Editor’s note: We come from a culture which is steeped in the tradition of using herbs to enhance our lives. In Dominica, we are blessed to have such rich plant ecology with herbs to address many of our needs. We cook with them, we bathe with them, we even heal with them. With the advent of allopathic medicine in the West, some of the perceived validity of these practices may have been lost, but not entirely. It’s always surprising to me the number of people who can identify the “mystery plants” that we post here on DNO occasionally, which solidifies my point. We know these things; the name, use, and properties of a given plant are never too far removed from our awareness. When we begin to appreciate that herbology is a complete system, and that even “modern” medicine is built upon the pillars of this discipline, then it will be easy for us to get back to nature and, in the process, get back to our nature.
Here is a comprehensive list of herbal products for your review and benefit provided by a trained expert in the field:
Herbal Products
Essica Plus: This formula was developed by Rene Caisse, a Canadian Nurse for those suffering from cancer and other serious health problems. The formula consists of four herbs, namely: Burdock Root, which is considered one of the best blood purifiers. Slippery Elm Bark contains an abundance of mucilage and has wonderful strengthening and healing qualities. Sheep Sorrell, a blood purifier, is useful in degenerative diseases and cleanses the body’s system. Turkey Rubbarb Root has laxative actions and is effective for eliminations, digestive problems, skin conditions and parasites. This formula is an effective blood purifier and system toner to rebuild tissue strength.
Green Food Powder: A powerful alkalinizing blend of “super foods”, cereal grasses and other herbs of extraordinary nutritional value. It is rich in chlorophyll which makes it an excellent blood tonic. Without chlorophyll, life as we know it would not exist. Many people eat massive quantities of refined carbohydrates that lack any notable nutritional content. Green Food Powder has the minerals that are missing in your diet. Spiriluna, Chlorella, Barley, Alfalfa, Wheatgrass, Oatstraw, Gingko Biloba, Ginseng and Bee Pollen have extraordinary health benefits which can transform your life.
Hawthorn Plus is a blend of herbs that work together to nourish and strengthen the heart muscle and the nerves that lead into it, and also to improve circulation. Hawthorn Berries are an excellent remedy for heart weakness and specific for a wide range of circulatory conditions like high blood pressure, angina, congestive heart failure and difficult breathing. It improves blood supply to the heart and limits cholesterol build up on the artery walls. It calms the entire circulatory system. Cayenne Pepper is a very nutritious herb. It appears to have beneficial effect on blood fats, thereby reducing cholesterol. This herb removes obstructions and is one of the best for poor circulation. Fennel is anti-inflammatory.
Garlic Syrup: The powers of garlic are no secret. Well known as the “poor man’s penicillin”, garlic has many uses and is excellent for all pulmonary problems, bad cholesterol, high blood pressure and heart disease in general. Garlic eradicates mucous and helps promote circulation, stimulates the gastric juices and corrects any fermentations and gaseous conditions in the stomach. It arrests intestinal putrefaction and infection while stimulating the healthful growth of “friendly bacteria”. Garlic is also a wonderful nerve tonic.
Cough Syrup: This formula contains Slippery Elm Bark, Licorice Root, Lobelia, Mint, Elecampane and Elder flowers. These herbs help suppress the cough reflex and greatly relieve post nasal drip. It soothes the throat, lungs and calms the nerves and the digestive system. The cough syrup is also excellent for problems of the respiratory system including colds, flu, fevers, etc.
Antiseptic Healing Salve: This salve is for all skin problems. It is made the old fashioned way by infusing herbs in extra virgin olive oil. The herbs in this salve are highly antiseptic, high in sulphur and contain healing qualities. Burdock Root, Comfrey Root, Plantain Leaves, Black Walnut Bark, Chamomile flowers, Golden Seal, Eucalyptus Leaves, Chaparral, Chickweed, Echinacea Root, Sarsaparilla Root, Calendula, Heal All , essential oils, olive oil and beeswax are what make this salve very soothing and healing.
