and also of invisible fat (in cakes, pastries, thick soups, mayonnaise, cheese, milk and other dairy products, eggs), which often makes up the bulk of our fat intake. Instead, most of our food should consist of plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, beans and peas, the latter two being considered capable of reducing the cholesterol level in the blood. The minimum of salt should be used.
Tobacco and Alcohol: It is vital that anyone with concerns about their health, and especially about the heart and blood vessels, should stop smoking and keep the intake of alcohol to a reasonable amount.
Stress: There is a close correlation between the level of stress in your life and the occurrence of health problems, particularly with problems in the cardiovascular system. ‘Stress’ is a relative concept. It would be more appropriate to consider the individual’s ability to deal with the stress in their life rather than to look at the stress itself. There are a number of tools available to us today to help take responsibility in our lives and to deal with stress and emotional tensions. It is possible to help with tension by using herbal remedies, but it is far better and more realistic to go to the underlying cause within us and change it. This involves consciousness and sometimes courage. Relaxation therapy, re-evaluation co-counselling, humanistic and transpersonal psychology all have much to offer. Dis-ease can be prevented by bringing ease into one’s life. Psychological and spiritual harmony will create the inner environment for bodily harmony.
Herbs for the circulatory system
As with all systems of the body, an identification of herbs for that system is a necessary simplification. The body is an integrated whole and the herbal approach to healing recognises this. Any problems arising in a particular system may be caused by the state of health and vitality in any other part of the body, and therefore any herb can have a role to play in the treatment of any system. However, to enable our limited human comprehension to grasp the basics of herbalism, it is valid to identify herbs that have a specific role to play in this system.
To keep things simple and to avoid complex groupings, the herbs will be differentiated into those that have a direct action on the heart, and those that affect the peripheral vessels.
Heart tonics
The most important herbal agents for the heart include Broom, Bugleweed, Figwort, Hawthorn, Lily of the Valley, Motherwort and Night Blooming Cereus.
You will notice that herbs such as Foxglove (Digitalis) and Mediterranean Squill have been left out of the list, even though these plant remedies are used extensively by orthodox medicine as effective treatments for heart failure. However, as there are marked dangers with the use of Foxglove, this poisonous plant has been left out. This does not mean that effective heart remedies are not available to us. By far the most important one on the list is Lily of the Valley. We shall digress slightly here to discuss the action of this herb and compare it to Foxglove, as there are some important lessons involved.
As mentioned in the chapter on plant constituents, the remedies often used to treat the heart are rich in a group of chemicals called cardiac glycosides. These complex chemicals have the astounding ability to stimulate the muscles of the heart in a way that strengthens its contraction and ensures that more blood is pumped through the body. The efficiency of the heart is thereby increased, but with the help of these chemicals the oxygen required by the heart muscle for this work is not increased and thus we do not have to worry about any oxygen deficiency.
With Foxglove, however, there is an added danger, as some of its constituents can accumulate in the body and lead to poisoning, which does not happen with Lily of the Valley. As pharmacological analysis shows, there are a number of different cardiac glycosides present in Lily of the Valley, such as Convallatoxin, Convallatoxol, Convallarin, Convallamarin, Convallaside and Convallatoxoloside. (The root of all these outlandish words is the Latin name of the herb, Convallaria majalis). While these many biochemicals are present, only two act directly on the heart, and of these the most important one is Convallatoxin.
To a pharmacist this would imply that the rest are useless, which could not be further from the truth, as the other glycosides have been found to increase the solubility of the active ones by up to 500 times. The obvious value of this is that a smaller dose is necessary, as an increase in solubility will also increase the ‘bio-availability’. Furthermore it was found that though Convallatoxin has a fast effect and is oxidised and excreted rapidly, the whole plant has a longer effective time in the body. Others of the apparently inactive glycosides are being converted by the body into the directly active ones as and when needed. A danger of poisoning does not exist with Lily of the Valley, as its glycosides have a unique chemical structure which ensures that they are easily excreted and do not build up in the body.
In Lily of the Valley we have a good example of the synergistic way in which herbs can work. From all this analytical and biochemical study we can see that the whole is indeed more than the sum of its parts. The action of the whole plant cannot be predicted by knowing the separate chemical constituents, as the effects are brought about through complex, integrated interactions. All this goes to show that ancient wisdom about this herb, passed down to us through the generations, can be supported by modern science when a wide enough perspective is used.
Let us now have a closer look at the specific heart tonics mentioned previously. They all act in a way that tones and strengthens heart function, and will be given here with some brief indications of their use in the circulatory system. Please consult the Herbal for more details.
Lily of the Valley: This can be used where the strength of the heart is insufficient, as in angina or in the treatment of the aging heart, especially when there are deposits in the blood vessels.
Night Blooming Cereus: This can be used similarly to Lily of the Valley and is especially useful where there is any change in the rhythm of the heart beat.
Hawthorn Berries: These constitute one of the most valuable remedies for the cardiovascular system, strengthening the force of the contraction of the heart muscle while also acting to dilate the vessels of the coronary circulation. They can be used in most circulatory problems as they are amphoteric (i.e. they will relax or stimulate the heart according to its need) and normalise the heart function.
Motherwort: This herb is a relaxing nervine and a valuable emmenagogue. Its value for the circulatory system is even noted in its Latin name, Leonurus cardiaca. It will greatly strengthen and normalise the function of the heart.
Broom: It can be considered as the primary heart diuretic. Whilst it strengthens and normalises the heart beat, it also rids the body of any build-up of water that is due to insufficient heart strength. Care has to be taken though, as it may increase blood pressure.
Figwort: Although this is primarily a herb known for skin problems, it also increases the strength of the heart contractions.
Bugleweed: Whilst this herb increases the strength of the heart beat it also reduces its rate. It is a valuable relaxant as well.
Herbs for the circulation
As with herbs for the heart, there is a vast range of
