Our meeting on March 8 with Pierre Haddad:
Topics discussed during this meeting and transcript of the remarks: *
10:00 - Lymphatic drainage
The body's two main organs of elimination are the liver and the kidneys, through bile and urine. There are other systems as well. The intestine can even reject products. There are a whole series of proteins on the surface of the intestine to ensure that as little bad stuff as possible enters the body.
For elimination, it is really the two major organs: the liver and the kidney.
However, when trying to detoxify, the toxins need to be removed from the organs.
Organs are bathed in a fluid called interstitial or extracellular fluid (outside the cells).
Take for example a piece of liver purchased at the grocery store; it is not dry, it will be spongy and moist.
All the fluid around the cells is in motion, a slow but constant movement. This is drained into the lymphatic system.
The lymphatic system is a parallel system to the circulatory system (circulating blood) that brings nutrients and oxygen to all tissues.
We need to help this lymph to move toxins out of the tissues for detoxification. So when we stimulate the kidney and liver with herbal remedies or a detoxification protocol like you suggested, we need to move them out of the tissues as well.
11:55 - Detoxification and medicinal plants
We don't fully understand how it works yet, but there are certain plants that help a lot.
The lymphatic drainage that we see in spas is done simply by massage: we compress and massage the tissues and this activates the lymph.
The lymphatic system is also very important for the immune system. There are many lymph nodes (tonsils, under the armpits). Unfortunately, cancer sometimes sets in there.
Lymph, basically, is all the waste from all our tissues. So if there are intruders, undesirables, our immune system must be able to detect them, because they hide in the tissues.
So, herbs that help drain lymph and improve lymph circulation; for me, it's essential to add that to a detoxification blend. I don't take credit; it was my herbalism classes that taught me these things.
13:16 - A few words about herbalism
By the way, I'm not an herbalist. I'm in the Herbalists' Guild. I help them on their board, but I can't call myself an herbalist.
To become a herbalist, it takes at least three years of training, plus 300 hours of counseling classes and supervised consultations. Herbalist training is very rigorous.
I took a gap year to take herbalism courses. It was very interesting because it gave me a much deeper understanding of what herbalism really is.
16:09 - Adaptogens
Adaptogens are interesting. They are plants that act on the three main systems of the body: the nervous system, the hormone system, and the immune system.
Each plant will have effects in these three areas, but more specific in one than the other. For example, ginsengs are more at the level of the nervous system, so the alert aspect and also physically, it helps with physical endurance.
For the record, the concept of adaptogenic plants was largely developed by Russian scientists who worked with cosmonauts and high-level athletes to help manage stress and improve performance in extreme conditions such as elite sport and space.
This is becoming more and more understood. The mechanism is really dispersed. There are many components in these plants that act on several levels (but generally in the 3 spheres mentioned earlier).
For example, astragalus, which is another herb in your blend, affects the immune system more.
17:55 - What is an adaptogen? What does it do exactly?
There are many mechanisms in the body to manage stress. Oxidative stress is also one of them. So, the body has many ways to defend itself and rebalance itself. We call this homeostasis, so keeping the body in a safe space. To keep functions in balance, adaptogens will either boost something that is too low or attenuate something that is too high in the system.
So, it's complex to study. There are more and more tools now. What we call systems biology, with new technologies in molecular biology and genetics, we are getting better and better at understanding how it works.
It is through effects on our genes, on our proteins, on messenger RNA.
It's very interesting, but it's still poorly understood, I would say. It's a constellation of effects and it's the total effect that is beneficial for the body.
20:15 - Does detox exist?
I have many hepatologist colleagues who are also skeptical of this idea.
But I understand them too, because science doesn't understand yet. Science shouldn't become a new religion in the sense that if it's not scientifically proven it's not true.
Modern medicine is beginning to understand, precisely with these systems biology, complex systems.
21:30 - One molecule, one target?
You have to know that the dogma that has been established, what we call the "silver bullet", that is to say that in pharmacology, you have a molecule, a target and you will manage your problem in this way.
It's becoming more and more complex because, in fact, it's no longer "a single bullet," it's "explosive bullets" because they will now act on several targets. We understand better and better that it's rare for a molecule to act only on a single target.
Besides, that's the beauty of it, the complexity. I remember when I started working in medicinal plants, my dean at the medical school gave me a little pat on the back and told me that I was sick of going to work in this field, that it's so complex. There are so many molecules in plants, how can you dissect that as a pharmacologist?
Indeed, we should not look at it with the reductionist approach (a single target, a single compound that hits the target). The studies I did were broader. We step back and look at what happens to cells and then try to understand what changed, what made the cell react in X or Y way.
23:00 - Medicinal plants are pharmacologically active
It is important to follow the dosage, because it has been determined, either by experience with traditional medicines, or by clinical experience as well, in order to find the right doses. Just because it is natural does not mean it is harmless, that you can take twice as much to have twice the effects. It is possible to achieve harmful effects by increasing the dose too much.
24:00 - Health Canada and adaptogens
Some will say it's too restrictive, but it has the advantage of cleaning up the Canadian market a little, of eliminating, of "separating the wheat from the chaff," as they say. We'll take another moment to discuss the dangers of tightening the screws too much, but they're trying to find a balance. They're also stuck because they're a regulatory body. They have to ensure that people's health and safety are protected. Sometimes there are fears, whether well-founded or not, that cause them to tighten the screws. Then there's pressure from groups that defend natural health products and other groups that, unfortunately, demonize natural health products. There's a balance to be found, and I wouldn't want to be in their shoes because it's not easy either.
