Participants: Lee Wellard & Dr. Scott Grivas
Series Code: WM
Program Code: WM000426
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00:01 The following program presents principles
00:03 designed to promote good health 00:04 and is not intended to take the place of 00:06 personalized professional care. 00:08 The opinions and ideas expressed are those of the speaker. 00:11 Viewers are encouraged to draw their own 00:14 conclusions about the information presented. 00:36 Welcome to Wonderfully Made. 00:38 My name is Lee Wellard, a Lifestyle Educator 00:40 from Wildwood Lifestyle Center. 00:42 And today we have with us Dr. Scott Grivas, 00:45 welcome Dr. Grivas. 00:46 Thank you Lee, good to be here. 00:48 Today, we're gonna be at looking at a very important topic, 00:51 one that has a lot of misunderstanding 00:54 and one that affects the mindset of many individuals 00:59 who are looking at alternative treatments. 01:01 Today, we're gonna to be looking at the botanical agents 01:04 and their role in the treatment of disease. 01:08 Dr. Grivas, how important is botanicals 01:11 in the treatment of disease today? 01:13 And is it a good alternative in our healthcare practices? 01:19 Sure, I believe it is an important alternative 01:24 among many in the healthcare practices. 01:29 And it is very, very common. 01:32 According to World Healthful Organization data, 01:35 4 billion people are using the botanical medicines globally. 01:44 Wow, here in this country in America 01:48 over 60 million Americans are using some type of 01:56 alternative medical care including botanical medicines. 02:01 And are very happy with the results. 02:07 And it's not just among the laity, the lay people, 02:10 the health practitioners are becoming aware of 02:16 the benefits of these agents. 02:20 Dr. Heber from the UCLA Medical School, 02:25 who is a university professor there, 02:28 and professor in public health, 02:30 has termed the botanical medicines 02:33 as probably the medicine of the 21st century. 02:38 Looking at their lack of toxicity 02:41 their benefits both for prevention 02:43 and treatment of common lifestyle diseases. 02:48 We are using these more and more 02:50 and we were seeing the benefits. 02:52 What do you think causes the average person on the street 02:55 to even considering an option to use botanical agents? 03:01 Well, I think there are many reasons. 03:04 If you look at what has happened 03:06 in just the regular healthcare line. 03:10 Many people have lost faith in conventional medicine alone. 03:16 They've either not been benefited as they had hoped for, 03:20 or they have been possibly harmed by 03:23 some of the drugs that have been given. 03:26 And they're looking for something that's safer, 03:29 they're looking for something that is not so expensive 03:34 and something that they consider in their mind as more natural. 03:38 And so here comes the botanical agents. 03:42 And the industry now, the herbal industry 03:48 has coming into, to help advocate 03:54 the use of these agents and it is now, 03:57 the information is everywhere, magazines, internet. 04:01 You know, just wherever you go, 04:03 this is the hot topic is botanical medicine. 04:07 You know, we know that whenever we look at anything 04:10 that has a potential to help with the health. 04:14 There's gotta to be an obvious concern about, 04:16 is this something that's really money making? 04:20 What is the motive behind the people who are doing it? 04:22 And many people are questioning 04:25 the scientific validity of using herbal agents. 04:28 Do we have the data to sustain our confidence 04:34 that these botanical agents really work. 04:36 Lee, in my opinion, 04:38 we have more information on the botanicals 04:42 than even we do about the pharmaceuticals. 04:44 You just have to know where to look for them. 04:46 Even in our own country, the US agricultural service 04:51 has a data base, where you can go, 04:55 you can ask questions of a certain herb. 04:58 They will give you all of the 05:00 phytochemical constituents of that herb. 05:04 They will tell you not only what's in it, 05:06 but how many parts per million are in that herb. 05:10 They will give you the balancing 05:15 of these phytochemicals in the herb. 05:18 So it's not just a unidirectional action, 05:20 it is balanced by others. 05:24 They will tell you what every phytochemical 05:27 that has been identified, that we know 05:29 what is its action in the human organism. 05:33 I mean, this is science at its best. 05:37 And so the practitioner who wants to know 05:39 he is not left to say, oh, well, grandma will try that 05:42 or Uncle George try that. 05:44 We have the knowledge now and we should study, 05:48 and we should now put that knowledge 05:50 to practical usefulness in benefiting patients 05:54 with this other alternative arm 05:59 that God has given us to help mankind. 06:03 And do you think over the last few years as there's been 06:06 more awareness of the importance of prevention. 06:10 Do you think that more people are willing to even 06:14 take a risk so to speak, in using these agents? 