The chemistry and biological activity of herbs used in Flor‐Essence™ herbal tonic and Essiac

Abstract

The herbal mixtures, Essiac and Flor-Essence, are sold as nutritional supplements and used by patients to treat chronic conditions, particularly cancer. Evidence of anticancer activity for the herbal teas is limited to anecdotal reports recorded for some 40 years in Canada. Individual case reports suggest that the tea improves quality of life, alleviates pain, and in some cases, impacts cancer progression among cancer patients. Experimental studies with individual herbs have shown evidence of biological activity including antioxidant, antioestrogenic, immunostimulant, antitumour, and antiocholeretic actions. However, research that demonstrates these positive effects in the experimental setting has not been translated to the clinical arena. Currently, no clinical studies of Essiac or Flor-essence are published, but a clinical study is being planned at the British Columbia Cancer Agency by the University of Texas-Center for Alternative Medicine (UT-CAM) and Tzu-Chi Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Arctium lappa, burdock

“…It was found to scavenge effectively hydroxyl this study, the breakdown of arctiin was gradual and it could be argued that it supports the usage in Russia for gastrointestinal conditions referred to by Tamayo et al (2000) as the metabolites may have local effects in the gut. It was found to scavenge effectively hydroxyl this study, the breakdown of arctiin was gradual and it could be argued that it supports the usage in Russia for gastrointestinal conditions referred to by Tamayo et al (2000) as the metabolites may have local effects in the gut.…”

The Biology of Canadian Weeds. 149. Rumex acetosella L.

“…When the plant was introduced from Europe, many North American aboriginal people including the Nuxalk people of British Columbia (Lepofsky et al 1985) quickly learned to utilize the tart tasting leaves that are rich in vitamin C (Pojar and MacKinnon 1994;Tamayo et al 2000). Additional information on the use of R. acetosella in aboriginal cultures of North America can be found in the Native American Ethnobotany database by Moerman (2003).…”

“…Traditional medicines have utilized the chemical and nutritional properties of R. acetosella leaves, which are known to contain vitamins A, B complex, C, D, E, K, P, and U, various elements (e.g., iron, calcium) and beneficial carotenoids and organic acids (Tamayo et al 2000). Rumex acetosella leaves consumed raw, in teas, or in various extracts, have been used to prevent and treat scurvy (Bruni et al 1997;Pieroni 2000; Guarrera 2003), anaemia, arthritis (Bruni et al 1997), and various stomach disorders including diarrhea (Bruni et al 1997;Tamayo et al 2000).…”

“…Rumex acetosella leaves consumed raw, in teas, or in various extracts, have been used to prevent and treat scurvy (Bruni et al 1997;Pieroni 2000; Guarrera 2003), anaemia, arthritis (Bruni et al 1997), and various stomach disorders including diarrhea (Bruni et al 1997;Tamayo et al 2000).…”

Flor-Essence� herbal tonic does not inhibit mammary tumor development

“…A recent study reported that 26% of health food stores surveyed recommended one cup of Flor-Essence Ò daily to treat breast cancer [8]. Herbal tonics have been used as a breast cancer treatment since the 1920s [5,7,9,10], yet no epidemiologic data are available that support or refute their use as a CAM. Herbal tonics have been used as a breast cancer treatment since the 1920s [5,7,9,10], yet no epidemiologic data are available that support or refute their use as a CAM.…”