The One Earth Herbal Sourcebook is a book written by two specialists in traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda (Alan Keith Tillotson and Nai-shing Hu Tillotson) with co-author Dr. Robert Abel, an ophthalmologist. This post has some notes on scientific studies cited in the book that describe the medical benefits of certain herbal treatments. Many of these notes are based on scientific studies in animals in the 1990s and earlier, so it’s a good idea to check PubMed for more recent studies in humans.
Agastache: has antibacterial activity, has antiemetic activity
Aguru wood: reduces allergic reactions, has depressant activity on the central nervous system
American ginseng root: may improve memory, strengthens the heart, calms the cerebral cortex, enhances memory
Alma fruit: reduces oxidative stress, protects against arsenic damage, inhibits carcinogenesis
Andrographis: treats symptoms of the common cold
Anthrapachaka leaf: has antiallergy effects
Arjuna bark: treats angina pectoris, treats cardiac artery disease, reduces hypertension, improves liver mitochondrial function
Ashwagandha root: reduces stress, strengthens the immune system, has anti-inflammatory action
Astragalus root: improves endurance, enhances the immune system, strengthens heart contraction, relieves angina symptoms, treats liver poisoning, strengthens intestinal muscle, prevents heart damage caused by viral myocarditis, relieves chest distress in patients with congestive heart failure, protects the blood-brain barrier, reduces toxic effects of chemotherapy
Beet root: has activity against the Epstein-barr virus, helps fight skin/lung cancers
Bilberry extract: improves wound healing, has antiulcer action, protects against damage to tendons/ligaments/cartilage, maintains the blood-brain barrier
Black tea: reduces ulcer formation, prevents bacterial infections
Boswellia gum: treats asthma, treats ulcerative colitis, stimulates cell death in leukemia cells
Bromelain: improves wound healing, has anticancer effects, increases the effects of antibiotics, treats sinusitis/bronchitis/pneumonia/staph infections
Bupleurum root: has anti-inflammatory activity, may inhibit cancer metastasis, protects the liver, protects blood vessels, inhibits kidney inflammation, reduces liver enzyme levels in hepatitis
Burdock root: protects the liver, has anti-inflammatory activity
Carthamus flower: improves coronary blood flow, reduces angina pain, improves endurance, reduces symptoms of coronary artery disease, improves EEG, improves ECG, protects against brain injury from ischemia
Chaga mushroom: inhibits tumor growth
Chaste tree berry: treats breast pain, restores menstrual cycles to normal, inhibits prolactin secretion
Chyrsanthemum flower: has antibiotic effects, lowers blood pressure
Coltsfoot flower: helps treat bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive bronchitis
Cordyceps mushroom: enhances the immune system, helps treat nephritis, enhances the cardiovascular and nervous systems, reduces dizziness, reduces urinary frequency, treats leg weakness
Dandelion root: enhances nitric oxide release
Dang gui root: promotes blood growth factors, corrects atrial fibrillation, prevents the formation of abnormal fibrous tissue in pulmonary fibrosis
Deer antler: speeds fracture healing, strengthens heart output, stimulates production of reticulocytes, stimulates production of hemoglobin
Eclipta: stimulates hair growth, may reverse hair graying, protects the liver, helps neutralize toxins in venom and mushroom poisoning
Elderberry: may treat influenza
Epimedium herb: increases sperm production, increases sexual desire, reduces blood pressure, protects the liver, reduces the level of BUN and serum creatinine in kidney disease, improves immune function in patients with kidney failure, promotes bone formation, reverses effects of long-term steroid use
Evening primrose oil: reduces pain and improves motor function in diabetics with neuropathy
Evodia fruit: has antiamnesia action, fights cognitive decline
Feverfew: reduces the number and severity of migraine attacks
Forsythia fruit: treats retinal hemorrhage
Garlic bulb: protects against the development and progression of advanced precancerous gastric lesions, has antiallergy effects, reduces oxidative stress, has antitumor activities, lowers blood pressure, prevents hypertension, strengthens the immune response
Ginger root: treats dyspepsia/nausea/vomiting associated with pregnancy, treats vertigo/dizziness/motion sickness, increases gastroduodenal motility, inhibits the formation of inflammatory prostaglandins, increases the heart’s force of contraction
Ginkgo leaf: improves cognitive function, helps treat depression, neutralizes SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction, treats tinnitus, treats acute cochlear deafness, treats senile macular degeneration, treats diabetic skin lesions, reduces post-surgical leakage of oxygen-carrying muscle proteins, reduces oxidative damage to intestinal membranes after ischemia, inhibits blood levels of radiation-induced chromosome-damaging factors, increases pain-free walking distance in patients with arterial blockage disease, improves pulmonary functions of asthmatic patients, helps reduce negative symptoms of schizophrenia, reduces the intensity and frequency of vertigo, treats swelling and mood changes in PMS, increases blood flow, reduces circulating cells indicative of venous wall damage, improves memory, increases ocular blood flow in glaucoma patients, increases retinal blood flow, treats neuropathy
Ginseng root: decreases heart rate, reduces fasting blood glucose, enhances mental activity
Gotu kola leaf: enhances wound healing, treats cirrhosis of the liver, enhances memory, has anticonvulsant effects, regulates blood sugar
Green tea: inhibits bacterial infections, induces apoptosis in cancer cells, prolongs life span after irradiation, stimulates weight loss, prevents the formation of dental caries
