague was influenced by improved sanitation, quarantine measures, changes in rat populations, and potential development of immunity among survivors.”

https://worldhistoryedu.com/medieval-medicines-used-during-the-black-death/

In holistic medicine, you need to get to the root cause, which in this case was rats spreading disease, contaminated water, and poor sanitation.

How did our ancestors survive without modern medicine and antibiotics? Ever consider that?

When exploring herbal use, you will find that people in different parts of the world, without knowing one another, use the same herbs for the same complaints.

The different native peoples observed the animals and the herbs and berries they ate when sick. They watched the birds to see what they ate.

The natives then experimented with the herbs over the centuries for various health conditions and found them effective. If someone is dying of a fever with severe symptoms and an herb is effective, they used the same herb again.

After repeated successful use, it became a common herbal medicine among the local population in that country. No, they didn’t know why it worked or the name of the properties that were effective, but it worked.

The natives conducted their own crude clinical studies on various herbs, identifying which illnesses the remedies addressed. If herbs had been ineffective, those civilizations would have been wiped out.

Until 1910, medical schools in the US taught physicians herbal medicine, homeopathy, and naturopathy.

In 1910, medical schools were banned from teaching anything but pharmaceutical drugs. It was the decision of two men, Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, to focus solely on pharmaceutical-based training.

They published the Flexner Report of 1910, which criticized all forms of alternative medicine, resulting in the elimination of non-pharmaceutical medicine courses from medical curricula. It was all about profits then and now.

So, throughout history, herbal medicine was used effectively by every civilization that ever existed, but two men managed to alter history to claim that herbs are ineffective.

Penicillin was first developed in 1928 and was then widely used in clinical practice beginning in 1948. Herbal medicine usage was then considered obsolete because drugs could be more easily manufactured in laboratories.

It is notable that, since 2017, some medical schools now require physicians to complete integrative medicine courses in Chinese medicine, acupuncture, chiropractic medicine, and massage, but only as complementary treatments alongside prescription drugs, chemotherapy, and radiation. If herbal medicine is not effective, why is it required for their training now?

Despite this, most doctors in the US will discourage you from taking herbs or give you a hard time for taking them. We are in Colorado, so this may be different in other states.

I have never seen a physician, except for one in TN who supported our use of herbs. He treated many Amish and had learned from them that herbs can be used effectively. He would not recommend herbal remedies unless the patient refused conventional treatment. Our doctor at the time was a ‘closet’ holistic physician. I found this out by accident when he noticed my husband's skin rash was stained yellow after treating it with goldenseal. He knew what it was and how it was used. He supported our use of herbal medicine but hid that unless you asked.

In my article here, I already shined the light on the problem and safety of drugs, including the destruction of your gut biome, the side effects of some of them, like Cipro, that can land you in the hospital, the problem with drugs being manufactured in China and India, and the dishonesty in drug manufacturers such as Bayre and the rest of them. You need to read that article first here. Your health problems are not due to a deficiency of medication.

In my next Substack, we will discuss how to choose herbs safely, how to buy herb products safely, and how to take them safely.

We will also address issues in the manufacture of herbal products. I will discuss further the differences between how herbs and prescription drugs work.

A holistic doctor wants you to be really healthy on all levels, not just treat a symptom such as high blood pressure with prescription meds. I think the easiest way to illustrate this is by giving you an example of a health issue and showing how you would be treated by each medical system.

Patient Joe, sees a regular, standard medicine doctor. Non-emergency visit. What does his visit look like?

Standard Medicine Example first:

Joe books an appointment with a standard medicine doctor with a complaint that his heart races with other vague heart symptoms. The doctor seeing him that day only treats non-emergency illnesses. Joe walks up to the reception desk, and they accept his insurance or out-of-pocket payment. He completes office-specific paperwork. They want to know what prescription drugs you are taking and your primary diagnosis, such as diabetes.

Joe is finally taken to the back office; the nurse weighs him, takes his blood pressure and temperature, and asks what he's here to see the doctor about. She asks Joe questions to clarify his symptoms.

Some doctors perform better on the questions.

There are good doctors who try to identify the root cause, but their superiors and the system discourage them from doing so. Your doctor is told he is spending too much time with each patient. He is told to write more prescriptions.

In this example, Joe recently had an EKG and cardiac evaluation. It all came out normal. His lab work was normal. Joe is experiencing vague heart symptoms, and he wants answers. The doctor asks Joe about his stress level. Joe tells him he has a stressful job and is experiencing financial difficulties. He is not sleeping well either.

So, because his doctor, not even his regular doctor, only has 15 to 30 minutes to evaluate Joe, he prescribes Joe medicine for anxiety and depression and sends him home.

His overworked physician never asked Joe about his diet or whether he drank energy drinks or coffee throughout the day.

Joe’s lifestyle habits are not addressed because his BP is not high. If your BP is high, you will be given blood pressure medicine if you are not already on it.

He may be told to lose weight or go on a diet, but the doctor does not have time to discuss it with him. The dietitian appointment is separate and has a fee.

Joe then experiences side effects from the prescriptions he took! Joe comes back in, and they either reduce his medications or give him a new one. They may send Joe to a specialist who may or may not find the answer. The specialist doesn't listen to Joe; Instead, he shrugs him off and dismisses the seriousness of his complaints. Joe may or may not be properly diagnosed after several appointments.

Joe is very frustrated and is still experiencing the same symptoms, plus added complaints from the medicine, such as gut issues, diarrhea, and others.

Now What?

Patient Joe, then visits a holistic doctor. What does the visit look like?

Joe gets upset with the side effects of his prescriptions, so he bites the bullet and makes an appointment with a holistic doctor. There is more than one kind of holistic doctor. He is unsure of the type of physician he needs. Holistic medicine can be confusing and intimidating without research. His insurance likely will not cover it unless it is acupuncture or chiropractic care.

There are Chinese medicine doctors, Homeopathic doctors, Ayurverdic doctors, and Natureopathic doctors.

There are also therapists and health coaches who focus on the mind-body connection and how you manage stress.

Herbalists may be consulted as well.

Each has a different approach to working with you and may recommend different herbs and treatments, such as acupuncture or other do-no-harm therapies, based on their training and expertise.

It is a different experience with each doctor, but each kind of holistic doctor wants you to be well holistically, stressing whole body healing and wellness.

That is their main goal. They do not want you on prescription drugs unless it is absolutely needed. The holistic physician’s goal is to identify the underlying cause of the patient's disease or symptoms.

Their suggested therapies also share the same goal: to identify the root cause, whether it is diet, physical inactivity, mental stress, physical stress, emotional stress, or other factors. Your mental and emotional state affects your health and well-being. They know that.

Your health and symptoms are not due to a lack of prescription drugs. In fact, your symptoms may be due to the drugs you are on and their side effects!

Joe now consults a holistic physician. His nurse informs Joe that the office call costs at least $200 and more. She gives him 4 pages of paperwork to fill out, which addresses his symptoms, diet, lifestyle, coffee and soda he drinks, drugs or alcohol consumption, a full list of what Joe eats generally, family history, his personal health history, and other details. It takes approximately 40 minutes or more to complete.

The doctors nurse then reviews the completed questionnaire with Joe, or the doctor himself may review the questions with Joe. The doctor then examines Joe’s eyes, skin, and nails, and conducts additional tests. He runs tests to determine whether Joe has vitamin deficiencies. He may use tools to assess weaknesses in Joe’s body systems. The visit takes a long time.

Health problems can present as physical symptoms such as dry skin, rashes, and changes in your nails and eyes.

The physician may then request additional information.

Joe, do you drink energy drinks to keep going?

“Joe reports drinking one to three energy drinks during his workday, in addition to coffee. “

How much coffee do you drink?

“Well, to be honest, all day long, doctor. I also sometimes don’t eat all day or just eat a donut or hot dog to get me through.”

His doctor then lets Joe know that this very well may be the base cause of his heart issues. Joe is very upset that his primary care physician did not inform him about the issue.

His holistic doctor tells Joe these habits could lead him to dangerous heart issues. He explains how to gradually wean himself off these energy drinks and provides a diet plan. That is a diet tailored to his individual needs.

