Herbal Antibiotics: Natural Alternatives for Treating Drug-Resistant Bacteria (21 page)

Histological changes occur in rat pancreas after use of an ethanolic extract of the plant—28 days of use resulted in regenerative alterations. Islet cells in the pancreas of rats with induced type 1 diabetes regenerated. Quiescent cells proliferated and replaced lost cells. The plant also decreased blood glucose levels and increased B-cell levels in other studies.

The plant is used as an antiasthmatic in Ghana, and an in vivo study found it to act similarly to isoprenaline, which is sometimes used in bronchial inhalers for asthma. Another study found the plant to have a marked effect on the aorta of Wistar rats, essentially inducing elastogenesis.

Family:
Asteraceae (Compositae)

Common Names:
Spanish needles, beggarticks, demon spike grass, needle grass, *$%#*%!, and a lot of other names in hundreds of languages. It appears to grow everywhere and people either hate it or loathe it or both. They certainly do name it.

Species Used:
There are 200 species in the
Bidens
genus. Maybe. Anal-retentive phytospecific maniacs are continually messing about with which species belong in the genus and, as usual, making problems for everyone. In consequence, the taxonomy of
Bidens
is considered “unsatisfactory,” which is a massive understatement.

Bidens pilosa
is the main species used medicinally (or at least on which most of the studies have been done), but there do seem to be a number of others in the genus that historical use and early research indicate can almost certainly be used similarly:
B. frondosa
,
B. tripartitus
,
B. ferulaefolia
,
B. alba
are all fairly potent,
frondosa
and
tripartitus
more so than
pilosa
in their antimalarial effects.
B. maximovicziana
,
B. pinnata
, and
B. campylotheca
are all fairly strong as well but, in terms of impact on the malarial organism, a bit less strong than
pilosa
.

Note:
Bidens leucantha
is a synonym for
B. pilosa.

Usually the aerial parts, but the entire plant is active, and in some instances the roots seem to be a bit stronger as a medicinal. Normally, however, the leaves tend to be the most potent part of the plant, followed by the roots. The fresh leaves are often used and a number of studies show the fresh leaves and juice of the plant to be the most antimicrobial. Drying the plant reduces its antimicrobial action considerably.

There are some important things to know about using and preparing bidens:

• The most potent forms of this herb are alcohol tinctures and the fresh juice.

• The most potent constituents are considerably more soluble in alcohol than in water. Water infusions have a decent range of potency (as can be seen from the plant's traditional uses as a tea in Africa) but are not nearly as effective as a cold alcohol/water maceration.

• Some of the plant's most potent constituents oxidize easily and begin to degrade as soon as the plant is dried. Heat also destroys them.

• Expect about a two-thirds reduction in antimicrobial activity if the plant is not prepared fresh.

• The older the dried plant is, the less potent it will be in either water or alcohol. The fresher the dried plant material, the better.

• Water infusions lose potency fairly rapidly; they should be made and used daily. The rapidity of degradation of the plant chemicals is, in part, why so many cultures that don't normally make alcohol tinctures resort to using the juice of the leaves of this plant, internally and externally, for disease.

• Water extractions of the plant (teas, infusions, decoctions), especially if it is dried, possess about half the antibacterial activity of an alcohol tincture (depending on how old the extractions are), but they do possess most or all of the other actions described in this material (anti-inflammatory, antiallergenic, immune-modulating, and so on), especially the anti-inflammatory and antipyretic actions.

• A tincture is the strongest form of the herb as medicine. The use of piperine as a synergist will increase the potency of the plant considerably.

Fresh plant, 1:2, 95 percent alcohol, 45–90 drops in water, up to 4x daily. Tincture made from the dried plant, if you must, would be 1:5, 50 percent alcohol, triple the dose.

For acute conditions (malaria, systemic staph):
¼–1 tsp and up to 1 tbl in water, up to 6x daily for up to 28 days, depending on severity. The tincture can also be used topically on infected wounds.

Possible, but not really recommended.

Tea:
1 teaspoon herb in 8 ounces hot water; let steep 15 minutes. Drink 2–4 cups daily.

Decoction:
Not recommended; heat degrades the herb. But if you must: For external use, boil 1 ounce herb in 1 quart water for 20 minutes, then strain. Cool and use on skin inflammations. For internal use, boil 2–4 ounces herb in 1 quart water for 20 minutes, then strain. Drink by the cup 2–4x daily.

Cold infusion:
Steep 2–4 ounces herb in 1 quart cold water overnight. Drink by the cup 2–4x daily.

You can run the leaves through a juicer to obtain a decent quantity of the fresh juice—the plants are pretty prolific. Be aware that they have strong fibers that will bind the juicer and you'll have to clean it often. Use the juice on infected wounds, for eye infections, or internally for systemic infections. If you want, you can stabilize the juice with the addition of 20 percent alcohol so that it will keep (see
page 227
). It can then be taken internally much like the tincture, though it will be more potent in its actions. Dosages are similar to those listed for the tincture.

Actions

Antibacterial

Antidiabetic

Antidysenteric

Anti-inflammatory

Antimalarial

Antimicrobial

Antiseptic

Astringent

Blood tonic

Carminative

Diuretic

Galactagogue

Hepatoprotective

Hypoglycemic

Hypotensive

Immunomodulant

Mucous membrane tonic

Neuroprotectant

Prostaglandin synthesis inhibitor

Styptic

Vulnerary

Active Against

Bacillus cereus

Bacillus subtilis

Candida albicans

Human cytomegalovirus

Entamoeba histolytica

Enterococcus faecalis (Streptococcus faecalis)

Escherichia coli

Herpes simplex 1 and 2

Klebsiella pneumoniae

Leishmania amazonensis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Plasmodium
spp.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Salmonella
spp.

