Delving into the plant-powered world of herbalism.
A podcast for budding herbalist and botanical beginners alike, subscribe to the Herbcast and explore how herbs can be integrated in our every day lives.
Meet some of the world’s most renowned herbalists, here to inspire you to use herbs safely, effectively and sustainably.
Herbcast is a Decibelle Creative original podcast
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Herbs for Cold & Flu Season: The Power of Yarrow, Peppermint & Elderflower with Dr. Amparo Aracil
Season 3 · Episode 30
Monday, July 15, 2024 • Duration 46:37
Herbs for Colds and Fevers: The Diaphoretics with Dr. Amparo Aracil
In this episode, we explore how diaphoretic herbs can boost immunity and help manage seasonal infections. Discover how these herbs regulate body temperature, improve circulation, and support the body's immune response.
With extensive training and practice, Dr. Aracil blends herbal and medical expertise. Their holistic approach combines traditional herbal wisdom with modern medical insights, making them a respected voice in integrative medicine.
Dr. Aracil explains how the body responds to infections, detailing the role of fever and the immune system's mechanisms. Learn about the benefits of diaphoretic herbs like yarrow, peppermint, ginger, and elderflower, which help manage fever and have anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. They also discuss the importance of tailoring herbal treatments to individual needs and balancing acute and chronic conditions.
Discover the use of herbs like echinacea, thyme, and lemon balm in both acute and chronic scenarios, and learn how mushrooms like reishi and cordyceps support respiratory health and overall vitality. Dr. Aracil's insights into the synergistic nature of herbs provide a comprehensive guide for enhancing your health naturally.
The Power of Bitter Herbs: Unlocking Their Role in Digestion, Hormones & Energy with Guido Masé
Season 3 · Episode 29
Monday, July 1, 2024 • Duration 58:17
Enter the world of bitter herbs, and learn about their historical significance and modern-day applications with expert herbalist Guido Masé. As a renowned herbalist, gardener, and educator, Guido shares his extensive knowledge of how bitters can enhance digestion, regulate appetite, and support metabolic health.
Guido Masé RH(AHG) is a clinical herbalist, educator, and garden steward specialising in holistic Western herbalism with an eclectic approach. Born in Italy, he has lived in Vermont since 1996. He is a founder and faculty member at the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism and serves as the herbalist, principal scientist, and chief formulator at Traditional Medicinals. He is also a founding member of the Burlington Herb Clinic and participates in herbal education at the University of Vermont. Author of The Wild Medicine Solution and DIY Bitters, Guido's teaching integrates clinical experience, storytelling, and scientific research, emphasising the connection between humans and nature for sustainable living.
In this episode, discover the fascinating mechanisms behind how bitters work in the body, from stimulating digestive secretions to modulating hormonal responses. Learn about the evolutionary role of bitter taste receptors and their presence not just in the mouth, but throughout the gastrointestinal tract and even within the heart and lungs. Guido explains how bitters can help with common digestive issues like gas, bloating, and heartburn, as well as more serious conditions such as type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
Guido and Sebastian also delve into the importance of dosing and the energetic qualities of bitters and explore the concept of hormesis, the paradoxical effect where small doses of potentially harmful substances can strengthen the body.
Men, Mental Health & Herbal Medicine; How Herbalism Can Support Mental Resilience with Phil Deakin
Season 2 · Episode 20
Wednesday, July 5, 2023 • Duration 50:13
“Suicide is the biggest cause of death in men under 50”
Phil’s route to herbal practice has encompassed work as a doctor in hospitals, primary care and unscheduled care settings. Although he now identifies as a herbalist, his experiences in conventional healthcare have equipped him to reference a number of perspectives when supporting people with their health and wellbeing as a herbal practitioner.
Phil has presented guidance and created resources for herbalists and students on possible approaches to men's health issues - both in terms of physiological wellbeing and through the lens of perceived masculinities and their impacts on men's mental health and help-seeking behaviours.
More recently, his career development has focussed on some work around equality, diversity, and inclusion, emphasising LGBTQ+ issues. Currently, Phil works in Sheffield where he lives with his husband and a small white mischievous cat.
