Holistic Herbal: A Safe and Practical Guide to Making and Using Herbal Remedies. David Hoffmann
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condition, but if the supply of this blood to the organs is not adequate, there will be problems. Similarly, if waste materials produced in the metabolic process are not removed properly, damage to tissue will quickly result.
From this we can conclude that any disease focused in any organ may have its roots in an insufficiency of the circulatory system, either because the organ is not being properly supplied with blood, or because the waste it produces is not being drained off well enough.
When we look at the body in a holistic way and treat any disease from this perspective, we recognise that all organs and systems are connected and influence each other. We have to look at what each one individually contributes to the whole picture. The heart vessels may be involved in any condition, and must be helped and aided in the healing process.
In our society the circulatory system is a common site for illnesses, often fatal ones, as we do not take proper care of our heart and blood vessels by our way of living and by our approach to life. Prevention of circulatory problems is easy, and a number of guidelines are set out below.
When major heart problems are already apparent, the matter is somewhat different and care must be taken. Herbal medicine has a lot to offer in the healing of heart failure and cardiac conditions, but any treatment has to be under qualified supervision.
Prevention of circulatory disease
Prevention is far better than having to resort to curing a disease that has developed, and prevention means finding ease for body, mind and spirit.
We call a condition disease when the body is so worn out that it begins to manifest symptoms. With most people it takes a number of years to get to such a state, as the body is usually able to handle quite a lot for a long time without breaking down. There is often a steady decline; we are not quite as strong and vigorous as last year, our health is not quite as good as it could be. It is declining towards a state of disease, but we don’t notice it until something breaks down and we are ill.
There are specific details relating to the cardiovascular system that should be borne in mind. They apply not only to anyone who already has problems with this particular system, or whose way of life puts them into a ‘high risk category’ for developing cardio-vascular conditions. They also apply to anyone who does not want to develop problems in that area.
There are four factors that need to be considered:
Exercise: It is vital for the whole system that it is used and at least occasionally stretched. The only way to ensure that heart and blood vessels are truly used is to exercise so the heart beat is speeded up and we become short of breath. This does not mean that people should jog themselves into exhaustion every day! Regular exercises that feel right and are enjoyable are the key. Moderation in all things, exercise included.
Diet: As far as the circulatory system is concerned, the most important single factor that causes problems is the intake of fat, which most of us eat far too much of. Over the last couple of years we have heard a lot about a relationship between the consumption of saturated fats and the level of cholesterol (one of these fats) in the blood, leading to various cardiovascular problems. One recommended way out was to eat unsaturated fats instead of the dangerous saturated ones, mainly by changing from animal fats to vegetable fats. According to new research, however, it is not all that simple. The evidence is pointing to dangers in the consumption of unsaturated fats too, and the only safe way out is to reduce your total fat intake, which in general means cutting it out all together. And this means a decrease in the consumption of visible fat (in meat, butter, oils) and also of invisible fat (in cakes, pastries, thick soups, mayonnaise, cheese, milk and other dairy products, eggs), which often makes up the bulk of our fat intake. Instead, most of our food should consist of plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, beans and peas, the latter two being considered capable of reducing the cholesterol level in the blood. The minimum of salt should be used.
Tobacco and Alcohol: It is vital that anyone with concerns about their health, and especially about the heart and blood vessels, should stop smoking and keep the intake of alcohol to a reasonable amount.
Stress: There is a close correlation between the level of stress in your life and the occurrence of health problems, particularly with problems in the cardiovascular system. ‘Stress’ is a relative concept. It would be more appropriate to consider the individual’s ability to deal with the stress in their life rather than to look at the stress itself. There are a number of tools available to us today to help take responsibility in our lives and to deal with stress and emotional tensions. It is possible to help with tension by using herbal remedies, but it is far better and more realistic to go to the underlying cause within us and change it. This involves consciousness and sometimes courage. Relaxation therapy, re-evaluation co-counselling, humanistic and transpersonal psychology all have much to offer. Dis-ease can be prevented by bringing ease into one’s life. Psychological and spiritual harmony will create the inner environment for bodily harmony.
Herbs for the circulatory system
As with all systems of the body, an identification of herbs for that system is a necessary simplification. The body is an integrated whole and the herbal approach to healing recognises this. Any problems arising in a particular system may be caused by the state of health and vitality in any other part of the body, and therefore any herb can have a role to play in the treatment of any system. However, to enable our limited human comprehension to grasp the basics of herbalism, it is valid to identify herbs that have a specific role to play in this system.
To keep things simple and to avoid complex groupings, the herbs will be differentiated into those that have a direct action on the heart, and those that affect the peripheral vessels.
Heart tonics
The most important herbal agents for the heart include Broom, Bugleweed, Figwort, Hawthorn, Lily of the Valley, Motherwort and Night Blooming Cereus.
You will notice that herbs such as Foxglove (Digitalis) and Mediterranean Squill have been left out of the list, even though these plant remedies are used extensively by orthodox medicine as effective treatments for heart failure. However, as there are marked dangers with the use of Foxglove, this poisonous plant has been left out. This does not mean that effective heart remedies are not available to us. By far the most important one on the list is Lily of the Valley. We shall digress slightly here to discuss the action of this herb and compare it to Foxglove, as there are some important lessons involved.
As mentioned in the chapter on plant constituents, the remedies often used to treat the heart are rich in a group of chemicals called cardiac glycosides. These complex chemicals have the astounding ability to stimulate the muscles of the heart in a way that strengthens its contraction and ensures that more blood is pumped through the body. The efficiency of the heart is thereby increased, but with the help of these chemicals the oxygen required by the heart muscle for this work is not increased and thus we do not have to worry about any oxygen deficiency.
With Foxglove, however, there is an added danger, as some of its constituents can accumulate in the body and lead to poisoning, which does not happen with Lily of the Valley. As pharmacological analysis shows, there are a number of different cardiac glycosides present in Lily of the Valley, such as Convallatoxin, Convallatoxol, Convallarin, Convallamarin, Convallaside and Convallatoxoloside. (The root of all these outlandish words is the Latin name