In reading further about herbs for cleansing and researching for this post, I came across the site Amazing Green Tea. I’m generally critical about taking “facts” from any source with something to sell because of their obvious bias, but the herbs they talk about are widely available in the myriad of detox products on the market.

An article on the site, includes a table to help you determine which of your organs needs the most cleansing, listing the top symptoms for each organ in need of detoxification. I’d have included it in my previous post had I seen it but post it here:

As I said in my last post, I suspect that the people who do cleanses/detox are the people who need them less.

So what herbs go with which organ? According to Amazing Green Tea:

*I happen to have chickweed in my fridge. Local Bio-Dynamic/Organic farm Kind Organics was selling it at the farmer’s market recently.

A lot of those are commonly accepted, common knowledge. I don’t want to duplicate all their site content, so hop on over.

Recently I examined parasite/intestinal cleanses and saw black walnut used a lot. Dr. Hulda Clark, whose liver cleanse was recommended to me by a satisfied user, talks about parasite cleanses and recommends them as a precursor to liver cleanse. All a parasite is, is any organism that lives on, or in, the body of another organism. They can be responsible for lots of things that make us physically feel less than ideal, and for common ailments that we may ignore (see Alive magazine).

Here’s some more resources:

• 6 Herbs For Kidney Cleanse and Elimination
• 7 CLEANSING HERBS to reduce our toxic burden (CBS news)
• Colon Cleansing Herbs for Herbal Colon Cleansing
• Digestive System Cleanse (about.com)
• Herbs Can Cleanse – Herbs 101
• Herbs for Cleansing (Livestrong.com)
• Herbs To Cleanse The Blood (Livestrong.com)
• Liver- Medical Herbalism Journal
• Herbs to Clean Lungs (Livestrong)
• Lymph Cleansing Herbs (Livestrong)
• Lymphatic System Detox
• Herbs for Urine Detox (Livestrong)

(Nearly half of the links are to Livestrong despite intensive Google search because I liked their sources and the fact that it’s a good website all around.)

On a nerdy level, I don’t know why so many natural health websites look like they were created by an 8 year old. I feel like more people would take the information seriously – see its validity – if the sites didn’t look like the equivalent of a professional paper written with crayon.

Personal green smoothie cleanse update:

I’ve been on and off the wagon the entire time. I figured that if I ate one solid meal per day I’d still be doing okay. Sunday, Mother’s Day, I did a typical Jewish brunch: Bagels, lox, cream cheese, rugelach, coffee – which I rarely drink. That was Day 2 of cleanse, and expected. I drank a smoothie for the rest of the day, a strawberry-collard greens smoothie that was snack and dinner with some leftover for yesterday. I was okay with it.

Then yesterday I fell hard at the end of the day. I successfully refused bake sale participation at work in the morning. I drank tons of water and smoothies instead. Rather than improvising smoothie recipes as usual I used recipes from the Green Smoothie Cleanse book. Most of those call for more water than I use (I like my smoothies dense) so the quantity was the same & great quality but less filling. I was hungry and had a headache that may or may not have been related. In the evening I went to an art opening with colleagues. I could have ordered a salad or something easily digestible. Instead, being broke and having “given myself permission” for “one solid meal”, I went with the freebies: Pizza, quesadillas, calamari. This is stuff I rarely eat anyway because it’s junk. I like to think that I can just eat it and accept myself but even I felt a bit guilty about it. Then I went to a committee meeting (our CSA opens 5 weeks today!) and there were big cookies in front of me, either home baked or bakery. I had two and a half, and a lemon square. Feeling of guilt maintained. On the upside, it gives me another reason to give my digestive system a break today, right? It’s a prime example of life presenting challenges and me making a choice, but every moment is a new moment of choice. Every day is a new day. I wouldn’t berate myself about these choices because that’s not nice. Instead I ask what I’m going to do about it, and move on.

This morning I skipped my usual yoga so that I could get a bit more sleep (meeting ran late) and prepare my smoothies. I have 3-1 liter jars at the office (still working on my “Liver Love Affair” smoothie from breakfast – see the Green Smoothie Cleanse book for recipe).

The count:

Saturday: 1 for breakfast, 1 for snack (same one), soup for lunch, 1 for late night/snack = 4.
Sunday: 1, but it lasted for 2 meals that day.
Monday: 1 for breakfast, okra soup for lunch, 1 smoothie for snack = 3.

