Smoking

by Nelson, Dr. Christopher's Herb Shop

Smoking

One common property of medicinal herbs is that they have multiple healing properties. So you can find yourself using one herb for many different ailments. But occasionally you’ll find one single herb that provides support for all the major aspects of a particular problem. I can think of no greater example than the herb lobelia as an aid to smokers.

Last week we had a fellow call us. He was about to leave his house, and saw six capsules on his countertop that he believed be goldenseal. He took them and left. After a while, he realized he forgot something and started back. He then felt nauseas, and like he wanted to die. Shortly after, he felt he was surely going to die. He then coughed, hacked, and began expectorating ‘a pile of black mucus.’. He said he was breathing like he was a kid again. He then learned that they were lobelia capsules. He figured this happened because he had been a smoker when he was younger.

This kind of situation happens when lobelia is taken in large doses when the lungs are in an extremely congested state. For a while lobelia was considered a poisonous herb by the FDA because it acted as an emetic. In that time (much like what we’ve seen with the herbs sassafras and comfrey) one chemical was taken out of lobelia (lobeline) and injected into animals until it killed them. Since lobelia is not just one chemical, it was eventually allowed back on the market. It would take several pounds of the herb injected into the blood to cause the toxic reaction these animals received. Furthermore, since someone vomits after eating a tablespoon of the stuff, it seems to have an excellent safety mechanism built in place.

Fortunately this only happens when lobelia is used in large doses, and someone wanting to clean the lungs gently can do so with lobelia. 1-2 capsules or ¼ - ½ a teaspoon of the herb would be a regular adult dose. People vary in sensitivity to this herb, but most should have no problem with these amounts. Lobelia is an expectorant herb, so it will push waste matter out of the lungs. It contains a chemical that resembles nicotine, but is not addictive. This can help satisfy the craving in a nicotine addiction. Further, many people use cigarettes to help calm down. Lobelia is one of the best nervine herbs there is. It will quite the nerves effectively and even help rebuild them! It is potent enough to use as a mild painkiller, massaged over cuts or scrapes or taken internally. It seems to me to be so well fitted to a smoking problem that there is little else that would be needed herbally.

In a small dosage, lobelia prevents vomiting. In large doses, it acts as an emetic. Dr. Christopher both saw and taught that asthma could be cleared overnight, provided lobelia was used during an asthma attack. This was the point at which the body was trying hardest to clear the lungs and would be most responsive. He would give them a cup of peppermint tea (mostly to settle the stomach so there wouldn’t be pains in the upcoming cleansing) and ½ a teaspoon of lobelia tincture. Every half hour he would give another dose. He said he never went over three ½ teaspoons. Then the person would vomit, and then cough up cups of tar and mucus from the lungs for 2-4 hours. This kind of dramatic healing crisis will only happen when there is an asthma attack or a respiratory emergency. Otherwise what could be done in a day will take a few months with smaller doses.

Cayenne pepper is also useful for cutting the mucus in the lungs. So would fenugreek, though I consider it less effective. Vitamin C supplements are also commonly used to help. Dr. Christopher used a formula containing wild oats, lobelia, cayenne and rose hips. The rose hips contain vitamin C. This formula is still made today, and is called the Smoke Out formula. In any case, lobelia works well by itself.

Find Dr. Christopher’s Herbal Formulas, single herbs, essential oils, books and more at Dr. Christopher’s Original Herb Shop: www.drchristophersherbshop.com.

NOTICE: All information in this newsletter is given out as information only and is not intended to diagnose or prescribe.

Probiotics & Enzymes

by Nelson, www.DrChristophersHerbShop.com

Enzymes, probiotics and multivitamins are common things you'll see in any health food store today. People continue to get them because they work and they feel better with them. That's interesting: you have over 400 different types of flora in the intestines, and supplementing with a mere 8 or 9 strains makes a difference in health. They must be really important!

So it’s probably a good idea to be aware of how to make your own probiotics and enzymes. This can be easily accomplished through fermentation. Fermenting food will create the enzymes, probiotics, B vitamins and other nutrition on a massive scale. There is one particular aspect about fermented food I would like to discuss, which are the antioxidant qualities.

