Archives for February 2024

In Praise of Almonds and Nuts

February 25, 2024 by Boris Hansel - [rt_reading_time label="Reading Time:" postfix="minutes" postfix_singular="minute"]

They’re known as ‘oily fruits’. Because of their numerous health benefits, notwithstanding their high fat content, almonds, hazelnuts and other nuts are among foods recommended for consumption in Canada, the US, and across the EU – to the tune of a small handful each day.((Anderson TJ, et. al. 2016 Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines for the Management of Dyslipidemia for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in the Adult. Can J Cardiol. 2016 Nov;32(11):1263-1282. doi: 10.1016/j.cjca.2016.07.510.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2015 – 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 8th Edition. December 2015. Available at https://health.gov/our-work/food-nutrition/previous-dietary-guidelines/2015.
EU Science Hub: https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/orphan-pages/page/health-promotion-and-disease-prevention/food-based-dietary-guidelines-europe_en))

From a nutritional standpoint, these hard-shelled fruits are distinguished by high levels (50-75%) of unsaturated fats (which are seen as ‘good fats’), significant protein content (10-25%), plus minerals (sodium, magnesium, potassium), vitamins B3, B9, B6 and E, fiber, antioxidants and vegetable oils. A stack of data suggests that they could help us age well and protect us from a range of chronic conditions.

Stripping out ‘bad’ cholesterol

If there’s one area where shelled fruits have proved their worth, it’s bringing cholesterol down. Reducing the amount of animal fat in your diet and eating fiber are, for certain, effective ways to cut levels of LDL-cholesterol, that’s to say ‘bad cholesterol’. But many studies have also shown the benefits of a daily handful of almonds. The same seems true of all nuts.

In 2010, a study of the collected data over the course of 25 clinical trials involving men and women with high cholesterol showed that eating 67g of nuts every day for 3-8 weeks could cut LDL-C levels by 7.4%, with more sizeable effects than this on symptoms since the patients were over healthy limits previously.((Sabaté J, Oda K, Ros E. Nut consumption and blood lipid levels: a pooled analysis of 25 intervention trials. Arch Intern Med. 2010 May 10;170(9):821-7. doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2010.79.))

Another systematic data review confirmed this, albeit at a more modest rate. Carried out in 2018, it analysed results from 26 clinical trials: the authors in this case detected a 3.7% fall in LDL-C levels for a diet rich in shelled fruits (15-108g per day) over a period of one to 12 months.((Guasch-Ferré M, Li J, Hu FB, Salas-Salvadó J, Tobias DK. Effects of walnut consumption on blood lipids and other cardiovascular risk factors: an updated meta-analysis and systematic review of controlled trials. Am J Clin Nutr. 2018 Jul 1;108(1):174-187. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqy091.)) It’s known that lowering LDL-C levels is linked to a reduction in total mortality and in deaths from cardiovascular disease, particularly if levels were high to start with.((Navarese EP, et.al. Association Between Baseline LDL-C Level and Total and Cardiovascular Mortality After LDL-C Lowering: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA. 2018 Apr 17;319(15):1566-1579. doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.2525.)) Even if no clinical study has yet shown that eating nuts can reduce the risk of heart failure, there’s no shortage of arguments to support such a hypothesis.

Lower risk of cardiovascular disease

First one might point to the results of a meta-analysis published in 2019. Applying the criteria used by Canada’s Cochrane Centre, the authors chose 19 studies, and evaluated that a 28g daily portion of nuts is associated with a 13% fall in cardiovascular disease, and 29% in deaths from heart disease.((Becerra-Tomás N, Paz-Graniel I, W C Kendall C, Kahleova H, Rahelić D, Sievenpiper JL, Salas-Salvadó J. Nut consumption and incidence of cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular disease mortality: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. Nutr Rev. 2019 Oct 1;77(10):691-709. doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuz042.))

You could also refer to a huge randomized and controlled study across many different locations on the role of a Mediterranean diet enriched with nuts in reducing the risk of heart disease. Participants in this, aged 55-80 and registering a significant risk of heart disease were assigned one of three diets – low-fat, a Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil, and a Mediterranean diet with added nuts. They were tracked for almost 5 years on average. At the end of the research, it was shown that heart problems were less frequent among the two groups following the Mediterranean diet.((Estruch R, et. al. PREDIMED Study Investigators. Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet Supplemented with Extra-Virgin Olive Oil or Nuts. N Engl J Med. 2018 Jun 21;378(25):e34. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1800389.))

