the value of CAM

As a Nutrition Counselor and Herbalist my focus is holistic care and complementary and alternative medicine. The value of complementary and alternative medicine (or CAM) cannot be understated in today’s medical infrastructure; so vastly dominated by conventional medicine. Pharmaceuticals have long been known to be addictive, riddled with side-effects and even deadly; while there is a wide array of safe, effective, natural alternatives to these that the public may not even know about. Things such as herbal medicine can act as an alternative to certain medications and as an adjuvant to the treatment of certain conditions, illnesses, or surgeries. Additional CAM therapies can include: nutritional counselling, acupuncture, ayurveda, yoga, massage therapy, the Alexander Technique, aromatherapy, homeopathy, Qi gong, etc.

CAM, and its benefits have been researched for decades regarding treatment or co-treatment of everything from back-pain to cancer. In an article for the Journal of American Board of Family Medicine written nearly 20 years ago a group of doctors and professionals reviewed the data found in 2002 in the National Health Interview Survey to examine the associates between perceived helpfulness of carrying CAM therapies for backpain; they concluded that in the majority of those who used CAM did perceive a benefit (2010). It can be discouraging to know that nearly 20 years ago we were recognizing the benefits of CAM and yet it is still not considered a mainstream option here in the United States.

This is a conservative look as I am seeing articles as early as 1990, 30 years ago, on alternative and complementary therapies. In 1990 a questionnaire for nearly 600 practitioners in the Netherlands found that almost have of those surveyed (47%) used alternative health care methods. (Visser & Peters, 1990) So why are these safe, researched, alternative and complementary therapies still sitting on the back burner in the US? That’s a question I’d like to answer.

References:

Kanodia, A. K., Legedza, A. T., Davis, R. B., Eisenberg, D. M., & Phillips, R. S. (2010). Perceived Benefit of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) for Back Pain: A National Survey. The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine,23(3), 354-362. doi:10.3122/jabfm.2010.03.080252

Visser, G. J., & Peters, L. (1990). Alternative Medicine and General Practitioners in The Netherlands: Towards Acceptance and Integration. Family Practice,7(3), 227-232. doi:10.1093/fampra/7.3.227

A Slippery Elm Story

We all sure are missing hiking the lands of Equinox Botanicals and United Plant Savers this year… alas the woods await…

To the Woods

The essence of the flower is dew

In my life

Awaiting me

I walk, but never in the right direction

North, north

I tell myself north

It will lead me home

To the woods

Where I become me again and again

Baptized in a pond

Where copperheads rest theirs

Splashing softly, laughing loudly

I come again

To the woods, where I have found home

Again and again

Under the canopy of trees

Protected we grow together

A spark that began

Ignites again and again

We listen and learn

And become more than eyes

Cave dwellers, story tellers

We come alive

Where there was feather

There is weight

To go back to the woods

Again and again

To hear the story of the Slippery Elm

It. Is. Time…

I have always loved the long and fragrant process of making elderberry syrup, but especially now amidst our pandemic, I love having ANY immune boosting supplements on hand. You don’t know me if you haven’t seen me pound green juice or eat garlic in response to an impending cold. It’s nice to have something in your medicine cabinet, like our syrup, that is not only good for the body but from what I hear… delicious! (It would be odd to speak for myself, right?!)

Black elderberry, Sambucus nigra, has long been used to boost immunity, treat inflammatory conditions of the upper respiratory tract, and reduce symptoms and duration of the cold and flu. This is backed by centuries of traditional folk use as well as modern scientific studies.

References

Balick, M. J., & Weil, A. (2013). Rodale’s 21st-century herbal: a practical guide for healthy living using nature’s most powerful plants. Emmaus, PA: Rodale.

Skenderi, G. (2004). Herbal vade mecum: 800 herbs, spices, essential oils, lipids, etc., constituents, properties, uses, and caution. Rutherford, NJ: Herbacy Press.