In this episode, Phil chats with Simon about why he transitioned from a GP to a herbalist and how herbalism is the best environment to tackle men’s health issues.
Phil talks on:
The pandemic - why were men more affected?
How masculinity affects men’s health and help-seeking behaviours.
Vulnerabilities in men’s health.
Herbalism on mental and spiritual wellbeing.
The dangers of purchasing herbal products without guidance.
How to frame and discuss men’s health in herbal consultations.
Strategies and tools to empower the patient.
Top-tier men's health issues that can identify red flags.
You can reach Phil via email at herbdoctorphil@gmail.com
The Power of Food & Herbs in Healing Chronic Skin Conditions with Herbalist Alex Laird
Season 2 · Episode 19
Wednesday, June 14, 2023 • Duration 48:30
“Keeping our blood sugar within limits and eating slow-releasing food is absolutely fundamental to inflammatory disease”
Alex is a practising medical herbalist and phytotherapist with more than 20 years of experience. She runs the UK's first herbal clinic in hospital dermatology at Whipps Cross University Hospital, where she is tutor-practitioner to BSc herbal students. She also practises at Breast Cancer Haven and privately. She is a council member of the College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy (CPP), and formerly of the Aromatherapy Organisations Council. She has published clinical research and is a visiting lecturer to universities including Westminster, East London, Hertfordshire and the Royal Free Medical School. She is a founding director of the charity, Living Medicine, which teaches people how to use food and herbs in self-care, exchanging and updating knowledge from all cultures to feed into public health. Originally a TV producer, she then worked as an aromatherapist for staff at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, with drug users and those with HIV while training as a medical herbalist.
Alex’s driving passion is discovering how life is designed at all levels – reconnecting to each other, our rhythms, food and nature to follow our design are key to resilience.
Alex has built impressive research around the powerful impact of herbalism in dermatology. Whilst supporting community and cultural sensitivities at Whipps Cross, Alex has shown that a personalised approach can really make a difference even with the most complex of skin conditions.
In her chat with Simon, we learn about several lightbulb moments that have taken Alex on a journey of discovery and why she is so passionate about the role of nutrition when it comes to improving our health.
Alex talks on:
Herbal approaches to complement cultural beliefs within communities.
Making herbal medicine accessible.
Documenting treatment results & wellbeing using Westminster University’s Measure Yourself Medical Outcome Profile (MYMOP.)
Looking beyond the diagnosed condition to treat all issues and internal factors.
Herbal Medicine & Cancer: A Holistic Approach to Healing & Prevention with Chanchal Cabrera
Season 2 · Episode 18
Wednesday, June 7, 2023 • Duration 57:09
Chanchal is a medical herbalist and has been in clinical practice for 35 years with a specialty in holistic oncology. She is the author of Fibromyalgia: A Journey towards Healing and her latest book Holistic Cancer Care: An Herbal Approach to Preventing Cancer, Helping Patients Thrive during Treatment, and Minimizing the Risk of Recurrence, which launches in April 2023.
She held the faculty chair in Botanical Medicine at the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine in New Westminster 2004-2016. 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 also a certified Shinrin Yoku (forest bathing) practitioner, a certified Master Gardener and a certified Horticulture Therapist. Chanchal lives on Vancouver Island, British Columbia where she and her husband manage Innisfree Farm and Botanic Garden, a 7 acre internationally registered botanic garden specializing in food and medicine plants, and where they host apprenticeships in sustainable food production and herbal medicine. The farm also hosts Gardens without Borders, a federally registered not-for-profit society established to run the botanic garden and provide horticulture therapy.
In this discussion, Chanchal offers a glimpse into some of the strategies she adopts when treating patients in clinic, using herb-based and horticulture therapies in conjunction with conventional treatments. Drawing from decades of clinical experience helping patients recover from cancer, Chanchal offers insight into her processes and what she recommends to other practitioners in her mentor role.
Chanchal talks on:
Empowering people with herbalism to make it accessible.
Her processes model for managing care - the pyramid prescribing principle and triune model.
Plausability testing to validate reasoning and guide treatment.
Person-centred treatment and customising plans for paitients.