After the atomic bomb was dropped over Hiroshima, the nuclear radiation alone was destroying lives. There were some people who did much better than the others with the radiation sickness. The common thread was that these individuals ate red miso. The director of St. Francis Hospital in Nagasaki, Dr. Shinichiro Akizuki, was so impressed with it that he said: "I believe that miso belongs to the highest class of medicines, those which help prevent disease and strengthen the body through continued usage." Massaging miso over radiation burns became a traditional therapy. And it isn't just miso. It's all fermented food. In the U.S we have had doctors look at the abilities of nutritional yeast (a fermented food) to detox radiation.

We get exposed to a lot of interesting stuff nowadays, from air pollution to chemotherapy. Eating something that can handle radiation poisoning will help you feel better about the air you breathe. Being able to have such an accessible, potent remedy at hand allows us to live free in a polluted world. I can't think of a simpler fermented food than rejuvelac, the sour elixer discovered by Anne Wigmore.

Rejuvelac is made simply by fermenting grains in water for 2 or more days. Variations of this bubbly, cloudy drink can also be made with beans, seeds or nuts, with a different taste for each. It will also make the enzymes specifically for what you're fermenting. For instance, the enzyme amylase is made when wheat is fermented. This makes sense, because the wheat is starchy, and that is the enzyme used to break down starch. Other foods break down with different enzymes. So if you have a hard time digesting garbanzo beans, fermenting them and drinking the liquid will give you the enzymes used to digest them.

A simple recipe would be to fill a jar 1/3 of the way with wheat sprouts, then the rest with water. Cover the jar with a breathable cloth or paper towel, and let it sit for 2 days. After that, drain the liquid off, and drink or refrigerate it. The longer you let it ferment, the more potent it will get. The strongest I've let it ferment was for nine days. I think anything past that would be both unpalatable and hazardous. It does have an odd taste. The closest I could come to describe it would be lemon juice. It does enhance the flavor of other foods, surprisingly. Nut cheeses and the like taste much better made with the sour beverage.

I have done many different kinds of fasts. The most energetic I have ever felt on any of them was with rejuvelac, which doesn't even have maple syrup in it to give you a sugar boost.

The truth is you could really ferment anything safe and organic, and get antioxidants, B vitamins and friendly flora. If you had to, you could ferment the grass on your lawn. From the best days to nuclear fallout, we will always have a simple, potent tonic at hand.

Nutrients

by Nelson, www.DrChristophersHerbShop.com

In the last newsletter we discussed some nutrients to focus on to have a balanced diet. This week we will continue to discuss some more nutrients and common pitfalls.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D does not show up in any significant amounts in plants. One of the best plant sources would be watercress, but you would have to eat a truckload to get one day’s worth. It is still possible for the body to manufacture it from the sun. This would be the only vegan way to obtain this nutrient. Otherwise it needs to come from an animal source, such as eggs, liver, fish, etc. Unless you enjoy sunbathing in winter as much as the people from Sweden do, it may be in your best interest to get this nutrient from either supplementing or eating animal products in the winter.

It is difficult to overdose on vitamin D. It used to be given in mega-doses in hospitals to help with arthritis (150,000-200,000 I.U). It is at these levels that side effects are documented. We disagree that 400 I.U a day is adequate for ideal function. Getting 2,000 I.U a day or more will help with proper immune system function, mood, bowel health, bone health, etc.

Calcium and Iron

These nutrients are very abundant in most whole foods, but it can still be a problem for vegans. It is found in almost every dark green vegetable, nuts, seeds and many fruits. So why would it be a problem? Well, just because you eat vegan doesn't mean you eat healthy. It amuses us when someone who eats the standard American diet lets us know that they cut out all the dairy and meat and got horribly sick from it. But then they tell you they were eating mostly potato chips, soda and all kinds of refined food.

If you eat a diet that will put you in a personal famine, you will do better with dairy and meat, because those foods are ideal when a famine is going on. Vegans who aren't full of calcium and iron usually either aren't eating fresh, whole foods, or aren't absorbing well (we will discuss this pitfall soon).

