Herb Mentor Radio

Chanchal Cabrera, MSc, FNIMH, (RH)AHG is a medical herbalist whose clinical specialty is helping people manage cancer and chronic disease. Chanchal has held the faculty chair in Botanical Medicine at the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine in New Westminster since 2004. She serves on the board of advisors of Dominion Herbal College in Burnaby, on the editorial board of Medical Herbalism clinical newsletter and she publishes widely in professional journals and lectures internationally on medical herbalism, nutrition, and health. Chanchal is the author of the book Fibromyalgia – A Journey Toward Healing. published by Contemporary Books. Chanchal is a certified Master Gardener and a certified Horticulture Therapist. Chanchal has been a member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists in the UK since 1987, wherein in 2009 she was honored with a Fellowship for service to the profession for over 25 years. She lives on Vancouver Island in BC where she and her husband farm 7 acres. This interview mostly focuses on HerbMentor member-submitted questions, which focus on using herbs for chronic illness. Chanchal reviewed the questions before the interview and answered them in a way that could help as many people as possible as to how to approach their health conditions with natural medicine.

Gail Faith Edwards is an herbal educator with more than 30 years of experience as a community herbalist. She runs Blessed Maine Herb Farm, where she runs many herbal programs, a correspondence course, tours, and handcrafts beautiful herbal goods. Gail is the author of Traversing the Wild Terrain of Menopause; Herbal Allies for Midlife Women and Men. Gail’s Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs is one of our absolute favorites. Her forthcoming book Through the Wild Heart of Mary; Teachings of the 20 Mysteries of the Rosary and the Herbs and Foods Associated with Them comes out mid-November, 2009. In this engaging interview, we discuss Gail’s unique way of learning about herbs, what important lessons the plants taught her, details on a few key herbs, and she answers HerbMentor member questions.

Christophe Bernard is a clinical herbalist from France who was born and raised in Provence. He spent 15 years of his life in the U.S., studying medicinal plants and running his first clinic in San Diego. While mostly self-taught, Christophe found great inspiration in the writings and teachings of Matthew Wood and the late Michael Moore. Upon returning to France in 2010, he opened a clinic in a small village located in the hills of Provence, where he spends his time consulting, teaching, picking, and growing plants from around the world. After exploring how Christophe learned about herbs, he takes us on an herb walk in Provence. Christophe shares some unique ways herbs are used in France while exploring linden, fumatory, lavender, and rosemary. He even shares an “off the beaten path” herb for men that will also blow out your tire should you bike off the path in Provence.

David Winston RH (AHG), is an herbalist and ethnobotanist with over 40 years of training in Cherokee, Chinese and Western herbal traditions. He has had a clinical practice for over 30 years and is an herbal consultant to physicians throughout North America. David founded an herbal manufacturing company called Herbalist & Alchemist as well as David Winston’s Center for Herbal Studies. David is the author of many books including Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief. He is also a founding member of the American Herbalists Guild and a founding advisory board member of United Plant Savers. In this episode of HerbMentor Radio, David explores adaptogens and their importance in this day and age. Adaptogens help the body adapt to stress and increase health. David also answers questions on adaptogens submitted by HerbMentor members.

Guido Masé is a clinical herbalist, educator, and garden steward specializing in holistic Western herbalism. He is a founding co-director of the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism in Montpelier, VT, and a professional member of the American Herbalist Guild, the American Botanical Council, and United Plant Savers. He has worked extensively in the herbal products industry, with a focus on local and sustainable growing, harvesting, and production. Guido is the author of the new book, The Wild Medicine Solution: Healing with Aromatic, Bitter and Tonic Plants, published by Healing Arts Press. In this interview, Guido discusses how the Wild Medicine Solution is the antidote to “Plant Deficiency Syndrome.” As modern culture moved further from nature, humans lost their cultural links to the plants and the health they brought us. Guido makes it super simple to reconnect to the herbs by exploring three classes of plants… aromatics, bitters, and tonics. Learn how to connect to herbs and easily enhance your health. Guido also shares how his unique upbringing led to this unique way of approaching herbalism.

