Daniel B. Mowrey, Ph.D. earned his advanced degree in experimental psychology from Brigham Young University. His specialized area was psychopharmacology, with related studies in biochemistry, neurology, anatomy and physiology. His interest in medicinal botany began while in graduate school and his dissertation reflected that interest. Over the next several years his research in this area lead to the publications of several books, among which are: Herbal Tonic Therapies, The Scientific Validation of Herbal Medicine, Guaranteed Potency Herbs: Next Generation Herbal Medicine, and Fat Management: The Thermogenic Factor

Tonic Herb   Non Tonic Herb Licorice   St John's Wort Since I began using this space to encourage the use of tonics, specifically the JC Whole Body Tonic, I have frequently re-viewed the concept of the tonic, helping and hoping to distinguish this unique and astoundingly beneficial class of plant materials from the zillions of herbs and dietary supplements that abound in the market place. I have learned that the concept is foreign to the thinking of people raised under the umbrella of the orthodox medical system. We almost get it . . . and then we slide back into the old notions learned from infancy. This morning I pulled from my files an article that appeared in a popular trade magazine of the health food industry called, "Debating Chronic Tonic Use." I remember being amused by this article when it first appeared back in 1997. The author had apparently spent some considerable effort talking to well known herbalists and reading books on the subject, including mine. After all that effort, the author chose the following subtitle for his article: "Overuse of herbs such as ginseng and its cousins can be counterproductive." Right away, I am sure that most readers of this column will detect the silliness of that statement. How can you overuse something that restores balance? One of the people quoted in the article said, "Generally, overuse of true tonics won't actually hurt anybody." Hmmm. Did the author not listen to his own experts? Perhaps a close look at some of the opinions and statements in that article would be useful for us all. To be fair, much of the author's confusion stems from one simple error: namely, he fails to distinguish between the herb and its extract. The extract of a tonic herb is not always tonic in its activity. Sometimes, the ability of the herb to balance a process is lost in the extraction process. The extract retains the ability to influence the process, but in just one direction. The true tonic characteristic of bidirectionality is sacrificed in the effort to increase the potency.