Engaging patients with herbal rituals to give a semblance of control.
How Food Affects Your Mood: The Ayurvedic Approach to Anxiety & Depression with Todd Caldecott
Season 2 · Episode 17
Wednesday, May 24, 2023 • Duration 01:01:13
Todd Caldecott is a Medical Herbalist and practitioner of Ayurvedic Medicine, who has been in private practice since 1995. He is the Executive Director of the Dogwood School of Botanical Medicine and author/editor of three books including Ayurveda: The Divine Science of Life, Food As Medicine: The Theory and Practice of Food, and Ayurveda In Nepal.
Todd is a creator and/or contributor to Traditional Ayurvedic Medicine (Introduction & Materia Medica), Applied Phytotherapeutics (1 & 2), History of Herbal Medicine, Essentials of Pathology, Western Materia Medica (1 & 2) with Wild Rose College.
Todd began training as a clinician in herbal medicine in 1992 during a search to resolve a chronic digestive disorder acquired while travelling in India. After meeting Ayurvedic physician Dr T. Sukumaran who helped him resolve his condition, Todd took a career change to train as a medical herbalist.
He studied Ayurveda in India, and later became the Clinical Director of Wild Rose College of Natural Healing and published a textbook in Ayurveda. He has been in clinical practice since 1995.
Todd has been in mentorship since 2004 with Vaidya Madhu Bajra Bajracharya, Piyushabarshi Aushadhalaya, in Kathmandu, Nepal. Vaidya Madhu represents an unbroken lineage of hereditary physicians since the 13th century CE.
With mental health issues on the rise, Todd highlights some of the contributing factors to this such as the disconnection from people and communities, the impact of trauma and the pace of life itself. He shares his thoughts on treating anxiety and depression whilst being guided by Ayurdevic principles and practices to better understand what is happening to us.
Todd talks on:
Anxiety & depression from an Ayurvedic perspective.
The Hidden Impact of Climate Change on Herbal Medicine & Farming with Medicinal Plant Expert Josef Brinkmann
Season 2 · Episode 16
Wednesday, May 10, 2023 • Duration 58:37
Since 1979, Josef has worked at all levels within the medicinal plant sector; organic farming and wild collection, production of extracts, manufacturing of finished herbal medicinal products, TCM clinic, standards-setting (quality and sustainability), and consulting governmental- and intergovernmental organizations in sustainable development and biodiversity conservation projects in Africa, Asia, and South America.
From 2002 to 2016, he served as International Consultant on Market Intelligence for Medicinal Plants at the International Trade Centre, the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations; 2004-2008 as a member of the International Standard for the Sustainable Wild Collection of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (ISSC-MAP) Steering Group; and 2008-2021 as a member of the Board of Trustees of the FairWild Foundation, a standards-setting organization for sustainable wild collection of medicinal plants. He currently serves as Research Fellow for Medicinal Plants and Botanical Supply Chain at Traditional Medicinals (Sebastopol, California).
He is an elected member of the United States Pharmacopoeia Botanical Dietary Supplements and Herbal Medicines Expert Committee. At the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, he advises on commercial sources & handling and international regulatory status. He also serves as an Advisory Board member of the American Botanical Council and an Advisory Group member of ABC’s Sustainable Herbs Program. In 2016, he received a Doctor of Humane Letters in Healing and Sustainability honoris causa from the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and California Institute of Integral Studies.
In this episode, Josef paints a challenging picture of how the climate crisis is impacting herbal medicine. From insights on quality and sustainability to farming challenges, this discussion highlights why ecological and socially responsible herbs are so important.
Joseph talks on:
The current state of herbal medicine as an industry.
The impacts of the Climate Crisis on farming.