9 in 3 days is actually consistent with the challenge but if I’m going to eat a solid meal, it’s got to be one that’s easily digested. This is my goal through Friday. 1 solid meat, easily digested.

Onward.

Eat well, be well.

Image by susanvg via Flickr

As today (May 7) was day 1 of the Making Love in the Kitchen group Green Smoothie Cleanse, I wanted to share some information about cleanses that I’ve researched for you. This is just a brief explanation, cobbled together from various sources. I encourage you to seek out more information. With all the environmental toxins we can all use a little help.

Cleanse…detox… whatever you want to call it. Some distinguish between the two. We encounter so many toxins in our life. For example: Chemicals via food additives, pesticides, environmental pollution, cleaning products including household cleaners, laundry detergent & fabric softeners, toxins in cosmetics and hygiene products including shampoo, toxins in the water you drink and shower in, toxins that other people’s bodies give off (think second hand smoke, perfume, whatever else they’re carrying around that’s airborne, plus their own viruses ‘n’ such). No one can, or would want to, live in a hermetic space. We work, we play.

Good thing is, our bodies are complex machines. We have organs to keep the good and rid the bad.

The lymphatic system carries a clear fluid, lymph, which contains excess proteins, wastes, and other elements. Lymph surrounds the cells of our body to bring them nourishment and carry wastes out of the body. Unlike the blood, the lymph does not have the heart to pump it through the body. It must rely on the movement of the body and stimulation. Lymph is the clear stuff that you see with blood when we have wounds.

The liver, the 2nd largest organ after the skin, filters through the toxins you ingest and sends the toxins to the correct organ for elimination. It is the most important metabolic organ for carbohydrate, protein, fats and hormones. Aside from synthesis and excretion of bile, it also stores vitamins.

The kidneys help the body in detoxing liquids that pass through your body. That is why it’s extremely important you drink a sufficient amount of water. Your kidneys work to sort through good toxins and dissolved waste from acid.

Your lungs are responsible for helping your body get the required oxygen it needs by processing the air we breathe. The lungs are one of the first organs to intake toxins. A cold is usually a sign that your body is trying to rid itself of toxins and waste matter that has built up to the point of overwhelming your immune system. The lungs help in pushing clean air through your body which cleanses the bad chemicals you might inhale. Your lungs also help in eliminating toxic gases that can be found within cells. You will aid your lungs with their job by practicing deep breathing in fresh air environments.

The colon is the part of the digestive system where the waste material is stored. A healthy colon detoxifies the body by extracting water and salt from solid wastes and effectively expelling these waste material and toxins from the body. The colon can hold onto a lot of old waste.

80% of our immune system lives in our intestines, and because of the damage caused by modern toxicity, it is constantly in a state of alert and in attack mode.

So, keeping our insides clean, eating well to begin with, giving it a good spring cleaning, getting enough rest, and nourishing ourselves from the inside out helps keep us disease free. An older woman at my yoga studio has been telling a few of us about a liver cleanse that she does a couple of times a year, how great she feels after, that she looks forward to the next one, and that some of her chronic ailments disappeared when she started. I’ll be doing that one in the near future.

Reported benefits of a juice or smoothie cleanse are that such a cleanse gives the digestive system a rest and the nutrients are more easily absorbed. Add detoxifying herbs to that for a more powerful cleaning. A subsequent blog post will cover herbs.

I suspect that the people who do cleanses/detox are the people who need them less, but we could all use a little boost.

How did I do on day 1? Not so well. A friend was in town unexpectedly which resulted in a meal (a second lunch, after blended soup), then later I had a sugary snack at a play (kicked myself later) despite turning down all food offers in the morning. I did drink 3 smoothies and there’s always tomorrow.

I bought sunflower sprouts, spinach and dandelion greens at the farmer’s market today. Those are all going into smoothies over the next few days. Dandelion might be a bitter weed but it’s supposedly great for the liver, blood and kidneys. I notice myself going to the bathroom more when I consume more dandelion greens. I also bought wild leeks, aka ramps, which I share only because it means that spring has arrived (or, it’s “ramping up”, as I said earlier). They could be used in soup.

