Many herbal dissidents love to throw up the fact that there are poisonous herbs in existence, which there are, but it is so irrelevant simply because poisonous herbs are regulated by the U.S. government and you will not find any poisonous herbs sold in a health food store or even a herb store.
 So why dissent about herbs being poisonous when poisonous plants are not readily accessible UNLIKE pharmaceutical drugs are and that we all know, or should know, are poisonous and fatal (700,000 to 1,000,000 people die annually from pharmaceutical drug consumption) and very accessible?
I mean, after all, how many cases have you heard about where someone has died or committed an overdose by taking a poisonous plant? The U.S. government began recording deaths from herbal consumption in 1986 and from 1986 to this very day the percentage of people who have died from herbal consumption is zero percent!
Please reference the following:
"Herbs prove themselves to be close therapeutic competitors of medication and are almost always safer, gentler and less likely to cause side effects. Causalities and fatalities researched from literature, government reports and expert databases indicate that approximately zero (0,000%) cases are due to the use of complementary health products, whereas 5,176% are due to properly prescribed and used drugs. It seems that herbs may even be safer than food, because 0,24% deaths are the result of food eaten."
 Even before the government began keeping count of deaths by herbal consumption people were not dying from herbal consumption. It really has never been a big deal!
And I must point out that poisonous herbs are not the same as controversial herbs, at least not in all cases. Many controversial herbs, such as Ephedra, Comfrey, Blood Root, Sassafras, and Kava Kava are hardly poisonous.
Many herbs are banned as toxic or poisonous for political reasons too. Some are banned because of one alleged poisonous alkaloid that is only poisonous when ISOLATED and extracted from the entire plant. Remember, nature balances so when man extracts, he's disturbing or interrupting balance and this is where the harm comes in at or comes from.
How can an herb like Kava Kava, which has been used for centuries by Native Americans without any adverse side effects, now all of a sudden, be said to be toxic to the liver? Whose liver? Has Kava been tested on everybody?
The plant Stevia that is 300 times sweeter than white table sugar cannot be sold today in its natural state commercially or used in commercial products in the United States despite its safety and efficacy. Is it poisonous? No! But it is banned! You see - politics!
Just because a thing or substance is banned doesn't mean it's harmful and just because a thing or substance is approved and available doesn't mean it's safe. Consider pharmaceutical drugs! They are approved and available and yet hundreds of thousands of people are killed by pharmaceutical drugs every year. And guess what? Millions of people will continue to die from taking pharmaceutical drugs due to ignorance and blind trust and loyalty to legalized drug pushers: doctors and pharmacists.
Kava Kava has now been added to the banned list of toxic substances. But why? Is it because this plant threatens the sedative, tranquilizer, and antidepressant drugs on the market? How many people have died from Kava Kava? Absolutely zero! But again, the herb has been banned in the U.S. But Valium and Prozac has not been banned and the facts reveal that these two antidepressants induce suicidal thoughts and tendencies and people have even committed suicide while taking these two drugs. But still, no talk of banning them. Why is that?
Aspirin, a drug, kills more than 25,000 people per year and how come it isn't banned? These are questions the people need to start asking because things are just not adding up. If a thing doesn't add up, it doesn't make sense! Period!
It has been reported that Kava Kava toxifies the liver. And pharmaceutical drugs don't? You can't take ANY pharmaceutical drug without polluting your liver. Kava Kava does not serve as a liver toxin as some medical authorities and biochemists claim. Some individuals may suffer an adverse reaction to the plant, granted, but to make a broad and sweeping statement that the plant is toxic to the liver is very linear in scope in my opinion.
Also, we must remember that it is medical authorities and not herbalists and botanists who are claiming that Kava Kava is poisonous or toxic. We must keep this in mind.
If you let a medical doctor have his or her say about herbs, in most cases, about 90% of herbs will be claimed to be harmful to human health and/or entirely useless; and will it be true? Of course not! But it will be said so simply because of the threat herbs pose to pharmaceutical drugs which doctors and pharmacists make a lot of money on. We must remember that plants can't be patented so this poses a big threat to the pharmaceutical industry, as the pharmaceutical industry is known for their patenting of drugs (at least for 17 years before it becomes generic).
Many people who study herbs from a Western medical perspective will also admonish against the use and consumption of certain herbs due to their alleged toxicity. This confuses a great deal of people and many people inquire of me about the usage of certain herbs that had they not read about adverse side effects or toxicity they would not be confused and worried. Many people are confused about Goldenseal Root, Echinacea Root, Ephedra, Kava Kava, Mistletoe, ST. John's Wort, Mandrake, and Blood Root to name just a few controversial plants in question nowadays.
 I have used all of the above herbs for years and am still alive and with a healthy liver. You see, when it comes to herbs, I don't believe the hype. I simply use divination to inquire about the properties of herbs. Others may use chemistry, but I use divination. Biochemists lack the power and knowledge to communicate with plants like shamans can and do. Shamans have the advantage because the shamans acquire more information than chemists.
Shamans will know that a plant is poisonous, non-poisonous, good for certain ailments, nutritive, etc. simply because the plant spirit (elemental) will reveal this information to the shaman. The shaman can pierce the veils of worlds (dimensions) whereas the biochemist cannot. The biochemist is mechanical, though I'm sure there are exceptions.