Fat that doesn’t make you put on weight

On the energy side, 30g of almonds, peanuts, pistachios or cashews work out as a 180 calorie snack; the same quantity of pecans or Brazil nuts come to 220-230 calories. These figures are roughly equivalent to 30-40g of milk chocolate. Since the calorific content is essentially made up of fats, one might be given to think one must beware of ‘oily fruits’ if weight-watching. But that assumption would be wrong…

In fact, a recent piece of research closely analysed six cohort studies and 62 randomized diet tests. This concluded that regularly eating nuts for a longer or shorter period of time (between 3 and 336 weeks) is linked to very slight weight loss (an average of 200g) and a shrinking waistline (by an average of 0.5cm).((Li H, Li X, Yuan S, Jin Y, Lu J. Nut consumption and risk of metabolic syndrome and overweight/obesity: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies and randomized trials. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2018 Jun 22;15:46. doi: 10.1186/s12986-018-0282-y.))

If the reasons for these counter-intuitive outcomes haven’t been adequately explained yet, various theories can be put forward. For one, the matrix that encases the oils in nuts limits, to an extent, their absorption in the gut. To put it simply – some of the fat content in nuts is eliminated in the body’s cells, rather than being absorbed. Meanwhile, thanks to how they blunt our appetite, almonds and other nuts reduce the amount we eat at meals, so much so that our overall calorie count is no greater, or perhaps less than it would have been without them.

Do nuts have anti-cancer properties?

Other benefits are attributed to shelled fruits – notably around cancer prevention, although the evidence for this is weak. The relevant studies rely on observations alone, and suffer from various interpretation biases.

Thus, according to an analysis of 33 studies published before June 2019, increased consumption of nuts is demonstrably linked to a 10% fall in cancer risk; and the effect is more marked for cancers of the digestive system, with a risk reduction of 17%.

Nuts’ high antioxidant content might be one of the drivers for this. But before exploring this hypothesis further, we need to check the observed data with verifiable controlled and randomised clinical trials. For the moment, there’s nothing that allows us to say that eating nuts protects against cancer.

Fewer neurodegenerative conditions

Oils and fats are vital for the brain. After fat tissue, it’s the organ in the body richest in lipids: they can be found in the neuron membranes and related cells, but also in the myelin which speeds up the transmission of electrical impulses through the nervous system.

Illustration of a nerve cell and the myelin sheath

Several research teams have set out to evaluate the benefits of nuts for the central nervous system. What have they learned?((Carey A. et.al. The beneficial effects of tree nuts on the aging brain. Nutrition and Aging 1 (2012) 55–67 DOI 10.3233/NUA-2012-0007))

Their notable discovery was that after a few weeks of a diet more or less rich in nuts, 19 month-old rats performed better on psychometric tests.((Willis LM, Shukitt-Hale B, Cheng V, Joseph JA. Dose-dependent effects of walnuts on motor and cognitive function in aged rats. Br J Nutr. 2009 Apr;101(8):1140-4. doi: 10.1017/S0007114508059369.)) A diet of 2% nuts boosted their performance on a rod-clambering test, one of 6% nuts saw them do better on a plank-walking test, and at both these levels their powers of short term memory were heightened. These results have been confirmed by a study of shorter duration, with a marked improvement detectable in the rodents’ learning and memory.((Haider S, Batool Z, Tabassum S, Perveen T, Saleem S, Naqvi F, Javed H, Haleem DJ. Effects of walnuts (Juglans regia) on learning and memory functions. Plant Foods Hum Nutr. 2011 Nov;66(4):335-40. doi: 10.1007/s11130-011-0260-2.))