A few resources:

• The Green Smoothie Cleanse – Meghan Telpner’s e-book.
• Detoxification For Health & Wellness – The Missing Key
• The Detox Diet (about.com)
• 5 Simple Tips for Your Spring Cleanse
• Herbal Body Cleanses
• Herbal Detox

You might not believe in cleansing, and that’s your prerogative, but I figure that it can’t hurt. At the very least, something like a green smoothie cleanse helps get the nutrients into my life and the potentially toxic stuff out – even if just short term. Necessary? Maybe, maybe not. Beneficial? Definitely.

Eat well, be well.

Related articles

• Why Detox? (bloomnaturalhealth.wordpress.com)
• Natural Spring Detox Tips (foxnews.com)

Image by Mercury Jane via Flickr

Experts in fields such as nutrition and Chinese medicine say that spring is the ideal time of year to detox/cleanse. Here in Toronto  April snow turned to April showers that have continued into May, but it seems like spring might have arrived after a long winter. I’ve even seen a few May flowers.

Nutritionista Meghan Telpner is coaching the next round of her “famous and ever popular” Green Smoothie Cleanse group program starting this Saturday, May 7th. It was announced on the day I wondered to myself whether she was going to be leading another this spring.

This round will be a little different. As Meghan explains,

My goal is to consume 7-10 green smoothies and/or green juices over the course of 3 days. If that is ridiculous to you, I will extend that deadline to seven days. Our goal is to drink 10 green smoothies in seven days.

Buy a copy of the cleansing guide (e-book).

This time there’s also a Vitamix discount as an incentive, and a chance to win one of two amazing gifts.

I have both versions of the Green Smoothie Cleanse book and it really is amazing. Not just a recipe book or a guide to smoothies, it’s a thorough and education guide to detoxing/ cleansing in general, written in an accessible format with humour and passion. The first edition, 44 pages, was expanded to 104 for the 2nd and includes a wide variety of smoothie recipes from blog readers such as me and my sister. It’s also priced at only $18. When she was only charging $10-$12 I felt she could charge more. Even $18 seems financially accessible for most people, and health is a worthy – no, the best – investment. See her website for more books and guides, including package deals to make your Making Love in the Kitchen collection of lifestyle guides even lower in cost.

From the introduction of the Green Smoothie Cleanse, 2nd edition (emphasis in bold is mine):

Originally, I had intended for that tutorial to be about 20 pages. When interest grew and grew, so did my plans for the book. That first edition was written rather quickly and over the last year and a bit, with all your feedback (some of it included in this book), I decided it was time to update, reorganize and revise the tutorial to make it even more fully delicious and complete.

Since the success of that first tutorial, I have developed many more on various nutrition topics and food themes with the sole motivation being to offer this information in a succinct and practical way that would easily enable you to take what you love and what works for your life and slip it right in, seamlessly….

Health is absolutely our birthright, and something only we can truly nourish within ourselves. The only way to live the life of your dreams, is to be, in the moment, your most vital, your most energized and that comes from eating foods, thinking thoughts and taking part in activities that are vital and energized.

The guide offers tips for transitioning into and out of cleansing with sample meal plans and recipes as well.

I can do 14 in 7 days, including blended soups. I drink a smoothie every morning. I’ve recorded every smoothie I’ve made since October. I used to tweet them all (hash tag #SmOTD) and will do so for the duration of the group program (#greensmoothie).

As a boost to the vegetables in your smoothies, or in place of if you’re out of green veggies, I recommend Progressive Nutritional Therapies’ VegeGreens. I sometimes add two scoops rather than the recommended one. Toronto-based Progressive is one of my favourite brands. Why? I like the ingredients and trust the integrity of the brand. Each product is developed with the help of a naturopath. Products are energetically tested for optimum compatibility.

While recently researching whey protein I compared labels and chose Progressive because of its whey source. It’s from Kiwi cows. New Zealand has an outstanding international reputation for sustainable agricultural practices. The cattle that produce the milk used to create these proteins graze in open pastures and are raised without the use of hormones, including rBGH. New Zealand proteins are considered to be the cleanest and purest in the world. They don’t contain antibiotics and are routinely screened for over 250 agricultural and chemical contaminants including pesticides, fertilizers and PCBs. It’s the hormones and contaminants that make some people wary of whey protein despite its high concentration of protein. It’s also high in the branch chain amino acids and is quickly absorbed by the human body. So, some experts highly recommend whey protein, others advise against it. Note that it’s also highly allergenic due to the main protein fractions in whey (beta-lactoglobulin, alpha-lactalbumin, and bovine serum albumin). It’s also high in cholesterol. This is unrelated to smoothies unless you choose to add whey, but it seemed like a worthy tangent.

