tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post4645445128206174290..comments2023-11-28T06:26:40.953-05:00Comments on A Radicle: The Natural Products Industry that Isn’t.Guido Mase'http://www.blogger.com/profile/08186818316201584509noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post-66771681482736604502012-07-16T14:27:03.472-04:002012-07-16T14:27:03.472-04:00You rock Sheila.You rock Sheila.Guido Mase'https://www.blogger.com/profile/08186818316201584509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post-9084694230759806632012-07-11T10:22:35.443-04:002012-07-11T10:22:35.443-04:00Absolutely, in fact Bastyr is working on some poli...Absolutely, in fact Bastyr is working on some policy changes to decrease the supplement industry's influence on students critical thinking and changing the impression that a supplement will work as well or is easier. We also have a huge curriculum overhaul beginning next year in which 3 quarters of herbal studies have bern added in the areas of history, pharmacognosy and medicine making in addition to 5 quarters of hands on case based herbal formulation studies. These are on top of what we already had in place. So I'm hoping to affect this change we both seek for sure.sheilakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11926207342159933694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post-66560469724264323182012-07-10T09:34:32.090-04:002012-07-10T09:34:32.090-04:00Sheila, thank you so much for your comment and the...Sheila, thank you so much for your comment and the clarification regarding Bastyr's offerings in herbal medicine. I was having a hard time piecing together the requirements for herbal medicine in the ND program, so I really appreciate the direct information. I am frustrated that herbalists such as yourself feel that they have to struggle to keep plants at the forefront of the naturopathic curriculum, when it's herbal medicine that has the best track record and scientific basis (at least when considering therapies administered orally). I sometimes wonder if there are other forces pushing back against the herbalists' agenda: we are quick to point out the collusion between pharma and mainstream technological medicine, but what about between the "natural" products industry and institutions such as Bastyr? The products fair I visited made me afraid of such a connection which, though probably involuntary, may be affecting the curriculum more than we as herbalists realize...Guido Mase'https://www.blogger.com/profile/08186818316201584509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post-4702543771708243612012-07-07T09:07:06.269-04:002012-07-07T09:07:06.269-04:00Guido, I completely agree with the sentiments of y...Guido, I completely agree with the sentiments of your article and continually work to inspire and change the focus back towards herbalism as you and I understand it. Bastyr actually has 13 credits required plus another 20+ credits of field classes and traditional medicine making available to them. I wish we had had time to speak more about this. Certainly the naturopathic programs tend to lose their herbal focus as the other modalities are added on and it is a constant battle between these modalities and the students personal interests in each one which makes it all the more difficult. More focused programs like our Bachelors program and other's Masters programs help to produce more traditional herbalists but we need more accredited programs to do so to keep it alive and to train herbalists well in traditional herbalism as well as the industry analytical methods do that we can communicate effectively with the FDA.sheilakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11926207342159933694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post-79975226781087023462012-07-05T16:04:10.784-04:002012-07-05T16:04:10.784-04:00Oh my god I love this. Thank you.Oh my god I love this. Thank you.karynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14129799395360129043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post-66068437044052872472012-07-04T11:22:32.447-04:002012-07-04T11:22:32.447-04:00Excellent article - absolutely true and very insig...Excellent article - absolutely true and very insightful. So important for herbal medicine to distinguish itself from the pervasive industry of "natural" products. Love this: "True botanical medicine is not some kind of extra adjunct to pharmaceuticals and surgical interventions." Well said.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10634418244087531925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post-6398802913584136282012-07-04T07:29:04.554-04:002012-07-04T07:29:04.554-04:00Jonny, a Chinese medicine program is inherently mo...Jonny, a Chinese medicine program is inherently more botanical than an ND program. But the point you make - proprietary herbal blends and not so much gardening - is valid for sure. Look forward to seeing you in Vermont.Guido Mase'https://www.blogger.com/profile/08186818316201584509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post-46869226167079834762012-07-04T07:27:35.472-04:002012-07-04T07:27:35.472-04:00Sabra, that's exactly the experience I had at ...Sabra, that's exactly the experience I had at Bastyr. White-coated salesforce presenting lots of "natural" products. For a moment, I felt helpless in the face of the industry - but of course, we're not.Guido Mase'https://www.blogger.com/profile/08186818316201584509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post-80654970854896695392012-07-03T18:13:44.643-04:002012-07-03T18:13:44.643-04:00Great article. Really glad to have stumbled across...Great article. Really glad to have stumbled across your blog, Guido, and a bit serendipitous, too, as I'm about to be making my way back to Vermont for the summer. I've just finished my second year of a Chinese Medicine program nested within a naturopathic college, NCNM in Portland. I can report that, while NCNM's ND program has a reputation for being funkier and truer to naturopathy's roots than Bastyr's program, most of the ND students I've spoken with feel that their "bot med" training doesn't prepare them very well for clinical work. I'd guess that only a small percentage really consider themselves herbalists, though the majority are comfortable slinging mega-dose vitamins and adrenal support complexes. In the Chinese Medicine program, we spend a lot of time learning herbs and formula, but what's lacking is intimate connection to the plants. Luckily there are more and more people like yourself doing the work to start putting Eastern and Western herbal traditions into meaningful conversation. Thanks, keep it up, and hope to run into you this summer at VCIH!Jonnyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01443218341843750593noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post-34310122724971939712012-07-03T13:54:49.889-04:002012-07-03T13:54:49.889-04:00That is a great article Guido. Your strong herbal ...That is a great article Guido. Your strong herbal voice adds to the pride I feel for being a herbalist. I worked for a few years as a rep for a supplement company to naturopaths, I enjoyed the work but would light up when I met a naturopath that loved herbs and had a apothecary of tinctures and teas. Often though I was told it just wasn't worth the bother that it was just too complicated and laborious. Instead there would be rows of pill bottles with standardized extracts, gland extracts and vitamins/minerals. I have often thought that there is something about the business of alternative/complementary medicine that suffocated the herbalism.Galen's Watchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04307154643435077444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post-60252715480868626652012-07-02T23:45:43.532-04:002012-07-02T23:45:43.532-04:00Beautifully said. Thank you.Beautifully said. Thank you.Victoriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16446910320163486984noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post-27369267323344469712012-07-02T21:31:15.678-04:002012-07-02T21:31:15.678-04:00Great post, Guido!Great post, Guido!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13398860410114599797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post-73566096701044156072012-07-02T19:36:04.143-04:002012-07-02T19:36:04.143-04:00Thank you for outing this. Natural! Five credits!Thank you for outing this. Natural! Five credits!Michael DeMarcohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04320634165404283841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post-38027056279854172842012-07-02T17:08:18.303-04:002012-07-02T17:08:18.303-04:00Bravo!Bravo!@la_yerberiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17935278468592854252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post-45663090546240524832012-07-02T15:39:35.959-04:002012-07-02T15:39:35.959-04:00I am grateful that you are doing the work that kee...I am grateful that you are doing the work that keeps (at least some of) the natural products industry real.Guido Mase'https://www.blogger.com/profile/08186818316201584509noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5738694062065682753.post-78753151418454599662012-07-02T15:24:14.563-04:002012-07-02T15:24:14.563-04:00A really incredible article... thank youA really incredible article... thank youAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06903398489768100311noreply@blogger.com