The Bugle Is Good, But The Band is Amazing! Drugs VS Herbal Medicines

Years ago, I was putting together an herb formula for a nice old dog. She had some arthritis and was pretty sore most of the time. So I put together a formula of several herbs to help with her aches and pains. A week or so later the owner stopped by.

Thanks so much for that formula Doc Jones” she said “My girl is feeling so much better“.

I was about to say “You’re welcome” when she added; “And thanks for fixing the incontinence too. I haven’t had to clean up a piddle accident since she started taking the herbs.

I’d been treating her dog for urinary incontinence for a long time with pharmaceuticals. Things were a little better but she still had a bit of trouble now and then. I thought for a minute and then the lightbulb in my brain flicked on. It was the black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa). Black cohosh has some nice pain relieving properties that are a little different than the usual suspects so I’d put some in the old girl’s arthritis formula. But that day I realized that it also had some amazing benefits for canine incontinence.

Canine incontinence in little old lady dogs is caused by insufficiency of the internal bladder sphincter. The urinary tract has two sphincter muscles, the internal and the external. The external sphincter is voluntary. So when the dogs are awake they don’t have accidents. But the internal sphincter in involuntary so if it isn’t working when the dog goes to sleep, the bladder empties all over the floor. This little muscle needs good estrogen levels in order to function. Guess what black cohosh is full of. Yup, plant-based versions of chemicals very like estrogen. So, instead of just helping the dog’s pain, the black cohosh also helped her bladder. (By the way, if your spayed, female dog has that issue, Click Here. If your old dog has aches & pains Click Here. If it’s the human at the other end of the leash that’s achy, Click Here.)

In the HomeGrown Herbalist School we have a student forum. It’s a great place where we all have a lot of fun talking about plants, swapping stories, and learning from each other. A week or so ago one of my students reported an interesting experience. She had made a formula for an elderly friend. It was intended to be just a nutritive tonic formula; dandelions, nettles, mulberry leaf…things like that, but her friend reported that as soon as she started taking it, her old arthritic knee felt much, much better and she was able to get around better than she had in years. She listed the herbs in the formula. None of them had any reputation as arthritis herbs. When I saw the list, I wasn’t surprised at all.

Herbs are complex rascals. Seems like they all do a dozen things. Every herb in that tonic has research-proven, anti-inflammatory properties and lots of antioxidants that never get any attention in the popular herb press. Most of them are also diuretics that clean toxins out of the blood which also decreases inflammation.

So what happened is that while the herbs were nourishing her, they were also sneaking around doing anti-inflammatory services on the sweet, unsuspecting lady without even asking!

The take home message is, that herbs are complex smorgasbords of healing chemicals and if you give them to the body, the body putters along the buffet and picks out everything it wants and then uses those wonderful offerings to straighten out all kinds of problems.

Pharmaceuticals generally contain exactly one chemical. One.

Plants typically contain dozens of medicines that do all kinds of different things to benefit the body. It’s the difference between a bugle and an orchestra. Sure, the bugle can get you out of bed in the morning or tell you to mount your steed and charge the Huns. But think about the interactions between all of the instruments in an orchestra and the myriad messages they can send to a listener. If a fellow stepped up to a good orchestra and told them what he wanted, they could probably play it. A couple of violinists, a violist and cellist could play him a lovely quartet piece from Mozart. Those same violinists could then play a bluegrass fiddle tune that’d get the whole audience tapping their feet and having a great time. The sax player could then do some jazz improvisation with the bass player and drummer after which the pianist could play an amazing ragtime piece. For a finale, the whole orchestra could play a march by John Phillip Sousa! The orchestra contains an amazing diversity of abilities and different instruments and players to meet completely different needs. Herbs are the same way. I spend a lot of time reading in-depth research studies on the phytochemistry of medicinal plants. Just when we think we understand all the things some silly weed can do, we discover that it also does some other amazing thing.

Modern research and modern medicine are starting to recognize the amazing properties of plants in healing the body. Many of our modern pharmaceuticals are derived from or inspired by chemicals found in medicinal plants. Maybe someday they’ll learn that pulling the bugle player out and putting it into a pill isn’t nearly as good an idea as sitting back and letting the whole orchestra do its work.

When the Good Lord put the orchestra together, He knew what He was doing. I think we do best when we sit back and let the music play. The body knows what it needs. The plants know how they can help. Let’s get out of the way and let them do it. Who knows, they may do us a favor and solve some problems we weren’t even thinking about!

-Doc Jones

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7 thoughts on “The Bugle Is Good, But The Band is Amazing! Drugs VS Herbal Medicines

  1. Gudrun Bender says:

    what a fitting allegory!
    going to do my rosemary research now 🙂
    any suggestions for a garfield* golden doodle who seems to suffer from allergies (licking one paw raw at times). My hunch is the food they feed him (then again* he eats, no inhales! everything, including an ace bandage which in turn got him surgery not too long ago). He is on medication now – to see if it helps…..Cerenia; I prefer your herbal orchestra!

  2. Carol Sasson says:

    As a professional symphonic musician (violist), and a many -years’ student of HGH, I love the imagery in this video! Thanks for all the information that you give in such fun and easily understood ways..

  3. Rebecca Retkowski says:

    Thank you so much for that explanation!! It really helped me to understand the difference between herbal power and a simple pharmaceutical. I hope to take the course soon,

  4. Shirley S. says:

    Love herbs. Big pharma is insane! Just paid a cpay of $250 for a shot to stimulate my wbc for my last chemo treatment for breast cancer. Never again!

  5. Anne or Mark Kinkade says:

    Both my husband Mark and are excited about what you are teaching about medicinal herbs as an alternate for pharmaceutical treatments of conditions and illnesses. I contracted COVID-19 in May, 2022, which attacked my Circadian sleep rhythm. (which were further disrupted by Pharmaceutical treatments). I still struggle with insomnia, although what I’ve been learning is helping. I first found you when I viewed a Homestead Family “Pantry Chat-Medicinal Herbs” featuring Carolyn and Dr. Jones. I signed up in November, 2022, as a Student, but have been unable to access products because of google password problems on my email [email protected].
    Tonight I used a new email (annekinkade@msn) and was able to buy products using a different credit card, and to watch this blog. I am already learning a great deal! My particular needs at this time are the insomnia, incontinence, and immune boosting; my husband’s concerns are high blood pressure (for which he takes Hawthorn Bark), and Type 2 Diabetes (using Nopol Cactus, Alpha-Lipolic Acid & Cinsulun capsules). We both turned to herbal treatment when I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2003 & again in 2011, and he was diagnosed with Diabetes in 2011. But we both desire to learn how to improve our health as students in your school instead of relying on supplements alone. Sincerely, Anne & Mark Kinkade

  6. Carrie Young says:

    I love the symphony , the orchestra , and the Garlic Rock band ! As a leaky gut victim which led to the auto immune and a whole she bang of issues I’m eternally grateful for the school and knowledge . Now a chronic pain patient who refuses to give up . I’m now using” the music” to heal the thyself !THANK YOU so grateful to you and God and Creator .Be blessed Doc Jones you rock!

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