Essiac herbal tea review

You may have seen the recent advice column by Dr. Andrew Weil, M.D. where he was asked about Essiac tea and Flor-Essence. The questioner wanted to know if either product was worthwhile for a person undergoing chemotherapy. Dr. Weil replied with a brief history of Essiac, saying that Renee Caisse who first popularized it later modified the original Essiac recipe, adding additional herbs, and calling it Flor-Essence.

Dr. Weil stated that it was reckless and dangerous to replace chemotherapy and other conventional treatments with either of these herbal teas. He also said there is no clinical evidence that Essiac or Flor-Essence “has any anti-cancer activity.” He went on to say they both can have unpleasant side effects.

Today, a Canadian newspaper, The Vancouver Sun, has published a rebuttal to Dr. Weil from Carmen Tamayo, M.D., the director of research for Flora Manufacturing, the company that makes Flor-Essence. Dr. Tamayo stated that the lack of conclusive clinical evidence either for or against the effectiveness of Flor-Essence was due to the lack of funding necessary to conduct clinical research studies.

In the meantime, he added, consumers have bought more than 8,000,000 bottles or pouches of Flor-Essence within the past 12 years, and they have received less than 10 reports of any adverse reactions. He did note that what Dr. Weil referred to as unpleasant side effects — namely frequent bowel movements and increased urination — were common elements of the cleansing process, and that since Flor-Essence is marketed as a cleansing tonic, and not as a treatment or cure for any disease, the product was simply doing what consumers expected it to do.

Dr. Tamayo concluded by saying that Flora was “committed to funding and participating in accredited, scientific research.”

If the manufacturers of Essiac have responded to Dr. Weill’s column, I would like to know what they had to say also.

The Flora Manufacturing and Distributing company is located near Vancouver in Burnaby, British Columbia.