Essiac Essentials

acids as citric, malic, oxalic, tannic and tartaric acids; aloe emodin which showed ‘significant antileukemic activity’ when isolated from Sheep sorrel in tests conducted by the National Cancer Institute. The seeds contain manganese, vitamin E, and the water-soluble factors present in the vitamin B complex as pangamic acid (incorrectly known as B15), and possibly laetrile (incorrectly known as B17).
     
    * Antioxidants may alter the rate of occurrence of cancer and its subsequent growth through their action as anti-carcinogens, alleviating and protecting against damaging free radicals or reacting with their by-products..
     
     
    Burdock
     
    Burdock /Arctium lappa
     
    A biennial belonging to the Asteraceae (Compositae ) family, Greater Burdock (Arctium lappa) is distinguishable from the smaller Arctium minus by its solid, rather than hollow, basal leaf stalks and by its height. It grows up to 4 ft/1.21 m high with broadly ovate basal leaves that can be 15ins/38cm long. The large, globular flower head with its distinctive array of stiff hooked bracts, appears in July and August. Common throughout Europe, Asia Minor, Scandinavia to latitude 63° N, Canada and the United States, it can be found growing in pastureland, beside roads and ditches and along river banks, though rarely in woodlands. It tolerates both acid and alkaline soils, the roots developing well in moist, deeply composted earth. In Japan it is still cultivated as a vegetable.
    The early settlers took the plant to North America where it quickly became well-established all over the United States and Canada, except in the far north. The native American Indians, particularly the Iroquois, the Chippewa and the Cherokee tribes, learned from the Europeans how to prepare the herb. The Cherokee made a tea from Burdock, Dandelion and White oak bark to treat varicose veins. A decoction of the root has been recorded in Indiana as a folk treatment for cancer.
    Medicinally the herb is valued for its anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, for treating urinary tract infections, kidney problems, skin infections, arthritis and other inflammatory diseases. The high inulin/alantin content makes it particularly effective in treating dry and scaly skin conditions, and oil of Burdock has been used as a hair tonic to strengthen and encourage the growth of new hair. The plant is good for digestive disorders and can be used externally in a poultice to heal wounds and ulcers. Alternatively, diuretic and diaphoretic, it is an all-round blood purifier and painkiller, acting as a detoxification agent in the body, especially during illness.
    The whole plant is concluded to be beneficial. The root and seeds are considered to be equally remedial, but only the root has been generally used in the Essiac tea. However we do recommend that some seeds be included in the decoction if they are available. Demulcent, relaxant and with a limited tonic property, Burdock seeds have also been used traditionally to increase the flow of urine, alleviate irritation and inflammation in the bladder and for all kinds of kidney problems, including dissolving kidney stones. They have a strong diuretic and detoxifying action and relieve coughs. Blood and plasma tissues, the respiratory, circulatory, urinary and lymphatic systems are all said to be positively affected by use of the seeds.
    Studies by scientists at Kawasaki Medical School, Okayama, Japan have established anti-tumour properties in the plant as well as an antimutation factor, called ‘the burdock factor’, which is resistant to both heat and protein-digesting enzymes. A memorandum from a 1989 World Health Organisation meeting indicated that, under laboratory conditions, burdock was found to be active against the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV). It is also a uterine stimulant and should be used with caution by pregnant women. The medieval German Abbess Hildegard of Bingen recorded it as being used to treat cancer.
    The original recipe for Essiac uses six and a half (American) cups of Burdock root, chopped to the size of small peas. Although not a formally trained herbalist, Rene frequently used herbs to treat her patients and experimented with them in decoction. It was always her preference to use scales when weighing out her powdered herbs while using the familiar kitchen cup measurements for chopped herbs, such as the Burdock root.
    Only the first-year root is used medicinally — i.e. taken from immature plants in which the