As for humans, a study of the PREDIMED diet intervention has shown that a Mediterranean diet rich in nuts improves short-term memory.((Valls-Pedret C, Lamuela-Raventós RM, Medina-Remón A, Quintana M, Corella D, Pintó X, Martínez-González MÁ, Estruch R, Ros E. Polyphenol-rich foods in the Mediterranean diet are associated with better cognitive function in elderly subjects at high cardiovascular risk. J Alzheimers Dis. 2012;29(4):773-82. doi: 10.3233/JAD-2012-111799.)) It has also offered evidence, at a biological level, of a reduced risk of low BDNF plasma – a protein which helps the growth and vigour of new neurons.((Sánchez-Villegas A, Galbete C, Martinez-González MA, Martinez JA, Razquin C, Salas-Salvadó J, Estruch R, Buil-Cosiales P, Martí A. The effect of the Mediterranean diet on plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels: the PREDIMED-NAVARRA randomized trial. Nutr Neurosci. 2011 Sep;14(5):195-201. doi: 10.1179/1476830511Y.)) Nuts seem to have a beneficial role at warding off age-related cognitive decline. However, we don’t have direct proof that if one regularly eats nuts, it reduces the risk of neurodegenerative diseases.

To sum up: nuts appear at first glance to have all the features allowing them to be considered allies of our health. While they are calorie-rich and high in fats, a 30g serving per day seems to cut “bad cholesterol” and protect us from cardiovascular disease, without affecting our weight. There are plenty of theories that suggest they a positive impact, both on other illnesses and warding off cognitive decline associated with age.

Plenty of good reasons to recommend everyone to include a handful of almonds, hazelnuts or other nuts in the food they eat each day – obviously without added sugar or salt!

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This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Are You Stuck in the Clutter Trap?

February 18, 2024 by Barbara Hemphill - [rt_reading_time label="Reading Time:" postfix="minutes" postfix_singular="minute"]

You arrived on earth without clutter. Your parents and doting relatives started you on a pathway to accumulation. By the time you were a year old, you had mounds of functional clothing, twenty outfits suitable for dress-up, too many stuffed animals to fit in your bed, custom-sized furniture, a silver spoon, and a plastic Winnie-the-Pooh bowl. Perhaps there was also your christening gown: an heirloom already packed safely away waiting for the next generation. You had not even become a toddler yet, and you had already embarked on the road to the clutter trap.

Perhaps your most treasured possession during this time was a favorite “blankie.” This was one item that just made you feel good when you dragged it everywhere you went. You also had a rattle that served two valuable functions. It made noise, and it was handy to chew on when your gums hurt. And the most attractive item in your crib area was that mobile of the shiny fish that swam above your head. Even at this early age, you were surrounded by some things you loved, some things you found useful, and some things you found beautiful.

And there was other “stuff” too. There were broken toys, clothes you were rapidly outgrowing, a quilt someone made that felt scratchy. These were the beginnings of clutter in your life. But were you caught in the clutter trap?

No! You weren’t trapped because you didn’t care. You didn’t interrupt your life’s work (eating, playing, sleeping, and saying “no”) to worry about any of this. Your caretakers worried about them on your behalf.

By the time you became an adult, the story was different. While you were still surrounded by clothing, toys, furniture, and heirlooms, by now you had added two hair dryers, four televisions, three telephones, a computer, a washing machine, a lawnmower, a partridge-in-a-pear tree-decoration and other machinery for life. Friends, family, and colleagues had given you gifts, paintings, china, and things you never used, and didn’t particularly like. But you could never quite decide to get rid of them.

Here Comes the Clutter Trap

Although 50 to 95 percent of your life is operating very well, and you feel successful in most areas, you sometimes:

Feel overwhelmed when you look at your closet or the garage or attic
Put off important things because they seem too massive to tackle in your current state of mind
Avoid having people visit your home or office because it looks too messy
Tremble at the thought of an audit, because you probably couldn’t find supporting records
Spend hours looking for your car insurance documents
Get headaches, neck and back tension, or grind your teeth because you can’t seem to find a place to relax anywhere
Wonder what is wrong with you that you can’t seem to stay organized
Consider taking yet another time management course to get it all under control
Yearn to escape to a desert island.

Here’s the simple truth. Everything — everything — you have in your life either nourishes you or drains you. It either supports your dreams and desires or sabotages them. If too much stuff in your immediate environment drains you, you are caught in the Clutter Trap.