Joe’s tests indicate vitamin deficiencies and other disease markers in the early stages. He is given several supplements to address the deficiencies. and a meal plan to help him improve his health. His physician may recommend massage or exercise to reduce his stress level. He suggests that Joe and his wife consult a pastor about their problems.

Joe leaves the office. He decides to follow the holistic doctors recomendations.

He reduces his coffee intake and stops drinking energy drinks. Now, Joe eats donuts only once a week and makes time for a healthier meal at lunch. His weight and blood pressure gradually improve.

Over several months, his cholesterol levels drop to almost normal. Now he takes time to play with his kids and walk with his wife once a week. When he is out with his friends, he drinks one beer rather than a 6-pack. When the guys order pizza, he eats two pieces instead of 4. He looks at his buddies, who complain about their health issues and their beer gut, but they keep eating.

Joe realizes he wants to live long enough to see grandchildren grow up and have a long life. He recognizes that his wife is right and that he owes her an apology. They return to church, seek counseling, participate in social activities, and occasionally go on dates.

Joe follows through with determination, though it is the most difficult task he has ever undertaken. Weeks later, his heart doesn’t race anymore. He is sleeping better.

It takes time to see results. You have to really care enough about yourself to follow the new diet and rules. Often, the patient goes right back to his old ways.

Joe’s renewed health can be the outcome if you do the work.

Yes, his visits and holistic treatment did incur additional credit card debt to finance the visits and supplements, but he feels better than he has in years.

You have the choice; it is up to you. Of these two systems, which is the best for you to live many more years with real health?

Sometimes, holistic doctors cannot find the answers, especially in Lyme disease or MS. Holistic medicine and herbs do not always work.

Both systems can fail the patient.

Looking at the two visits utilizing two different health systems, which is the one where your overall health is their main objective?

Which is the one that is concentrated on prescription drugs?

With which system is your overall total health going to improve if you set your mind to following the principles?

In the next Substack, I will debate whether herbs are safe, the problems with holistic healing, and why holistic medicine sometimes fails.

There will be a Substack on why standard medicine fails women in their healthcare struggles!

We will discuss the same questions and issues regarding the use of herbs in another Substack. The use of herbs demands the same questions to be discussed and answered.

What will your doctor tell you when you ask him about taking herbs?

Herbs are ineffective and lack reliable research supporting them. (This will be debated in another whole Substack) Herbs, their safety, and reliability will be addressed in the next substacks.

Doctors state:

Drugs are safe, herbs are not.

You can’t predict how herbs will affect you or the possible side effects.

Herb companies may or may not have good manufacturing procedures, which could have a negative impact on your health.

You can’t know the correct dosage to take.

Let us examine prescription drugs, asking the same questions. How do they fare when the microscope is focused on them?

Are drugs safe?

Are drug companies that produce drugs honest? Is their research reliable, honest, and valid?

Is their research to be trusted? How honest are drug companies in their so-called clinical drug studies?

Clinical research fraud is rampant!

“The top health fraud prosecutor recently announced that clinical trial fraud will be a major priority of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Speaking at a Food and Drug Law Institute conference last month, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Arun Rao characterized the DOJ’s enforcement of clinical trial fraud cases as “aggressive”, citing two recent actions we’ll return to in a moment.

In his remarks, Rao noted that

[f]raud in clinical trials poses significant risks to the American public. The FDA relies on the veracity of clinical trial data when making drug approval determinations, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that all FDA-approved drugs are safe and effective for their approved indications. Fabricated clinical trial data can have dangerous consequences if relied upon by the FDA, drug researchers and medical doctors when making material decisions about the safety, efficacy and clinical use of drug products.

Rao supervises the DOJ’s Consumer Protection Branch, which brings criminal and civil actions to enforce health and safety-related laws, including the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

The “Unlimited Medical Research” that wasn’t

According to the DOJ, Unlimited Medical Research, a Miami, Florida, company, was one of several firms hired by a pharmaceutical firm (identified elsewhere as GlaxoSmithKline [GSK]) to conduct a clinical trial designed to investigate the safety and efficacy of an asthma medication in children. From about 2013 to 2016, employees of the company falsified records to make it appear as though pediatric subjects made scheduled visits to Unlimited Medical Research, received physical exams from a clinical investigator, took study drugs as required, and received payments for their participation. Actually, none of this happened: children were not given exams, they did not take the study drugs, and they were not paid. In fact, there were no children at all. Employees, including a medical doctor who served as the primary investigator for the trial, fabricated the entire thing in a scheme to defraud the pharmaceutical company. The doctor used patients’ personal information from her private medical practice to create false information to be entered into case histories for the trial.”

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Agrees to Pay $15M to Settle Fraud Allegations Related to Scientific Research Grants

Dark Side of Medical Research: Widespread Bias and Omissions

Are there any safety issues in the manufacture of drugs?

Yes, because most of our drugs are manufactured in China and India where there are serious questions about their quality and safety.

“China is the world’s largest producer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), which are the key components in medications. Approximately 80% of APIs used in U.S. drugs are sourced from China. This includes ingredients for both generic and brand-name drugs.”

“Since last summer, drug companies have announced a total of 45 recalls of generic lifesaving blood pressure medications. They include certain versions of valsartan and two other blood pressure drugs, losartan and irbesartan, as well as other blood pressure medications that contain the recalled drugs in their formulations. The raw ingredients were all traced to overseas manufacturing sites where drugs can be processed at a lower cost than at U.S. facilities.” https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/tainted-drugs-ex-fda-inspector-warns-dangers-u-s-meds-n1002971

Have they told the truth to the thousands of patients who blindly take their prescriptions?

The truth about prescription drugs your doctors ignore and refuse to acknowledge!

Drug companies have paid out billions for misrepresenting their drugs and their safety! Read below.

Photo by David Trinks on Unsplash The truth about prescription drugs your doctors ignore and refuse to acknowledge!

10 Biggest Pharmaceutical Settlements in History (please read this whole article)

Drug companies over the past, starting from Bayre in Germany, manufactured the gas for the gas chambers that killed the Jews. There are some real nasty blotches on their company history, although they have tried to bury it.

They told us cigarettes do not cause lung cancer! Let us not forget that drug research on the effects of cigarette smoke, paid for by the companies that manufactured the cigarettes, told people for years that cigarettes did not cause lung cancer. How many people died believing that fraudulent research?

Pfizer was involved in a scandal involving Celebrex, an anti-inflammatory drug. The company misrepresented its safety data. They paid out over 164 million for their cover-up.

GlaxoSmithKline paid $3 billion for, among other violations, failing to disclose safety data and for other fraud. They are a shining example of how drug companies couldn't care less about your health and are only in it for drug profits.

“The penalties are related to deceptive marketing, including off-label promotion and kickbacks, and failure to report safety data.

GSK agreed to pay based on:

• Promoting Paxil, Wellbutrin, Advair, Lamictal, and Zofran for off-label and non-covered uses, in addition to paying kickbacks to physicians for prescribing those drugs.

• Giving kickbacks to physicians for prescribing Imitrex, Lotronex, Flovent, and Valtrex.

• Making false and misleading statements about Avandia’s safety.

• False reporting to the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program.”

Johnson and Johnson has been involved in many lawsuits, including $2.2 billion they paid out for misbranding their drug Risperdal.

Bayre and Johnson lied about the safety of their drug, Xarelton, used as an anticoagulant drug, leading to them being fined $775 million. It caused severe health issues in the patients to whom this drug was prescribed.

There have been multiple lawsuits against drug companies for promoting opioids to patients, causing addictions for thousands. These patients were not informed of the severe addictive properties.

Drugs: OxyContin

“Purdue Pharma holds the dubious distinction of being forced to pay the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history. A bipartisan coalition of 15 states and other parties reached a $7.4 billion settlement with members of the Sackler family and their company Purdue Pharma, Inc.

The penalties are related to the company’s instrumental role in creating the opioid crisis. In addition to delivering $7.4 billion to address the opioid crisis, the settlement barred the Sackler family from selling opioids in the United States.”

I can give you a whole page more on the settled lawsuits against drug companies for hiding safety studies, lying to doctors and patients about the side effects of their drugs.

So doctors say that herbs are unsafe, but are drugs safe? They are not.

So let's look at Cipro, a common drug used for infections. This is true for every drug that you take.

Is Ciprofloxacin safe? Keep reading and answer that question for yourself.

