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Welcome to the September, 2010, email health newsletter of The Herb Growing & Marketing Network.....

The following is blatant self-promotion:
HerbNET is an information site provided by The Herb Growing & Marketing Network....a trade association for the herb industry...we offer a monthly online trade journal The Bu$iness of Herbs, an online resource guide, The Herbal Green Pages,  marketing classes, free banner space on both our sites, free classified advertising, conferences, and regional seminars, credit card merchant status, internet design and marketing work; very reasonable hosting rates and lots more....all for only $95 a year.  For full details on us and how we can help you promote your business, go to HerbWorld   

 We help members a lot with a variety of promotion assistance and if you want to know more about that, drop me a line and I'll send you a listing of all the ways we promote your business.   

The September, 2010, HerbNET magazine is online HerbNET - Magazine - Letter From the Herbalist   with profiles on Tan Chi, Turpeth, Tien Ma, Thunder God Vine, Taro, Teabush and Tomatillo.  Use our "Search" function in the left hand border. It will help you find exactly what you're looking for. 

What's New

I look for research on plants.  What amazes me is the researches are always amazed that studies show the plants are good for you.  What scares me is that everyone tries to make a "drug" out of the plant so they can pay for the research. 

Black rice as good as blueberries as an antioxidant source

Health conscious consumers who hesitate at the price of fresh blueberries and blackberries, fruits renowned for high levels of healthful antioxidants, now have an economical alternative. 

Black rice is the heritage variety of a grain that feeds one-third of the Earth's population. One variety of black rice became known as Forbidden Rice in ancient China because the nobles commandeered every grain for themselves and forbade common people from eating it. Scientists reporting to the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) show that it is an inexpensive source of healthful antioxidants. 

Like the fruits black rice is rich in anthocyanin antioxidants, substances that show promise for fighting heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. A spoonful of black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries, but with less sugar and more fiber and vitamin E antioxidants.   

Brown rice is the most widely produced rice variety worldwide. Rice millers remove only the outer husks, or chaff, from each rice grain to produce brown rice. If they process the rice further, removing the underlying nutrient rich bran, it becomes white rice.

Food manufacturers could potentially use black rice bran or the bran extracts to boost the health value of breakfast cereals, beverages, cakes, cookies, and other foods.

It was also noted that many consumers have heard that brown rice is more nutritious than white rice. The reason is that the bran of brown rice contains higher levels of gamma-tocotrienol, one of the vitamin E compounds, and gamma-oryzanol antioxidants, which are lipid-soluble antioxidants. 

Numerous studies showed that these antioxidants can reduce blood levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) — so called "bad" cholesterol — and may help fight heart disease. 

Teams in Louisiana analyzed samples of black rice bran from rice grown in the southern United States. In addition, the lipid soluble antioxidants they found in black rice bran possess higher level of anthocyanins antioxidants, which are water-soluble antioxidants. Thus, black rice bran may be even healthier than brown rice bran. 

The scientists also showed that pigments in black rice bran extracts can produce a variety of different colors, ranging from pink to black, and may provide a healthier alternative to artificial food colorants that manufacturers now add to some foods and beverages. Several studies have linked some artificial colorants to cancer, behavioral problems in children, and other health problems. 

Black rice is used mainly in Asia for food decoration, noodles, sushi, and pudding

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You never know when you'll need it:
Herbalpedia
a complete herbal encyclopedia of 2450 (and more coming) plants

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Coffee may protect against oxidative DNA damage 

Researchers from the University of Vienna, Nestlé, and the University of Belgrade report that paper-filtered coffee, may protect against oxidative DNA-damage. 

A recent review by Mario Ferruzzi from Purdue University noted that coffee is one of the richest sources of polyphenols in the Western diet, with one cup of the stuff providing 350 milligrams of phenolics. Of these, the most abundant compounds coffee are chlorogenic acids, making up to 12 per cent of the green coffee bean. The most abundant of these compounds is caffeic acid. 

The beverage, and its constituent ingredients, has come under increasing study with research linking it to reduced risk of diabetes, and improved liver health. 

Coffee, one of the world's largest traded commodities produced in more than 60 countries and generating more than $70bn in retail sales a year, continues to spawn research and interest, and has been linked to reduced risks of certain diseases, especially of the liver and diabetes. 

The researchers recruited 38 people to participate in their controlled intervention trial with a cross-over design. The subjects were assigned to drink either 800 ml coffee or water daily for five days. Various measures of DNA damage were used. 

At the end of the study, a reduction in DNA damage, as measured by a reduction in the formation of oxidized purines of 12.3 percent was observed in the coffee drinkers. 

On the other hand, no significant changes in levels of antioxidants in the blood, or levels of reactive oxygen species in the blood were observed,

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Blueberries reduce risk of developing Type 2 diabetes

Consumer interest in blueberries and the compounds they contain has increased in recent years, following results from studies reporting a wide range of health benefits, most notably for brain health and reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s.

