Herbs - Just What are You Buying

The availability of herbal and natural products has increased over recent years. This is a direct reflection of the increased interest in natural medicine not only for ourselves but also for our horses and pets. As the numbers increase do we understand what we are buying and what expectations should we have of their performance? We will look at what to expect from a herbal approach and address some of the common questions and misconceptions. 

What is herbal Medicine ?

There is confusion between what is known as herbalism or herbal medicine and other forms of complementary therapies. Herbal medicine is simply the use of just plants or plant extracts to maintain or restore health. Sometimes you will see it referred to as Phytotherapy, (phyto means plant) but it means the same. The most significant things are that herbalists use whole plant extracts. This does not mean we use all the roots, leaves, flowers etc, but rather that we use the whole spectrum of phytochemicals that make up the particular part of the plant that we use.

To explain this more let’s look at Aspirin. The product you might buy for a headache is a chemically synthesised version of a naturally occurring group of compounds called salicylates. These occur mainly in the bark of the White Willow and the aerial parts of Meadowsweet. Both these had long been used by herbalists to help with headaches and pain relief, but Meadowsweet is more commonly used for its benefit to the digestive system. In the 19th century chemists in Germany managed to isolate the salicylates from Willow Bark and then to manufacture a similar but slightly different compound in the laboratory. This became known as Aspirin. The significance of this is that Aspirin went on to become almost the default painkiller until it was noticed that it had some unfortunate side effects on the stomach. Meadowsweet on the other hand causes none of the stomach problems and indeed is used to sooth the stomach. The reason is that Meadowsweet contains a wide range of compounds which act in synergy. They support each other and prevent the side effects that can occur with a single compound drug.

Why should I use herbs?

Herbs are the oldest form of medicine we have. This in itself is of no benefit but thousands of years of use has told us which are safe and which is the best part of the plant to use. This can now be confirmed by multiple screening techniques and in many cases science is confirming the traditional use of herbs. It is also finding new uses and showing some traditional ideas to be incorrect. This is terrific and we should welcome it. Scientific research is also helping us understand how some of the actions take place. Those with a purist view of herbs tend to frown on their use in a symptomatic way but there is a very real place for this type of use; especially in those areas that other modalities can not address.

In most cases herbs are very safe and are unlikely to cause any side effects. There are some important herbs that can cause side effects in high doses but the effects are generally reversible. These will not usually be in over the counter products but if you have any doubts ask the retailer or ring the manufacturer. It is generally the lack of side effects and the wide therapeutic index that makes herbs so attractive. The therapeutic index is the difference between an effective medicinal dose and the amount which is considered poisonous. Many chemical medicines have a very narrow index which makes them potentially dangerous in the wrong hands.

If it’s natural does it test positive?

There is a misconception around that if something is “natural” it won’t show a positive test. Don’t be fooled. Caffein is a natural extract of the coffee bean and it will get you into trouble in competition. Some herbs do show a positive so if you are competing, ask the manufacturer if it has been tested. The most likely herb to cause a problem is Valerian.This works so well in calming over excited or anxious horses that the FEI developed a specific test to identify it. It is now regularly tested for. Curiously, the use of Regumate to suppress oestrus is still permitted.

The “natural” label raises an interesting question. What is natural? Surely it means unadulterated or unchanged by the manufacturing processes. There are a lot of products on the market that claim to be natural but which actually contain added manufactured chemicals. This will include the majority of the vitamin and mineral products that claim to be natural. As an example the Vitamin C you buy in tablet form will probably have been made by a pharmaceutical company and is quite different from the Vitamin C you will find in an orange. Studies have also shown that the synthetic vitamins are less readily absorbed than those that occur naturally in fruit and vegetables.

It is also important to realise that the action of plants will vary with different species of animal. For example humans can take advantage of Wild Cherry bark to reduce coughing but it will induce laminitis in horses. Similarly humans can take more advantage of the iron in red meat than they can of the iron in spinach. It is more bioavailable because we are omnivores and our digestive systems have evolved accordingly. Herbivores however can take more advantage of the iron in plant matter. In both cases if you give a synthetic iron supplement much of it will pass through because it is not as bioavailable as the naturally occurring iron. This raises the question of whether it is acceptable to feed animal derived products such as glucosamine or chondroitin to our horses.

How quickly should herbs work?

Some books and indeed some manufacturers of herbal products warn you to wait for three or four weeks before you expect to see any result. In some special cases this will be true but do you really want to wait that long? If you are treating an acute problem you want results as fast as possible. Herbs can achieve this if they are given in the appropriate form and sufficient dose. For the body to be able to use a herb’s active constituents they must be taken out of the plant cells in a form that can be easily absorbed by the body via the digestive system. If an animal is fed a dry herb this extraction process takes place in the stomach and gut. This is fine for a few herbs but most are better extracted using alcohol. The benefit an individual receives from dry herbs also depends on its digestive efficiency. The chemistry of plant constituents is quite complex but as a general rule most of the actives in medicinal herbs are far more efficiently and completely extracted in alcohol. Also because alcohol is absorbed into the blood stream quickly a fast effect can be achieved from the treatment. The treatments that will normally take some time to show effect are typically those involved in the modulation of female hormones.