Another reason to like the company: Progressive supports the David Suzuki Foundation, so I guess that makes their greens even greener. If you’re in the U.S., Trader Joe’s Super Green Drink Powder is quite similar. I bought it last year and liked it.

Read more about Meghan’s Green Smoothie Cleanse

Here’s a list of my blog posts about Meghan’s Green Smoothie Cleanses from 2009 and 2010:

• Get cleansed, smoothie style (June 1, 2009) I LOVE the year-round farmer’s market that I mentioned. It’s one of my reasons for insisting that I remain in the neighbourhood.
• Are you ready to cleanse? Sign up today! (June 5, 2009)
• Contest for frilly things (July 14, 2010) It’s only a brief reference to the Green Smoothie Cleanse but I like the post, and the fact that I coined the term “Meganism”.
• Green Smoothie Cleanse: 2nd Edition (July 25, 2010)

Live green!

Lastly, while you’re greening your inside, how about being conscious about greening the outside? Do at least one thing each day that’s good for the environment. For example: I take my organic waste (everything from food scraps to loose tea to used tissues and paper towels) home from work every day & add it to my green bin.

Eat well, be well.

The next three-day challenge begins on August 6!

Read all about it here and watch her video.
Buy a copy.

This edition has recipes submitted by her blog readers. One of those recipes came from me, another from my sister. It really is new and improved.

It’s smoothilicious!

Eat well, be well.

• David’s website.

• Listen to David on Adam Carolla’s podcast. I subscribed to Carolla’s podcast before Wolfe was really on my radar.

The cleanse starts on Sunday. Sign up today!

Gearing up for it, Meghan talks about Brussel Sprouts in her blog today. Yeah, I know you might not like them but they can taste good (or maybe I just like them). Meghan’s post also features a clip from The Cosby Show.

I’ve been eating raw for two meals out of three most of this week. Last night after getting full at dinner (healthy, consisting of salmon and vegetables) I had a second, unhealthy dinner. I need to remember to eat during the day and eat more. That part of the Green Smoothie Challenge will be a challenge. I’ll have to be constantly drinking.

To participate, download the e-tutorial and leave a comment in her post.  The cost is only $12. I like that she charges a small fee for her e-tutorials and classes. By charging she applies – and implies – value to what she’s offerign while maintaining her position as a business, but by making the charge small it’s financially accessible to almost everyone.

Meghan is a nutritionist and, in talking to her and reading her blogs for months, I trust her. Some people say that eating raw is detox enough, others are into the Master Cleanse (or similar) system. A smoothie cleanse is in between.  You’re neither starving yourself nor eating whole food. You can drink multiple servings of fruit at one time. At the risk of sounding like Jack Lalaine, imagine the nutritional benefits!

Why smoothies rather than juicing? Meghan explains:

Why Smoothies and not Juice? The difference between a smoothie and juice is that juice has the fibre removed, where as a smoothie has the fibre left in. This means that in this cleanse you won’t necessarily experience the same hunger as you would with a juice cleanse and may also not experience the same lightheadedness, headaches or nausea that can come from more extreme juice or water fasts and cleanses.

Also- quality juicers are expensive and most people have blenders or access to a blender so it makes this cleanse more accessibly and viable to more people. All about inclusion!

There’s more Q & A on that web page. Check it out, even if you’re just curious, and then decide. I don’t advocate just anything but I advocate this. You know that I’ll be blogging my experience.

Edit: I want to add a Twitter exchange that I’m having with Gary (user names omitted):

Me: Ready for a spring cleanse? It’s only three days and it’s tasty. Check out Meghan’s blog: http://bit.ly/1894Ge

Gary:  I’m pretty skeptical of these cleansing schemes. I look forward to your post cleanse report.

Me: Meghan’s a nutritionist. I trust her. There’s no starving involved. You get lots of nutrients while resting digestive system.

Gary: It’s the whole concept of cleansing I’m skeptical about. There is little science to show significant benefits

Me: Plenty of anecdotal evidence makes a lot of sense.At minimum,taking a break from cooked & processed foods & only eating organic.