A distressed woman cleaning up boxes of household clutter

The Clutter Trap is a state of cumulative disorder that diminishes your physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, or financial health. It is a dangerous threat to your productivity, your prosperity, and your peace of mind. Underestimate that threat at your own peril.

The Clutter Trap is more than an occasional temporary mess you make while finishing a project or getting dinner ready. It is a multiplicity of messes. It is chronic, cumulative, chaotic, cramping, creeping disorder.

Your Family and Your World Needs Your Best

Suppose you wake up tomorrow with a kindly presence whispering gently in your ear. “You are such a great person, we have decided to give you your heart’s desire of the most ideal setting in which to live and work.” You float half-awake with welcome visions of a sun-drenched easy chair, a penthouse office, a water view, an inviting golf course just outside, cloud-soft carpets, luxurious furniture, relaxing aromas, fragrant flowers, harmonious sounds, peace, calm, and order everywhere around you, and just the right amount of stimulation to keep your juices flowing.

A Businessman in his penthouse office looking at a golf course and water view below

Then you open your eyes–and reality strikes! First, you see the exercise machine draped in yesterday’s gym clothes, then the closet door you hate to open for fear of being smothered by the crushing mass of things stuffed inside, then the stack of newspapers left from last weekend, then the smudge on the wall from some mysterious source, then the carpet that could use vacuuming, and finally the torn-out travel article you read last night, as you imagined a dream vacation away from all this.

“Oh well,” you say to yourself, “I’ll clean up tomorrow. Meanwhile, I’d better brush my teeth and get going. This is a very busy day. The clutter can’t be that important.”

And maybe you are seriously wrong. Maybe the clutter is enormously important. Think back to those waking moments when you imagined the ideal setting for your life and work. Think of how you would feel, act, and respond in such a setting. Would that setting help you feel focused, vigorous, strong, talented, generous, energetic, calm, relaxed, powerful, productive, or peaceful? Then remember how you felt when reality hit. You may have felt overwhelmed, drained, depleted, depressed, or at least discouraged.

Now picture going into your day without the clutter. Which setting inclines you toward your most satisfying results and your most nourishing relationships? How much difference could the right setting make to your ability to focus, to respond fully to all the opportunities of your day, to develop fresh solutions for the challenges you face, to return home and be a more loving partner and parent, to link with your neighbors to create a stronger sense of community?

Very few people are truly impervious to their setting. Most of us just pretend we are. We make promises to ourselves to take care of the clutter later. In the meantime, we walk around as incomplete, diminished versions of the fully resourceful, fully generous people we could be.

And our family and our world need our best. Setting matters. Freedom from clutter is not just a selfish pursuit of our own comfort or convenience. It is not just a luxury that makes our setting “nicer” or “cleaner” or “safer.” That freedom also unlocks us from distraction and distress, so we can connect and contribute more abundantly to our family, our community, our world. As one client said, “Save the planet, starting in my attic!”

Where will you start?

And if you are interested to learn from Barbara how to organize your physical and digital clutter, you can sign up for a free webinar.

Do you need a guide to help you understand how to cope with Stress in an all inclusive approach? Learn how to combat stress, mentally, physically, emotionally and strategically in your life.

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5 Pulses that are Packed with Goodness

February 11, 2024 by nadiaradzman - [rt_reading_time label="Reading Time:" postfix="minutes" postfix_singular="minute"]

Each year on February 10, the United Nations commemorates what probably sounds to many like a strange occasion: World Pulses Day.((World Pulses Day, United Nations))

But, as a researcher focused on forgotten and underutilized legumes,((Dr Nadia Radzman, University of Cambridge)) I think the initiative is an important step towards food security. Getting people to eat more pulses can ultimately help achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger.((Goal 2: Zero Hunger. United Nations))

First, for clarification, “legumes” and “pulses” have different meanings. “Legumes” are all plants belong to the family Leguminosae or Fabaceae, while “pulses” are the dried seeds of legume plants. Pulses include beans, lentils and chickpeas.

One reason that legume plants offer such promise in ending hunger is that they don’t need good soil or nitrogen fertilizers. Plants need nitrogen to build important molecules such as protein and DNA. Most legumes can thrive in poor soil by fixing nitrogen gas from the air for their own use. This happens through symbiotic interaction with friendly bacteria known as rhizobia. The rhizobia are housed inside structures called nodules on the plant’s roots.

