HOW ABOUT HERBS 



St John's Wort 



Tanya ]acfison 



Everybody gets the blues Most 

 of us bounce right back, but for 

 some, the blues become depression 

 and medication becomes necessary 



St. John's wort is the cure of the 

 moment for depression, weight loss, 

 and a number of other problems. 

 It's the herbal answer to Prozac and 

 Fen Phen and is literally flying off 

 the shelves of health food stores, 

 drug stores, and even Wal-lVlart. It's 

 the discovery of the decade — or 

 more accurately, the rediscovery. 



What is this St |ohn's wort? Sci- 

 entifically known as Hypericum 

 perferatum, the plant is a hardy, but 

 short-lived, perennial native to Eu- 

 rope, Western Asia, and Northern 

 Africa that has become naturalized 

 in much of North America. It grows 

 in meadows and woodlands and 

 along roadsides. You'll find it de- 

 scribed in any wildflower book or 

 weed list. 



Its common name honors the 

 Christian saint, St. John the Baptist 

 It is said to bloom most profusely 

 on his birthday, |une 24, although it 

 actually blooms throughout most of 

 mid-summer. The legend goes on 

 to explain that the leaves bleed 

 red on August 29, the day St. |ohn 

 was beheaded. In maturity, the 

 leaves do develop red spots, the 

 flower petals turn red when 

 crushed, and red oil does seem to 

 ooze from the crushed plant. An ol- 

 ive oil extract using leaves and 

 flowers of St. John's wort soaked for 

 several weeks is red in color. This 

 oil, found in any health food store, 

 is used to help reduce the inflam- 

 mation of arthritis and to induce 

 healing in wounds It's also highly 

 valued in the treatment of hemor- 

 rhoids ( Varro F. Tyler, The Honest 

 Herbal, quoting from his studies of 

 herbal usage in Germany). 



Seventeenth-century herbalist |ohn 

 Coles wrote that St. John's wort fell 

 into a list of plants included in The 

 Doctrine of Signatures. According to 

 this doctrine, a plant's appearance 

 gives clues to its medical value. 

 Coles, pointing out that the "little 

 holes" (glands) of the leaves re- 

 sembled pores, recommended the 

 herb for skin problems of all sorts, 

 including "hurts and wounds and 

 inward bruises" It was used as 

 early as the time of the Crusades 

 to treat battle wounds, probably 

 because of its antibacterial and as- 

 tringent properties. Other useful 

 products from the plant are a vola- 

 tile oil, a resin, tannin and flave- 

 noids, and a dye. The plant has 

 been used to treat bedwetting and 

 urinary troubles, nervous coughs, 

 gastric problems, anemia, and 

 worms. It has served as a pain 

 killer, sedative, and analgesic It 

 has even been said to help repair 

 damaged nerve tissues. And a num- 

 ber of herbalists have long credited 

 it with inducing and increasing a 

 sense of well-being [Rodale's I/Ims- 

 trated Encyclopaedia of Herbs, 1987). 



This ability to sooth, relax, com- 

 fort, and uplift is what brings St. 

 John's wort its present popularity. A 

 tea or tisane prepared from St. 

 John's wort and taken in small 

 doses throughout the day is de- 

 scribed as an effective "nerve 

 tonic," useful in times of anxiety, 

 depression, and unrest. It's listed 

 as a help for insomnia in several 

 references and on a number of la- 

 bels. But its most popular use to- 

 day is as an aid to combat depres- 

 sion. About one person in five in 

 America suffers from depression of 

 some sort and many would rather 

 not depend on a drug such as 

 Prozac. IVlore people are looking at 



alternative treatments and choose 

 St. John's wort as an herbal answer 

 to their problems. The method of 

 taking the herb has also become 

 easier. No time to make a tea and 

 sit quietly sipping it? A display at 

 the Concord Wal-lVlart recently fea- 

 tured a brand name called Sun- 

 down Herbals with a "standardized 

 extract of 0.3% Hypericin" in gelatin 

 capsule form to "assist in mood en- 

 hancement by promoting a calming 

 and soothing sense of well-being." 

 Two capsules taken two or three 

 times daily was the recommended 

 dose and a quality B-complex was 

 suggested in combination with St. 

 lohn's wort "to promote further 

 well-being." 



On October 18, The Portsmouth 

 Herald carried a short item from the 

 Associated Press telling of St. John's 

 wort's use as a weight loss supple- 

 ment. This has also caused sales 

 of the herb to soar, especially since 

 two popular weight loss drugs were 

 recently pulled from the market. 

 The new "Herbal Phen Fuel, Diet 

 Phen, and other Saint John's wort 

 blends are designed to replace the 

 now unavailable Diet Cocktail Fen- 

 Phen " According to this article, 

 many doctors are now enthusiasti- 

 cally prescribing this herbal rem- 

 edy. 



Is this herb as safe as it seems? 

 Pharmacognosist Varro F. Tyler, PhD, 

 [The Honest Herbal, 1993) warns that 

 people who take the herb for ex- 

 tended periods of time should be 

 aware that there is a possibility of 

 inducing photosensitivity — a condi- 

 tion in which exposure to direct 

 sunlight could cause dermatitis, in- 

 flammation of the mucus mem- 

 branes, and more toxic reactions 



continued on page 31 



HE PLANTSMAN 