Most of the illnesses you see vegans and vegetarians with occur during the transitional phase of the diet. Fruits are a common staple at this point, because they taste sweet and are energizing. Grains or lentils also are quite filling, so a lot of these are usually eaten. But if they are not balanced out with greens, then you start to run into problems.

Anemia

One common problem if the Mucus-less diet is not balanced would be anemia. As long as B-12 is obtained somehow (see the last newsletter), and B-6 and iron are obtained through good, wholesome foods this should not be a problem. If there is still anemia after the nutrition is provided, you might look for a potential absorption problem, or bacterial yeast or parasite stealing the nutrition.

Hypoglycemia/Anxiety/Panic Attacks

This is one of the most common pitfalls if the Mucus-less diet is not balanced. The people who have this problem of low blood sugar are usually very active, and faithful- eating no meat or dairy, and often even eat whole foods. These people really try to keep all the rules, yet they are always dragging. Some are incredibly nervous and anxious. In bad cases they get panic attacks. In really serious cases, insanity can be an actual issue.

It was not more than a month ago when I visited a close friend. She eats a very clean, mostly raw diet. After I asked her how she was feeling, she told me she was fine except for the anxiety and panic attacks. She then talked a bit about herbs and asked me my advice. After a bit of digging, it became clear she was busy and living off of large amounts of fruit, and not getting enough greens to compensate for it.

Under these conditions, a panic attack can be induced by eating the protein or sugar rich foods. The good news is that you can get the panic attacks to stop pretty quickly (sometimes immediately) by working on the pancreas. Either cedar berries or Dr. Christopher's Pancreas formula can get excellent results. This will be much more permanent than using any of the nerve herbs. But if the diet doesn't have big, green salads every day the tiredness may stick around. Fruits and fruit juices are much milder to the pancreas than the refined junk we often see, so people will initially feel good eating large amounts of them. After a while, it will start to be taxing. Nuts and seeds also are high protein, and will wear on the pancreas and adrenals if there aren't enough green vegetables in the diet. Sprouts are the best greens to quickly build up in this situation.

In order to keep fruits, lentils, nuts and seeds in moderation, the bulk of the diet must come from dark green vegetables. The greens are where the most important nutrition comes from, and prevent the other foods from becoming acid forming. Seeds, fruits and grains will be excellent calorie sources, are filling and will build strength if used properly. But when someone is eating only plants, green food takes priority.

Oxalic Acid

This is something I have mixed data on, so it will be up to the individual to see what feels best. Spinach, chard and cabbage all have high content of oxalic acid, which does some pretty wonderful things. In excess, it is thought by some to prevent the body from getting rid of calcium, causing it to build up as kidney stones or in the joints. I have noticed a common pattern with vegans who have kidney stones. So far, each of the last five cases or so have been eating copious amounts of spinach every day, on a very clean diet. A while back I was wondering why I woke up in screaming pain in the kidneys for a few months. This was helped with the Kidney formula and hydrangea, but it didn't go away until I stopped eating cabbage daily.

However, I do think it is fair to point out that some studies indicate that although oxalic acid can do this, that it is not possible to ingest it in amounts that would cause problems.

Weight Loss Supplements

by Nelson - Dr. Christopher's Herb Shop

Earlier this week in the Herb Shop we got a question about weight loss and what supplements to use for it. Weight loss is the number one topic in the wellness industry, so this shouldn't be very surprising. But our herbalists don't often use many supplements when someone wants to lose weight.

Whenever these products are endorsed, you always hear "I lost weight when I used this supplement with diet and exercise." The truth is a lot of these people could be saying "I lost weight with diet and exercise". One reason that we don't often use a lot of supplements with weight loss is that we are already using diet with most of our programs. Weight loss is often a side effect of the dietary programs we have people follow for things like arthritis.

We often work with the Mucus-less diet. We are also fond of Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live diet. The reason we like these for weight loss is that the weight is lost at a healthy pace, it nourishes the individual and it stays off. Some people will have short term success with some of the fad diets out there. I consider the HCG diet to be one of these. This diet involves taking a hormone while eating only 500 calories a day for two weeks. I know people who have lost a lot of weight on this program and were much more comfortable with how they looked. I met some friends of mine who had happily finished this program some months ago. I asked them how they felt. They told me that their weight was starting to go up again, so they were thinking of doing the program again.