Question: Can you be certain whether you will experience side effects when taking this drug, and what side effects will affect you personally?

Truth: Each patient who takes this could have one side effect, several side effects, or end up in the hospital with side effects from this drug.

Question: Is each patient given the same dosage?

No, it’s an individualized dose based on weight, age, and the condition being treated.

This is the quoted information on Ciprofloxacin, a commonly used antibiotic for the treatment of bacterial infections.

“Oral route (tablet; tablet, extended release; suspension)

“Ciprofloxacin is a prescription antibiotic used to treat various bacterial infections. The typical dosage for adults varies based on the condition being treated.”

There is a whole page of possible side effects with this antibiotic.

Fluoroquinolones, including ciprofloxacin, are associated with disabling and potentially irreversible serious adverse reactions that have occurred together, including tendinitis and tendon rupture, peripheral neuropathy, and CNS effects.”

“General adverse events

The most common side effects (from clinical trials of all formulations, doses, durations of therapy, and indications) were nausea, diarrhea, abnormal liver function tests, vomiting, and rash. The most common side effects reported with the IV formulation were nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, injection and infusion site reactions, rash, and increased transaminases (transient).^[Ref]”

“A 27-year-old woman with mild systemic erythematosus developed toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) after starting a second oral course of this drug after a prior 5-day course. She developed a rash, high fever, and diarrhea after taking the 2nd dose and presented with diffuse rash, epidermal sloughing of 60% of the skin, desquamation of the lips, shock, and respiratory distress. She died on the 28th hospital day of TEN, right ventricular failure, and acute respiratory distress syndrome. As of 2003, 9 cases of TEN, including 5 fatalities, had been reported in the literature.

Erythema nodosum, Stevens-Johnson syndrome (potentially life-threatening), and TEN (potentially life-threatening) have also been reported during postmarketing experience.^[Ref]”

So the same complaints thrown against the use of herbs can be applied against the use of drugs.

Do herbs work? What are their safety issues? Are they effective when used properly? What is the evidence for using herbs? These questions will be discussed in the next substacks.

Proof of Kickbacks in lawsuits lost.

You need to know the doctor's name, his practice name, and where he practices to get the information. You will also need to know his National Provider Number in your search. I have included the link below to do that. Some doctors may not show up in this database, but many do.

National Provider Identifier

Question for my readers?

If no doctors received compensation from drug companies, would this government site exist?

I would question a doctor’s prescription that he writes for you if it will help him to add to his income. Isn’t that a conflict of interest? In my mind, it is.

Here is the site, called OpenPayments Data

“Advanced Search

The Open Payments Search Tool is used to search for physicians, physician assistants, advanced practice nurses, and teaching hospitals receiving payments from drug and medical device companies. It may also be used to search for drug and medical device companies to see what payments they made to health care providers.

“The most recent data publication marks the fourth year that the Open Payments data includes physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, anesthesiologist assistants, and certified nurse midwives. Drug and medical device companies reported 16.15 million records amounting to $13.14 billion in payments or transfers of value to health care providers during 2024.

Payment information on this site reflects the most recent seven years of Open Payments’ data. Program Years 2013 – 2017 are archived and can be accessed on the Archived Dataset page.

Data displayed on this search tool is from January 2018 through December 2024. See our about page for more information.” direct quote.

Proof of Kickbacks in lawsuits lost.

GlaxoSmithKline lost its lawsuit and was convicted of paying kickbacks to doctors. Read below.

GlaxoSmithKline paid out $3 billion for, among other violations, failing to disclose safety data and other fraud. They are a shining example of how drug companies could care less about your health and are only in it for drug profits.

“The penalties are related to deceptive marketing, including off-label promotion and kickbacks, and failure to report safety data.

GSK agreed to pay based on:

• Promoting Paxil, Wellbutrin, Advair, Lamictal, and Zofran for off-label and non-covered uses, in addition to paying kickbacks to physicians for prescribing those drugs.

• Giving kickbacks to physicians for prescribing Imitrex, Lotronex, Flovent, and Valtrex.

• Making false and misleading statements about Avandia’s safety.

• False reporting to the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program.”

I hope, for your sake, that you are going to a doctor who doesn’t show up when you use the tool above. There are some good doctors out there who genuinely care about their patients' health. We have had two excellent doctors in 10 years. We walked out of 4 offices during the past 10 years. I am providing this tool to help you determine where your doctor stands.

All for today!

Let’s have a discussion on these criticisms. I have decided to spend the next 3 or 4 substacks discussing these different points. Are they valid? Is there truth in them? Where are the untruths? Why are doctors so afraid of people using herbs for their health issues?

Standard Medicine versus Holistic Medicine: which is the most effective, and what are their flaws? This picture was AI-generated.

To clarify, I am not opposed to all standard medicine. I think it does a great job dealing with emergencies, broken bones, heart attacks, lung failure, hip surgery, and critical care situations. If my lung is collapsed, it is ER time.

So, to make this crystal clear, if I am hit by a Mack truck, I am going to the hospital. Certain deadly infections require antibiotics. If you are in horrible pain, herbs generally aren’t strong enough to take away the pain of that level.

My husband sees a very good cardiologist because he has a sloppy heart valve, which will need intervention sooner or later. I can’t see my husband's heart function, so he gets an echo and several tests once a year.

There is a place for both herbal medicine and standard medicine working together to heal the patient.

I wish the doctors here in the US would open their eyes to that possibility. Some doctors on Substack have more open viewpoints.

Where standard medicine fails is that it does very little other than to treat patients with drugs during all the months and years leading up to your heart that fails or your blood pressure which becomes an emergency.

Where is the preventive treatment..the treatment before you are in a critical state?

Your doctor’s view is that standard medicine and drugs are the only means to treat heart and blood pressure issues. His view is that herbs are neither safe nor effective for use for any serious health issue.

You need to know there are two health care systems…standard medicine and holistic medicine.

In some countries, such as China and Asia, both systems are sometimes combined to benefit the patient. We will talk about this in the next substacks.

Today’s blog will first examine the success of standard medicine in this country, using statistics. The next blogs will address the critical complaints about herbal and holistic medicine.

Please read all of my Substacks and subscribe so you don’t miss this critical information.

Is the health of Americans improving? So, is holistic medicine ever needed, and why? Here are some stats on the state of our health in the US. I am quoting directly from these sites.

“All statistics below are based on the 2023 estimates from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) National Diabetes Statistics Report, unless noted.

• Prevalence: Over 40 million Americans, or 12% of the population, are living with diabetes.

  • Over 2 million Americans are living with type 1 diabetes, including about 314,000 children and adolescents

• Diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes: Of the 40.1 million people living with diabetes, 29.1 million had been diagnosed, and 11 million are undiagnosed.

• Prevalence in Americans 65 and older: The percentage remains high, at 28.8%.

• New cases: An estimated 1.5 million Americans are diagnosed every year.

• Prediabetes: Over 115 million Americans age 18 and older are living with prediabetes.” https://diabetes.org/about-diabetes/statistics/about-diabetes

“More than 2 in 5 U.S. adults have obesity. The prevalence of obesity increased from 30.5% in 1999-20002to 41.9% in 2017–March 2020. During the same time, the prevalence of severe obesity increased from 4.7% to 9.2%.” https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult-obesity-facts/index.html

Obesity leads to heart problems as well as other health problems.

Rates of Heart Attacks and High Blood Pressure in the US

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, with coronary heart disease being the most common type.

In 2022, coronary heart disease killed 371,506 people, and in 2023, deaths from cardiovascular disease declined to 915,973, down from 941,652 in 2022.

High blood pressure is a key risk factor for heart disease, and nearly half of U.S. adults have some form of hypertension.

The prevalence of hypertension remained roughly the same between 2022 and 2023, making it the single most important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

The majority of doctors, standard medicine doctors, are not educated in medical school except on drugs, surgery, chemo, radiation, and diagnostic techniques.

They are trained to treat disease rather than prevent it or control it without drugs during the pre-emergency stages.

They get a few hours on nutrition.

The average doctor spends 15 to 30 minutes with the patient. If your symptoms do not show up on lab tests, x-rays, or other tests, you are not sick. They may give you antidepressants, saying it is depression.

They may send you to other specialists. If nothing appears, you will not be helped. Chronic Lyme is one of those examples.

