Worldwide
demand for effective evidence based herbal medicine is increasing. Many
people today are returning to herbal medicine as a result of the
greater awareness of health issues, promoted by new government health
policies and a growing distrust in conventional synthetic medicines. At Rainforest Herbs we promote products that
draw upon traditional health wisdom that is supported by solid
scientific evidence. These products are formulated according to the
principles of modern herbal medicine with standardized herbal extracts
to ensure consistency, efficacy and convenience for our customers.
In
recent years attitudes to global health have made an abrupt 180 degree
turn as the results of health statistics are becoming known. Obesity,
diabetes, hypertension, psychological disorders and other disease of
affluence and our modern sedentary society are now the modern plagues
that effect humanity. Advances in genetic science are revealing how much
of the cause of this goes back to our ancient hunter-gatherer biology
that has not caught up with our modern diets and lifestyle, leading to
the escalation of chronic disease we see today. While we are living
longer, the sharp global increase in sales of pharmaceutical drugs for
all these conditions shows the true picture.
The
rainforests of Southeast Asia have supplied the western world with
herbs, spices and oils for centuries. Malaysia in particular, with its
many indigenous groups, offers an invaluable source of knowledge in
medicinal plants from the rain forest. The main indigenous medicinal
systems of Malaysia are Traditional Malay Medicine, with influences from
Java, India and Arabia, and that practiced by the numerous native races
in Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo (Sarawak and Sabah). Of
these, many still live according to traditional ways in the jungle, with
a few preferring to avoid influences of civilization and continue to
lead a semi-nomadic existence deep in the rain forests of Borneo.
These individuals offer us both invaluable ethnobotanical information as well as an anthropological insight into the very issues that are plaguing modern humankind and gives us important clues as to where we have gone wrong, globally and individually. For more than 20 years I have had the opportunity to live with these indigenous groups and each experience always reminds me that it is we that need to learn from them much more than they need to "modernize" to fit our world.
The most well known of the ethnobotanical plant used by the native races of Malaysia to be extensively researched locally and abroad is the root of the small rainforest tree, Eurycoma longifolia or Tongkat Ali. Staring in 1994 I was fortunate to be one of the first to document first-hand the different ways that the taproot of this tree was used medicinally between various indigenous groups in Sarawak, Borneo; the Penan, Kelabit and Iban races as well as the rural Malays and various Orang Asli groups of Peninsular Malaysia. While there were some similarities between the ethnobotanical use of this herb, there was also many unique uses for the plant by which these indigenous races differed greatly. In Malay traditional medicine, from which the name "Tongkat Ali" meaning "Ali's walking stick" is given, the herb is most commonly used as a herb to increase male energy and fertility, as well as for fevers (malaria). In Sarawak it was common to see both men and women boil Tongkat Ali for energy after convalescence and it was not unusual for women to consume it after childbirth.
For the past 20 years a comprehensive research program coordinated between Malaysian and foreign universities has confirmed Tongkat Ali's traditional ethnobotanical uses, often to the amazement of the orthodox trained researchers. An understanding of the various active ingredients in the plant and their mechanism of action has advanced the acceptance of the herbs use worldwide. However, to date, all the conditions for which the herb are used in health products have not differed far from its traditional use by the indigenous races of Malaysia (to see our Rainforest Herbs Tongkat Ali product range, please click here). I believe this is a good example of how herbal ethnobotanical knowledge comes from not just a few years but centuries of human experience of trial and error in herbal action, safety and toxicity. Knowledge that helps us in our search for cures for disease, but more importantly, for natural health remedies that support health and prevent disease. This "preventative medicine" is an area of research that is most often overlooked by scientific researchers and thus it is left to the natural health community to bring these natural remedies to the world.
However, we are faced with a race against time, however, as the effects of rapid development of the rain forests is leading to not only global environmental consequences, the irretrievable loss of fauna and flora but also the loss of the ethnobotanical knowledge and traditional ways of life of the indigenous peoples found there. With the passing of each of the elders, the medicine men and women, a mine of valuable knowledge is lost forever.
At Rainforest Herbs we understand the importance of documenting and promoting ethnobotanical research and the cultivation of medicinal herbs in their natural rain forest environment, as well as education in the sustainable collection of raw materials. We firmly believe that to safeguard and maintain the rain forest ecosystem, the needs of the present must be met without compromising the needs of future generations.
In all corners of the globe, people are realizing the immense importance of preserving the complete rain forest ecology and at Rainforest Herbs we believe that by connecting to the holistic power of rain forest medicinal plants, a positive shift in environmental awareness can occur alongside the improvements to our health.
These individuals offer us both invaluable ethnobotanical information as well as an anthropological insight into the very issues that are plaguing modern humankind and gives us important clues as to where we have gone wrong, globally and individually. For more than 20 years I have had the opportunity to live with these indigenous groups and each experience always reminds me that it is we that need to learn from them much more than they need to "modernize" to fit our world.
The most well known of the ethnobotanical plant used by the native races of Malaysia to be extensively researched locally and abroad is the root of the small rainforest tree, Eurycoma longifolia or Tongkat Ali. Staring in 1994 I was fortunate to be one of the first to document first-hand the different ways that the taproot of this tree was used medicinally between various indigenous groups in Sarawak, Borneo; the Penan, Kelabit and Iban races as well as the rural Malays and various Orang Asli groups of Peninsular Malaysia. While there were some similarities between the ethnobotanical use of this herb, there was also many unique uses for the plant by which these indigenous races differed greatly. In Malay traditional medicine, from which the name "Tongkat Ali" meaning "Ali's walking stick" is given, the herb is most commonly used as a herb to increase male energy and fertility, as well as for fevers (malaria). In Sarawak it was common to see both men and women boil Tongkat Ali for energy after convalescence and it was not unusual for women to consume it after childbirth.
For the past 20 years a comprehensive research program coordinated between Malaysian and foreign universities has confirmed Tongkat Ali's traditional ethnobotanical uses, often to the amazement of the orthodox trained researchers. An understanding of the various active ingredients in the plant and their mechanism of action has advanced the acceptance of the herbs use worldwide. However, to date, all the conditions for which the herb are used in health products have not differed far from its traditional use by the indigenous races of Malaysia (to see our Rainforest Herbs Tongkat Ali product range, please click here). I believe this is a good example of how herbal ethnobotanical knowledge comes from not just a few years but centuries of human experience of trial and error in herbal action, safety and toxicity. Knowledge that helps us in our search for cures for disease, but more importantly, for natural health remedies that support health and prevent disease. This "preventative medicine" is an area of research that is most often overlooked by scientific researchers and thus it is left to the natural health community to bring these natural remedies to the world.
However, we are faced with a race against time, however, as the effects of rapid development of the rain forests is leading to not only global environmental consequences, the irretrievable loss of fauna and flora but also the loss of the ethnobotanical knowledge and traditional ways of life of the indigenous peoples found there. With the passing of each of the elders, the medicine men and women, a mine of valuable knowledge is lost forever.
At Rainforest Herbs we understand the importance of documenting and promoting ethnobotanical research and the cultivation of medicinal herbs in their natural rain forest environment, as well as education in the sustainable collection of raw materials. We firmly believe that to safeguard and maintain the rain forest ecosystem, the needs of the present must be met without compromising the needs of future generations.
In all corners of the globe, people are realizing the immense importance of preserving the complete rain forest ecology and at Rainforest Herbs we believe that by connecting to the holistic power of rain forest medicinal plants, a positive shift in environmental awareness can occur alongside the improvements to our health.
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