Low Dose Herbs

Historically, traditional medicine systemsused herbs of much higher potency than seen in the current American commercial marketplace as a matter of course. These herbs are often called “toxic botanicals.” This term is misleading, however, as toxicity involves dose considerations. A more common description is “low dose” botanicals. In the Eclectic system, potentially toxic medicinals, such as Bryonia alba and Arnica montana were common. Anemone pulsatilla and Gelsemium sempervirens, two other low dose botanicals, were among the ten most often prescribed herbs by the Eclectics in the 1920s.1 They were administered in small doses for very specific symptomatic indications. Historically, a typical strategy was to put 10 to 30 drops in four ounces of water, and administer it by teaspoon. Most hydroalcoholic herb tinctures in commerce are 1:4 or 1:5 finished strength. Low dose herbs, by contrast, are usually 1:10. Low dose herbs one might encounter in North American clinical practice today include, but are not limited to, Nux vomica, Bryonia alba, Arnica montana, Anemone pulsatilla, Gelsemium sempervirens, Aconitum napellus, Mandragora officinarum, Atropa belladonna, Hyoscyamus niger and Datura stramonium. To this list can be added less potent herbs, such as Sanguinaria canadensis, Viscum album, and Pausinystalia