These are my three chief complaints about diets like these: 1) If you only eat 500 calories a day, you will lose weight with or without the supplement. 2) The weight will come back when the individual returns to old eating habits, and the diet is not healthy for long term use. 3) The weight is lost at an unhealthy rate. The individual starves on the diet. Then months later the program needs to be repeated. When did anorexia become a doctor sponsored method for weight loss?

When weight is lost too rapidly in this manner, it strains the pancreas and upsets the blood sugar levels. If this is repeated enough, the adrenals will be so shot that you won't lose weight even if you starve yourself. This is one of the few times we think supplementing is necessary. If the thyroid or endocrine system is shot, you can exercise heavily, eat healthy and never lose weight. We have seen this. Under these circumstances, we have used the Thyroid Maintenance formula or Adrenal formula. Some lucky individuals with a low thyroid only need kelp (this only works when it is low). Usually after 2 months the individual can then lose weight if they stay on a good diet. We consider a healthy rate of weight loss to be 20 pounds the first month, and 10 pounds every month after.

Dr. Christopher did have a formula designed to assist the body with weight loss. Assist is the key word. You aren't likely to lose weight just by taking it. Dr. Christopher looked at weight loss as a massive cleanse. Sure, he put herbs in there to boost the metabolism (Brigham tea is where the drug ephedra was derived from), but it’s mostly herbs for the bowels, urinary tract, liver and bloodstream.

We are happy to hear from one person who has followed the mucus-less diet to gain greater health. This individual, Greg Wood, has successfully lost over 100 pounds and overcome many health related challenges with the mucus-less diet. You might be interested in seeing his blog here: (http://woodstrongliving.blogspot.com/).

But the mucus-less diet can be unbalanced, even keeping all the rules Dr. Christopher outlined. Next week we will discuss some common health complaints on an unbalanced plant-based diet, and the solutions for them.

Water

by Nelson, Dr. Christopher's Herb Shop

Today's newsletter will deal with the most medicinal natural remedy in all of natural Materia Medica. With herbs, there are a lot of plants you can use to get someone to sweat, purify the blood, diuretics, laxatives, etc. Usually plants will have many medicinal properties.

But nothing has as many varied usages, or maintains health or provides such a direct impact on disease as water. In fact, water can be so successfully employed that it has its own branch in medicine - hydrotherapy. We have had some herbalists say that they use hydrotherapy more than herbal therapy, and this should be no surprise.

In fact, some herbs will not work at all without water. An example would be a traditional protocol for gangrene. Gangrene is no laughing matter, and within hours can become a serious or fatal problem if limbs aren't amputated. Dr. Christopher employed marshmallow tea in these instances, bathing the affected area in hot marshmallow tea for 30 minutes, then cold water for 5 minutes. He then would repeat this procedure with fresh marshmallow tea all day. Within hours the color of the skin would come back, and many people owe their limbs to this procedure.

But if the gangrenous wound is packed with marshmallow powder, it will not work. Why is that? When water is used on wounds or congested areas, its diffusive nature allows it to draw toxic material into it. One reason that so much marshmallow tea must be used is that the poison is being pulled out of the bloodstream into the water.

One reason Dr. Christopher used herbal teas was because they were hydrating. This is very useful, particularly with the cleansing formulas when a lot of water is needed to get the job done (Lower Bowel, Kidney, etc). Dr. Christopher also considered the Cold Sheet Treatment to be the most effective remedy for colds and flu. Likewise, hot baths, enemas, douches and the like have played a central role in our programs for similar reasons.

Truth be told, you can get a lot done with water by itself. Hydrotherapy alone is not used as extensively today as it was 150 years ago. This is probably because of the amount of time it takes to successfully employ it. Jethro Kloss recounts a case where his wife woke up completely paralyzed. He spent several hours doing nothing else but fomentations of hot and cold water. By the end of it, his wife was fully mobile again. Kloss' book, Back to Eden, provides a solid foundation for hydrotherapy applied in simple ways.

Alternating hot and cold can act as a pump to any clogged area of the body, be it intestines, arteries or nerves! And it is with the level of heat that we decide the medicinal attributes of water. Few substances have as high a specific heat as water, meaning it can hold a lot of thermal energy. This means that hot water will cool down much slower if put in a refrigerator than something like hot copper.

