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Calling All Herb Detectives

Submitted by Health Gazette on Tue, 2005-09-27 09:45. Herbs

Are you a herb detective? No, I don't mean are you a herbalist. I don't mean are you someone who can identify a plant at 50 meters and actually pronounce its name in latin. I mean, are you up to speed on finding herbs online?

Well here's a challenge. Maybe we could think of it as a game. You know, the one where someone who is "in" says "I'm thinking of a set of herbs" and then proceeds to give clues so players can either find or guess that set of herbs. What's that? You didn't use sets of herbs when you played this before. Well don't worry, now you can!

Come on, it could be fun. And we all need a bit of fun in our lives. Give it a go. Rise to my challenge. Here are the details.

I know a special health supporting product that contains a range of nutritional supplements including a set of standardized herbal extracts. The product itself is simply brilliant; truely outstanding and well worth finding. It literally is the best in the world.

In its formulation there are 13 standardized herbal extracts. The following is a list of 10 of them.

  • Bilberry
  • Black Cumin
  • Ginger
  • Gingko Biloba
  • Gotu Kola
  • Hawthorne Berry
  • Mahonia Grape
  • Myrrh
  • Red Clover
  • Turmeric

Your challenge is to find the product and tell me its name and provide the names of the three (3) herbs I have not listed above together with a brief (say a sentence or two) description of the main uses of those herbs.

The winner will be the first person to post the correct answer in the comments section of this article. Good luck and good detecting.

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Finding the Herbs

Submitted by Bart Jarvis on Thu, 2005-10-06 07:33.

I'll give it a go.

The product would be Xtend-Life's Total Balance - Unisex.

The missing Herbs:

Cranberry Extract - Used for its anti-infective properties to primarily prevent and treat UTI's (Urinary Tract Infections).

Green Tea Extract - Used to improve cognitive performance and to treat GI (stomach) disorders. Also effective in reducing the risk of various cancers, heart disease, parkinson's disease etc. Effective in maintaning remission in people with Crohn's disease. Amongst other benefits.

Olive-Leaf Extract - Used for the treatment of conditions associated with a broad range of viruses, retroviruses, bacteria, or protozoa. Also this is amongst other benefits.

Bart.

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The Health Gazette Online Herb Detective of 2005 is ...

Submitted by Health Gazette on Thu, 2005-10-06 09:37.

Bart! Well done. Absolutely spot on. Congratulations on some fine detecting.

I happen to know that you had the advantage of being familiar with the product containing the precise blend of herbs mentioned. This shows that you are the very best possible type of supplement consumer - one who reads the fine print, who actually knows what it is that's being taken.

Of course there's a lot more than those herbs in the Total Balance formula so a less observant user of the product might have missed them.

Cranberry juice certainly is widely used for its anti-infective properties, especially in the urinary tract. But it has several other important functions. Here is an overview from our friends at Xtend-Life.

Preliminary data suggest that a high molecular weight cranberry constituent might prevent adhesion of plaque bacteria that cause periodontal disease. Cranberry compounds might also prevent adhesion of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) in the stomach. Early evidence shows that cranberry juice might increase the antioxidant capacity of plasma. There is also preliminary evidence that the proanthocyanidin fraction of cranberry might have anticarcinogenic activity.

Bart summarizes the green tea extract and olive leaf extract benefits quite succinctly. Of course, the details are very interesting, but they are best left for another time.

For now, we really want to thank you Bart for participating and again extend our warmest congratulations.

Peter
_______________
Dr Peter Tylee
Editor

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Are there no herb sleuths on the web?

Submitted by Health Gazette on Wed, 2005-10-05 09:25.

Can it be that this was too difficult a task? Surely not. There must be sleuths equipped with search technology even if there is no one so well informed that the list could easily be recognized.

Perhaps I will be disappointed.
_______________
Dr Peter Tylee
Editor

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