Thanks to their nitrogen-fixing ability, pulses are nutritional powerhouses: high in protein and fiber, and low in fat.

But that’s not the only interesting thing about legumes and pulses. In honor of World Pulses Day, I would like to highlight five pulses that have unique properties and stories.

1. The African yam bean: high protein beans and underground tubers

The African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) offers two servings of food: beans and underground tubers. The tubers have higher protein content than any non-legume tuber crops like potato and cassava, and the beans are also high in protein. Their nutritional value was proved during the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970) when the beans were cooked with amaranthus, telfaria or cassava leaves to feed the malnourished in war-affected areas.((Nwokolo, E. (1996). African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa (Hoechst ex. A. Rich.) Harms.). In: Nwokolo, E., Smartt, J. (eds) Food and Feed from Legumes and Oilseeds. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0433-3_18))

This crop is native to Africa and was once grown across the African continent.((Potter, D. Economic Botany ofSphenostylis (Leguminosae). Econ Bot 46, 262–275 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02866625)) Researchers have proposed that it may have been domesticated multiple times in west and central Africa.((Potter, D., Doyle, J.J. Origins of the African Yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa, leguminosae): evidence from morphology, isozymes, chloroplast DNA, and linguistics. Econ Bot 46, 276–292 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02866626)) Today, it is mostly grown as security or subsistence crop, rather than commercially. But its high protein content and drought tolerance are attracting increasing interest.((Toyosi T. George, Anthony O. Obilana, Samson A. Oyeyinka, The prospects of African yam bean: past and future importance, Heliyon, Volume 6, Issue 11, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05458))

2. Common bean: diversity and environmental versatility

The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) comes in many varieties around the world. Examples are black beans, red kidney beans and pinto beans – they look different but they are the same species. What’s special about them is that they can pair with a larger number of rhizobial species((Martínez-Romero, E. Diversity of Rhizobium-Phaseolus vulgaris symbiosis: overview and perspectives. Plant and Soil 252, 11–23 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024199013926)) than other legumes can.((Lira MA Jr., Nascimento LRS and Fracetto GGM (2015) Legume-rhizobia signal exchange: promiscuity and environmental effects. Front. Microbiol. 6:945. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00945)) This may have helped the common bean to thrive outside its native land and diversify in various habitats around the world. It’s able to fix nitrogen in different environments, making it a resilient legume species.

Beans of various colors and varieties — Multi-colored beans are poured out of jars on the table. White, red and colored beans. Background

3. Pea: a role in early understanding of genetics

The pea (Pisum sativum) is among the oldest domesticated crops in the world. It contributed to the understanding of genetics, thanks to Gregor Mendel’s famous experiment with pea plants.((Miko, I. (2008) Gregor Mendel and the principles of inheritance. Nature Education 1(1):134)) Mendel observed the way that different physical properties of the pea plants were inherited: pod shape, seed shape, seed colour, unripe pod colour, flower colour, stem length, and flower placement. He crossed two pea plants that had different properties and observed the seven traits in the subsequent generations for two years. From this experiment, he established Mendel’s Rules of Inheritance – still applicable in modern day genetic study.

The rich genetic diversity of the pea is also a valuable resource for important crop traits that can withstand various weather conditions due to climate change.((Smýkal P, Aubert G, Burstin J, Coyne CJ, Ellis NTH, Flavell AJ, Ford R, Hýbl M, Macas J, Neumann P, et al. Pea (Pisum sativum L.) in the Genomic Era. Agronomy. 2012; 2(2):74-115. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy2020074))

4. Chickpea: built for drought

Many pulses are drought tolerant and use less water for production than animal-sourced proteins, especially beef. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is known to be highly drought tolerant.((Rani A. et.al. Developing Climate-Resilient Chickpea Involving Physiological and Molecular Approaches With a Focus on Temperature and Drought Stresses. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2019.01759)) Most of this crop is grown under rainfed conditions in arid and semi-arid areas. This special ability to grow where water is scarce is more prominent in wild species of chickpea. Wild chickpeas can also tolerate temperatures up to 40°C – another valuable genetic resource for better drought tolerance in modern chickpeas.((Toker, C., Canci, H. & Yildirim, T. Evaluation of perennial wild Cicer species for drought resistance. Genet Resour Crop Evol 54, 1781–1786 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-006-9197-y))

