Essiac Tea
Many people nowadays are trying to look at life with a natural or organic approach. One of these natural products is Essiac Tea, which is a common tea that is derived from a mixture of herbs. This tea is well known for being a great way to stay healthy. Many studies have resulted in suggesting that this tea is a great alternative way of treating cancers, but also helps with other illnesses as well. That being said, some of the main medical bodies, American Cancer Society for instance, has not found sufficient evidence to suggest that this could be used for treatment.
The history relating to Essiac tea dates back many years. The first documented use of the tea was recorded by Native Americans. The tribal medicine was used by these people for many years, but it really came back to light in the 1920s. At this time, a Canadian nurse found the recipe and started to share it with the world.
The story does vary, depending on who is telling it. The basics are that the nurse, Rene Caisse, managed to cure herself of cancer using herbal remedies. After managing to cure herself of the illness, she renamed the recipe (her name spelt backwards is Essiac). According to history, she continued her work, helping people in a similar condition to cure themselves.
There have been many claims that Essiac tea has been the reason for many cancer cures, but the results are fairly inconclusive. Another example of this was Dr. Brusch, who basically claimed that an herbal remedy derived from the Essiac recipe cured him of his own cancer.
Many variations of the Essiac tea recipe still remain today. The basic construction of the tea is from burdock root, elm inner bark, sheep sorrel and rhubarb root. Of course, there are many variations that include all, some and other ingredients to make the Essiac recipe.
The U.S. National Institutes of Health's Medline has done several tests and studies to try and determine the real benefit, if any, relating to Essiac tea. Their results are fairly inconclusive. A statement from them back in 2008 suggests that they have no real evidence to suggest that this recipe helps at all. They have no evidence to support its use and therefore, do not suggest its use as an alternative to any other type of therapy or treatment for cancer sufferers. As there are a lot of different recipes, some are purely designed for their taste benefits rather than health benefits, so they recommend using standard procedures for all cancer patients.
Although there are several reports relating to personal testimonials of the success of this concoction, there is nothing to support Essiac tea use. That being said, they also admit that none of the individual ingredients in Essiac have been tested to see if they have any properties that could affect cancer directly.
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