Guggul gum: reduces the chest pain and dyspnea associated with angina, reduces acne lesions, treats psoriasis
Guduchi stem: has anti-inflammatory effects, normalizes phagocytic function, recovers liver function, reduces postdrainage sepsis, protects against bone marrow suppression in chemotherapy
Gymnema: stimulates insulin release, helps control blood sugar
Gynostemma: stimulates nitric oxide release
Haritaki fruit: inhibits salivary bacteria, reduces stress, reduces viral loads in chronic lung infection, strengthens the effect of acyclovir against herpes
Hawthorn: treats rapid heartbeat, treats patients with cardiac insufficiency, treats patients with congestive heart failure, reduces angina symptoms
Isatis root and leaf: treats chronic myelocytic and chronic granulocytic leukemia, reduces lung abscess and decreases the severity of lung pathology, increases the number of white blood cells and lymphocytes
Licorice root: treats ulcers, inhibits the growth and cytopathology of DNA and RNA viruses, enhances liver detoxification of poisons, enhances nitric oxide function, reduces cataract formation
Maitake mushroom: has antitumor activity, lowers blood glucose levels, lowers blood pressure
Milk thistle seed: treats toxic hepatitis/fatty liver/cirrhosis/ischemic injury/radiation toxicity/viral hepatitis, enhances energy, protects against tumor promotion, protects kidneys against chemotherapy toxicity, protects against the kidney toxicity of cyclosporine, protects stomach and intestinal membranes
Milky oat seed: reduces cigarette usage, helps treat opium addiction
Millettia stem: increases white blood cell function in cancer patients
Muira puama: enhances libido
Myrrh gum: improves glucose tolerance
Oldenlandia herb: inhibits Yoshida’s sarcoma, Ehrlich’s ascites sarcoma, sarcoma-180, ascitic lymphocarcoma, and uterine cancer
Oregano oil and leaf: has action against yeast and fungi, protects against food-borne pathogens, stimulates appetite
Peppermint oil: treats irritable bowel syndrome
Phellodendron bark: has antiulcer activity, has anti-inflammatory properties, has antibiotic effects, suppresses graft-versus-host reactions
Pinellia tuber: suppresses gastric vagus nerve activity, reduces inflammation
Poria mushroom: stimulates the immune system, slows tumor growth, prevents pathological changes in nephritis, prevents vomiting
Prickly ash bark: reduces platelet sticking, has antimlalarial activity
Rauwolfia root: lowers blood pressure, treats chronic hives
Red clover blossom: helps maintain the elasticity of arteries
Rehmannia root: reduces inflammation in the central nervous system, helps treat nephritis and its complications, protects blood cells and organ function during chemotherapy
Reishi mushroom: treats chronic bronchitis
Rhubarb root: reduces obesity, stops chronic upper digestive bleeding, prevents the progression of chronic renal failure, stops renal hypertrophy
Salvia root: helps treat coronary artery disease, reduces the development of adhesive intestinal obstruction, reduces alcohol craving, inhibits fibrosis, prevents memory deficits, may prevent arterial restenosis, may help prevent damage to the optic nerve
Saptamrita lauha: treats retinal hemorrhage
Sarsaparilla root: treats syphilis, may treat Lyme disease
Schisandra berry: protects the liver, promotes learning ability, enhances cognitive performance, enhances nitric oxide function
Scute root: has hypotensive effects, restores normal blood cell production, restores T-lymphocytes and immunoglobulines in patients undergoing chemotherapy, preserves mitochondrial function, treats chronic hepatitis, inhibits JTC-26/sarcoma-37/Ehrlich’s ascites sarcoma/cerbroma-B22
Shalaparni: fights parasitic protozoal diseases, inhibits the release of allergic and inflammatory bronchoconstrictive chemicals
Shilajatu: has anti-inflammatory activity, has cardiotonic action, has antiulcer activity, stabilizes mast cells, has protective effects on the liver and pancreas, reduces symptoms of swollen prostate
Shou wu root: prevents heart injury, reduces tumor incidence, inhibits lipid peroxidation
Siberian ginseng root bark: enhances the immune system, increases endurance, reduces illness
St John’s wort: has antidepressant activity
Stevia leaf: improves glucose tolerance
Stinging nettle: reduces inflammation, reduces prostate swelling
Tea tree oil: treats fungal infections, reduces acne lesions
Teng li gen root: treats recurrent herpes-caused keratitis
Tien chi root: speeds recovery from wounds, has antitumor activity on skin tumors, improves lest ventricular diastolic function, improves postburn cardiac function, has antiarrhythmic activity
Tulsi: protects against radiation damage, has antifungal action, has anti-inflammatory activity, protects against ulcer formation, inhibits cancer formation, protects against stress
Turmeric root: has anti-inflammatory action, protects against cancer/radiation/toxins, reduces chronic eye inflammation, enhances wound repair in diabetics, reduces diabetic kidney damage
Valerian root: relieves smooth muscle spasms, reduces angina symptoms, improves sleep quality
Varuna: treats urinary tract infections
Vibhitaki fruit: has activity against malaria and fungal strains, demonstrates antihistamine action
Vilwa fruit: treats irritable bowel syndrome, effective against hookworm and Raniket disease virus
White atractylodes rhizome: increases secretion of gastric juices, increases muscle strength
White peony root: has muscle-relaxing effects, enhances cognition, improves memory, reduces aortic lesions, increases blood vessel lining relaxation, protects against liver damage
White sandalwood: treats coronary artery disease, enhances liver function, may protect against skin cancer when used topically
Wild asparagus root: inhibits immune system suppression, protects against stressors, has anticancer effects, has cardioprotective effects, reduces adhesions after surgery, stimulates breast milk production, inhibits breast cancer
