My little buttercup? Goldenseal delivers relief for a variety of ills

Better Nutrition, April, 1996 by James J. Gormley

Goldenseal "enjoys a tremendous reputation for its medicinal virtuosity," say Michael A. Weiner, Ph.D., and Janet Weiner in their popular 1980 book, Weiner's Herbal. "It has been recommended in the treatment of dozens of ailments."

A member of the Buttercup family and a perennial herb native to North America, goldenseal was used by the Cherokee Indians for "a wide variety of conditions, including infections, [and] is considered a blood purifier and an antiseptic tonic for the digestive tract," agrees James Marti in his The Alternative Health & Medicine Encyclopedia (1995).

Popping up on shady, northern hillsides and in the rich soil of river deltas, this herb "is most plentiful in the Ozarks, the Appalachians, and the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys," Gaea and Shandor Weiss point out in their enjoyable Growing & Using the Healing Herbs (1985).

Made up of the dried rhizome (rootlike stem) and roots of Hydrastis canadensis, the herb contains a number of isoquinoline alkaloids, including hydrastine, berberine, and tetrahydroberberine, of which berberine is especially anti-bacterial, according to Varro E. Tyler's Herbs of Choice: The Therapeutic Use of Phytomedials (1994).

Goldenseal root's medicinal use remains intact over the centuries

"Indian tribes which lived within goldenseal's growing range used this native plant extensively," the Weiss' add.

"As the European settlers came to know the plant, they adopted many of the healing uses known to the Indians. Fresh goldenseal root soaked in water was used as an eyewash. A tea of the root cleansed skin conditions such as acne and eczema."

It has been suggested that the compound berberine is a powerful activator of tissue-based immune cells, called macrophage's. Berberine has also been shown to combat bacteria, protozoa, and fungi, such as Giardia lamblia, Candida albicans, and streptococcus, and in treating acute diarrheas, "including those that are typical of patients with AIDS."

Traditionally, goldenseal has been used to reduce excessive menstrual flow, and for vaginitis, gastritis, rhinitis, urethritis, eczema, and as an an antiseptic/antibacterial (as aforementioned).

It is specifically the berberine compound which is antibacterial; it also increases bile (stomach acid) secretion and is said to serve as an anticonvulsant, according to A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants: Eastern and Central North America.

This herb is used for detoxification, for increasing white blood cell activity, and more

Goldenseal is also usually included in detoxification formulas due to its ability to increase blood flow in the spleen, to improve liver function, and to increase white-cell activity in patients with Epstein-Barr virus.

Patients with central nervous system (CNS) problems, neuro-muscular dysfunction, hypoglycemia, hypertension, and respiratory and/or circulatory problems should avoid goldenseal, unless instructed to use it by a licensed physician; due to traditional use as an abortifacient, pregnant women, and those trying to conceive, should avoid this herb, altogether.

This caution aside, Daniel B. Mowrey, Ph.D., in The Scientific Validation of Herbal Medicine informs us that this excellent herb has shown powerful effects in relation to: fever-reduction, cholera, colds, congestion, conjunctivitis, gastroenteritis, uterine hemorrhage, hemorrhoids, infections, the flu, tuberculosis, and ulcers, among other indications.

REFERENCES

Buchman, Dian Dincin. Herbal Medicine: The Natural Way to Get Well and Stay Well New York: Gramercy/Crown, 1979.

Foster, Steven, and Duke, James A., Ph.D. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants: Eastern and Central North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.: 1990.

Hoffmann, David. The New Holistic Herbal: A Herbal Celebrating the Wholeness of Life. Rockport, Mass.: Element Inc., 1992.

Marti, James E. The Alternative Health & Medicine Encyclopedia. Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 1995.

Mowrey, Daniel B., Ph.D. The Scientific Validation of Herbal Medicine. New Canaan: Keats Publishing, Inc., 1986.

Spoerke, David G., Jr. Herbal Medications. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Woodbridge Press, 1980.

Tyler, Varro E., Ph.D., Sc.D. Herbs of Choice: The Therapeutic Use of Phytomedicinals. Binghamton, N.Y.: Pharmaceutical Products Press/Haworth Press, 1994.

Weiner, Michael A., Ph.D., and Weiner, Janet. Weiner's Herbal: A Guide to Herb Medicine. New York: Scarborough House/Stein and Day, 1980.

Weiss, Gaea Laughingbird, and Weiss, Shandor. Growing & Using the Healing Herbs. Emmaus, Pa.: Rodale Press, 1985.