Do you really think 15 to 30 minutes is enough to properly evaluate a patient’s whole health picture?

The sale of prescription drugs was 20 billion in 2022!

“New York , Dec. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global hypertension drugs market size is estimated to attain at 4% CAGR from 2023 to 2035. The market is expected to garner a revenue of USD 40 billion by the end of 2035, up from a revenue of USD 20 billion in the year 2022.” https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hypertension-drugs-market-revenue-reach-120000967.html

If you have anxiety, they give you a prescription; if you have high blood pressure, you get one or more prescriptions; if you are obese, you get a prescription for weight loss pills.

Does any of the staff or the doctor discuss your diet, if you exercise, if you drink enough water, if you drink, smoke, or have other lifestyle habits that are impacting your health? They have 30 min at most.

If they do ask those questions, they don’t have time to discuss the answers.

How many billions would the drug companies lose if you choose to be healthy through exercise and lifestyle choices?

How long would a doctor in this country stay in business if you were healthy?

The sale of drugs makes drug companies rich and helps doctors stay in business. They run patients through the systems in 15 to 30-minute time slots.

How does the US rate against other countries in health?

“Among the 10 countries included in the report, the United States ranked last overall, with Americans having the shortest life expectancy (77.5 years) and higher rates of death and disease despite having the highest healthcare spending. The three top-performing countries were Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.”

“Annual heart disease deaths decreased by 2.7% between 2022 and 2023 -- from 941,652 to 915,973, according to the report.

However, cardiovascular disease still killed more people in the U.S. than cancer and accidents combined. “

Over 900,000 people in the US died from heart disease, despite the standard treatment of drugs and surgery.

I would say the US has nothing to gloat about with its standard medicine treatments. It does a lousy job of helping people with their health until it is critical situation and you have a disease state.

Herbs and holistic medicine can fill this huge gap between health and the journey toward sickness, imbalance, and disease.

You need to understand the value of using holistic medicine and the huge differences in patient care between the two systems.

See you in the next blog!

You can’t harbor all these negative, dark feelings and thoughts without it affecting your health, both mental and physical. You need to look at this and see if this is a problem in your life and health.

Cancer and other health issues often are due in part to these unhealthy emotions, as well as lifestyle factors that fuel disease.

Are you eating or taking drugs or alcohol out of emotions?

It is often a fact that people who eat too much are eating to stuff down emotions from trauma, sexual abuse, mental abuse, condemnation by their spouse, family, or friends, and feel unseen and unheard. It often starts in childhood and just gets worse.

I was friends with a nurse years ago, who overate to deal with her memories of sexual exploitation as a child. Her childhood was horrendous.

There was a really great chiropractor I knew who confessed she had become obese, so men would not be attracted to her. She was eating on purpose, knowing it was detrimental to her health. So you need to get help with that from a coach or counselor to work through those emotional scars.

There have been cases where people went off into solitude, worked on forgiveness of both themselves and the people who hurt them, and the cancer disappeared. They used no other treatment. The doctors told them they were going to die, had little time to live, and this is what they did.

I know one thing from my life: to have happiness and peace, you need to work on your past. My father could not be trusted, and I told no one. I left the house when he came home, and didn’t come home until my mom was home. My mother was not supportive either. She had no idea that I had dyscalculia, a dysfunction in math. I made marriage mistakes when I was young, which did not help my life. I did not overeat or use drugs or alcohol, but it certainly impaired my happiness and success. It takes so much work to dredge out that baggage and let it go. I did not work on my own past emotions until I was middle-aged, so take it from experience: do it now, not later. I still find areas that need healing. Healing emotionally and physically is a lifelong project for some of us.

I suggest you start today and really look at the pain and unforgiveness buried deep in your heart and life. You have to acknowledge it before you can deal with and heal it.

Start from your childhood and move up through broken marriages or relationships. Write down who has hurt you, who you have hurt, and what pain is still festering deep inside.

Look at the pain and scars …face it. This is the first step!

The emotional damage caused by abortions!

I will add that women, if you have had abortions in your past or given up a child, you need to deal with this. I am going to tell you that at 23, I had an abortion out of fear and panic. Furthermore, I did not deal with it for 20-some years. Those emotions that I stuffed down festered and had a huge effect on my life.

When I finally dealt with those emotions, my decision, my regret, my feelings of failure in that decision, and forgave myself, it made all the difference in my life. There are thousands of women out there who have families and children now who had an abortion earlier in their lives, and no one knows about it. No one may know about it but you, but it is still a problem within yourself. I am now at a point in my life where I would rather tell my own story, as hard as it is, hoping it may help other women in their lives.

We went to a church service years ago, and the pastor's wife went up and stated to the congregation that you can be forgiven by God if you had an abortion, and have asked for forgiveness. At least 25 women went up to the altar, crying… breaking down. Most women have not even told their current spouse about their abortion.

Divorced? There is so much emotional baggage connected to divorce, whether it was your fault or not. Emotional baggage connected to the trauma of abuse and failure creates deep pain, which affects your health and happiness.

I am divorced more than once. My husband now, is one of the best decisions I made in my life. My three children are my greatest joy and inspiration. I have grandchildren whom I am very proud of.

My husband Marty loves me with an amazing devotion and acceptance. I cannot imagine my life without my three kids. They are amazing, each one with individual gifts and talents.

Marty and I have been together since 2004. We got married in 2009. I went through years of feeling traumatized by my mistakes when young. I lacked judgment when I was young, and I paid for it. It took me many years after asking forgiveness from God to forgive myself. Often, people forgive others but not themselves.

It is imperative to forgive yourself to be healthy emotionally.

I am at a point in my life at 74, that if I can help others to get over the trauma of their mistakes and childhood trauma, it is worth someone reading this and knocking me for my past mistakes. It is what it is.

People screw up, and those mistakes impact your life. You need to learn from them, see them as lessons, see them as helping you to grow and become a better person. You DO need to deal with the baggage and the emotional trauma!

I am ending with this today.

There is nothing you have done in your life that cannot be forgiven by God. There is nothing in your life that cannot be overcome! I never stopped believing that my life would not get better. Your mistakes and how you overcome them make you a better person, if you learn from them.

This past week I watched 8 episodes of a documentary that took you to different Asian countries talking to medical doctors who treat cancer successfully using natural herbs and other holistic therapies.

These doctors (originally standard medicine doctors) had all trained using chemo and radiation but became so mad and upset at how this Western system did not save patient lives that they trained and researched alternative methods.

These same experienced and educated doctors now treat holistically only. They are saving people from cancer after chemo and radiation wasted these patients and after they were given up by those doctors with a death sentence.

All these patients were sent home to die with only a few weeks to live after the chemo and radiation treatments did not work. These patients were given up on by Western cancer treatments! I am a researcher, and it is my goal to give you research and present research information that can change your life.

Among the natural therapies used to treat cancer in every country including Japan, Malaysia, China, Taiwan, the Philippines and more was Turmeric with its main ingredient being curcumin which goes after the cancer cells.

In these countries, you can receive treatments such as IV Vitamin C and other IV treatments with vitamins that you cannot receive easily in the United States. Natural medicine therapies including cancer treatment are protected in these countries. That is why thousands of people fly there for medical treatments we are not given access to in this country.

This is criminal that the AMA is keeping us from therapies that could save our lives because they are in bed with the drug companies that are making billions of people in this country. Here is The Truth About Cancer websitewhere they have books and other services to educate you on how you can stop your cancer without chemo and radiation.

Turmeric Used to Treat Cancer by Asian Doctors! There is another path to defeating cancer.

I am republishing an article with permission from Green Med Pro, a research site, on how Turmeric works against cancer below.

This is only one of the hundreds of articles on Turmeric. It is a membership site to which I proudly belong. It publishes research you cannot find elsewhere because alternative medicine is suppressed by our media, the AMA, our government, your doctor, and health care provider.

Suppression is being used against alternative medicine by Facebook, by Twitter, and other social media. It is true suppression of knowledge, that I thought would never happen in this country, but it is NOW folks.

You are being brainwashed by your doctor that the only treatment for your cancer is chemo and radiation therapy. Cancer patients die (70%) from the wasting that occurs with the treatment when you puke your guts out for months while getting these treatments and from the treatment killing your immune system.