06:18 Oh I think so, I think they are open 06:20 and especially as we see at the same time 06:24 this light coming us on the botanical, 06:28 we see the rising incidence of adverse drug affects 06:36 resulting in many cases in death. 06:39 In fact, you're aware now that just as, 06:43 just recently The Institute of Medicine quoted 06:48 in the AARP general has identified healthcare harm 06:54 as the third leading cause of death in this country. 06:57 Amazing. 06:58 And so, when people see that 07:01 they are saying well, is there something else? 07:04 Can I try something that's not so dangerous? 07:07 And so they're open to this. 07:10 Let's talk for a minute about the safety aspect. 07:13 You know, sometimes we hear of people 07:16 who were overdosing or have used an herbal agent, 07:20 perhaps unintelligently and it's caused a negative side effect. 07:25 Are these things common or are they a rarity? 07:29 They are not nearly as common 07:30 as they would be with the regular pharmaceuticals. 07:33 Right. But they can occur and if people do not use 07:37 a product in harmony with the prescribing information, 07:44 then yes there can be some potential harm. 07:46 But, the potential for that is much less 07:49 then with the pharmaceuticals. 07:50 Right, right, now how do we know what herbs are good, 07:53 obviously tobacco is not gonna be on the same par 07:56 as something like Red Clover. 08:00 How do they differentiate what herb is safe and what isn't? 08:04 The same way that we have identified 08:06 what drugs are safe and what are not. 08:09 By scientific study, the same agency, 08:12 The US Agricultural Service has already put 08:16 all that informant together for us. 08:18 We have classified herbs, those that are safe 08:22 those that are poisonous, 08:24 those that can be used for foods, 08:26 those that can be use for medicines, 08:28 there is no question, we should know if we're studying. 08:32 And how do we know, how much is safe? 08:34 Obviously a little child is not going to need 08:37 the same amount as an adult and do we have 08:41 enough information for the dosage of each individual. 08:45 Oh, yes, that's already been worked out. 08:47 Okay, in terms of the amounts 08:49 for children at various age groups 08:51 David Hoffmann, the English investigator 08:55 in herbal science has done all that. 08:57 He's got that formula for us. 08:59 He's recommended the dosages 09:01 for these various common plants. 09:04 And so, I don't believe that we need to fear 09:08 so much about dosings and things. 09:12 And even on the standardized products. 09:14 If you're getting products from reputable manufacturers 09:18 of the herbs, they will even have 09:21 recommended suggested dosages to use. 09:24 Now, lets say a healthcare practitioner, 09:27 who knows that or he may go outside 09:30 of that generally recommended, 09:32 only if he knows the range of therapy. 09:41 common person without any medical knowledge 09:43 can safely follow those standards from the industry. 09:47 Okay. Now what are some of the agents, 09:49 the chemicals in the herbs that brings about 09:53 are they phytochemicals, are they minerals, 09:56 what exactly are they? 09:57 Yes. They are plant substances 09:59 that the God of heaven put there. 10:01 Okay. 10:02 In other words, and he knows exactly what needs to be there. 10:07 An herb is truly an example of polypharmacy. 10:13 You know, you've heard that term. Yes. 10:15 Now, in the regular drug line 10:17 that has a negative connotation. 10:19 But in the matter of herbal agents that 10:24 God has created with infinite wisdom, 10:27 He is the one who has put this together. 10:30 And there are many, many agents in there 10:32 that balance one another. 10:34 So that when you take them 10:36 you can get the benefits without the toxicity 10:39 of extracting from that plant, concentrating it 10:43 and then giving it back to a human being 10:46 and having that potential toxic reaction. 10:48 Now, many of these herbal agents, 10:50 are they found locally, could they be in our backyard. 10:54 Of course, do we have go to a supermarket to get them. 10:57 If you know, the herbs and you study 10:59 then you can find many, many plants growing 11:02 just where you are in the natural habituate 11:04 that you can use, or even you can start to grow 11:08 your own in an herb garden. 11:10 And do you have any herbs in your garden 11:12 that you've just gone out there and picked 11:14 and made an herbal tea or some concoction? 11:17 We have in our own little environment there at our home. 11:20 We have Mullein, which is a nice herb 11:23 that we use for respiratory tract infection. 11:25 We've got plantain, which is another nice agent 11:29 that we use as a demulcent in various inflammatory disease, 11:33 Red Clover, Chickweed, I mean just on and on. 11:37 Thistle, I mean it's, it's growing 11:39 and God has placed in every locale, 11:43 the plants that he knew in his fore-knowledge 11:46 man would need when they became ill. 11:49 So, no matter where we are in the world, 11:50 what country we're in, we can find something 11:54 that God has placed there. Exactly. 