Given hot, it will will promote sweating as a diaphoretic. Given cold, it will promote urination as a diuretic. Hot, it will promote circulation and speed healing in this way. Cold, it can be a refrigerant to lower the body temperature more effectively than other substances. In all ways, it is a blood-purifying alterative. So on and so forth.

There are many historical accounts of using hot and cold water, used for problems ranging from colds and fevers to life threatening problems like appendicitis. 200 years ago, Thompsonian herbalists would spend several hours to a few days with their patients- giving them hot foot baths, fomentations, teas to make them sweat, vomit and evacuate their bowels, scalding hot teas to rehydrate them afterwards and stimulate them, etc.

From that alone, you might guess why Thompsonian herbalism died out, despite a very high success rate with many illnesses. The pleasantness of a remedy has always played a factor in its use. Herbalism today is often done long distance, or through private consulting where it is up to the ill person to do the work. So the labor intensive therapies are not done so much anymore, even though a good portion of the time someone can feel well the very next day.

A few diseases actually respond better to water than to herbs. Some proffesionals have been saying for years that the primary cause of Alzheimer's disease is chronic dehydration, followed by aluminum build up in the brain. The cases where you hear about major reversals from Alzheimer's are usually elderly patients who have been in retirement homes for years. It is hard for a nurse to keep someone hydrated when they have to change the bedpans.

Nonetheless, just like anything else, water can be overdone. The kidneys must filter the water, and they are at their best when they have plenty of it. But drinking too much water too quickly will wear them out. It will also flush out minerals and other important things the body needs. It makes sense to space out your intake of water throughout the day. A 16 ounce glass of water drunk within an hour should be mild to the body. A quart or more in an hour may be a bit much.

It is important to drink before you feel thirst come on, as thirst is a late indicator of dehydration. Lately it has been said to drink half your body weight in fluid ounces. Others say to drink your full body weight in fluid ounces. I say keep this in mind, but take as much as your level of activity calls for, varying from day to day, letting the way you feel be your primary indicator.

With water being common and accessible, even should we find ourselves without herbs or other medicines, we will still have one of the most powerful healers at our disposal.

Find Dr. Christopher’s Herbal Formulas, single herbs, essential oils, books and more at Dr. Christopher’s Original Herb Shop: www.drchristophersherbshop.com.

NOTICE: All information in this newsletter is given out as information only and is not intended to diagnose or prescribe.

Emotions

by Nelson

Often my friends and I have been approached for help for a variety of problems, ranging from anxiety, baldness, headaches to digestive disorders and beyond. Anyone who has given advice for health, from the amateur to the professional, can all understand that there are many ways to deal with one problem. It hasn't ever been that difficult to find something that helped or made the situation bearable, but it’s always been our goal to do better than that if we can.

I recall a case I had earlier this year. This woman was suffering from some digestive problems. She had poor digestion, poor elimination, and a variety of similar problems. Being a student of Dr. Christopher, of course I was thinking of the health of the bowel. So I asked her about her diet. It wasn't ideal with the white flour biscuit she ate regularly, but something was odd. I have no endorsing love for white flour, but even though she was eating it, she was eating fruits, vegetables and other wholesome foods, and shouldn't have been having problems as severe as she was.

She was also eager to use any herbs she needed to to feel better, as well as do anything dietary that would help. So I started to probe a bit. I told her I didn't think that some of the food she was eating was helping or doing any good for her, but I didn't think that explained her problems. She asked what herbs people use for these problems. I told her about slippery elm, cleansing the colon, and things of that nature.

When I was asked if she should do these things, I expressed my concern. I knew she would certainly notice some improvement, but I dislike it when someone only feels 30% better, then plateaus in their progress. It is easy to give someone hope, and make them excited with a formula that will help them. But what really happens? This is why feedback is so important. Not getting told how someone is responding to a therapy makes it difficult to get a statistical idea of how valuable it is. Even if it does help, six months down the road, is the problem forever gone? Or does it pop up again? This is the very problem that kept mercury in use as the miracle, essential drug of choice for hundreds of years, despite the inevitable, horrific deaths.