Results of a double blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study on children with chronic obstructed airways has been reported in the Industry News section of the Zeitschrift füür Phytotherapie. The therapeutic effects of alcoholic and alcohol-free extracts of Ivy leaves (Hedera helix) were compared. Spirometric testing showed a significant improvement in lung function for both products, which was superior to conventional bronchodilators. However, it was shown that the use of the product extracted in alcohol yielded an increase in bioavailability of active components, and the dose of the alcohol-free preparation needed to be adjusted to a higher level to obtain the same effect. The mode of action seems to be that alcohol acts to keep the active components in solution after ingestion, thus facilitating their absorption into the bloodstream. Quick absorption means a faster mode of action. Another good example is the use of Devil’s Claw. It is hard to ask a horse when his knee stops hurting but we have noticed a significant effect on ourselves and other human patients within only 15 minutes of taking Devil’s Claw ethanolic extract.

How much should you give?

Herbs work because of the action that the constituents of the plants have on the cells in the body or in some cases on things that should not be in the body such as opportunistic bacteria or parasites. To achieve an adequate response to a herb it is important to give a therapeutic dose. It is exactly the same as you taking an Aspirin tablet for a headache. Some people need 2 tablets to control even a slight headache. They know that a quarter of a tablet just won’t do. Horses are just the same. We have treated ponies that were very stiff and uncomfortable and now find life much easier with just 5 mL of Devil’s Claw each morning. These ponies were suffering from chronic degenerative joint disease. LINKUnfortunately this is a condition which will never totally resolve and the best you can do is improve their quality of life.

In acute cases a much higher dose is required to get on top of the inflamation as quickly as possible. Epiphysitis in the young horse is a good example. In these cases we would use a high dose of say 40mls twice a day until the condition is under control, then reduce the dose to maintain the required response. Another good example is demonstrated by work we did on young milking goats. In the autumn livestock often suffer from a rapid onset pneumonia. In the young milking goats conventional antibiotics had no effect and the death rates of those infected was usually 100%. The herd we worked with historically lost about 25% of their 6 month old goatlings every year. We developed an effective herbal antiviral mix. Initially we used what we thought should be sufficient dose. The goats recovered but took a couple of weeks to return to health. As sometimes happens for the best the instructions were mis-read and the dose was doubled. The effect was astonishing. The goats recovered from being close to death to fully fit in two or three days. Of course we changed the protocol and ended up giving 20mls four times a day to goats that only weighed on average 15 kg. By all conventions this is a massive dose, but it saved their lives and got them back to health fast: surely the purpose of the treatment. This demonstrates that the dose should be appropriate for the problem. The dose given on most herbal products is a guideline, but if you are in doubt talk to a suitably qualified herbalist.

Note: all the doses discussed refer to 1:2 ethanolic extracts.

How do I know what I’m buying?

This is the question that we all need to ask. If you are buying dried herbs you may be happy to judge how fresh they are by the look and smell. In this case this is the only quality criteria you can easily use. Unless you are a botanist and can identify that you are being offered the correct herb you must rely on the manufacturer of the product. Use by dates are more important for dry herbs than liquids. Research carried out on Echinacea and Valerian has shown that in both these herbs the level of actives in the dried roots will decline by 50% if kept at room temperature for just 6 months from harvest. It is therefore really important that the dried herbs you buy are fresh. Even those that are just a year old could be providing reduced benefit to your horse. This alone is sufficient reason to use ethanolic extracts which have a much longer shelf life and preserve the active components of the plant.

It is equally important to realise that not all extracts are equal. The strength of extracts normally vary between 1 in 10 to 1 in 2. 1 in 2 being the strongest by a factor of 5. A 1 in 10 extract contains 100gms of herb extracted into 1 litre of liquid, whereas a 1 in 2 contains 500gm of herb in 1 litre. It is disappointing that few if any manufacturers state the strength of extract. Some do not even know when you ring and ask. We have done a brief telephone survey of manufacturers. The strengths of the few ethanolic extracts that are available are generally 1:5 or weaker. There are one or two better quality products that are as strong as 1:3 or 1:2. Although the stronger extracts will be more expensive you should get better results and should get better value for money. It is also important to realise that a good herbal extract will generally be dark brown in colour and strong generally bitter tasting. Surprisingly horses like bitter things. Their normal diets are all quite bitter. After all grass is quite bitter.

Labelling is the most important. All the ingredients in the product should be listed on the outside so you can make an informed decision as to the contents and whether you want to feed it to your horse. Statutory regulations require you to declare a wide range of things on the label. Some are helpful but others are not. The information you really need is a complete list of the ingredients, the strength of extract and the part of the plant that is used. When you buy herbs make sure that the information on the label is complete and if it isn’t ask the retailer or the manufacturer.

If you don’t get the answers you need go somewhere else.

©James Hart 2016