It’s winter and the holidays are approaching. That means the kids are bringing all sorts of colds and viruses home with them from school. It’s so busy at work that even when your coworkers clearly should stay home sick, they often come in anyway. Everyone’s piling into planes, trains, buses, and cars for holiday travel. Shopping, holiday parties, and family get-togethers put us all together – in close proximity.
Almost three decades ago, while studying indigenous botanicals in Peru, I first learned about Maca, and experienced its powerful benefits firsthand. I was so impressed with this botanical’s incredible properties that I made it my mission to bring high-quality, properly prepared Maca to the U.S. market.
It feels just like yesterday when the cofounder of Whole World Botanicals, Elena Rojas Martinez, and I were getting started. But now, we’re celebrating 25 years in business!
World Osteoporosis Day is October 20th, making it a perfect opportunity for me to share natural tools to help you build better bones today. And, for those who already have bone health problems, I have good news. There is a remarkably effective, natural way to help rebuild better bones!
Spring has sprung, and the flowers, trees, and grasses are all in glorious full bloom. Unfortunately, something else is also in full bloom: spring allergies!
Exposure to spring pollen sends your immune system into a frenzy of activity. Your body starts rapidly making Th1 and Th2 immune cells. Some of us produce far more Th2 than Th1. This imbalance causes histamine levels to skyrocket! And when we have too much histamine, we end up with a variety of allergy symptoms, including:
For thousands of years, people across the globe have distilled the healing properties of botanical plants into concentrated tinctures by slowly simmering them in water. I call these extracts “liquid gold,” as they offer a fast-acting, highly effective, and easy way to enjoy the extraordinary health benefits and symptom relief of our rainforest botanicals.
Behind the smiling faces in holiday photos, there’s often a very different story. If you’re like me, you’re shopping, decorating, cooking, entertaining, and traveling – and all these demands are on top of working. It’s no surprise that we end up feeling stressed and exhausted.
The holidays are also a time when feelings of loss are heightened, as we remember people we’ve lost physically and people we’ve lost emotionally. The season of joy can end up becoming a season of sadness or depression for some.
This fall, most students have left online classes behind, and have returned back to school. Meanwhile, more and more employees are being asked to ditch the Zoom meetings and get back to work – in person – at their offices and workplaces.
But even as we’re increasingly back to school and back to work, are we truly back to normal?
Just when the humidity drops, the fall days are sunny, and the nights are chilly, the itch in my eyes would start driving me crazy. For many of us, pollen in the air and airborne substances like mold and pet dander cause the immune system to overreact… known simply as allergies!
Desmodium (Desmodium adscendens) is a little known but highly effective botanical native to Peru, Jamaica, Central America, and West Africa. For centuries, Desmodium has been used to support and promote lung health, ease breathing through nasal passages, and to relieve pain.
Q: What is the best herb in the world for opening the bronchial tubes in your lungs?
A: Desmodium adscendens
Q: How does it compare with Ephedra?
A: Ephedra is also good for opening the bronchial tubes but it can increase your pulse rate and raise your blood pressure.
Q: What is Desmodium adscendens traditionally used for?
A: Asthma, bronchitis, collapsed lungs, allergies, liver detoxification, to relieve back, shoulder, and knee pain, for menstrual cramps, ovarian inflammation, and pain.to name a few traditional uses.
Addy, M.E., Awumey, E.M., “Effects of the extracts of Desmodium adscendens on anaphylaxis,” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 1984, Aug 11 (3), 283-92.
Abstract: Desmodium adscendens, used by herbalists in Ghana for the treatment of asthma, is anti-anaphylactic in vitro. As the plant material is administered orally, in vivo studies of its anti-anaphylactic property were undertaken using the guinea-pig. The results show that both aqueous and ethanolic extracts of D. adscendens, when taken, orally, reduce anaphylactic contractions, interfere with histamine-induced contractions, and reduce the amount of smooth muscle stimulating substances released from lung tissue of guinea pigs.
McManus, OB, et. al., “An activator of calcium-dependent potassium channels isolated from a medicinal herb,” Biochemistry, 1993, June 22. 32 (24): 6128-33.
From Abstract: Large-conductance calcium-dependent potassium (maxi-K) channels play an important role in regulating the tone of airway smooth muscle and the release of bronchoconstrictive substances from nerves in the lung. Crude extracts of Desmodium adscendens, a medicinal herb used in Ghana as a treatment for asthma, inhibit binding of monoiodatyrosine charybdotoxin (1251-ChTX) to receptor sites in bovine tracheal smooth muscle membranes that have been shown to be associated with maxi-K channels. ……….This natural product is the first example of a high-affinity activator of calcium-dependent potassium channels and is the most potent known potassium channel opener.
Significance: Calcium-dependent potassium channel openers have the capacity to open the bronchial tubes and take a person out of an asthma attack in a short period of time. In Ghana, Desmodium adscendens is given to patients who appear in the emergency room of a hospital with an asthma attack. If the person is still able to swallow, strong Desmodium adscendens tea is administered, usually giving relief within a few minutes.
Desmodium (Desmodium adscendens), a rainforest plant native to Peru, Jamaica, Central America, and West Africa is also called “Strong Back Herb” in Jamaica for its ability to relieve back pain and neck pain. Royal Desmodium™ takes all muscles out of spasm – including the smooth muscles of the lungs (useful in asthma attacks) and the smooth muscles of the uterus (helpful for menstrual cramps). It also promotes a healthy inflammation response and speeds healing of injuries to knees, shoulders and other joints and tendons of the body. Most of the research on this herb has been performed in Ghana and it is a well known West African herb. In Peru, it is known as Amor Seco or Pega Pega.
There is false information on the Internet which erroneously claims that Desmodium adscendens is also known as Manayupa. Manayupa is the common name for Desmodium molliculum, which grows in the Andes – and which is often confused with its stronger more effective rainforest “cousin”, Desmodium adscendens. Desmodium molliculum does not take muscles out of spasm in the dramatic way that Desmodium adscendens does.
Since Whole World Botanicals began offering this herb to our customers, Royal Desmodium™ has become famous in certain circles of martial artists and bodybuilders who seem to frequently injure themselves!
Here is what one of our customers has had to say about his experience with Royal Desmodium™ Strong Back Support.
“I have always been a very athletic person. Over the years, I have suffered a lot of sports injuries. Now when I play racquetball, I get a lot of knee pain and it takes me about a week to recover. A few months ago, my wife got me to try Whole World Botanicals’ Royal Desmodium Strong Back Support™. I take 2 squirts three times a day the day I play and within 36 hours, my knees feel fine!” *
–Mari B., Miami, Florida, age 29
Featured image courtesy of Pexels.com