11:56 So he's made provision. Sure. 11:59 When we go overseas Lee, and we are teaching people 12:02 how to use the botanicals and, and other simple remedies 12:09 that God has given in the hygenic line. 12:11 We don't, we can't tell them now 12:14 you use all of these that we have in this country 12:16 because they may not have them. 12:18 Right, we have to learn what is indigenous 12:20 to that populations and learn what those agents do 12:25 and work with those who are knowledgeable 12:28 about the plants in that area. 12:30 Now, do you use botanical agents in the Lifestyle Center 12:34 when guests come with various conditions? 12:36 Do you start to incorporate some of these agents 12:39 as part of their treatment? Yes, certainly. 12:41 And what effect do you see it having upon the patients? 12:44 As it takes some of these agents, do you see a shift 12:49 towards a great improvement of health? 12:51 Well, of course, in other words 12:53 because this is after God's wisdom. 12:57 The plants, Psalms 104:14, 13:03 the plants God placed here for the service of man. 13:07 And so in a therapeutic regiment obviously 13:11 there is a place for the plant medicines 13:14 and as we use them in conjunction first 13:17 with lifestyle change, 13:18 correcting the abnormal behavior in, in habits. 13:25 So that now we have removed the block, 13:28 the Lord can now bring in the right lifestyle, 13:31 then we assist nature in her recovery. 13:35 And in that assisting nature we use a lot of the 13:38 hygienic methods, hydrotherapy, botanical medicines. 13:42 And as those changes now began to take place 13:45 in the individual, then it often results in much 13:49 less need for the medicine that they were taking. 13:52 So we can gradually under observation 13:55 start to withdraw those pharmaceuticals 13:59 and rely more and more upon the simple plants. 14:03 So someone is on a bad lifestyle 14:05 and they, they don't wanna make these changes 14:07 but they're interested in using botanical agents, 14:10 will it have an affect on those individuals? 14:13 I would not say it wouldn't have any affect, 14:16 but I would tell them 14:17 they're not going to experience the healing, 14:20 that you are hoping for just by using herbs. 14:24 You have got to go back to what cause of the problem 14:27 and correct that with lifestyle intervention. 14:30 And then you can anticipate that the Lord 14:33 will work through the simple things 14:35 that He has made to bring us health. 14:37 So we don't use the herbal agents like a magic pill 14:40 to fix this problem and that problem. 14:43 No. Dr. Grivas, you've been trained in 14:46 Conventional Medical School, was this something 14:49 that they taught you in medical school 14:53 or how did you get involved in this? I'm curious. 14:56 No. We did not learn that when I was in school 14:59 and that was a number of years ago. 15:01 We were taught conventional pharmacology. 15:05 And as we've talked before in other programs, 15:07 there is a place for that. But to transition from 15:12 the total reliance on drug medications in a 15:16 therapeutic regiment, over to lifestyle change 15:19 and the use of hygienic methods, that do not tax 15:24 or debilitate the system. That takes a retraining 15:28 even for physicians. And that's what we do 15:31 a lot at our lifestyle center. 15:33 Those physicians that are interested in 15:35 learning God's plan for ministry will often 15:39 come to the institution and work with our 15:41 physicians to be able to see how to transitions 15:45 from this complete reliance on the traditional 15:48 pharmacologic agents to other hygienic methods. 15:52 Now, how hard was it for you as a physician 15:55 not having a background in this, 15:58 trying to even get involved. 15:59 I mean, it was a leap of faith, what actually 16:03 happened to get you that point. 16:05 Well, certainly faith is necessary, 16:08 because faith motivates, right? 16:10 That's right. And when I would read the 16:13 miracles of healing that are recorded here. 16:18 Like with King Hezekiah, you remember when he 16:21 was dying and God directed the prophet 16:24 Isaiah to take the plaster of figs and place upon that, 16:28 we think a malignant boil. 16:32 We read about how Jesus healed the blind 16:34 man with the water, the clay, you know, 16:38 Naaman, how he was healed with water therapy, 16:41 you know. That's right. Dipping in the Jordan. 16:43 That challenged me, because I certainly 16:47 didn't know anything about that, but I was 16:49 wanting to learn. God put that burning 16:51 in my heart to, Lord, how can we do this 16:56 working with you and there is a science to this. 16:58 Just like there is a science to salvation. 17:01 And so, I started with not a whole lot in hand. 17:07 I had different herb books but they were 17:10 books that were written not by professional 17:13 people at all, but by local native people. 17:17 And I was a little reluctant to just grab those. 