The beneficial effects of the blueberries are thought to be linked to their flavonoid content - in particular anthocyanins and flavanols.

Despite numerous studies reporting the benefits of blueberries, no human study has looked at the effects of higher blueberry consumption on insulin sensitivity in people at high risk of developing type-2 diabetes.

Prof Cefalu and his co-workers recruited 32 obese, non-diabetic, and insulin-resistant subjects with an average age of 51.5, and an average BMI of 37.4 kg/m2. Participants were randomly assigned to receive a smoothie containing 22.5 grams of blueberry bioactives or a ‘placebo’ smoothie of equal nutritional value. Two smoothies were consumed every day for six weeks.

At the end of the study, 67 percent of people in the blueberry group experienced “at least a 10 percent or greater favorable change in insulin sensitivity, whereas only 41 percent of the placebo participants demonstrated this change”, stated the researchers.

On the other hand, no changes in BMI, body fat, or markers of inflammation were observed, said the Baton Rouge-based researchers.

The United States Highbush Blueberry Council (USHBC) prepared the freeze-dried whole blueberry powder used in this study. Funding was obtained from the USHBC, the NIH, and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the Office of Dietary Supplement.

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Black tea polyphenols may reduce cancer risk 

The study, published in Food and Chemical Toxicology, suggests the polyphenols in black tea influences several cancer controlling proteins, and may block a crucial signaling pathway in cancer formation.

Tea polyphenols

Uncontrolled cell growth and survival play a “critical role” in the development of cancers, stated the authors.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer worldwide, accounting for 662,000 deaths per year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). 

The activation of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) signaling pathway in cancer cells is known to aid cell survival by blocking natural cell death mechanisms. Inhibiting the activation of NF-kB is considered to a strong potential target for cancer reduction. 

Since several studies have suggested evidence for the protective effect of tea polyphenols on cancer risk, the Indian researchers sought to test the potential anti-cancer activity of compounds from black tea – polyphenol-B – in HCC cancer cells and in rats with HCC cells

Previous studies have report the potential anti-cancer effects of tea are linked to the polyphenol content of the tea. Green tea contains between 30 and 40 percent of polyphenols, while black tea contains between 3 and 10 percent. 

A study last year linked green tea to a 22% reduction in the risk of breast cancer, however the same study found no such protective for black tea. 

Cancer inhibition

The researchers found a dose-dependent relationship between polyphenon-B and cancer development in cancer induced cells, and also witnessed reduced tumor incidence in rats. 

Polyphenon-B was observed to up-regulate the expression of cell death inducing proteins and down regulate expression of the anti cell death proteins. 

The black tea polyphenol also stopped certain cellular processes associated with cancer, noted the researchers. 

The authors stated their results provide evidence that polyphenon-B effectively inhibits uncontrolled cell growth associated with cancer, and induces cell death mechanisms by inhibiting NF-kB signaling.

They added that by influencing the expression of a network of molecules that control cell death mechanisms, the effects of polyphenon-B can eventually result in cancer reduction.

“These studies underscore the potential anti-cancer properties of black tea polyphenols,” wrote the researchers.

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Watercress may suppress breast cancer mechanisms

A plant compound in watercress may have the ability to suppress breast cancer cell development by “turning off” a signal in the body, thereby starving a growing tumor of essential blood and oxygen. The research, published in the British Journal of Nutrition and in Beochemical Pharmacology, shows that the watercress compound is able to interfere with the function of a protein that plays a critical role in cancer development.

As tumors develop they rapidly outgrow their existing blood supply. So they send out signals which make surrounding normal tissues grow new blood vessels into the tumor which feed them oxygen and nutrients.

The plant compound—called phenylethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC)—found in watercress appears to block this process by interfering with and turning off the function of a protein called Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF) via a second protein.

“The research takes an important step towards understanding the potential health benefits of this crop since it shows that eating watercress may interfere with a pathway that has already been tightly linked to cancer development,” says lead researcher Graham Packham, a molecular oncologist at the University of Southampton.

“Knowing the risk factors for cancer is a key goal and studies on diet are an important part of this. However, relatively little work is being performed in the U.K. on the links between the foods we eat and cancer development.”

Packham and colleagues performed a pilot study in which a small group of breast cancer survivors, underwent a period of fasting before eating 80g of watercress (a cereal bowl full) and then providing a series of blood samples over the next 24 hours.

The research team was able to detect significant levels of the plant compound PEITC in the blood of the participants following the watercress meal, and most importantly, could show that the function of the protein HIF was also measurably affected in the blood cells of the women.

The work was funded by the Watercress Alliance.

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While small herb businesses in the US still often live under the illusion that all is well and good in spite of the FDA regs that went into effect the end of June, here's something else to worry about. 

There was a time that I was that way too.  But with the world getting smaller, even though this is in Europe, it does not portend good for herbalists here.

Read on about this mess, and don't think it can't happen here.