If you do not die from the first cancer, it often reoccurs again either in the same organ or in other organs later. Chemo and radiation cannot kill the cancer stem cells, only the active cancer cells. So, cancer stem cells stay in the system despite the chemo and radiation treatments, to cause cancer again later. Cancer is not a death sentence as they tell you.

There are alternative treatments, again, which are suppressed by this country because of deep pockets with the drug companies that run this country and our government agencies.

Read the article below and research for yourself what your doctor will not tell you! Turmeric used to treat cancer by Asian Doctors

Turmeric’s ‘Smart Kill’ Properties Put Chemo & Radiation To Sham

Posted on:

Wednesday, January 2nd, 2019 at 5:00 am

Written By:

Sayer Ji, Founder

Views 277744

This article is copyrighted by GreenMedInfo LLC, 2019

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Turmeric health benefits

The ancient Indian spice turmeric strikes again! Research finds turmeric extract selectively and safely kills cancer stem cells in a way that chemo and radiation can not.

A groundbreaking new study published in the journal Anticancer Research reveals that one of the world’s most extensively researched and promising natural compounds for cancer treatment: the primary polyphenol in the ancient spice turmeric known as curcumin, has the ability to selectively target cancer stem cells, which are at the root of cancer malignancy while having little to no toxicity on normal stem cells, which are essential for tissue regeneration and longevity.

Titled, “Curcumin and Cancer Stem Cells: Curcumin Has Asymmetrical Effects on Cancer and Normal Stem Cells,” the study describes the wide range of molecular mechanisms presently identified by which curcumin attacks cancer stem cells (CSCs), which are the minority subpopulation of self-renewing cells within a tumor colony, and which alone are capable of producing all the other cells within a tumor, making them the most lethal, tumoriogenic of all cells within most if not all cancers. Because CSCs are resistant to chemotherapy, and radiation, and may even be provoked towards increased invasiveness through surgical intervention, they are widely believed to be responsible for tumor recurrence and the failure of conventional treatment.

Click to view

The study identified the following 8 molecular mechanisms by which curcumin targets and kills cancer stem cells:

• Down-regulation of interleukin-6 (IL-6): IL-6 is classified as a cytokine (a potent biomolecule released by the immune system) and modulates both immunity and inflammation. It’s over expression has been linked to the progression from inflammation to cancer. Curcumin inhibits IL-6 release, which in turn prevents CSC stimulation.

• Down-regulation of interleukin-8 (IL-8): IL-8, another cytokine, is released after tumor cell death, subsequently stimulating CSCs to regrow the tumor and resist chemotherapy. Curcumin inhibits IL-8 production directly and indirectly.

• Down-regulation of interleukin-1 (IL-1): IL-1, a family of cytokines, is involved in response to injury and infection, with IL-1 playing a key role in cancer cell growth and the stimulation of CSCs. Curcumin inhibits IL-1 both directly and indirectly.

• Decrease CXCR1 and CXCR2 binding: CXCR1 and CXCR2 are proteins expressed on cells, including CSCs, which respond to the aforementioned cytokines in a deleterious manner. Curcumin has been found to not only block cytokine release but their binding to these two cellular targets.

• Modulation of the Wnt signaling pathway: The Wnt signaling pathway regulates a wide range of processes during embryonic development, but is also downregulated in cancer. Curcumin has been found to have a corrective action on Wnt signaling.

• Modulation of the Notch Pathway: The Notch signaling pathway, also involved in embryogenesis, plays a key role in regulating cell differentiation, proliferation, and programmed cell death (apoptosis), as well as the functioning of normal stem cells. Aberrant Notch signaling has been implicated in a wide range of cancers. Curcumin has been found to suppress tumor cells along the Notch pathway.

• Modulation of the Hedgehog Pathways: Another pathway involved in embryogenesis, the Hedgehog pathway also regulates normal stem cell activity. Abnormal functioning of this pathway is implicated in a wide range of cancers and in the stimulation of CSCs and associated increases in tumor recurrence after conventional treatment. Curcumin has been found to inhibit the Hedgehog pathway through a number of different mechanisms.

• Modulation of the FAK/AKT/FOXo3A Pathway: This pathway plays a key role in regulating normal stem cells, with aberrant signaling stimulating CSCs, resulting once again in tumor recurrence and resistance to chemotherapy. Curcumin has been found

• in multiple studies to destroy CSCs by inhibiting this pathway.

As you can see through these eight examples above, curcumin exhibits a rather profound level of complexity, modulating numerous molecular pathways simultaneously. Conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy is incapable of such delicate and “intelligent” behavior, as it preferentially targets fast-replicating cells by damaging their DNA in the vulnerable mitosis stage of cell division, regardless of whether they are benign, healthy, or cancerous cells. Curcumin’s selective cytotoxicity, on the other hand, targets the most dangerous cells the cancer stem cells “ which leave unharmed the normal cells, as we will now learn more about below.

Curcumin and Normal Stem Cells

Normal stem cells (NSCs) are essential for health because they are responsible for differentiating into normal cells that are needed to replace damaged or sick ones. If curcumin were to kill normal cells, like radiation and chemotherapy, it would not provide a compelling alternative to these treatments. The study addressed this point:

“The safety of curcumin has been long established, as it has been used for centuries as a dietary spice. The question arises as to why curcumin does not seem to have the same deleterious effects on normal stem cells (NSCs) as it does on CSCs. There are several possible reasons that curcumin has toxic effects on CSCs, while sparing NSCs.”

The study offered three potential explanations for curcumin’s differential or selective cytotoxicity:

• Malignant cells take in much more curcumin than normal cells.

• Curcumin alters the microenvironment of cells in such a way that is adverse to CSCs and beneficial to NSCs.

• Curcumin may not only directly attack CSCs, but may encourage them to differentiate into non-lethal, more benign cells.

Concluding Remarks

This study adds growing support to the idea that safe, time-tested, natural substances are superior to synthetic ones. Given the evidence that a safe and effective alternative may already exist, chemotherapy, radiation, and even surgery may no longer be justified as the first-line standard of care for cancer treatment.

In fact, a significant body of evidence now implicates these treatments in worsening prognosis, and in some cases driving cancer stem cell enrichment in tumors. Radiotherapy, for instance, has been found to induce cancer stem cell-like properties in breast cancer cells, essentially increasing their malignancy and tumoriogenicity by 30-fold. This is hardly progress when one considers the role that CSCs play, especially in contributing to post-treatment secondary cancers.

Turmeric and its components, of course, are not FDA-approved drugs, and by definition, the FDA will not allow an unapproved substance, natural or synthetic, to prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure a disease. This means that you will not be seeing it offered by an oncologist as an alternative to chemotherapy or radiation any time soon.

This does not, however, mean that it does not work. We have gathered over 1500 citations from the National Library of Medicine’s bibliographic database MEDLINE, accessible through pubmed.gov, and which can be viewed on our database here: Turmeric Research, showing that curcumin and related turmeric components possess significant anti-cancer activity. Truth be told, the information is so extensive, revealing over 700 possible health benefits, that I believe this plant embodies a form of intelligence and even compassion.

You can learn more about this supposition here: Turmeric’s Healing Power: A Physical Manifestation of Compassion?

I also discuss this concept in my lecture, Food As Medicine Rebooted.

Of course, the point is not to wait until one has such a severe health problem that taking heroic doses of spices or herbs becomes the focus. It is important to remember that ancient cultures used spices like turmeric mainly in culinary doses, as part of their dietary practices. These smaller amounts, delivered mainly as whole food extracts, likely constituted effective preventive strategies perhaps preventing the need for radical, heroic intervention later in life. If you read our previous article, Turmeric: A Wellness Promoting Tonic at Low Doses, Research Reveals, you’ll see this point explored in greater depth in light of a human clinical study.

For more research on turmeric and cancer, you can view our two database sections on these topics below:

• Health Guide: Turmeric

• Health Guide: Cancer Research

To learn more about the profound healing properties of turmeric consider watching the Turmeric presentation put together by K.P. Khalsa and Sayer Ji, which is free along with a video and e-book library of learning to members, starting with as little as 25 cents a day. Become a member or learn more here.

Learn from two experts in Turmeric in one course!