Cascara Sagrada is a bitter, cleansing tonic that helps move waste through the intestinal tract, making it an excellent remedy for chronic and habitual constipation and gas. It stimulates the digestive secretions of the liver, gall bladder, stomach and pancreas. It is also good for parasites, cleans the blood and is a specific for diabetes.
Comfrey Plus: Comfrey is a highly nutritive herb. Its active ingredient, allantoin promotes new cell growth, thereby healing connective tissues, torn ligaments, broken bones and ulcerations in any part of the body. It works internally and externally to promote healing. Together with Garlic Syrup, Comfrey Plus strengthens the respiratory system. The other herbs – Black Walnut, oxygenates the blood to rid the body of excessive toxins, fatty material and parasites. Fennel helps with inflammation and is excellent for indigestion and gas. Cayenne speeds circulation and carries herbal agents to the areas where they are needed.
Rosehips Plus is an immune system booster which simultaneously cleans the blood. It contains Rosehips, Red Clover, Astragalus, Catsclaw, Burdock, Fennel and Iris Moss. Together these herbs strengthen and stimulate the immune response, enhancing the body’s ability to resist infection. It neutralizes, eliminates toxins and is recommended for all auto immune diseases and can be used as a supplement. It is advisable to take Rosehips with Cascara as one thoroughly cleans the blood and the other thoroughly cleans the bowels.
Bladderwrack/Flax: This great formula contains a very effective marine herb called Bladderwrack for those who suffer with arthritis, rheumatism, gout and lumbago. It contains natural organic iodine which immediately aids the thyroid gland. Flax Seed is a powerful food for inflamed mucous membranes of the respiratory, digestive and urinary organs. Saw Palmetto is a primary tissue building and gland stimulating herb for toning and strengthening the male reproductive organs. This combination greatly aids the prostate by reducing inflammation and enlargement. The sulphur content of this amazing tonic purifies the skin and the zinc stimulates and feed and prostate gland. It also strengthens the nerves.
Dandelion Plus is made of herbs which are important for the health of the liver, kidneys and blood. Dandelion is a powerful diuretic and it stimulates the liver to release toxins. It soothes the digestive system and cleans the liver and kidneys, encourages urination and removes intestinal congestion. Dandelion is beneficial for a wide range of ailments including arthritis, rheumatism, gallstones, heartburn, to name a few. Yellow dock increases the liver’s ability to filter and purify the blood and promotes the production of bile. It helps build the blood against iron deficiency and cleans the lymphathic system. Good for fibroids and helps relieves and dissolve kidney stones. Sarsaparilla is a liver and blood restorer and an anti-inflammatory herb that cleans and stimulates the kidneys to flush deposits and clear toxins.
Prost-Up: This is a natural alternative to increase male potency and supplement the male reproductive system. Saw Palmetto is a blessing to the prostate gland because it contains compounds that will nourish and strengthen. Ginseng helps reduce male impotence. Yohimbe and Pygeum are traditional aphrodisiacs that increase blood flow to the genitals and are used specifically for impotence and erectile dysfunction.
Herbal Liniment: (For External Use Only) This is a remarkable liniment for reducing pains of rheumatism, sciatica, arthritis, stiff and swollen joints, inflammation, sprains, athletes foot, gangrene, torn ligaments and purulent sores, back pain, congestions of the chest and sore throat. It can be rubbed into any painful part. Rub affected area with a deep rotating motion twice daily. Contains cinnamon bark, sage leaf, bay leaf, eucalyptus, wintergreen, peppermint, menthol crystal and other greens in a base of extra virgin cold pressed olive oil.
Ras Bobby
Tel: (340) 775-0851
[email protected]
Can the slave help/heal my ley ulcer of 5 yrs.
not all of us are familiar with these names..could photos accompany the herbs in the future
Aloes Aloes is a master for all…drink it , swallow it, rub it in sores, skin problems, put it on the eyes for inflammation…everyone should have aloes in their yard, great for burns…herbs are good..
