Herbal Product Contamination

Researchers at the University of Guelph used DNA barcode testing to test 44 herbal products from 12 companies. DNA barcoding uses a short sequence of DNA from a standard segment in plants to identify the species rapidly and accurately.

"Product substitution occurred in 20/44 of the products tested and only 2/12 companies had products without any substitution, contamination or fillers," Steven Newmaster, an integrative biology professor at the University of Guelph and his co-authors concluded in Friday's issue of the journal BMC Medicine.

"Some of the contaminants we found pose serious health risks to consumers."

. Read more at CBC .

Some tests found substances that could do some serious harm to some people especially if you have nut allergies. Simply put they aren't regulated like other medications so there is no way to be sure what you are taking aside from a DNA test like they did. I don't know if taking a more expensive brand makes a difference or not.

Oh well everyone be safe when taking the stuff. Maybe start small to see if there are any reactions first then go from there.

reply to post by Grimpachi


Thats even more reason to grow you own. I started an herb garden a couple of years ago, and
every year I add a few more. Growing my own means I know exactly what I have.

reply to post by virraszto


I neither have time nor place to grow my own. I live in different parts of the world during the year. But I guess that can work for many people.

I strayed away from that stuff anyway. I never felt like it worked. It seemed like waisted money on the stuff for the results I got which was zero.

There was a time when you received what was on the label, then the gov stepped in causing the cost to go up to produce and companies took the moral low ground to retain profits. They added fillers and substituted to the point that what you think you bought is not exactly what you got.

Herbal remedies work and work well and in many cases better than big pharma's poison. However, it must be the natural product 100% and at the proper levels. Now days, who knows what's in the bottle as many have compromised their product. It reminds me of a can of lemon aid I bought back in 1980, the stuff tasted great, best lemon aid I had ever had. Then I read the label, 100% artificial! There wasn't a single drop of lemon juice in it. It said "Lemon" Aid but no lemon .

Just goes to show you that they have been at it for a long time. If you want the real stuff, you have to grow it yourself or buy it from someone you trust and know. Otherwise, remember the lemon aid.

Grimpachi
reply to post by virraszto

 

I neither have time nor place to grow my own. I live in different parts of the world during the year. But I guess that can work for many people.

I strayed away from that stuff anyway. I never felt like it worked. It seemed like waisted money on the stuff for the results I got which was zero.

Problem is not the herbs but the product being sold as herbs.

If you were able to access the plants as they were before being processed, you'd probably find there is real benefit to them. But mass production has rendered the product a weak, adulterated, bunch of crap.

Some of the herbs you can buy in capsules or tablets, are made from the plant but from the wrong part of the plant. Sometimes it's the essential oils that are required, but the dried mass produced product is depleted of them.

If you buy coffee beans, and you don't keep them air tight and stored in a cool place, you end up with crappy coffee. The flavour of fresh beans is always noticed in a good cup. Same for herbs. You lose the 'spirit' of the plant when it's made in bulk.

It's no wonder people think of herbs as a bunch of hippy hooey. But a true ethnobotanist doesn't work with mass produced stuff to be sold to yuppies who ride vespas to the office.

Basically, if you want herbs, you have to source them from a proper botanist. And then you see just how hard it is to get certain plants across borders. Where I live, I had AQIS inform a botanical store on the other side of the country, tell them the blue lotus I had ordered was not allowed.

When I complained they said there should be no issue. Yet the letters received said differently. Risk a fine or source locally, from a less than reputable source.. I dunno.

It's pathetic how we treat the plants on this planet with legal restrictions. We are all of the planet, we should be able to use the things that evolved with us... big pharma won't have that.

Indeed, some herbs are now illegal due to having no theraputic use. You can buy them as supplements, but then you're dealing with the exact issue you describe in the OP. Adulterations and contaminations because there are no regulations to control the quality.

This planet has an amazing pharmacopoeia all over it. Stupid damn humans have ruined the synergy..

reply to post by winofiend


I have no problems with MOST herbal supplement claims it's just I have not personally seen any benefit to them when I have tried them. I have known for a while that many on the market were simply a crapshoot when it comes to what may be in them but this article just confirms it. To be honest I am pretty healthy overall so I am probably going to stay away from them altogether now. Like I said spend a good amount of time out of the country each year so a garden isn't possible for me.

I had a friend once that made me valarian root tea for me and she was real surprised it didn't affect me. So it may also just be my body chemistry, I have also always had a very high tolerance for pain medication it just doesn't work unless I take 3 times more than it says to. My pops was the same way so it's probably genetics.

winofiend has pretty much hit the nail on the head....the principal behind the herbs is great but somehow through mass production and profiteering the end product is benign.....even down to the farmers markets here I visit regularly and all the claims of organic produce even at this level is just plain wrong....where I live everyone wants organic so all you have to do is grow some veggies have a cardboard sign saying they are organic and you have a best seller,i often ask a few select questions to these marketeers and the responses I get make me laugh......at the end of the day there is only one way to get proper organic food that actually has nutrient benefit is to grow yourself...learn about soil structures and symbiotic relationships, if you need a pesticide grow rhubarb and use the leaves as a pesticide(google a recipe).....

reply to post by Grimpachi


Ahh valarian.. old socks in a mug.. Oo

I have had good experiences with what some would consider an overdose of that. Otherwise it was rather ineffective for me, also.

but when I took a bunch once, man I had the best night sleep (and I'm an insomniac) and the next day I awoke refreshed and full of vigor.

But I then read how even as a natural herb, the dose I took was not good.. so I refrained from that sort of thing.

It is hit and miss. And I've had some herbs which I was able to procure from the eastern states here, that were rather .. mild if anything. But when I read the forums and the people I've known on them for a while, it varies from person to person, and we are all very different organic compost heaps.. we break things down differently.

And then, once in a while, you come across a plant that is so potent in it's effects you can't help but wonder if its because they're slowly reducing the efficacy of everything on purpose.. anything we buy, rendered useless... and we pop off to the quack for some more panadol and a valium.

Anything that does work, gets knocked on the head, sadly.