[With that last one I was trying to fit as many words as I could into 140 characters or less, trying to say that at minimum one can eat raw and organic for a few days.]

Gary: Cutting back processed foods, yes. I’m slowly purging them out of my life . Getting rid of toxins is what our liver is for

[At this point I'm afraid of sounding preachy because he's right, but I also believe in the value of cleansing. So, after careful thought, I came back with:]

Me: Sure. But what harm can be done by eating/drinking super-healthy for a few days?

Gary: Why not eat normal healthy all year round? Dubious of cleanses that have me buy a shake mix / product. A fruit smoothie wknd, ok.

[I'm reaching here:]

Me: There’s no shake mixes or product involved here. Totally agreed on eating healthy year-round but most people don’t.

Eat well, be well.

One of my new favourite people, Meghan Telpner, is leading her second Green Smoothie Cleanse starting this coming Sunday, June 7. There’s excellent information on the cleanse here where she answer the questions, “What Is a Green Smoothie Cleanse? Why Smoothies and not Juice? Why Three Days? Who Should Not Do This Cleanse?”

This time she’s offering prizes! But really, do you really need a prize as an incentive?

(Personally, I really want to try her granola and see how it compares to mine, even though for the last couple of months my weekday breakfasts have been exclusively smoothies.)

I’m in this time and I encourage you to as well, and not just because I get five extra chances to win if I get someone to register. If you do register, send Meghan an email with subject line “Cleansing Thanks To (your name here)”.

Go read her post and then register!

I’m drinking a fruit smoothie right now: Apple, pear, peach, banana, cocoa nibs, flax seeds, an EFA oil blend, the greens powder that I like so much, coconut water and water. Sadly, I recently had to throw out an entire pineapple that was showing mold. I look forward to living 2 blocks from a year-round weekly farmer’s market and up the street from Fiesta Farms. This Saturday I’ll have to check out the market at the Don Valley Brickworks to stock up for this cleanse!

It’ll be interesting to see how I handle 9 consecutive smoothie meals. I know I can do it once daily and that my breakfast lasts through lunch time. I know that I can eat raw three meals a day. Snacks might be a challenge. Maybe I need to look at it as a liquid version of my raw diet, thinking of salads but blended with water. I recall Meghan’s mother and others saying that they missed chewing.

Who can resist joining a cleanse that’s lead by someone this adorable (YouTube videos embedded, sorry if you work for the OPS and are reading this at work) and has a bike that’s decorated with flowers (the context for that photo is here)?

Reminds me, I bought a coconut at Fiesta Farms on Friday and need to open it. Maybe I should take it to Meghan. (Check out this video to see what I’m talking about.)

The croissant is chocolate (double – or more – whammy!) and the frothy drink is a decaf cappuccino with lactose-free (cow’s) milk. Wasn’t so good for my wallet either.

On to part 3 of this series, because I’m committed to it. Really, it was the laxative one that interested me the most:

Cleansaherb (tabs) – Red Clover blossoms, Burdock root, Echinacea herb, Mullein leaf, bearberry leaf, Parsley leaf, Marshmallow root.

Red Clover blossoms:
Red clover is also known as a blood purifier, useful for improving the overall health of the liver. It may also act as a digestive aid and stimulator of digestive fluids and bile production. It also does so much more!

From the product web page:

Red Clover, the primary herb in this formula, has been used successfully in many cases of heavy metal toxicity, lymphatic toxicity and mucous congestion. Cleansaherb is an excellent adjunct to fasting and other cleansing programs.

Burdock root:
A blood purifier which cleanses the body of bile, helping to detoxify the liver, kidneys and gallbladder. [Source]

Echinacea herb:
An immune system enhancer. I couldn’t find information that related it directly to detoxification, so I’m guessing that its role in the process is to help those who might experience “sick” symptoms during the detox process.

Mullein leaf:
The leaves and flowers have been used for treating respiratory problems such as dry coughs and bronchitis for many years. Mullein was a traditional treatment for diarrhea and rheumatism, and ointments for bums and earaches. [Source] I think that’s supposed to read “burns”, not “bums”. “Bums is too colloquial.

Bearberry (aka Uva ursi) leaf:
A diuretic and treatment for urinary tract infections.

