Infusion. Simmer the mashed bilberries in water for 10 minutes and then strain.
Commercially prepared extracts. Both standardized and not, bilberries are available in capsules, extracts, and tablets. Most of the standardized extracts are European. The best European preparations are high quality, pharmaceutical grade bilberry extract from whole, dried, ripe fruit. Standardization to 23% to 37% bilberry anthocyanosides is typical.145
Dosage: How much do you use?
Dried. The dried ripe berries are used in a dose of 20 to 60 g daily, eaten whole or prepared as a tea (infusion), divided into three doses.
Extracts. Standardized products with 25% anthocyanosides can be taken at a dose of 120 to 320 mg per day, divided into two or three doses.146
What should you be aware of before using it?
Bilberries have been used as a food for centuries and have no known toxicity. However, large quantities of the fresh fruit can have a laxative effect. In fact, that is also one of the traditional medicinal uses. Be cautious when using bilberries in conjunction with herbs known or suspected to have a laxative effect. (See Chapter 5 for a list.)
If you are diabetic, hypoglycemic, or are taking insulin, glyburide, or a related drug, check with your doctor before using bilberries. Preliminary research indicates they may affect blood sugar levels.147 Be cautious when using it in conjunction with herbs known or suspected to affect blood sugar levels. (See Chapter 5 for a list.)
If you are taking antithrombotic agents, check with your doctor before taking bilberries.148 Bilberries may retard clotting and increase the chance of bruising. If you plan to have surgery, tell your surgeon you have been taking bilberries and discontinue use. Be cautious when using it in conjunction with other herbs known or suspected of increasing the risk of bleeding. (See Chapter 5 for a list.)
It is probably best to avoid the leaves. Though they have some traditional uses, including the ability to lower blood sugar levels, their safety is in question. Oral tradition among herbalists says the leaves may be dangerous. Not enough research exists to evaluate how great or precisely what that danger may be.149
Bilberries contain ferulic acid, a known uterosedative. Though no reports of problems for pregnancy have been reported in the literature, it’s probably safest to avoid medicinal bilberry while pregnant until its safety has been better examined.
Though bilberries are sometimes called huckleberry, they should not be confused with members of the Gaylussacia genus, also called huckleberries, which are an entirely different berry. They should also not be confused with the berry more commonly called “blackberry,” Rosoideae rubus.
Borage Oil
Scientific name: Borago officinalis
Also known as burrage, starflower, bugloss, borage oil, starflower oil
Borage, Borago officinalis
An annual plant with bristly stems and blue star-shaped flowers, borage is native to the Mediterranean region and to central and eastern Europe. It has, however, become a common herb in western European herbal gardens, where it is also ornamental and attractive to bees. It also grows wild as an introduced species in the northern states of the United States. Borage oil is extracted from the seeds. The dry leaves can be made into a tea or a tincture, or the fresh leaves can be juiced.
An old saying goes like this: “ego borago gaudia semper ago.” (“I, borage, always bring courage.”)150 In old England, the leaves and flowers were added to wine to “drive away sadness, dullness, and melancholy.”151 John Evelyn, writing at the close of the seventeenth century, described how sprigs of borage helped students hold up under arduous studying.152 A modern take on the theme is that borage contains an essential fatty acid with possible adaptogenic properties.
Borage oil contains gamma-linolenic acid (GLA), an omega-6 fatty acid, which may have anti-inflammatory properties. Though other plants, most notably evening primrose and black currant, also contain GLA, borage oil contains it in higher concentrations.153 GLA is converted in the body into a hormone-like substance that helps regulate inflammation.154
What is it good for?
Arthritis. A small-scale 1993 study showed improvement in people with rheumatoid arthritis who took borage seed oil for twenty-four weeks.155 Another showed that it reduced damage to joint tissue in the rheumatoid arthritis sufferers who took very large doses.156 Animal studies show similar improvements for various inflammatory conditions.157
Stress. One study suggests that the GLA in borage oil helps the body deal with stress. In a small study, ten men who had been taking borage oil for 28 days had a statistically lower blood pressure and decreased heart rate when faced with experimental stress. Performing better than olive oil and fish oil (the controls), borage oil not only decreased the stress reaction but increased performance of the men while under stress.158 The study, however, was very small and not duplicated. Furthermore, the anecdotal evidence for borage oil as an antidote to stress is slim. One study and almost nonexistent tradition are together probably not enough to warrant taking borage oil to deal with stress.
Eczema. Herbalists sometimes prescribe borage oil (taken orally) for eczema. We have some evidence that it is the GLA in borage oil that is helpful for this condition. People with eczema tend to have abnormal levels of linoleic acid in their blood. GLA taken regularly may help restore normal levels.159 The evidence for this effect, however, is slim and equivocal, and many conventional doctors are still doubtful.160
Adrenal support. A popular claim of supplement stores is that borage leaf tea stimulates the adrenal glands. The old saying that borage gives courage would seem to support this claim. Modern research, though admittedly slim, doesn’t show any adrenal connection. Given that borage leaves have significant safety issues, it’s probably wise to leave them alone and to find your courage elsewhere.
How do you use it?
Oil is available in commercially prepared capsule form.
Dosage: How much do you use?
Recommended daily doses of the oil range widely, from 300–500 mg161 to 1,000–1,300 mg.162 If the oil you’re taking is standardized, look for roughly 240 to 300 mg of GLA.163 Studies tend to use very high doses of borage seed oil. While high doses don’t seem to have any adverse short-term effects, we still aren’t sure what pyrrolizidine in that amount is doing to the liver.
What should you be aware of before using it?
The German government no longer permits the sale of borage. The plant contains small amounts of the liver toxin pyrrolizidine.164 Some herbalists suggest that the German government’s decision was an overreaction, citing the fact that borage has been used safely for centuries both as a food and as a medicine, and other legal herbs have more pyrrolizidine than borage. For safety’s sake, it’s probably best to avoid borage leaves entirely. Most of the uses for the leaves do not go beyond local, anecdotal tradition. Clinical evidence of benefit is lacking.165 As for the oil, if you can’t wait for studies to verify its safety, strongly consider either using it only short-term or having long-term use overseen by a physician.
Another alternative is to try refined gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). GLA is the main (but not