17:20 Now if I wanted to use them that was okay, 17:23 but that's my choice, but to take those 17:26 and then give them to patients who were coming to me. 17:30 That I could not do until I had more information. 17:33 Right, and then I began to investigate in the 17:36 earliest book I can remember obtaining 17:40 was written with some bibliographies at the 17:44 end from European literature where they 17:47 studied these herbs a lot more than we have in this country. 17:51 And I was so thankful, because now I had 17:53 some science behind this. And then I could feel 17:56 more confident that I could tell a patient, 17:58 now this has been studied, this has been 18:00 investigated, this is the dose and here 18:02 should be the expected outcome. 18:04 Now, I feel comfortable with that. 18:07 Did you ever get to a point where you started 18:09 to introduce certain things and maybe had a 18:12 bad reaction, and it sort of took you back a little 18:16 bit by surprise with any experiences like that or 18:20 did you see a consistent progression of health 18:26 for the individuals who were taking. 18:28 I think any, any ill affects would probably 18:31 not be because of the agent, but because of 18:34 my inexperience, I see it being able 18:36 to use it wisely, right, okay. 18:39 Right, so, it took probably a number of 18:40 years to get that background and that 18:44 confidence before you can start to withdraw 18:49 certain things and to or so offer suggestions of 18:53 even treatments for these botanical agents. 18:55 That's why they call it medical practice. Okay. 18:59 And you are still practicing. 19:00 Still practicing and still praying. 19:02 Okay. Alright, I don't want to make any 19:04 mistakes, I want people to get better, right, 19:07 under every therapeutic plant that the Lord has. 19:10 So you really study your herbs, 19:12 really well before you even recommend them. 19:15 You have to, you have to know this. 19:19 And how do the patients respond when 19:21 you start to even mention about herbal 19:23 agents, are they as excited in these things as you are. 19:27 Many are. In fact they come to our center 19:30 many of them because they have heard that we 19:33 use more natural remedies. 19:36 But others come, and they're not so sure. 19:40 But with giving them time not forcing, 19:43 we are not pushing anything on people. 19:46 Whatever, they have if they wanna stay with it, 19:48 we certainly allow that too. But we are educating, 19:52 right, we are trying to help people to 19:54 understand God's plan for total health recovery 19:59 and restoration to a whole being. 20:03 Right, so our role as, as in your situation dealing 20:08 with these patients as a physician is to, 20:12 increase the education rather than just give 20:16 them medication. And I think that's 20:17 important for us to remember that if we can 20:19 swallow a little education. We can't avoid a lot of 20:22 medication that may not be required, 20:26 because we're following a healthier lifestyle. 20:29 Exactly. And so these botanical 20:31 agents have powerful properties too, 20:35 in many cases reversed not just prevent, 20:37 we're not using it for preventative role so 20:40 much shall we? We're use in a more 20:42 as way of treatment. Well, we also use in 20:45 preventive; they can be used for immune enhancement. 20:48 Okay. Okay, and things like that, 20:51 if we like will be shortly taking a trip to Africa 20:56 and I will use some of these in terms of 20:58 preventions of some of these disease that are there. 21:03 I see, okay now there were maybe someone watching, 21:06 maybe thinking you probably have to have 21:09 faith for these things to work. 21:12 Is that the case, if the person doesn't have any 21:16 faith at all, maybe they're not even interest 21:18 in using these items? Well, I think faith 21:22 always is helpful in healing. 21:25 You remember when Jesus told the lady that 21:27 touched his garment, Daughter; thy faith has 21:30 made thee whole. And frequently He would 21:32 say according to your faith let it be unto you. 21:35 Right. But no, God has put antidotes 21:39 for disease in the plants. Now, I believe that if 21:42 we use those plants in a faith connection with 21:47 Christ asking Him to bless these, then we will 21:50 see far greater advantage. 21:52 Then if we tried to use them without inviting 21:56 his presence there for the healing you see. 21:59 Yes, because well it's like a seed, 22:03 when you put seed in a ground. 22:04 Often people just think well it just grows right, 22:07 it just grows. But now God 22:09 has to call forth the life of that seed. Right. 22:12 Okay, to spring forth to bring the fruit to feed 22:15 the people, right. And we should recognize 22:18 that behind every good intervention God is there. 22:24 Right, amen. Trying to bring healing and health. 22:26 Amen, now for those who are listening 22:29 and starting to get a little encouragement 22:32 towards the use of botanical agents, 22:36 how would you suggest they get started? 