Dina Falconi returns to HerbMentor Radio to give us a great foundation in harvesting wild edibles and preparing them into delicious dishes. Dina is the author of the new book, Foraging, and Feasting: A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook. We start the interview with the fascinating way Dina self-published this book under her own publishing company. This is informative to anyone who might have an herbal product idea. Then, Dina gets into the basics of wild foods foraging, such as plant ID, where and when to harvest, safety, how you can get started. Then Dina shares some amazing tips for turning your wild foods bounty into amazing meals, appetizers, and beverages. Dandelion root bisque soup sound good? How about garlic mustard horseradish? Looking for more creative ways of using all that lemon balm? Learn how to be a “plant detective” and turn any recipe into a wild foods delight.

Henriette Kress is a clinical herbalist and author from Helsinki, Finland. She is the author of two herbal books, Practical Herbs 1 and Practical Herbs 2. Henriette has been publishing herbal content since the early days of the internet, now runs an amazing website called Henriette’s Herbal Homepage, and has wide respect across the herbal community. Her books are available in English, Finnish, and Swedish. In this interview, Henriette shares her fascinating story and brings us on a practical herb walk, where she covers horse chestnut, juniper, willow, ground ivy, elecampane, and thyme. She mentions a few herbal tips from Finland I’m quite sure you’ve never heard before. Her new book picks up where her last one left off, with more hands-on remedies and nuts and bolts information about even more amazing herbs.

Darcy Williamson is an herbalist, author, and educator from the Rocky Mountains in Idaho. She is the founder of From the Forest, an herbal products and education business whose mission is to provide education on identifying, sustainable harvesting, formulating, and using medicinal plants found throughout the Rocky Mountains. Darcy is the author of Healing Plants of the Rocky Mountains & The Rocky Mountain Wild Foods Cookbook. In this interview, Darcy shares her unique perspective on sustainable harvesting, the key to knowing what herbs are safe to harvest, and gives us an incredibly rare look into some of her favorite Rocky Mountain healing herbs, such as willow, chokecherry, avens, lomatium, arrowleaf balsamroot, western mugwort, and Brown’s Peony. Darcy also runs an herbal apprenticeship program like no other I’ve ever heard of. It helps her offer herbal remedies that few other, if any, websites offer. My favorite part was when she shares how she knows when a tree is ready to harvest.

Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa, Yogaraj (Ayurveda), DN-C, RH, LMT, NCTMB, CC, NAMAPM, has over 40 years of experience in holistic medicine and is one of the foremost natural healing experts in North America. He is the president of the American Herbalists Guild and is a respected teacher, writer, and lecturer. As the author of over 3,000 published health articles, K.P. has written or edited 30 books on a variety of health topics including major works on massage, Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, and physiology. His latest book, The Way of Ayurvedic Herbs, co-authored with Michael Tierra, brings to life Ayurveda in an understandable and practical way. K.P. is also a frequent contributor to mainstream and professional publications in the natural healing field, including The Herb Quarterly. K.P. is a professor at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, and a founding faculty in the Ayurvedic Sciences program at Bastyr University. For 30 years Khalsa served as Senior Research Scientist and Chief Medical Formulator for Yogi Tea. In this interview, K.P. answers HerbMentor member questions, including advice for beginners, K.P.’s personal daily herbal routine, supplements, and how to address chronic health conditions with herbs. This episode is jam-packed with incredible information. Please do not miss it. Visit K.P. Khalsa at his website: http://www.kpkhalsa.com/

Leslie Alexander, Ph.D., RH (AHG) is a medical herbalist and co-author of the new book Dental Herbalism, Natural Therapies for the Mouth. Leslie is a professional member of the American Herbalist Guild and co-owner of Restoration Herbs in Pennsylvania. She is a member of the American Academy for Oral Systemic Health and the American Botanical Council. In this interview, Leslie discusses the ecology of the mouth, how the mouth is a microcosm of the body, how stress affects our dental health, natural oral hygiene, and some of her favorite dental herbal recipes such as tooth powder and herbal rinses. In addition, she discusses the most important herbs to know for excellent oral health, including thyme, cinnamon, turmeric, and many others.