26:00 - Stress
We were lucky, we had a great researcher at McGill University, Hans Selye, who worked for many years on stress. I remember he wrote a book called "Stress in Distress."
Stress is obligatory; it's essential to life. We experience stress all the time. The body has to deal with stresses related to temperature, food or lack of food, etc. We have many systems to maintain homeostasis and stability. We try to balance things out, to maintain equilibrium. That's what adaptogens do: when there's hyperactivity, they tend to calm things down, and when there's a deficiency, they'll boost things a little.
Precisely, Asian ginseng, and American ginseng (which is in my Metabzen!) is a plant that helps to control the metabolism a lot and to give energy too.
28:30 - Our adaptogens
I find this very interesting. There is a combination of plants in the three spheres mentioned earlier: nervous system, immune system and hormonal system.
In herbalism, we don't necessarily put them all together. We'll make a selection based on the person's condition. By analyzing the symptoms, then the person's condition, we'll see which system is overstimulated or deficient, and we'll choose the adaptogens based on that condition.
But it's interesting to have a little boost, a combination for all three.
29:50 - Magistral preparations
The law makes this permissible. Think of all traditional Chinese doctors. When you make an individual preparation, what we call magistral preparations, it's permissible and outside the Natural Health Products Act. It's not possible to make labeled bottles and sell them without an NPN. But if you want to make individual preparations, it's permissible. They didn't want to limit practitioners of recognized traditional medicines.
30:45 - What does stress lead to?
We live in a world with deadlines, meetings, and schedules, where we have to juggle family, work, and leisure. All of this can become extremely demanding. Having experienced it myself, seeing a deadline arrive and not being ready definitely increases stress. However, the brain doesn't differentiate between a work deadline and a lion coming towards us, growling. So, we will have the same reactions, the same stress hormones that will make the heart race to prepare us to fight or flee. "Fight or flight" is often the response to stress. So, everything kicks in in the body, even if it's only anxiety "between the ears."
Adaptogens will help with that by rebalancing and calming the systems that are triggered by fear. The ashwagandha you included is very helpful in calming anxiety and things like that.
34:00 - Stress, how to manage it
It's in the middle of the night that the worst scenarios play out in our heads.
Depression and anxiety are two sides of the same coin. I've experienced depression in my life, and it was linked to a lot of anxiety and stress related to various events in my professional and personal life.
This is not unique to me; many people face this.
There are two things I found that helped me:
The first is to rationalize: does this put my life in danger? That's literally saying that to yourself.
Not reaching a deadline: will the world collapse for me? No! There are people who may not be happy, but what are the real consequences for me personally in terms of my integrity?
The second is to ask myself if I've ever been in this situation and if I've gotten through it. The answer was always yes, because you always end up being able to do your job (maybe not as well as you'd like!), manage the kids, manage the work, and everything.
So these are two things that I found.
Finally, we also need psychological support, and yes, sometimes medication or natural products to help us.
I remember my psychologist telling me: "It's like a broken leg, you can leave it unplastered and it will heal, but it will take much longer, and it might heal crookedly."
So if you give yourself support like antidepressants or medicinal plants (there are very good plants for depression), well you risk healing faster and better.
37:00 - Speaking of stress...
We adapt to everything, but it ends up becoming embedded and continually unbalancing the system. So, to return to balance, as if we have an injury and we compensate to the other side, eventually, there are things that will happen physically on the side that we are compensating.
The big challenge is to maintain balance in your life, both physically and mentally.
37:50 - Can we take adaptogens regularly?
I would tend to say yes, with a but! I don't think it's something you should take continuously without stopping. I think it's about giving your body a chance to readjust and then giving yourself the opportunity to maintain that balance. The plant is like the crutch, you have to take it off at some point and start walking on your foot again and rebuild yourself.
It is certain that it may take some time before having all the beneficial effects to rebalance the system.
38:50 - Can we become addicted to plants?
Yes, there are many who develop addictions to plants. Cocaine from coke, for example!
Because there are mixtures of components in plants, the danger of addiction is generally considered less, but it is still there. Addiction can be physical, but it can also be psychological. Let's go back to the analogy of the broken leg (or foot). We are afraid of walking without our cast, without our crutches, of feeling the pain in our foot again. At some point we have to say to ourselves: yes, I will feel it, but this will help my foot regain its strength and support for me.
41:10 - Mushrooms and a few words about Reishi or Ganoderma lucidum
It wasn't named that way randomly. It's because it gives a certain lucidity.
You have to learn to manage your life. This is the great challenge everyone faces. Eliminating toxic relationships, learning to say no, it's a life's work.
There are challenges in every life, each person has their own story. Plants, again, are tools. They shouldn't be seen as a panacea, they are tools. But you really have to go to the source and try to understand what is really bothering us and throwing us off balance in our lives, and then try to fix that. That's not always possible either.
43:30 - Natural health products
The analogy of the crutch or the cast... it's like a support, it helps you heal, to rebalance what is unbalanced, but then you have to do the rehabilitation that follows, that is, find what can be improved in your life. It's a daily challenge for everyone.
* This live transcript is intended to help you easily find the topics that interest you and the information you are looking for. Maison Jacynthe disclaims all liability. All information contained on this page is not intended to replace justified allopathic treatment or to override the expertise of the medical profession. It is up to each individual to take charge of their own health, to inform themselves, and to make the necessary changes to improve their condition. Therapeutic supervision by a qualified health professional is obviously suggested.
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