Serratia marcescens

Shigella flexneri

Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus epidermidis

Bidens
is not very active against
Aspergillus
.

Like a lot of studies for antimicrobial activity, a number of those on
Bidens
are contradictory. For every study that finds it active against
E. coli,
another says it is not. Same for
Pseudomonas
,
Klebsiella
,
Streptococcus
, and
Candida
. Some studies show very strong activity, others mild, others none at all.

The differences come from the time of year the plant was gathered, the ecosystem in which it was found, whether wild or domesticated plants were used (wild plants have been found to be much stronger antibacterials), and differences in how the plants were prepared—the main problem being preparation. (See Preparation and Dosage,
page 128
.)

For this plant to act as a potent antimicrobial, it must be prepared as a tincture of the fresh plant or the fresh juice must be used.

Use to Treat

In order of potency:

1)
Any
systemic infections that are accompanied by problems in the mucous membranes anywhere in the body, especially chronic diarrhea, dysentery, UTI, vaginitis, and inflamed respiratory passages

2) Systemic staph

3) Malaria, babesia, leishmania

4) Any of the other resistant organisms bidens is active against

Other Uses

As a pot herb. The plant comes up early in the spring, is very hardy, and is used by many cultures as a food staple. However, see Side Effects and Contraindications (page 132) for a caveat on the plant as food.

None noted; however, be aware that
Bidens pilosa
's leaves have numerous sharply pointed microhairs around the margins that are very high in silica. This kind of silica formation has been linked to esophageal cancer in certain domesticated animals (cows) and humans. Tribal cultures that eat large quantities of the plant as a primary food source show increased levels of that type of cancer. Cultures that use the plant only sporadically for food do not have an increased incidence of cancer. Exercise caution if using bidens as a food plant; it appears fine for occasional use but not as a steady diet.

Note:
Bidens pilosa
is a toxic-waste reclamation plant. Unless you want more heavy metals in your body, be careful where you get the plant. It should not be harvested from sites where there is heavy metal contamination. Numerous studies have found it to be a potent phyto-remediation plant for cadmium and one study showed the same for arsenic; another indicates it may have an affinity for heavy metals in general.

None noted, although one study does show it potentiating tetracycline.

Caution should be exercised when using the plant with people on diabetic medications as it will alter blood glucose and insulin levels.

A native of South America,
Bidens pilosa
is a world-class invasive species. Spread by the Spanish during colonization, it is now widespread seemingly everywhere. If it does not currently grow someplace, it eventually will.

Bidens grows from sea level to 10,000 feet (3,600 m) in altitude. It tolerates moist soil, sand, clay, lime rock, infertile soil, drylands. It thrives best in high sunlight, dry soils, and disturbed areas but has been found in nearly every type of eco-range on the planet. It can withstand long periods of drought and survives temperatures as low
as 5°F (–15°C). It isn't fire tolerant but rapidly invades burned areas and is quite happy about any opportunity to do so.

It loves the southern and southwestern United States and has spread up the West and East Coasts into eastern Canada.

It is found throughout the Caribbean, Central America, South America, Europe, Russia, China, most of Africa, Southeast Asia, southern India, Japan, the Pacific Islands, and Australia. It may not grow in Ulan Bator or Nebraska, but then again, it may.

At its initial appearance in spring, bidens is quite a beautiful ground-coverish sort of plant, but as the season develops and it grows taller, it develops a rather straggly, weedy appearance. The flowers are the usual white, five-petaled things with an orange interior. The seeds are longish, thin, black needles with a sharp, extended pronged tip. There are often three or four prongs in spite of the fact that
Bidens
means “two-toothed” (
bi
means two and
dens
—as in dental—being tooth). The seeds can attach themselves to about anything, hence the name beggarticks. If you walk through a patch of bidens during seeding season, your shoelaces and pants to the knees will be covered with hundreds of the hard-to-remove seeds—a thousand seeds weigh only about 1 gram. They take hours to pick out, hence the name *$%#*%!

The plant loves disturbed places, especially agriculturally disturbed fields, and actively tries to colonize cultivated land. It is allelopathic (toxic to other plants) and can reduce domesticated crops up to 50 percent once it invades a planted field. It is considered highly noxious in scores of countries just for that reason. The plant has very few natural predators.

I like it.

Bidens grows best from sea level to 10,000 feet (3,600 m) within a temperature range of 75°–90°F (25°–30°C) during the growing season. The edges of its growing temperature are from about 55° to 115°F (15° to 45°C).

Bidens grows easily from seed and is a tenacious grower. The seeds can still be viable after 3 years. The plant grows very fast, flowering as few as 6 weeks after its emergence from the ground. The first seeds mature just 4 weeks after flowering. Each plant produces a minimum of three thousand seeds a year and in some climates will reproduce four times before dying back.

The seed germinates best if buried about 4 cm in the soil; deeper than 6 cm and it won't germinate at all. Soaking the seed in water prior to planting increases germination rate and numbers. The seed can be broadcast or sown in rows.

The plant is an annual and can be harvested within 4 to 6 weeks of its emergence in the spring; it is generally considered to be harvestable until it sets seed (unless of course you are interested in making medicine from the seeds). The older the leaves, the more bitter and astringent they become. If you are using it for its astringency, gather late in the year. If you are gathering it for food, get it early in the year.