So when I answered her question, I told her that on a very rigid diet and faithful use of herbs, I expected her to only make mediocre improvement from where she was. This is not what I normally say. I'm sure many dietary programs I've put together for people could be accurately called 'mercilessly inflexible'.

I then asked her if she had been under a lot of stress recently. That's when the tears started coming. With the amount of turmoil this person was going through, I wouldn't have expected her to digest lettuce very well. This is when we find ourselves having to work on things on an emotional level, where the concrete minerals, chemicals and plants don't have that big an impact.

We have been very fortunate in recent times to see what does work in these extreme cases. It is no secret that during World War II, you had some prisoners in concentration camps go through years of shear torture, survive, and be happier, brighter and healthier than some that had been there mere months. In almost all of these stories, the people who witnessed these scenarios attributed the well-being of these prisoners not to physical constitution, but their positive perspective on the situation. There was a common thread of love in these individuals that made them unique in the way they viewed things.

This is not to say that those with illness are hateful beings (although you can certainly find some people that are). But it does make it clear that the way we view things is worth our consideration, and might serve us in the long run to change them.

There are some curious approaches to working on the emotional level. Apart from state of mind, you see a lot of other methods in alternative healing for these. Homeopathy would be in this realm. I think Dr. Bach explained this point of view rather well. He spent years observing plants and their 'personalities'. He noticed quirks they had, like the black walnut tree growing without any other plants being able to grow near it. He saw the black walnut tree as a living example to own one’s own power, free from the influence of others.

So he prepared homeopathic extracts of these plants, in which he attempted to catch the spiritual essence or energy of the plant. The end result had no real amount of the plant or physical components left in it, which flies in the face of an atomistic point of view, which would call it a placebo at best. This debate is not the point of the newsletter, but I do nonetheless find it fascinating that homeopathy has been the biggest forerunner in developing an emotional laxative.

Stories like this happen in our own area. The manager of our local herb shop recalls a case where a woman who suffered years of coughing asked for help. She told this woman the usual herbs and traditional remedies for coughs. The woman said she had tried all of them with no results. So the manager said 'Well, what is it you're trying to say that you're not being allowed to say?'. The woman briefly looked shocked, regained her composure, and said 'Oh, well, fine then'. She then began to open up.

I have more experiences I could quote, but for the sake of brevity, I will just note some common patterns I have observed. The experienced disease is painful. It eventually hits a peak where the pain becomes so great, that the person will let go of a strong attachment to a person, thing or belief. At first they may feel like they've lost everything. But then they find that the sadness linked to what they were holding onto wasn't based on anything true. Suddenly the pain is no longer something they have to fight, but was working with them to show them what is really going on, or who they really are. It becomes a great blessing in their eyes, having helped them discover something they otherwise wouldn't have known. Gratitude swells in them for every particle of the experience, and the situation can either immediately shift or physically remain the same. It doesn't matter either way. All that's left is love.

Cancer

by Nelson – Dr. Christopher’s Herb Shop

Having discussed heart disease and diabetes in past newsletters, it is only appropriate to bring up cancer. These three diseases are the top killers in America, and are the chronic diseases we have the most experience with. It would please the reader to know that Dr. Christopher had a fair share of success with his cancer patients.

In his lectures, Dr. Christopher often would speak of how an emotional state could impact physical health. In his lectures, he taught "The emotional cause of cancer is hate." This approach to health (viewing mind, body and spirit as inseparable) was much less accepted in his time than it is now.

In the early days, he experimented with the natural therapies of his time. Originally, he put his patients on the 'Grape Cure'. He saw this therapy in very extreme cases. One of his more well known cases was a fellow who had skin cancer on his groin. The solution Dr. Christopher proposed was to involve sunlight and 3 months of nothing but grape juice. The results were rather favorable, and the man lived a cancer free life afterwards. Another woman on the program for a few months began to lose weight so rapidly she became a walking skeleton. She continued anyway, despite protests from friends and family, and began to get her weight back until it was at a normal level- all while drinking grape juice!