Europeans Losing Access to Herbs   

On April 1, 2011, all members of the European Union will have to comply with a directive that demands all herbs — produced, manufactured, or sold — in the EU must be labeled as either foods or medicines. Herbal supplements will go through the same rigorous approval process as a prescription drug.

Many small European companies worry that they will be forced out of business because of the formidable cost of getting each herb — and each herb in a compound product — tested and approved. The fear, says the German publication Deutsche Welle, is that the new rules will put the manufacturing of herbal remedies under the control of large pharmaceutical corporations, which would narrow the range of medicinal herbs available.

Popular products such as ginseng and valerian would only be available in pharmacies, and many traditional Chinese, ayurvedic, and other herbal mixes would not be legally available.  http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/health_stories/Europeans_losing_herbs/2010/09/21/350926.html

With strict European legislation due to come into force next April, will some age-old herbal remedies on sale in health food stores today become, quite literally, a thing of the past?

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Industry professionals met in Bologna, Italy last week for a conference held at SANA, the international natural products trade fair, to discuss the future of their sector. From April 2011, all member states will have to comply with a European Union directive which specifies that all herbs produced, manufactured and sold in the EU must be classified as either foods or medicines. 

Medicinal licenses for herbs

Those working in the sector have for a long time been campaigning for regulation and greater control, but the new authorization and licensing requirements have enormous implications for the herbal medicine industry throughout the European Union. Marinella Trovato, President of S.I.S.T.E., the Italian Society for Herbal Science and Technology in Milan, said there is great concern about market ramifications. "A lot of companies are worried about the possibility that in the future they cannot use a lot of plants for food application." 

Many small producers and manufacturers of medicinal herbs will no longer be able to afford to do so, unable to cover the cost of authorization licenses for medicinal herbs, Trovato added. 

UK-trained herbalist, Marco Valussi, speaking at the conference, warned that the terms of the directive would put herbal remedy manufacture in the hands of large pharmaceutical companies, and this was likely to narrow the range of medicinal herbs on the market. 

Not all the medicinal plants are, economically speaking, interesting for the big companies," said Marco Valussi, who works in Italy as a consultant in the field of medicinal plants and vegetable-based products. "These companies might decide to focus on maybe five or ten important herbs and leave behind the other ones. So the consumer could have a reduced range of choices." 

Loss of business

In Italy, the profession of the herbal practitioner who can treat patients is not legally recognized and herbalists are only qualified to make and sell their products in shops callederboristerie, the equivalent of health food stores in the UK and Reformhäuser or Bioläden in Germany. But the new classification will signify a huge loss of business as these stores will no longer be able to sell many of their most popular products, such as passiflora, ginseng and valerian, which will only be available in pharmacies. 

Marco Valussi showed concern that some of the less common herbal remedies may disappear completely from the European market. "Obviously, we all want the best quality and lowest risk possible for consumers, but we also want the consumer to have the possibility to use plants." He added that the directive will also put consumers at an economic disadvantage. "Buying at the pharmacy usually means that you pay much more than if you buy at the erboristeria." 

UK herbal practitioners at risk

Michael McIntyre, a Professor of Herbal Medicine at the University of Middlesex and Chairman of the European Herbal Practitioners Association, said in the UK, where herbal practitioners are allowed to treat patients directly, the implications for their sector are equally worrying. 

As a practitioner, he said, he will likely lose access to a large range of medicines that are made up for him currently by manufacturers to his order for individual patients. "My patients are already very alarmed when I tell them that this medicine that you've been taking which is doing you so much good is not going to be available next year." 

Many commonly used Ayurvedic, Chinese and Tibetan herbal mixes, which are perhaps not medically recognized in the EU, will no longer be legally available. The directive aims to safeguard consumers and ensure the quality of commercialized herbal products, but Michael McIntyre believes it will, ironically, have the opposite effect: "Patients or the public who want to use herbal medicines will be forced to go onto the internet and buy from unsafe sources, or indeed visit backstreet bogus practitioners who haven't got proper training." 

Statutory regulation

Michael McIntyre is campaigning for statutory regulation of herbal practitioners in the UK, and for herbalists to be given a new pan-European professional status as certified healthcare professionals. According to government surveys, he said, a quarter of the UK population had actually used herbal medicines in the last two years. "It's important that they know that the people that they are going to see are properly trained and accountable, and that's what regulation will do." 

As a practitioner with decades of experience, Michael McIntyre believes it is a measure which not only makes sense for the herbal industry and consumers, but also for the EU's public health services. Safe, gentle herbal remedies can be used to treat numerous conditions from Irritable Bowel Syndrome to headaches and insomnia, avoiding the need for prescription medications. 

"Drugs are costing huge sums of money and the governments really can't afford this," Michael McIntyre said, "I really believe that herbal medicine could go a long way to saving the health budgets of all the EU member states."

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 I have to sit and ponder things....we are trying to control health care costs but unless it's a drug, it's forbidden.  There's a place for conventional medicine.  But are the growing ailments that are resistant and new something we're causing?   

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