At Bastyr, as with all the naturopathic colleges, we took five glorious quarters in botanical medicine. My favorite part of class was going out into the field and learning about the botanical properties of the plants, drawing plants, smelling plants, and tasting them. Though we had fun out in the field on herb walks, and in lab class making things, we also learned from many different angles and sources as to what herbal medicine really is. There are the historical uses, some that still apply to today. Then there are the various cultural uses and varieties of herbs. We learned herbs in groups by body system, in terms of Biological Classification, comparing arguments from common names and Latin names, as well as the related herbs of other cultures like India and China. We learned which herbs have been studied in modern context, whether clinical or double-blind placebo studies. We read from many sources, through many different teachers eyes. These teachers were experts in utilizing herbal medicines in their own way with the knowledge that they had from study and from practice. It taught me how to honor and use plants for medicine using all of my senses and sensibilities.

A tincture is a liquid extract of herbs, a method of preservation in a base of water and alcohol. Alcohol can preserve the herb, and can extract some of the biochemical properties out of the plant for high potency medicine. Different alcohol strengths are used for different plants, and dose recommendations for each herb at a certain strength are utilized for maximum benefit. Each culture and each herbalist chooses which paradigm in which to mix there herbal combinations. Some base it on energetic principles (for instance, Cayenne is hot to taste, whereas mint is cooling), some base it on maximizing certain properties of plants or balancing the properties of the plants combined for a nice easy mix.

Getting a personalized tincture from your local naturopathic doctor means we listen to you in our context of Treat the Whole Person, and we formulate a medicine just for you using the best quality herbs and ingredients.

Doesn't that sound appealing?

Patient example:

A patient comes in for help with thyroid, is cold all the time, has heart palpitations, and panic attacks. They are also tired most of the time, and cannot sleep.

Without giving much more background on this "faux-patient", of which I would spend at least 50 minutes getting to know them, their history, their medications, etc. I would look at just the above in a few ways:

One: They are cold. So, it may be beneficial to add in some herbs that are warming to the system. To go deeper, which system am I trying to bring circulation too?

Two: It sounds like, from fatigue and being cold, that they may be hypothyroid, and the fatigue mixed with lack of sleep leads me to believe there is an issue with their adrenal glands. I would run tests to confirm, but let us say they are both hypothyroid and in adrenal fatigue. I would think to support those organs with herbs that are not more nourishing to endocrine glands, calming to them without being stimulatory. (In other words, if someone is in adrenal fatigue, I would not want to give them I high dose of caffeine, or even certain species of ginseng).

Three: I would also want to support the heart and the other muscles in the body by perhaps adding in nutritive herbs that are high in magnesium and potassium, as well as an herb that may be known for calming the nervous system that speaks to the heart (via nerve signals).

The great aspect about herbs is, this thinking pattern could be one herb. Or it could be 5 herbs. It depends on how I think to formulate based on the patient, the herbs at hand, and the most important message I am trying to send the body through biochemistry.

Of course this was a made up example, however, it is a common pattern. The interesting aspect of patients is that many of them have the same symptoms, and their labs are completely unique.

That is why it is important to have a second opinion from doctors that look at people from a holistic viewpoint who routinely utilize various tools that are not taught in other medical schools of thought. More on this in future articles…