Olive … A Sensory Tour of the Mediterranean Miracle (SydHerbs)

Ian's SydHerbs presentation banner

Come and join me at SydHerbs next week (Thursday 11 May, 6pm for a 6:30pm start) as I take you on a photographic tour of olive groves and mill during harvest, talk about the health benefits of extra-virgin olive oil, smash some myths, and guide you through a tasting of 3 different ultra-premium, single varietal extra-virgin olive oils. It will be educational and a load of fun!

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Are essential oils useful for agitation in patients with dementia?

Volatile oils in bottles, with herbs in background

Dementia is a chronic disorder, with increasing incidence throughout the world, and can cause significant agitation and distress in both patients and their families and friends. Antipsychotics are commonly prescribed to help manage agitation in the people, however these pharmaceuticals can cause undesired side-effects, which can sometimes be significant. Is there another option?

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Are herbs containing arbutin actually harmful?

Photo of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Bearberry)

In May 2018 we suddenly found out that herbs containing the natural constituent arbutin, including Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Bearberry) and Turnera diffusa (Damiana) had been restricted to prescription only Schedule 4 medicines by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). However the reasoning for such restriction was questionable, and so myself and Laura Dwyer – my research student – set out to determine if there was actually evidence that these herbs might be harmful. We just published the results of our review.

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Are comfrey, coltsfoot and borage harmful to humans?

Graphical abstract showing key results from the research paper

For many decades now, unsaturated pyrrolizidine alkaloids have been known to be potentially harmful, causing specific types of liver and lung damage, and also being carcinogenic. However the question has long been “do the amounts in key medicinal plants warrant concern?”. Many regulatory authorities around the world think so, with some of these plants being restricted for medicinal usage. This research project set out to determine the level of evidence for harm from some of these plants.

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