Cough Syrup: This formula contains Slippery Elm Bark, Licorice Root, Lobelia, Mint, Elecampane and Elder flowers. These herbs help suppress the cough reflex and greatly relieve post nasal drip. It soothes the throat, lungs and calms the nerves and the digestive system. The cough syrup is also excellent for problems of the respiratory system including colds, flu, fevers, etc. (Quote from the author).
Someone stated when people do not know, anything that sounds good people will believe it and accept it as truth. Let me say the person who made that comment is “right on,” that person to me is very smart.
Someone gave a recipe for cough syrup, by the same token I can say to someone, mixed some honey lemon, or lime juice, and any kind of rum or whiskey and drink it; sugar can be subtitled for honey, and that will relieve their cough.
Would I be correct?
It may have a psychological effect on some people and low and behold their cough will disappear, to some people it will have no effect. A cough most of the time comes with flu like symptoms, which are caused by a host of different viruses which are rapidly changing; these are viruses that can elude the immune system.
And let me say here there is no cure for aids, and that’s because the aids virus is similar to a common cold virus, we know that there is no cure for a common cold, that is why it usually go away, wether it is treated or not, so if we have no cure for the common cold, one should understand why they have not yet found a cure for aids.
Note: that is because we are dealing with thousands of different viruses at the same time trying to eliminate them; so I do not understand how someone can go into the bush, and pick some leaves or wood bark, combined them; then deduced that is a cure for a cough or cold.
So, let me get a little bit scientific here and say flu viruses are RNA animal viruses. Type A flu viruses cause most of the serious flu epidemics in humans and also occur in mammals and birds. Type B and also probably type C viruses are restricted to humans. Type B cause relatively small outbreaks of flu, while type C viruses rarely cause serous health problems.
An individual flu virus resembles a ball studded with spikes composed of two kinds of protein; one of those proteins, hemagglutinin (HA), is the substance that allows the virus to gain access to the cell interior, and the other, neuraminidase (NA), permits the daughter viruses to break free of the host cell once the viral replication has been completed. The “types” of flu virus (A, B, C, and so forth) are defined by how they react immunologically.
The subject of a cough is a bit more complicated, and because I want to limit my comments I cannot detail it, from the above one knowledgeable may get an insight of where it would take me.
You see for all we know a cough may be caused by any of several disorders of the stomach, and the intestinal tract.
Now I like tea, and I drank plenty of bush tea as a kid, however there is nothing I read in all of what the author debated to be significant, as far as curing any sickness okay.
Now the man has to make a living by some means, but one had better see a modern day doctor when they are coughing too offten even when they think it is a simply cough; which might turn out to be tubercles (TB), or something worst.
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
A little learning is a dangerous thing. Francisco has no idea of the synergistic power of God’s.plants – clearly an egomaniac with modicum of scientific knowledge. Kiss – Keep it simple stupid – we are impressed.
Someone stated that when people do not know, anything that sounds good, they will believe it and accept it as “the truth” Let me say that the person who made that comment is “right on” that person is “smart” <<<<<says Fransisco
Well of course, because that "smart someone" has written to your liking! Birds of a feather flock together, don't they?
You, and your colleague is "smart" in your own eyes, what makes you think the rest of us has accepted that "smartness" judgement of yours.
If you can claim that a one line comment–just to breakdown a post–without a single word pertaining to the news article in question, from that person–to be "smart", well I do not think you have any quality of "smartness" in your head, either. And that is the "truth"
Personally, I may not have used all of the treatment of herbs listed above, but a few of them have been recommended to me–such as the use of garlic pills, cyrup, which is good for keeping the heart healthy, also the Dandelion plus whidc is good fro keeping the blood clean, and I have used them to effectiveness for my health condition–I do not have heart trouble and even with diabetes, wounds have no trouble healling in my body. But that is just to mention a few of what is listed and described above.
Also, I trusted that the writer has experimented with most of the herbs or their forms, which he listed above–and so, I think that he did a great job in listing them with explanations.
That is why I think it is well written and the information is good–who are you to judge ignorance in people, because they do not accept your ccntinuous negative concepts of everything that is spoken to you!