Article originally published: 2015-03-22

Article updated:2019-01-02

Sayer Ji is the founder of Greenmedinfo.com, a reviewer at the International Journal of Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine, Co-founder and CEO of Systome Biomed, Vice Chairman of the Board of the National Health Federation, Steering Committee Member of the Global Non-GMO Foundation.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of GreenMedInfo or its staff.

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash CLL is Chronic Lymphatic Leukemia.

My husband is 79 and was informed by our doctor in TN about the standard medical protocol for CLL 7 years ago. It is his decision to refuse standard treatment, as is mine. He can change his mind later as well. I feel it is the right of each individual to decide what kind of treatment they pursue, even if it would not be mine.

His father died of CLL, lived to 94, and played golf until 5 weeks before he died. Often, patients die of heart attacks or dementia before succumbing to CLL. His father is the first example I am going to tell you about.

His father would have died from CLL within two months, but ended his life early by refusing to eat or drink when he could no longer play golf. He said he didn't want to live if we couldn’t play, and he had his way in the end. He was seeing an oncologist, was on standard medicine, but not for CLL, and they simply said he was too old for the CLL treatments. CLL treatments could not be given due to the state of his liver and kidneys. He was also having swallowing issues. He drank up until the last two years of his life, when I was taking care of him. His diet was horrible for most of his life. He was genetically tough. He ate too much rich food and sugar.

His father refused vitamins or alternative therapies. He believed in standard medicine, took blood thinners and medicine for his heart issues, and took diabetes medicine, and I could not change his mind. It was his choice. When we started taking care of him, it was years later, and he had never told us about his white blood cell issues until we took over his care and were allowed to see his records and talk to his doctor. The service medical records showed he had been diagnosed but not treated by the military for over 5 years with CLL. It is interesting to note that as a military man, he was exposed to DDT in his early military career. The bases were sprayed with it. He was a pilot and exposed to the chemicals in the fuel and what they sprayed in war areas.

He outlived 3 heart attacks and numerous falls. I repeat, he played golf, took care of his bathroom chores, dressed himself, and did quite well physically until the end 6 weeks. He was mentally very severe with memory loss, but physically functioning. I took care of him 24 hours a day until the last, when he became combative and wouldn’t cooperate.

He was furious that he could’t play golf. It was his lifeblood. Every night at 12 PM, he would wake me up, already dressed, sitting in his chair, hat on, and be ready to go to breakfast. It took a lot to convince him to go back to bed. He walked into someones apt while I was at the store and scared the heck out of the people. The apartment managers gave him notice.

He couldn’t play golf, had a strong fist, and was losing his balance. Infections were setting in. His platelets were crashing. We made the hard decison to admit him into the hospital. His blood counts were at the end level. It was the end of his fight. I was at the end of my physical ability to manage him at his apartment. I was the only one he would let take care of him. He was a retired Lieutenant Commander, whose motto was I will do it my way and what part of NO don’t you understand. It’s engraved on his headstone.

So, I know a lot about CLL from experience and his father’s journey with it. I have researched it extensively, from standard medical protocols to alternative medicine therapies. If we had thousands of dollars, we would have more options to try.

Every one of you reading this has the right to make your own health care choices, whether it be standard medicine or alternative therapies. Both come with no quarantes especially at our age.

At our age, the end comes nearer, and none of us knows how long we will be on this earth.

We have a man in our church in his late 80’s who has survived 3 different cancers. They told him he would be dead a year ago. He still attends church every week, only using a walker. He had standard medicine, but he proved that their death sentence could be extended by several years.

We feel that at our age, it is our right to treat our health issues our way.

I see people our age at church using standard medicine, standard drugs, standard chemo, and radiation, and watch as they announce the cancer has returned months later. They are on walkers and in wheelchairs or dead. In a small town, everyone knows everything. We know who is getting chemo and radiation. We know their history. We see them die.

His CLL is not a typical case at all. Is it really CLL or Lyme disease complications?

Marty and I have been together since 2004. His history included playing on the Navy bases as a Navy brat, with DDT being sprayed where they played. When I met him, he was overweight, had cholesterol issues, had horrible migraines, and was on several prescription drugs. He had prostate cancer and surgery, but not chemo, long before I met him.

His doctor was completely frustrated with him and had gotten nowhere with him. He was skeptical about my bargain to try herbal medicine for 4 months before he took more prescriptions. By 4 months, he was off his prescriptions, no longer having headaches, had normal blood pressure, had lost weight, had given up the huge amounts of Coke and Pepsi, and was eating a better diet with much reduced sugar. I became his coach as well as loving him. We did live together, which made it easier to influence his negative lifestyle practices.

When we moved to TN, all his labs were normal. We built a huge greenhouse, started a backyard nursery, and trudged up and down a huge, steep hill multiple times a day. He was in great shape. We were there about 3 years before both of us began seeing our health degrade at the same time. We were scraping ticks off of us daily, the full 5 years we lived there, but we were ignored by the doctors. We had the rashes as well, but in TN, it was discounted until we got so ill that they acted. The lab tests that are now known to be deficient and lacking initially came out negative.

This was the beginning of the downfall of our health. Since his dad was living with us at that point, it was chalked up to stress. I started us on infection herbs as Oregano, but had no knowledge or experience with Lyme disease or its treatment. I didn’t know what was wrong other than that our health was getting worse.

So in 2018, we changed to a new doctor, who took us seriously, ran tests, and diagnosed Marty with Epstein-Barr. Then, kidney stones landed him in the hospital. I pleaded with our doctor to run Lyme disease tests as well. At the same time, I was horribly sick, and he ordered Lyme tests on me that now came out positive. By the time the tests came out positive, I was the sickest I had ever been in my life.

So we had just seen a doctor who diagnosed me with Lyme Disease, and we were waiting for tests to come back for possible Lyme disease for him. The test instead came back as Rocky Mountain Fever while he was in the hospital for kidney stones. He then got heavy IV antibiotics for the Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. So at the same time, he had severe stone pain and RMSFever in his 7-day hospital stay.

After 7 days, he came home with a white count of 30,000, which is above the norm of 10,000. He did not get better enough to work again, so he retired. He is 79 now.

The white count dropped by several thousand right out of the hospital, then started rising again. A new test showed Lyme disease, which I pressured the doctor to order, was positive. Since he had already received antibiotics, they wouldn’t treat him further.

After that point, his white count just rose a little at a time. It is known that after Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, white blood cell counts can remain elevated for several years.

I then began researching Lyme disease from two doctors who are renowned for their herbal treatment for Lyme!

We began a program of herbs as soon as the doctors refused to do anything. In those days, it was 10 days of doxi, and supposedly, you were cured. Wrong! That was the treatment 7 years ago with most doctors, as is still the norm.

As months slid by, his white blood cell count kept rising slowly… very slowly. The doctors did not worry much and were not that concerned. An oncologist refused to see him at that time, saying he wasn’t showing symptoms at this point. He didn’t think it was cancer after reviewing his medical history and labs.

When we moved here to Colorado from TN, 5 years ago, he ended up in the hospital again with painful stones. His white count rose to 40,000 after that episode. After several more months, since he was having no further problems or pain with the stones, the doctors here refused to consider anything but CLL.

We ended up finding one doctor who agreed with me that it was not CLL, given the timeline and the Lyme and RMSF fevers. She moved away, and we’re left without a doctor again.

About that time, a researcher found evidence that, in some cases, Lyme disease attacks white blood cells rather than just red blood cells.

After a few years, Lyme disease can compromise both the red blood system and the white blood system and develop into CLL.

Through autopsies and examinations of the brain, spine, and other tissues, the researchers found evidence of Lyme bacteria attacking and overrunning the white blood system. The Lyme bacteria were engulfing healthy white blood cells and destroying them. These patients had once been treated for diagnosed Lyme; the treatment ended, and CLL developed several years later, ending their lives. They found Lyme bacteria in the brains, spinal cords, eyes, joints, and bloodstream of these dead patients. Yet, the cause of death was labeled CLL. That made his health issues even more complicated and confusing.

Oncologists and other doctors lack expertise in Lyme, and most discount it. They have one set of ideas. The doctors here have not listened or agreed to delve into more possibilities than just CLL. They ignore the Lyme diagnosis and RMSF.