Parsley leaf:
Parsley Root is an old-time remedy for digestive disorders, kidney and liver problems, menstrual irregularities, and cleansing the blood and body of toxins. It’s also a diuretic.

Marshmallow root:
See Part 2 of this series.

“CL Herbal Extract – Licorice root, Yarrow herb/ flowers, Uva Ursi leaf, Juniper berries, Corn Silk styles, Burdock root.”

All of the following are taken from the Wild Rose website.

Licorice:
Licorice has been used as a detoxifier for thousands of years by the Chinese, it is known in China as the “Great Detoxifier”. It is also well known as an anti-inflammatory and antibacterial herb. It has a tonic energy and revitalizes the body while supplementing and balancing the internal regions of the body.

Yarrow:
Yarrow works on cleansing the system, both through the urinary tract and by it’s well known diaphoretic action (diaphoretic-an agent that causes one to eliminate toxins through sweating). It’s diaphoretic action enables it to purify the blood of morbid waste material. Yarrow also regulates the function of the liver, and is especially beneficial through its influence on secretions throughout the entire digestion process. Yarrow has also been shown to have mild antibiotic action against bacteria.

Uva Ursi leaf (aka Bearberry):
Uva Ursi (Bearberry) is specific for the urinary tract, both toning and cleansing it. It is an effective urinary disinfectant and has been shown to be strongly antibiotic against many organisms including Staph. and E. coli bacteria.

Juniper berries and corn silk:
Juniper and corn silk are effective diuretics which means that they will cause a general increase of urine flow. This is beneficial in that is cleanses or flushes any infections or bacteria that may be present, or that are being discarded by the body because of the anti-bacterial and cleansing actions of the other herbs in the formula. Corn silk is also very soothing to the urinary tract.

Burdock:
Burdock has been used for centuries as an excellent blood cleanser with an especially positive effect on the liver. It rids the body of long term toxic material and is an antidote for acute poisoning. Burdock is also employed to cleanse the lymphatic system and soothe the kidneys.

Biliherb (tabs) – Black Radish root bark, Dandelion root, Ginger root, Parsley root, Marshmallow root, Cramp bark, Wood Betony herb.

From the product web page:

Biliherb Formula stimulates bile production by the liver and its release from the gallbladder (where it is stored) into the small intestine. Bile is necessary for proper digestion as it serves to emulsify dietary fats, enhancing their absorption. It also makes metabolic wastes and toxins water-soluble, preparing them for elimination from the body.

Biliherb helps to decrease cholesterol buildup in the gallbladder and aids in the prevention and dissolution of gallstones. It is an excellent formula for detoxifying and strengthening liver function. This herbal combination additionally supports the spleen which, in turn, leads to greater overall blood cleansing and enhancing liver function.

Black Radish root bark
Black Radish contains a variety of chemicals that increase the flow of bile which play an important role in the digestion process. It also has an antibacterial effect on our digestive flora. Source.

Dandelion root
Dandelion has been found to stimulate mucus membranes, sooth the digestive tract, absorb toxins from the bowel, help friendly flora to thrive and inhibit unfriendly bacteria. Source.

Dandelion root is one of the safest and most popular herbal remedies. It’s supposed to strengthen the entire body, especially the liver and gallbladder, where it promotes the flow of bile, reduces inflammation of the bile duct, and helps get rid of gall stones.  It helps indigestion caused by insufficient bile. Source.

Ginger root – see part 1.

Parsley root
Parsley has been used since ancient times to improve both the digestion and assimilation of food and is said to settle the stomach after a meal. The volatile oil in Parsley increases circulation to the digestive tract, easing stomach problems, indigestion and flatulence.  Source.

Marshmallow root
Used to relieve local irritations, stimulate the immune system, slow down lung congestion in sore throat with dry cough, and relieve mild inflammation of the mucous membranes of the digestive tract. its tea is considered soothing to an upset stomach. Source.

Cramp bark
Muscle relaxant. Works to relax intestines. Considered the most potent uterine antispasmodic of the various Viburnum species. Source.

Wood Betony herb
Centuries of European herbalists used wood betony as a calming remedy and to treat eczema, hives, and shingles. Wood betony teas also treat sore throats caused by allergies or colds, heartburn, and inflammation due to infections of the urinary tract. The herb is used in combination with other treatments to remove intestinal parasites. Source.