Why can't you try to share something that is enlightening or possitive to the minds of those you are writing to. Gush man!
If we keep doing things that bring on disease, the herbs will help temporarily or not at all, even if this herb is for that disease. We need to change our lifestyle also, especially stop the things that bring on the illness in the first place. I read the articles by Dr. Lucia John about Body Types and what she says makes a lot of sense to me. I had a talk with her and was very impressed and satisfied with her version of my situation. A lot of the illnesses we suffer from now a days carry a lot of stress underneath them. She says, release the stress, learn to relax and the herbs can then have their effect without interference from stress in the body.
Take for example, High Blood Pressure, can your blood pressure be high if you are composed and relaxed, no, no. you will get a normal reading. This is what happened for me after just 2 weeks of learning the technique she teaches, Transcendental Meditation. It is a pleasure now to take a walk in the mornings without getting breathless. My pressure is back to normal, and I thank God for that. Thank you Bobby for the wonderful information about the herbs.
This article is of great substance. Well written, and the information is significant. Nothing to add here, except that it is difficult to tell, if those who have access to it, have read, and will pass it on to others, since the comment rate is so very low.
However I do believe that Dominican’s need to be reminded of the significance of herbs, in our lives, because of their great power and authority against the futile conditions of the physical body. Otherwise, it seem as if we are ignoring the role of those natural plants and trees around us–even to the point of ignorantly destroying them, and to replace their space in our soroundings with other things, like the large concrete houses.
That was evident to me, when I was in Dominica, at my home village, in 2008. I am hoping that it is not so all around the country.
When you don’t know any better, anything that sounds good is good.
Well who are you to decide who knows better and who doesn’t?
If you human body is doomed for destruction–beyond repair, and along with your state of mind, plagued with self pride and conceit, that is the reason you may not have seen the effect of healing, through the use of herbs, given to you on this earth from your creator–He is God Almighty.
DNO, please would you check into that email address. [email protected] was returned undelivered. I tried it with and without capitals.
Admin: Please try [email protected] We hope you’ll be more successful with this address.
Admin: Correction. Please note that the email address is in lower case – [email protected]
Thank you. And I forgot to see what an excellent article!
Wow….very educational. I can understand why there are no comments on this….the human brain only seems to get stimulated by nonsense.
I second that
Mr. Editor, while it is true that there are certain herbs in our country which carries a high aroma, and can be used as tea, where it pertains to medicinal use we have to be very careful not to make claims which cannot be substantiated.
Number one: before we can claim that this works, we have to conduct research which takes years before the medicine can be proved effective, as far as I know we do not do any R&D in medicine in our country, so when someone say to me that this works for that sickness, or disease, I have to be skeptical!
Growing up in Wesley, I was what we term a sickly child, always sick, as a result my grandmother had a cure for everything, even when I visited home the last time, one gentleman swear to me that had it not been for my grandmother he would not be alive, true or false I am not here to debate that, but I will say none of the medication she gave me cured what she thought she was treating, because I am still sick and suffering from the same symptoms of so long ago.
Here I am hyperglycemic (diabetic) the symptoms I experience as a child, exist today in the twenty-first century, so all the herbs she gave to me did not help.
There is an herb in Dominica called ” punk-collie ” in Antigua they call it madden-bush, in Jamaica, it is called serocee, people in the Caribbean claims that it lowers high blood glucose, I can safely say it has no effect on high glucose, all it does is work as a laxative, I can attest to that, since I went on a regiment of that and monitored my blood glucose only to find it did not lower my glucose by not one single fraction of a mg, (milligram) of sugar in my blood.
The herbs which serve as medicinal purposes are found in the region of the Amazon, and must be process in concentrated form in order to be effective, there might be a small amount of such plants in Dominica, but using the leaves in the way we do in Dominica are not potent enough to produce results.
Processed, and concentrated may work, however under natural usage they produce no result!