The Hidden Link Between Diet, Inflammation & Chronic Disease: Christine Herbert on Herbal Medicine for Long-Term Wellness
Season 2 · Episode 15
Wednesday, April 26, 2023 • Duration 47:10
Christine Herbert FAMH, DipAET, BA(Hons) qualified as a herbalist in 1997 and has been practising and learning herbal medicine ever since. During the years of her practice, she added many skills, including nutrition, aromatic medicine and flower essence therapy, in order to be best able to help the many people who came to see her. She retired from practice in 2019 so that she could teach and write using all the knowledge she had acquired. She served on the Association of Master Herbalists council for several years and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship on retirement. Previous to 1997, she worked as a senior biomedical scientist for nineteen years for the NHS. Inflammation, the source of chronic disease: How to treat it with herbs and natural healing was published by Aeon Books earlier this year.
After 20 years working in pathology and haematology, Christine’s enlightenment into the world of herbal medicine has led her on a journey to discovering the importance of diet in our health. She shares her wisdom on how various can herbs work with the body to reduce the inflammation that triggers chronic illnesses. Her positive outlook inspires hope for everybody that almost every health ailment can be improved.
Christine talks on:
Inflammation as a unifying principle of Chronic disease
How herbs tackle inflammation and promote healing
The importance of alterative herbs in chronic ill health
Rewilding Our Consciousness: Somatic Healing & Reassociating with the Body Through Herbalism with Nathaniel Hughes
Season 2 · Episode 14
Wednesday, April 12, 2023 • Duration 01:03:08
Since his initial training in chemistry and medical pharmacology, Nathaniel Hughes has pursued the question; how much can we learn from plants directly? He has spent over 20 years exploring the spiritual, somatic, relational, trauma-informed and process-oriented aspects of healing. His robust way of working with herbs now has its foundations in the spiritual, where he strives to create bridges between experience, the spiritual and the physical. This perspective helped birth Insight Herbalism, a professional training course delivered at his school, The School of Intuitive Herbalism, which has been offering courses in Herbalism for over 10 years. Nathaniel has also written two well-received books Intuitive Herbalism and Weeds In The Heart.
He is currently committed to developing professional training for natural empaths; developing his ability to learn from plants alongside their skills in supporting fellow humans.
This episode delivers an introduction to the concept of intuitive herbalism where Nathaniel encourages us to think outside of conceptual medical frameworks to focus on relational and experiential perspectives.
Nathaniel talks on:
Person-centred healing
Somatic reassociation with the body through story and memory
Reawakening the senses and rewilding our consciousness
Emotional awareness and deconstructing habits.
Plants as allies and guides.
Experiencing plants by self-projection or intuition.
Herbs for Sleep, Inflammation & Anxiety: A Sneak Peek into Season 2 with Sebastian & Simon
Season 1 · Episode 13
Wednesday, January 18, 2023 • Duration 05:55
Sebastian and Simon reflect on Season 1 of Herbcast and discuss their enjoyment of speaking to thought leaders across the herbal medicine community. They introduce the solutions-focused Series 2 which aims to focus on some of the most important conditions affecting the modern world today that herbalists are treating in clinic. From digestion and inflammation to sleep, anxiety and trauma the series will focus on the fundamentals of health as well as highlight sustainability issues faced by the industry.
Now if your time to catch up on any missed episodes from Season 1 and if you haven’t already, sign-up for the Herbal Reality newsletter at www.herbalreality.com
Keep up to date on the latest news and find out more about Herbal Reality on Instagram @herbal.reality
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The importance of educating patients to be proactive and take responsibility.
Her favourite foundation, antigen and dietary herbs,
Balancing biochemistry with energetic systems.
You can order Chanchal’s book Holistic Cancer Care: A Herbal Approach to Preventing Cancer, Helping Patients Thrive During Treatment, and Minimizing the Risk of Recurrence from her website: https://chanchalcabrera.com/product/holistic-cancer-care/
Healing childhood trauma and grief to treat anxiety and depression.
Treating the ego state with psychedelic mushrooms
Todd is the Executive Director for The Dogwood School of Botanical Medicine. To find out more about its learning programs visit the website: https://dogwoodbotanical.com/
Brinckmann JA, Kathe W, Berkhoudt K, Harter DEV, Schippmann U. 2022. A New Global Estimation of Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Species in Commercial Cultivation and Their Conservation Status. Economic Botany (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-022-09554-7 Full-text access to a view-only version of this paper is available by using the following SharedIt link: https://rdcu.be/cUm0F