I changed his herbal program to try to address both factors: Lyme and CLL,

His stage of CLL, for lack of a better diagnosis, is called Watch and Wait!

Even without his history, they do nothing about CLL in men his age until he gets to the stage of this disease, where there is pain, nausea, vomiting, weight loss, and swollen lymph nodes with pain.

CLL is a slow disease that kills over a 7 to 10 year period. Often, men his age die of heart disease or dementia before the CLL kills them. They have no cure, no idea what causes CLL, so at some point, when the elderly patient is in the later stages, they administer palliative measures such as platelet infusions. Drugs are not usually given because of age and the severity of the CLL drug side effects.

There are few PubMed studies dealing with CLL and herbs.

Cordyceps mushrooms have been studied, and one is currently underway. The difficulty lies in the amount of cordyceps required and its price. It is the beta-glutans mainly being tested on the CLL

There are only a few research studies of therapy for CLL other than standard medicine.

None of the cases you can find deal with the complication of Lyme in this white blood count issue. It costs most patients up to $20,000 to be properly diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease. Insurance, for the most part, does not cover proper Lyme testing or specialized Lyme doctors. Infectious Disease Specialists misdiagnose patients with Lyme more often than not. They are NOT Lyme literate.

So I am using a program with him using herbs and supplements that both address the white count issue and the Lyme disease factor. If Lyme disease is disrupting his white cell system, you have to stop it. Unfortunately, that is a problem even if we went to an expensive Lyme-literate doctor.

There are NO guarantees that either an herbal program or a standard medicine program is going to work for your cancer. No Guarantees!

There are no standard protocols that work with every Lyme patient, either. It is individual treatment plans that sometimes work and sometimes do not. Doctors have no idea why older men in their 70’s get CLL or why?

So, where is my husband now in this 7-year battle?

As of this week, his red blood system is still operating normally. His platelets are normal. His liver and kidney functions are normal. His sugar is normal. His heart doctor says his heart is fine. No high blood pressure or cholesterol issues. No GI problems, no nausea, no vomiting, just mild aches and pain, no weight loss, no signs of his body breaking down in most aspects. He is eating well. He does experience fatigue, but no debilitating fatigue that keeps him in bed or makes him feel unable to have a normal life.

He has mostly very good lab results until you get to his total white blood cell count, which rose by 11,000. His lymph cells rose about the same. So we have slowed down the progression but not stopped it. I am not satisfied with that. I refuse to give in to it.

He has one new symptom: one large, swollen lymph node in his neck that causes no pain. They don’t usually treat swollen lymph nodes until they become painful, because it is a common symptom of CLL.

His other symptom is a 7-year fungal infection on one arm, which never spreads to the rest of his visible skin areas, and defies treatment from standard medicine after a biopsy. After 7 years, 5 dermatologists, and 6 medicines, his arm swelled up some months ago. The doctor took him off the steroid and had no suggestions on what to do next. I told her we were going to try herbal medicine again at that point.

I then made a medicine with Neem and essential oils that has worked the most effectively in 7 years. I had tried unsuccessfully with herbs before. My theory is that he may have a systemic fungal infection, now resistant, that may be contributing to his blood count. He obviously has a resistant fungal infection on one arm.

Most of the herbs shown to kill leukemia cells are also antifungal. It is also interesting that fungal infections are a major problem in leukemia patients.

It is also interesting that most Leukemia patients are prone to infections, yet neither of us has ever had the flu, COVID, lung issues, colds, or any of the other viruses circulating in the past years. We have not received any of the shots, including flu vaccines.

If this were a standard CLL case, they would not treat him at this point. It's called watch-and-wait, and he would be considered either Stage 1 or Stage 2 out of 4 stages.

If you look at his labs, I have been doing well over the past 7 years. I am frustrated at this point that we have not managed to keep his white count from rising; we have only managed to slow it down, not solve the rising white blood cell count.

If I cannot stop the progression of his white cell count, it is only a matter of time before it affects his red blood count in the later stages. So, we are redoing his protocols.

I changed his program to the Jim Jordon Protocol with additions for the past month. I found his site by accident while researching. It made sense, and I have never tried him on herbs from that region. I frankly have not studied any of these herbs until now. I have been impressed.

I found an extensive database while researching, as well, on all the rainforest herbs by an ND named Leslie Taylor, a Rainforest Medicinal Plant Expert, whose expertise is in these herbs.

It includes historical use, research studies, and amazing research documentation over 17 years. Many of them show benefit for Leukemia and historical usage. The link to her site is having Google issues, so I am not giving out the link until she can fix this. I ordered her books as well. It was money well spent.

The lab tests this week are too early to show any improvement with this new protocol.

There is historical use evidence in the Amazon, and some research studies indicating that several rainforest herbs were used to treat Leukemia and other cancers, and are still used by doctors in the area.

I have found three herbs to add to his regimen. After reading the research, I am increasing the dosage of two of them.

Finding dosages is the hardest part. You also have to consider effects such as some thin the blood and may reduce blood pressure. He is taking no prescription drugs at all, so that makes it easier.

You must monitor blood pressure and blood sugar, and get lab tests every 2 months to make sure blood, liver, and kidney markers are within normal limits. I get a full panel of tests done on my husband every two months, costing $100 to $300 at Ulta Labs.

If you are on prescription drugs, chemo, or radiation, do not take herbs unless approved and monitored by your doctor. Herbs do affect how your drug works and how it works. There can be serious side effects when taking both herbs and medicines together.

If his platelet count starts to fall in the future or his red cell system fails, we will have to consider standard medicine options, such as platelet infusions. Platelets falling mean at a certain point, under 140, you run the danger of bleeding out. It kills you. Platlet infusions mainly give the patient more time, it does not cure it.

Does this new program mean we will win this battle? No, but there is a good reason to hope these new rainforest herbs may be the answer.

Jim Gordon’s protocol has been used for different types of cancer, which is why I added to it. His cancer was not Leukemia.

I will be writing about these rainforest herbs over the next few months. These herbs would also address the Lyme disease issue as well.

I will be sharing this journey with you, as private as I would like to keep it. Sharing it may help someone who reads these Substacks. I will also talk about the difficulty of walking this journey and how it affects you.

I would appreciate your supporting our journey. It's very expensive, so your paid subscription would be very helpful to us. I appreciate all of your subscriptions, paid or not.

If there is a doctor reading this, it is our health care choice, not yours, not the government’s, and not anyone else’s either. Please feel free to unsubscribe if you wish; I certainly will understand.

Warning to Readers

I am not advocating that any of you reading this should follow our lead. I do, however, suggest you investigate both standard medicine protocols and alternative medicine protocols before you make your decision.

Your decision should be your own, not scare tactics by standard medicine or your doctor. Research, research, and research before you let them cut on you.

If you can afford to find a Holistic doctor, I would encourage you to do so! I expect to get some negative feedback, that’s ok! You are welcome to unsubscribe. I am going to keep sharing our journey to help others.

It is still used by Ayurvedic doctors today. You have to wonder why American doctors won’t suggest it? Perhaps it has to do with the billions that doctors and drug companies would lose if you used alternative medicine. If you were well, they would go broke. Is it your health they are concerned about or their income?

My personal experience using Astragalus over the years.

I have been using Astragalus for a few years. I didn’t discover Ayurvedic herbs until about 10 years ago. I took a class and became very impressed with Ayurvedic medicine and adaptogens. I use it to support my kidney function along with Essiac. In the 90’s, I had a bad fall off of stairs with no rail, falling backward 4 feet down onto a rough iron shelf, directly damaging my kidneys. I went to a clinic that told me I should go to the emergency department. At the time, I was financially struggling, divorced, and had little money, so I took Essiac instead! Years later, I added Astragalus as well. That was over 25 years ago, and I have never had to take prescription medicine or see a doctor again for it. I use alternative medicine instead. I believe in both Essiac and natural medicine, based on years of experience with these natural kidney support supplements.

Note: I am not advising you against getting professional treatment! At the time, I had no money for an ER bill or the tests that would have been required. I had already gone to Dominion Herbal College and was a trained herbalist. I had a medical background, having worked for doctors for a few years, as well, and I knew the risks. I was educated in herbal medicine. I have never stopped believing in the power of alternative therapies.

Many Ayurvedic herbs are adaptogens that help your body work more effectively and efficiently.