Still, chickpea yield is highly compromised when there is lack of water. Therefore, scientists are looking for beneficial traits that can reduce the yield loss in chickpeas during drought. This may contribute to a more secure food source in the midst of climate change.((Varshney, R.K., Thudi, M., Roorkiwal, M. et al. Resequencing of 429 chickpea accessions from 45 countries provides insights into genome diversity, domestication and agronomic traits. Nat Genet 51, 857–864 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-019-0401-3))

5. Lupins: special cluster roots to seek nutrients

White lupins (Lupinus albus), yellow lupins (Lupinus luteus) and pearl lupins (Lupinus mutabilis) can form special roots to get more nutrients without the need for additional fertilisers.((Hocking, P., Jeffery, S. Cluster-root production and organic anion exudation in a group of old-world lupins and a new-world lupin. Plant and Soil 258, 135–150 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:PLSO.0000016544.18563.86)) Plants need not only nitrogen but phosphorus. Usually it’s given to plants in fertiliser to increase crop yield. Phosphate fertiliser is made from phosphate rock –- a non-renewable resource which is rapidly depleting through agricultural use.((Understanding phosphorus fertilizers. University of Minnesota Extension)) The white, yellow, and pearl lupins have unique root modifications called cluster roots that can liberate phosphorus from soil particles when the nutrient is low. These roots look like bottlebrush and are formed only when the level of phosphorus in the soil is low.((Shane, M.W., Lambers, H. Cluster Roots: A Curiosity in Context. Plant Soil 274, 101–125 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-004-2725-7)) These cluster roots exude negatively charged compound called carboxylate that can liberate phosphorus from the soil and make it available for the plant to use.((Hans Lambers, John G. Bishop, Stephen D. Hopper, Etienne Laliberté, Alejandra Zúñiga-Feest, Phosphorus-mobilization ecosystem engineering: the roles of cluster roots and carboxylate exudation in young P-limited ecosystems, Annals of Botany, Volume 110, Issue 2, 1 July 2012, Pages 329–348, https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcs130)) So lupins do not have to rely on phosphate fertilisers and can even help neighbouring plants by increasing the phosphorus level in the soil.

Food security

Pulses deserve our attention not just on February 10 but every day. The five pulses I’ve presented here can serve as sustainable protein sources and make food systems more diverse. They can greatly contribute to better food security in the future.

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This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

St. John’s Wort – Nature’s Prozac?

February 4, 2024 by Winston J Craig - [rt_reading_time label="Reading Time:" postfix="minutes" postfix_singular="minute"]

Every year, according to the National Institutes of Mental Health, about 11 million Americans suffer mild cases of depression and another 10 million suffer mild to severe depression. St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) has received increasing attention as a safe product that provides some natural relief from depression.

St. John’s Wort is a perennial herb that grows up to three feet tall in neglected fields and alongside country roads throughout North America and Europe. The erect, many-stemmed herb is topped with a cluster of bright yellow, star-shaped flowers (with five slightly asymmetrical petals) that bloom from June to August. There are numerous explanations as to how St. John’s Wort received its name. The preferred explanation refers to the fact that the flowers bloom around June 24 (St. John’s Day), while another refers to an ancient tradition of throwing the flowers into a bonfire on the eve of St. John’s Day. The word “wort” is an old English word for plant.

Anciently St. John’s Wort was used to treat neuralgic conditions such as sciatica and hip pain. In nineteenth-century America, St. John’s Wort was used for healing wounds and as a diuretic. Hypericum was also highly valued for its sedative properties. Herbalists today recommend it to treat wounds and to speed the healing of bruises and minor burns. Historically it has been one of the most dependable botanicals for the treatment of wounds. Today it is also highly prized as an antidepressant, without the side effects of conventional antidepressant drugs.

The dried herb usually consists of the flowering tops, unopened buds, and uppermost leaves of the plant. It has a slightly sweet and aromatic odor and a mildly bitter, somewhat astringent taste. When ground into a powder, it is usually greenish to yellowish-brown in color. When more flowers and buds are used, the mixture is more yellow.