If the claims of the herbalist was true, there would be no sick people here in the United States, and Dominica also. There are more herbalist, and health food stores in this place than one can count, yet the hospitals are cramed every day, if the herbs in Dominica were working there would not be so many sick and dying people in our country.
If anything Mr. Editor, some of the herbs in our country, when used for whatever they are treating caused more damage than good to the human body.
Someone has a headache they go and rap their head with some wild Tanya leaf, how is that going to cure a headache caused by high blood pressure, or high glucose, or a natural migraine, which is neurological.
We need to be careful when we are making claims.
Before a disease, can be treated it must be diagnosed. How many of those people in Dominica talking about natural herbs are trained medical professionals.
What is the diagnoses, even trained doctors sometimes missed diagnosed their patients.
Diabetes is caused by an damage gene, heredity or caused by stress or dramatic trauma, once the gene is damage, what type of herb can the herbalist used to repair that gene.
That is why there is no cure as of now for hyperglycemia, and hypoglycemia, it can only be treated.
Maybe me grand mama knows, so perhaps that is why she died having diabetes also and me sister who died last January or February and left her daughter and her daughter’s children with it too.
My grandmother lived to be a hundred (103) three years old and die from old age and not because of diabetes.
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
Very well put and thorough. The majority are going to come here and talk about how this was educational and whatnot because they have no idea about any of those things but to them it sounds ‘smart’, but it’s good to know that there can be at least one person with enough sense to assess something before they give their opinion.
In my case – “natural organic iodine” – this was one of the things that really threw me off. As far as I know Iodine is not organic (as in being composed of compounds that form organic life) but a chemical, a base element at that. So there really is no ‘natural’ or ‘artificial’ Iodine.
have some potatoes…tada…iodine
I would trust that Mr. Editor has experienced with the herbs or their forms, as he described them above, and their effectiveness to the physical condition. We cannot simply look at one or two experiments and to come to a conclusion.
Nonetheless, in as much as someone else said that without your grandmother’s herbal treatment he would not have been alive, at the time of your encounter with him, why don’t you believe that what your grandmother treated you with, kept you alive, eveb if not completely healed of your sickness.
What about the length of time that you continued without the treatment of your grandmother–causing your sickness to get worse not better?
How do you explain being sick from since you were a child and is still alive at your age today–but don’t tell me. I already know it! You are a major in Health Science–a would be medical doctor–Good heavens!
Anyhow I know that my whole family survived on the use of herbs up to day. I have a very large family, the majority of us are alive and healthy–all of my grandparents’ children are alive, not to mention the younger generation of my family.
My dad is eighty–moving around as if he was fifty years old– and he has never had a reason to be hospitalized; not even to be sick to the point of visiting a doctor–believe it or not. My mom is 79, and counting.
And yes! We all have used a lot of herbs for food, and medicine–I claim that practice in us, along with God’s blessings of Love,His guidance that keeps us on the path of good health and Life, the that of sickness and death.
Correction
—-even if not completely healed from your sickness
—-not that of sickness and death
Liz, you know me personally, you can pick me out of a crowed in the darkest hour of the night, we have discussed my medical issues, and I told you many of peoples’ medical problems are basically heredity .
One of the reasons medical professionals ask patients if any of their family were ever treated for the same thin, that is for them to know if they are dealing with something natural, or heredity.
Even cardiac problems are found to be heredity, it sometimes however skip generations, but there is no medicine which can prevent it running through entire families. My situation might be like that, but even at that all the bush she cooked up for me would never help me.
In order to treat a disease, one have to be able to identify ( in other words diagnose) the disease, and then proscribe an antidote or medication to deal with whatever the person is suffering from.
You have to know if you are dealing with a bacterial cause condition or a viral cause condition, there are so many things in our environment that can cause one to become ill, how can any treat something that they have no idea what they dealing with.
In your case there is a hereditary medical problem in your family, review that and you will understand the concept here. My grandmother used the leaves which was told to her by her ancestors were good for everything, so too she try to impress on me when I was a child.
