BACK TO ASK THE HERBALIST INDEX

QUESTION: I was wondering if anything in my current diet may negate a few supplements I am on.  I am currently drinking aloe vera juice and taking dandelion root.  I drink 2 ounces of aloe vera juice three times a day (morning, noon, night).  I take 2 capsules of dandelion root, open the capsules, and put the powder in warm water, stir, and drink them, I do this twice a day(once in morning and at night).  I also drink 2 cups of green tea at a time twice a day.  Not to mention I consume a cranberry, blueberry, spinach, almond milk, and vanilla yogurt combo smoothie twice a day.  Lastly I enjoy a cabbage and onion salad.  Is there anything in this diet that may negate the effects of the dandelion root, the aloe vera Juice, or anything else?  Could the ATP and other energy found in the greens I am eating and the tea I am drinking negate the effects of dandelion root and Aloe Vera?   Is fresh homemade dandelion root always more potent then fresh freeze dried capsules?

ANSWER: The answer to your first question is, no. Except to say that tinctures and extracts work better and faster, so I would suggest an extract or tincture of Dandelion root instead of pills or powder or even infusions. Extracts and tinctures are way more potent. As to the Aloe vera using that much may keep you glued to the bathroom. I would suggest drinking it once a day.

QUESTION:  I just purchased a product called "God's Blend," a "super food" because I was looking for nutrition other than vitamins.  It is a powder and has 20 or so herbs. Royal jelly, alfalfa, chickweed, gota kola, red korean ginseng, beet tops and roots, pau d arca, saw palmetto berries, astragulus root, milk thistle seed, ginger, aloe, rye grass, black walnut, licorice root, lemon peel, ginko leaves, flax seed, dandelion leaves, barley grass, kelp, cinnamon, chaste tree berries, hawthorn berries. Does this sound like something that would be safe for me to drink on a daily basis? Would it give me proper nutrition? Is it one of those things
that I should only do for a while and then stop? I am 5"2, 110 lbs and eat mainly fruits, fish, grains and vegetables and take an herbal fiber blend daily. (The fiber blend also has black  walnut, and licorice root.)
The dose for me is a teaspoon twice a day in water of this God's Blend.

ANSWER:  There are a lot of good herbs in the mix, I am wondering why you would need them all...and how much of each do you really get with each serving of a teaspoon.  I wouldn't be to worried about overdosing and I am not sure you need it, sounds like you eat right and are not overweight.

If you really want to eat superfoods, try to find what is in season and eat fresh organic veggies, fruits and protein sources.

What I consider herbal super foods are Beet tops, Barley and Wheat Grasses, Nettles Leaf, Spirulina, Horsetail, Chlorella, Watercress, Dandelion Leaf, Purslane, Garlic Mustard, Asparagus, Parsley, Alfalfa and all the dark green leafy vegetables to name a few of the green super foods.  Eat your foods by color, Red (Beets), Orange (Carrots), Yellow (Yellow Peppers), Green (Salad mixes), Blue (Blueberry), Indigo (Grapes) and Violet (Plums) (this can be remembered as ROY G BIV)  all these colors mean health and nutrition.