Well, these programs were pretty intensive, and drinking nothing but juice for months is not usually something someone is willing to do. So Dr. Christopher put together his 'incurables' program, one of the goals being to reduce the amount of time needed to heal from a few months down to a few weeks. In order to accomplish this, he involved a lot of herbs in his program. With the 2-3 weeks of juices, many herbal formulas and fomentations, he claimed to be able to get the results in three weeks that would have otherwise taken him months.

This program was not intended for someone slightly ill or for maintenance, as it put the body into a high mode of cleansing. This can be helpful when you're dealing with a chronic problem, but it can weaken the vitality of a healthy body (a good state of health is more improved upon by building).

The foundation of the incurables program is the mucus-less diet, juice therapy and what is called the 'Extended Herbal Cleanse'. The Extended Herbal Cleanse involved using four herbal formulas (Lower Bowel, Kidney, Liver & Gallbladder, and Bloodstream formulas) to work on the most important eliminative organs of the body, one idea being that if these functioned ideally, the body would not be forced to seal off waste matter in tumors it couldn't get rid of.

There were several other formulas and a lot of superfoods in addition to these four, but quite often we have had pleasing results with these herbs alone. I used to view cancer as a very frightening disease, even though it was part of my philosophy that healthy lifestyles could be enough. Often the protocol suggested called for a strict lifestyIe and massive amounts of supplementation (still cheaper than conventional medicine, at least), and sometimes it took every blasted part of it to get anything done.

But this changed. I had an experience where I got to observe David Christopher talk to someone who approached him with cancer. David picked his brain a bit, found out he was eating healthy, and talked about the extended herbal cleanse and apricot kernals. That was it. He commented on cancer "It's really not that complicated".

And it isn't. When you work closest to the root of the problem, the more effect your efforts will have, and the less work you'll ultimately have to do. Working on these four areas of the body combined with the apricot kernels (containing the vitamin B-17 considered mother nature's chemotherapy by some) can get a lot done by itself.

And I've been surprised since then. I recall a fellow who had stage four cancer. He made no change to his diet, but was willing to drink Essiac tea (a strong blood cleansing tea made mostly of burdock). I would have told him he was going to die if he asked me. He didn't. His cancer completely went away, but he still drinks Essiac tea every day.

Jethro Kloss recalls a case where the postman in his area developed cancer. He got a big bag of red clover blossoms and drank the tea regularly. This was in a time where it was difficult to see if the tumors where completely gone. He lived a natural lifespan, and when he did die, it was not of cancer. Red clover blossoms where the main ingredient of the Blood Stream formula, and was Dr. Christopher's herb of choice when dealing with cancer.

Dr. Schulz recalls a case where a woman with stomach cancer asked for help. She would not change her diet, exercise or take formulas. But she did like teas. So he asked her what herbs grew in her backyard, and she had peppermint. He told her to drink peppermint tea every day. He didn't think it was going to work, and was surprised to hear in six months time that the stomach cancer was completely gone.

There are many such stories, but they are not often talked about, because reinforcing the idea that someone sick needs to make no changes to their life and just needs a magic pill is a mentality natural healers like to get away from. The success rates also plummet, which is why an aggressive program like the incurables was favored by Dr. Christopher and naturopaths who don't like to leave any stones unturned.

It was by no means a guaranteed cure. But even when Dr. Christopher was taken to court by the state when people died on his programs, the families of the deceased came and testified on his behalf with tears in their eyes. They got to see firsthand the difference between dying in a hospital bed in pain on a myriad of medications, and dying at home, for the most part pain free and peacefully.

If his programs had been ineffective, he would have been jailed and his practice shut down permanently. There must be some value in them if they revolutionized the way people look at alternative healing, and balk the full might of an unscrupulous legal system.

So we think the incurables program is at least worth looking at and considering when someone wants natural support for a chronic disease.
The full incurables has been published online at http://www.herballegacy.com/Incurables.html

This is also available as the pamphlet 'Curing the Incurables'

"There are no incurable diseases."
-John R. Christopher

Find Dr. Christopher’s Herbal Formulas, single herbs, essential oils, books and more at Dr. Christopher’s Original Herb Shop: www.drchristophersherbshop.com.


NOTICE: All information in this newsletter is given out as information only and is not intended to diagnose or prescribe.