Herbalism and herbology are sciences indeed, and thus, there are rules, procedures, and laws one must know about when using plants. The same is true of essential oils. All sciences require knowledge.
There are plants that you can ingest or take internally. There are others that you should not ingest but only use topically or externally. And then there are plants that you should totally avoid. However, these plants are located in Nature where you will not find most people, citified people, that is.
You need knowledge when dealing with herbs because of their functions and properties. So one interested in herbalism should study the functions and properties of various herbs.
You do not want to consume an herb that makes the uterus contract when you are pregnant, as it would defeat the purpose of the pregnancy. These herbs would induce abortion. These herbs are classified as oxytocic. An oxytocic herb causes the uterine to contract. Oxytocic herbs include Black Cohosh, Blue Cohosh, Pennyroyal, Rue and Squawvine.
Oxytocic herbs are not poisonous at all. They are simply counterproductive or adverse to certain functions that may be applicable in a given situation or case with an individual person.
A pregnant woman would also not want to take an herb classified as an abortifacient as abortifacients induce abortion. Abortifacient herbs include Rue, Pennyroyal, Canada Snake Root, Angelica, Lovage, Wormwood, and Tansy to name a few.
You see: this is why knowledge of herbs (their functions and properties) are important to know.
If you were breastfeeding you would not want to consume Black Walnut Hulls or Sage simply because these herbs have an anti-galactagogue effect on a woman's body and would help to dry up mother's milk which would be detrimental to a suckling baby. Are these herbs above poisonous? No! Just counterproductive or detrimental to a certain activity, function, or outcome! That's all!
You wouldn't want to take an herb that increases oxygen to the brain or that stimulates the brain before you go to bed, as it would be counterproductive to sleep. The brain needs to slow down at night and not be stimulated. So it would not be wise to take Gingko Biloba, Gotu Kola, Green Tea, Guarana, or Ginseng before going to bed.
On the other hand it would be wise to take an herb with a sedative or tranquilizing effect before bed, herbs such as Passionflower, Wild Lettuce, Kava Kava, Lavender Flower, Valerian Root, or Chamomile. These herbs would induce sound sleep and lucid and vivid dreaming.
If you have high blood pressure you would not want to take a cardio stimulant herb such as Yohimbe Bark (unless Yohimbe was an ingredient in an herbal compound and balanced with additional herbs) because it would be counterproductive to the heart. Yohimbe would not be the problem, but would only exacerbate the problem. This must be understood. Many times Licorice Root and Yohimbe get a bad rap for increasing high blood pressure but these herbs do not impair a healthy heart.
Clearly there is a science to using herbs!
One of the main reasons I don't have all the problems that you may hear about with herbs is because I know how to communicate with herbs, I know how to program them (to do what I want them to do inside the human body), I trust and have faith in them, I use them with optimistic and enthusiastic energy and intentions, and I have affection, appreciation, and admiration for herbs. So herbs work for me and the people who consume what I make.
Absent a microscope, a chemist (bio-chemist) is at a lost, but a shaman or divinist or diviner, never! A biochemist is reduced to only studying the physical, but shamans and certain herbalist also study the spiritual side of plants. Humans are also spiritual as well and thus there is a spiritual side to our sicknesses and disease.
Now let's deal with the subject of some herbs that have contra-indications and that are said to be poisonous and/or that contains poisonous alkaloids.
It is important to note that just because an herb contains a poisonous alkaloid doesn't make the entire plant poisonous. Now however, there are plants and even trees (in the rainforest and jungles) that are entirely poisonous. I just got back from Costa Maya, Mexico and was in the jungle there and the medicinal and poisonous trees clearly stand out. If a tree is white or white-grayish, it's poisonous. You don't want to touch it at all for if you do your skin will burn for days and you will be on your back and incapacitated.
 Now on the other hand, if you see a red-brownish tree, it's highly medicinal or therapeutic. The forest and jungle speak to us and in many ways, including via the use of colors. Colors are a clear sign of things, just like with snakes. Many snakes, toads, and spiders with bright, exotic colors on its skin are poisonous.
So again, while some herbs may include or have a major alkaloid that is considered poisonous, the entire plant or tree should not be considered poisonous (unless it really is). A contra-indication does not make a plant poisonous.
NOTE: All Dherbs.com compounds are compounded with numerous other herbs so there's never anything to worry about with our uniquely compounded formulas. The problem(s) with certain herbs are based upon their individual use and by individual people.
Let us remember that: "God causes the grass to grow for cattle and herb for the service of man", (Psalm 104:14) and, "the leaf shall be for the healing of the nations" (Revelation 22:2), and "the leaf shall be for medicine." (Ezekiel 47:12).
Instead of worrying about the poisonous herbs that we don't have access to (perhaps with the exception of Poison Ivy), we should be focused on the gas we use in our cars which is poisonous, the pharmaceutical drugs many of us consume which are poisonous, the water that we drink which is poisonous (especially if it is municipal tap water), the hair care and skin care products that we use on our bodies which are poisonous, the household cleaning supplies that we use to clean our homes which are gravely poisonous, and the chemical food additives (sugar, salt, MSG, propylene glycol, high fructose corn syrup, etc.) used in our foods and beverages which are highly poisonous and toxic!
We have more exposure to all of the above than the poisonous plants and trees in Nature
Thank you for reading!
This article is compliments of Dherbs.com.
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