22:38 What resources could they use? 22:40 Where would they go? Many of the health stores, 22:47 the libraries now, the books stores will have 22:51 plants, herbal plants available in book form 22:55 with a lot of the scientific information 22:58 about it, listed. The common book 23:01 stores even, Barnes & Nobles and some of 23:03 these like will, it will have them. 23:06 So, I would suggest that they try to get a book 23:10 on the herbal medicines that is scientific; 23:14 it's backed up by true science. 23:17 And it for the viewers, if you would like to 23:20 have a website that you can go to, to explore the 23:24 agricultural database, the USA agricultural 23:28 service database. You can just simply 23:30 go to your search engine whatever it is 23:32 and type in James Duke, D-U-K-E. 23:36 He was the Primary Investigator. 23:39 And then you click into that 23:40 and up will come a phytochemical, 23:44 ethnobotanical base there you flick in. 23:48 And then you enter that, and you can explore as 23:51 much as you want these herbal medicines. 23:53 And that gives you this scientific information. 23:55 Oh! Yes. How these work, what chemicals 23:58 are in what plants? Exactly. 24:00 And so on. Dr. Grivas when we're looking at 24:04 using a simple botanical agents and especially if 24:09 we haven't use them before do, 24:12 do you recommend milder herb in the 24:16 beginning, you know a herb that is well known, 24:18 is quite popular. Sure. 24:20 Rather than something that is maybe a little more. 24:24 Abstract, not much scientific 24:26 studies being done there. Exactly, 24:28 and only those herbs that we know are safe. 24:31 Right. We don't want to experiment on patients 24:35 with unsafe agents. We want to know those 24:38 that have been tried and tested and here is 24:41 the affect, toxicity data is available and if there 24:46 is any problem, we know about it ahead of time. 24:49 So, if we stay with that and we stay within the 24:53 dosages that are recommended. 24:56 I think that there is minimal risk to patients. 25:00 It's when we start experimenting in, 25:03 in dosages that are not recommended or with 25:05 plants that we know have not been tested for 25:08 safety, then we get into trouble. 25:10 Right I see, so really we need to use them 25:13 intelligently. Yes, we need, need to follow 25:16 safe guidelines, make sure the perimeters are 25:19 covered and if you are and need to 25:23 know more information about plants. 25:25 So you have a question mark over. 25:27 What you're really saying is, there's 25:29 enough information out there to find out 25:31 whether these herbal agents are safe or not. 25:34 And we need a correct diagnosis; 25:37 this is where physicians are very important. 25:40 We don't go to the corner herb shop to find 25:45 out what's wrong with us. Right, all right we need 25:48 physicians that understand this body to 25:50 make correct diagnosis and then if we chose to 25:54 use a simpler agent then we can do so. 25:57 But always with an understudying of what 26:02 is the problem and how can 26:04 we then go about to correct it. 26:05 Right, so herbal agents have a useful place in 26:10 the treatment, although we don't, 26:11 it doesn't cause us to neglect 26:15 other message of healing. And especially using 26:19 medical professionals, who have 26:21 experience in diagnosis. And sometimes it may 26:25 not be that we need that herbal agent. 26:27 That's right. And we could use something 26:29 that's more appropriate. Now, are there several 26:34 different kinds of herbs that we could take that 26:36 produce the same affect. Oh! Yes, it's like food. 26:40 In other words the Lord has placed in the, 26:42 the herbal agents, multiplicity 26:45 of things that overlap. So you'll find one herb 26:47 having these phytochemicals, 26:50 another herb will have a few different, 26:51 but the same that some as the same that we find 26:55 in another and they'll overlap. 26:57 And so, it's not that every, it's just every 27:00 herb is distinct, it has nothing in common, no, 27:03 there is a lot of overlap in the plants. 27:05 As we've discussed the useful treatment, 27:10 well the intelligent use of treatment when it 27:11 comes to botanical agents. I hope it's been an 27:14 encouragement to you, as you've looked at 27:17 some of the things that you can do, 27:18 maybe some of these agents in your backyard. 27:21 I hope it's encouraged you to educate yourself 27:25 towards learning more about these things that 27:27 you can help yourself in the recovery towards health. 27:31 And please be aware that if you are 27:34 introducing botanical agents and you have 27:36 a chronic illness and you've been treated by 27:39 a physician. Please make sure that 27:41 you let that physician know of any botanical 27:44 agents that you are introducing. 27:46 We wanna make sure we're following safe 27:48 guidelines as it comes to using 27:51 these botanical agents. I hope this program has 27:54 been a blessing to you, please join us again 27:57 next time on anther program of 27:59 Wonderfully Made. My name is Lee Wellard, 28:01 from Wildwood Lifestyle Center. 28:03 And please keep in mind that your body is His temple. |
Revised 2014-12-17