Clinical Trials

The analysis of two dozen clinical trials involving over 1,700 outpatients revealed that St. John’s Wort given for 48 weeks’ duration can be considered a safe and effective herb for the treatment of mild depression and anxiety. It has an activity comparable to that of conventional antidepressants, such as Prozac, but with fewer side effects. The common side effects experienced with the conventional antidepressants include nausea and dizziness, sleeplessness, reduced sexual drive, headaches, dry mouth, and loss of appetite.

The people who took St. John’s Wort in the various clinical trials experienced significant improvement in depressive mood indicators such as feelings of sadness, hopelessness, helplessness, and fearfulness. Sleep difficulties and disruptive sleep patterns were also greatly improved after taking St. John’s Wort.

Among other useful herbs are licorice root, which has some useful antidepressant compounds, and rosemary, a real favorite. This contains cineole, which stimulates the central nervous system. Valerian and hops are herbs that provide useful sedative properties and can be used for their sleep-promoting action.

Hypericum contains several active compounds, including a variety of phenolics, terpenoids, and sterols. It is rich in flavonoids as well as naphthodianthrones, hypericin, and pseudohypericin. Hypericin in particular seems to be a monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor,((“In combination with certain foods and drugs, MAO inhibitors may cause dangerously increased blood pressure. Symptoms include headache, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, and clammy skin. In recommended amounts, St. John’s Wort is not as powerful as pharmaceutical MAO inhibitors. Nonetheless, those using the herb should follow certain precautions.” Castleman, M. The Healing Herbs, p. 324, Rodale Press, Emmaus, PA, 1991.)) which places it among a class of chemicals known to be antidepressant. However, the antidepressant activity of St. John’s Wort may be due to more than just hypericin and may be partly due to other minor constituents in the plant. Clearly, the best procedure is to consume the total herbal product and not just a hypericin-rich extract. The antimicrobial activity of Hypericum is attributed to the essential oil, phloroglucinols, and flavonoids.

Herbal Preparations

Recommendations for the use of the herb usually include drinking 1-2 cups per day of herbal tea made from 1-2 teaspoons of dried St. John’s Wort flowers steeped in a cup of boiling water for 10 minutes. Alternatively, a 300 mg capsule standardized to contain 0.3 percent hypericin may be used up to three times a day. Normally, it takes about 36 weeks of regularly using St. John’s Wort before its therapeutic effects are observed. High doses or prolonged use may sensitize the skin to sunlight exposure since hypericin has photodynamic properties.

Other Activities

St. John’s Wort has been shown to increase the storage levels in one’s body of the two neurochemicals, serotonin, and norepinephrine. Serotonin is known to be a mood-altering substance, normally producing a calming effect. Research has revealed that other components of St. John’s Wort alter the levels of interleukin-6, which may also alter mood. Heinze and Gobel reported in 1996 that Hypericum may be useful in the treatment of chronic tension-type headaches.

In another study, researchers observed that extracts of St. John’s Wort given over a three-week period caused a significant increase in the production of nocturnal melatonin, a substance produced by the pineal gland that regulates circadian rhythms.

Recently, interest has focused on the antiviral activity of St. John’s Wort. Substantial activity against several retroviruses has been reported. St. John’s Wort has been even researched for its potential usefulness in treating HIV-infected patients.

Conclusion

St. John’s Wort is clearly one of the leading plant medicinals for the treatment of mild to moderate depression. Studies are needed to determine its effectiveness and safety in long-term usage. It has been suggested for the treatment of more severe forms of depression, but controlled clinical trials are lacking at this time. In addition to its antidepressant effects, Hypericum has been used for a wide variety of neurological conditions such as anxiety, insomnia, irritability, migraine headaches, and chronic neuralgia stemming from trauma and injuries. Furthermore, Hypericum is useful as a wound-healing agent, an anti-inflammatory and antiviral agent, and for the treatment of ulcers, inflammatory bowel syndrome, hemorrhoids, and herpes lesions.

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This article was published originally in the Journal of Health and Healing, a publication of Wildwood Institute.