Herbal Product Therapy
Assignment Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to explore an HERBAL therapy product, specifically an essential oil, tincture (individual or blended) or a herbal in capsule form (single herb or formulation). Assignment Objective: 1. Describe biochemical pathways in the context of functional nutrition. 2.Use functional nutrition principles to seek the root cause of patient illness. ACEND Competencies 1.4 Integrates knowledge of chemistry and food science as it pertains to food and nutrition product development and when making modifications to food 1.9 Applies an understanding of the impact of complementary and integrative nutrition on drugs, disease, health and wellness. Instructions: 1. Identify an herbal product, specifically an essential oil, tincture (individual or blended) or a herbal in capsule form (single herb or formulation). 2. As a HCP or future HCP, describe why you chose this particular product, its relevancy to clinical practice or presence on the internet. 3. What is the claim the label makes or what does “social media” say is beneficial about this product? Is the claim accurate and if so, is it misleading? If not, why not? 4. If you selected a single herb, like oregano oil capsules, please provide 3-5 references indicating its efficacy. If you selected a formulation, like Essiac, please provide at 1-3 references on its formulation. If you selected a “proprietary blend”, like Matula tea, please identify all of the ingredients and provide at least one reference per ingredient as to its efficacy. 5. What biochemical pathways would be influenced by this product? Explain. 6. Do you think that this product is safe and ethical? Why or why not? Explain whether this product “works” the way the label describes. 7. Would you recommend this product to a client? Explain. Would you take it yourself, why or why not? 8. Would there be any potential drug/nutrient interactions with this product? Why or why not, explain. Please cite any references in AMA format to either support or refute the recommendation for this product. You may have to break it down by individual ingredients.