Astragalus is typically used in combination with other herbs to support and normalize the function of your organs and systems. It is an herb that acts as a tune-up to help your body cope with stress, whether mental or physical.

There are over 2000 species of Astragalus, but only two of them are used for medicinal purposes. So, it is important that you deal with a responsible company that tests the products it sells to ensure they are the correct species.

Astragalus is used to support healthy immune function against flu, COVID, and other viruses.

Astragalus Medicinal Benefits:

Adaptogen; antibacterial; antioxidant; anti-inflammatory; heart tonic; liver protective; tonic for immune system functioning, anti-tumor inhibiting;

Chinese studies show promise when combined with ligusticum fruit, increasing survival time for breast and some cell lung cancers; spleen-supporting; used as a spleen tonic for lung qi.

Immune benefits:

Astragalus is used in Ayurvedic medicine to help prevent colds, flu, viruses, lung infections, and other illnesses caused by bugs. Do not use during acute illness, as it can feed the illness according to Ayurvedic medicine protocol.

Liver, Kidney, and Spleen Benefits:

It is used in Ayurvedic medicine to protect the liver and kidneys, combined with milk thistle, Schisandra, and turmeric (liver herbs) or kidney herbs such as cordyceps, nettle seed, and S. miltirrhiza.

Cancer:

Astragalus is used to reduce the side effects from chemo and radiation treatments, depending on the cancer treatment medications; consult your doctor first before using it.

Preliminary studies suggest astragalus may have anti-tumor effects, specifically against melanoma and leukemia.

Anticancer Mechanism of Astragalus Polysaccharide and Its Application in Cancer Immunotherapy

Anticancer Mechanism of Astragalus Polysaccharide and Its Application in Cancer Immunotherapy

Dr. C Advice Astragalus: The Super Herb that Prevents Cancer

Efficacy and safety of astragalus polysaccharides in patients with malignant tumors: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Blood Sugar Support:

Astragalus appears to lower blood sugar. More studies are needed to determine whether it can help treat diabetes. Monitor your blood sugar when taking this herb.

Heart Function Benefits:

It is often combined with dan shen, dang gui, and corydalis tuber for the treatment of angina and mild congestive heart failure. It also helps to improve your heart function in some cases lowering bad choesterol.

It tends to lower blood pressure, so work with your doctor if you take Astragaus.

Supports Kidney Function;

Preliminary research suggests astragalus may help protect the kidneys and may help treat kidney disease. More studies are needed.

Medicinal Properties of Astragalus:

polysaccharides including astragalans 1, 11, and 111; glucuronic acid, astragalosides1 go v11, flavones, and isoflavones

How is it used in Ayurvedic medicine?

The herb is usually combined with other herbs that support the liver, kidneys, or spleen. Comes in tincture, capsules, or powder.

This herb can be taken in capsules, pills, extracts, or powder mixed into smoothies or oatmeal. The taste of this herb may not be pleasant, so be aware.

Interactions?

Moderate Interaction: Consult your doctor if using any of the medications listed below; consult your doctor before starting herbs if taking any medications. Herbs can potentiate or decrease the effectiveness of medications.

Important Note to Read!

Herbs and drugs should not be taken without the supervision of your doctor. If you do take both, do not take them at the same time. There should be at least three hours between taking herbs and medications. Herbs can reduce or increase the potency of your medication. Over time, it may lower your need for the medication or at least the dosage required. There is no research on how herbs will interact with your medication or with multiple medications. Combining the two could increase the risk of side effects.

Medications that conflict with Astragalus are listed below:

Any herbs you take may interact with any medication you are taking. These are the known interactions below:

1. Cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan, Neosar) interacts with ASTRAGALUS

2. Lithium interacts with ASTRAGALUS

• Medications that decrease the immune system (Immunosuppressants) interact with ASTRAGALUS ( Azathioprine which is Imuran; basiliximab which is Simulect; cyclosporine which is Neoral and Sandimmune; daclizumba or Zenapax; muromonab-CD3; mycophenolate or CellCept; prednisone; corticosteroids; and similar medicines; these medicines decrease immune system functioning. Astragalus increases immune function.

Herbs and drugs should not be taken without the supervision of your doctor. It is always advisable to discuss taking herbs with your doctor. I would suggest a holistic doctor or an integrated medicine doctor.

Dosage:

Look at the recommended dose on the supplement label, start with the lowest dosage, wait several days for any reactions, then increase gradually. If you want more specific directions, refer to the book listed below. It gives dosages in detail!

Adaptogens in Medical Herbalism by Donald R. Yance, CN, MH, RH (AHG)

You can find it on Amazon Books. It is an encyclopedia on adaptogens and supplements, which is an incredible resource in your healing path!

The authors go into great detail about doses and use in children and pets. The book is well worth the cost. This is the main book I use to study adaptogen herbs with the most specific details on how to use them for different health issues. If you plan to use adaptogenic herbs, you need to educate yourself and use them correctly.

More References below:

6 Astragalus Benefits: Dosage & Safety

Read Dr. Axes’ article on this herb here ( This is an educational link only)

I would suggest taking the capsules as well to speed up recovery from your illness. Jisogulan Tea is often used to promote energy, endurance, and mental clarity. Contains gypenosides, compounds similar to those in ginseng, which reduce oxidative stress. Traditionally used to support healthy blood pressure and heart function

How to grow Jiaogulan, the Immortality Plant

Jiagoulan, the Immortality plant, is not winter hardy. You need to bring it in during the winter and place it by a sunny window. In mild climates like Southern California or Florida, it should be fine in a protected area.

It makes a great house vine plant, but needs something to climb on, or just let it spill over the sides. Keep it moist. It needs dappled sunlight, not full sun.

Jiaogulan, (Gynostemma pentaphyllum), is one of the easiest adaptogen herbs to grow and use once you have some plants growing. It is a climbing vine that can be grown on your porch in states with mild winters.

It is a member of the cucumber family. You can grow it in any area, as long as you bring it inside if you receive freezing temperatures. The picture below is my Jiaogulan plant grown in my house. You can see it is pretty happy in this spot. I have it under grow lights.

This vine can be grown in a large hanging basket in dappled sunlight or indoors with good light.

You can also grow it in the ground, in kiddie pools, or in tubs near a tree or wall so that it has something to climb on. It is a pretty plant that is also great for health.

Jiaogulan, the immortality plant, was grown at my house in TN when we owned a backyard nursery and farm. It loved our basement with all the light.

How do you process Jiaogulan leaves for tea?

Wait until the plants grow some and their vines are at least two feet long, and then cut the vines off. Don’t strip all the leaves off the plants, or they may stop growing well. It is best to have 5 to 10 plants growing to ensure enough tea every day. So not spray them with commercial bug sprays!

Check for bugs and contamination!

The first step is to check your newly picked leaves for bugs, dirt, or disease. You can either dry them first or use them fresh in tea.

Heat the water until it's just about to boil.

You want to use the Jiaogulan leaves as an infusion: bring the water to almost boiling, take it off the burner, add the cut vine parts or dried tea leaves, then steep for about 15 minutes. It is a very nice tea that is easy on the taste buds.

Brew

If it tastes bitter, you brewed it too long.

Use Leaves Twice

You can use the Jiaogulan leaves as least twice again, perhaps brewing it longer the second or third time. Keep the used tea leaves in a small bowl in the refrigerator.

If you are making one mug, use a heaping tsp of the dried leaves and three tsps of the fresh.

How much of the fresh plant do I use?

I make it in a saucepan with about a tablespoon of dried and three tablespoons of the fresh vine. I buy the dried because, at this point, I don’t have enough for tea all the time. You can also buy it in capsules as well.

Combine Jiaogulan with other tea herbs.

You can combine Jiaogulan tea with other teas as well. You could combine it with green tea, hibiscus tea, peppermint, or any favorite tea you have on hand. It tastes fine by itself.

This is a tea that you drink every day and contains NO caffeine. It is not a stimulant tea, but gently uplifts your energy and vitality.

Links for further education are below: none are ads

Jiaogulan: Benefits, Side Effects, and Preparations (verywellhealth.com)

Gynostemma: Benefits, Uses and Side Effects of Jiaogulan - Dr. Axe

(draxe.com)

Read my published articles at alternativemedicine-womenshealth-articles.com