Now the last time I went home on a visit, I went look at a bit of land my grandmother gave to me long before she died, when I got there I discovered that the old house I was born in was no longer there. My only surviving sister my mother now have a small house on the land, and believe it or, every inch of the land is covered with grown trees. I was amazed, and in my astonishment, I ask my sister what happened to the yard that children from all over the village use to come and play in the moonlight; she recognized I was talking about all the trees and grass allowed to grow in the yard.
My sister started pointing them out and informing me that they can be used for in a medicinal way, I guess me grand mama taught her well.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahah:
There is no medicinal benefits to the trees she has growing, some of the plants such as what the call worm-grass can only make a nice cup of tea, with a very exciting taste and aroma, she has something growing we call long grass, people say when people work obeah on you if you boil long grass and drink it you will be cured of this obeah.
So you see the sort of thing we are dealing with here, call it superstition I may agree with you, other than that it is total nonsense Liz.
The guy in question who truly believe my grandmother saved his life, after he had not had a bowel movement for a few weeks:
What I believe happened is that the guy was constipated, so after giving him a combination of boiled bush, the extracted chlorophyll from the leaves combined with the gastric fluids and gas in his intestine caused a chemical reaction thus causing him to have a forced bowel movement.
By the same token that could have caused him to defecate to a point where he could have become dehydrated and die too.
When one drinks Siena what happens; we do have plenty of wild Siena in Wesley you know!
Liz, there are lots of explanation I can give you to account for his experience you see, part of it which could even be psychological.
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
Great insite!, one should not use processed medicines with the natural herbs and expect results, as everyone should know processed foods and medicines, contain lots of harmful chemicals,that bind, preserve, and maintain shelf life, hence all those adverse reaction warnings! As a specie, the human race has survived, mainly because of our ability to live with nature,with whats NATURAL. Now we are destroying our natural environment,losing the knowledge of how to survive with what is gifted to us,LIKE WE KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR US! the further away we get from the natural way of living, the worse our living is going to be.
I doubt you can tell what is great insight if you cannot even spell it
man you f/t person so full of it,you cannot even realise it.you sound like a jonny come lately,you talk and contradict yourself.you doe respect Dominica and Dominicans because you live in some f/up metropolitant joint.you have no faith that is why your grand mama bush tea did not work for you.and the way you come across, you have issues my pip.you always write alot and you say very little.chu man,keep poping your pills that what you belive in ok.
Sometimes I’m amazed at the nonsense you perceive or assume to be true based on your personal experience. Your personal experience is yours alone and should not be the basis used to deny something you do not understand while pretending to be knowledgeable which you are not,also you need to understand experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.
You also come across as someone who is so brainwashed accepting the allopathic method of treating diseases.You have said so many nonsensical things,for example your explanation as to what is the cause of Diabetes and that there is no care for hyperglycemia it can only be treated.If you accept or believe this to be a fact pity you.
Gary I have a sound medical background you see, so though you believe that I am talking from personal experiences I suggest you read back one of my post, and see if you can detect my personal experiences are stated:
You do not have knowledge to understand the small bit of scientific information which afforded you.
You do not know me, so simply read and learn you can: if you can benefit something from it fine, but unless you are on the same academic level as I am, just read and have nothing to say, because your comments has no substance to it.
I know what I am talking about; can you say the same?
I do not obtain my information from google; I am not computer smart, although I know how to program, and develop them also however, I am and university, and medical school smart, I am a health science major, among other things, I am also an Electronic/ Electrical Engineer by profession, so you had better be quiet okay!
Francisco Etienne-Dods Telemaque
To Francisco Telemaque
Wow, what a display of the ego. You know to live in darkness does not mean you have to turn the lights off and finally men can acquire knowledge but not wisdom that is why some of the greatest fools ever known were learned men.
This is very informative, but many people who are keen on going the natural way still find it difficult to get our hands on these products you have listed here.
So Ras Boby, can you enlighten us as to where we can acquire these products. Also bear in mind that we live on different islands
Admin: We’ve put some contact information for Ras Bobby at the bottom of the article.