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Native Americans Knew the Power of Herbs

Aug. 22, 2000 -- Convinced of the medicinal value of various roots and leaves, growing numbers of health-conscious consumers are snapping up botanical supplements, say the authors of a new article appearing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

"Yet, scientific research is still confined to only a handful of the hundreds of substances sold in health food stores," write lead author Andrea Borchers, PhD, a nutritional researcher at the University of California, Davis, and colleagues.

Seven of the 10 top-selling botanicals in the U.S. were used as medicines by Native Americans, and many of these supplements' purported benefits are based on what these early Americans used them for. But little is known about exactly how they used these substances -- their plant-collecting procedures, the precise plant parts they used, or their methods of preparation, Borchers says.

The original North American residents' use of medicinal botanicals was "by no means random, but highly selective," Borchers tells WebMD. They made extensive use of some plant families and virtually avoided others. In fact, they took different plant parts for the treatment of different ailments, combined several botanicals for specific therapeutic purposes, and recognized toxic plants both as poisons and as medicines.

"The fact that Native Americans have used so many botanicals in a really expert way is a good indication that there are some very promising substances among the things they used. But so far there's very little scientific research on any of these compounds," Borchers says.

Two herbs that have received some study are Echinacea (purple coneflower) and Urtica dioica (stinging nettle), and Borchers and colleagues say there are indications that both do have medicinal effects.

"There's pretty good evidence that all species of Echinacea work in reducing symptoms of common cold or flu or upper respiratory infections," Borchers says. "But that's not a totally consistent finding. What's complicating the picture is that testing has involved different types of extracts, either from different species or from different parts of the plants in the studies. If they use roots, they get a different chemical structure than if you use the upper parts of the plant."

Scientists still speculate on precisely how Echinacea works in the system, she tells WebMD: "It seems to affect the immune system ... and thereby helps the body fight off a cold or flu."

If you're looking for a botanical rather than drugs to knock down the flu, try Echinacea, Borchers says. "It's been shown to be quite safe because it has been used in large studies with minor side effects. And it might actually help."

As for stinging nettle, commonly used to relieve arthritis, Borchers says that preliminary studies indeed point to an anti-inflammatory effect. "The picture is much less clear because investigations have been done in animal studies only. There's always the question to what extent do animal studies translate into humans."