Episode 3

Poor lemon balm...and how only YOU can prevent herbal rumors.

Published on: 7th March, 2023

And thus, we have arrived at this month’s musings here in the Herbal Sensorium where not only do I liberate lemon balm from falsehood and take a deep dive into its kindly medicinal ways, but I take the opportunity to share about something called ‘clinical relevance’, why we need to dig deep and question when we hear lines in the sand drawn about herbs, and how only you can prevent herbal rumors.

Thank you all for sharing this time with me and helping me save lemon balm from the prison of a contradiction that it doesn't deserve. Here are the links I mentioned in this episode...

Evidence-based Practice Model

Sackett, D., Rosenberg, W., Gray, J., et al. (1996). Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn’t. British Medical Journal, 312, 71-72.

Hoffman, T., Bennett, S., & Del Mar, C. 2013. Evidence-based practice: across the health professions (2nd ed.). Chatswood, NSW: Elsevier.

The source of the lemon balm rumor...

April 1984 – In vitro - ether extraction of freeze-dried aqueous extracts and rat liver

August 1984 –In vitro – freeze-dried aqueous extracts on bovine TSH binding to human thyroid plasma membranes (rat testis and liver also)

May 1985 – In vitro – freeze-dried extracts and human thyroid membranes

October 2003 - Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO) transfected with human TSH receptors (from abstract - unclear about type of extract used)

Awesome work from my herbal friends and colleagues...

jim mcdonald's Lindera course (both in person and online options available)

Camille Freeman's podcast episode debunking an herbal rumor about Vitex agnus-castus

Simon Mills Book The Essential Book of Herbal Medicine

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About the Podcast

The Herbal Sensorium

A sanctuary for musings and explorations into the sensational realm of clinical herbalism.

The Herbal Sensorium is a sanctuary for musings and explorations into the sensational realm of clinical herbalism hosted by Erika Galentin MNIMH RH, Clinical Herbalist of Sovereignty Herbs. Whether you are a student of herbalism working towards your heartpath goal of working one on one with clients or a seasoned herbal practitioner with years of clinical experience (or somewhere in between), the stories woven in the Herbal Sensorium will inspire your passion, invoke a deepening of your herbal philosophy, and enlighten your path to clinical practice.

Hello! I’m Erika Galentin…I am a clinical herbalist with over 17 years of experience working one on one with clients from all walks of life and the Herbal Sensorium is my way of sharing this experience and its insights with those of you who are walking a similar path.

Held by narratives from my own journey as an herbal practitioner, each episode is structured around a real-life story from my clinical experience that has sparked my enthusiasm and which represents a foundational element of clinical herbal practice. I will share my musings and insights about an aspect of clinical herbalism - a philosophy, approach, or concept - with the hope of enriching your own perspectives and philosophies of herbal practice. Each episode is rounded out by a deep-dive into a specific medicinal herb and its virtues which highlight these insights. And while I will be doing most of the sharing, I will also be inviting guests in from time to time to share their experiences of the topic at hand…and I have some really amazing, learned, and experienced herbal practitioner friends.

About your host

Erika Galentin MNIMH RH

I am the Clinical Herbalist, Lead Creatrix, Grower, Distiller, Educator, & Clinical and Business Mentor at Sovereignty Herbs. I am also the host of the Herbal Practice Connexion (HPX), a community and gathering ground for herbalists seeking resources and support to build and grow their clinical practice. My home base and medicine gardens are located in the Appalachian region of SE Ohio, but I serve a national and international community with my renowned herbs & wellness coaching, online and in-person classes and workshops, and clinical and business mentorship programs.

I have a degree in Herbal Medicine from the University of Wales, Cardiff, UK and Scottish School of Herbal Medicine, Glasgow, UK. I am a professional member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (UK) and the American Herbalists Guild (USA) and also a proud member of Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society in Horticulture (USA).

Over a decade of clinical practice has provided a platform for witnessing the efficacy of medicinal plants and aromatics within a clinical environment. It is through this clinical practice that I seek to encourage positive, learned relationships between plants and people and people and their bodies. I am a firm believer in celebrating the role that emotions and the psyche play in the ecology of our physical terrain. I am also deeply passionate about the history of botanical medicine in the United States as depicted by the American Botanical Movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and have built my clinical philosophy around the principles and practice of Physiomedical and Eclectic traditions.

In addition to clinical practice, I am both a student and teacher of horticulture, native medicinal plant conservation and ecology, and the phenomenological and Goethean study of plants and their medicinal virtues. And with my dedication to medicinal plants native to Ohio and the Greater Appalachian region, I teach, lecture, and write on native medicinal plant conservation and applied ecology, propagation, herbalism, and clinical efficacy. I also participate as a member of the Education Advisory Council of the American Herbalists Guild.