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Wednesday, April 1, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Author sends character Choosing a good herbal supplement
to hide out on Metolius
By dr. kim Hapke, Nd
Columnist
Like so many Oregonians,
author Kris Lockard has fond
memories of her father taking
the family to hike, fish, and
camp in the Metolius Basin.
She loves the place — and
she’s got an interesting way
of expressing it:
“If I were to run away
someplace, that’s where I’d
go.”
Since she’s not a fugitive
on the run from a killer, she
is staying at her home in the
Willamette Valley — but she
sent the protagonist of her
newly released novel “Green
Ridge” here.
“My heroine lives in
Portland and is trying to
think of some place she could
go to hide from this really
homicidal daughter,” she
explained.
The Metolius Basin in the
shadow of Green Ridge was
the place.
Lockark has a point to
make in her story — beyond
her primary mission to tell an
exciting story and entertain
readers.
Her protagonist is an older
woman whose adult daughter
is angling to get her hands
on her assets, and is willing
to go to murderous lengths to
do it. The plot reflects a situ-
ation Lockard says is all too
real, though “Green Ridge”
amps up the stakes for the
sake of the tale. People she
knows have experienced that
kind of pressure to liquidate
to the benefit of children.
“I’ve seen this happen,”
she said. “Not to the extreme
that’s in my book. I just think
that’s so wrong. That’s one of
the messages of my book.”
Another is that there’s still
plenty of life left in the last
years.
“Once you think your life
photo provided
kris Lockard.
is over, don’t give up on it
— because you never know
what’s going to happen,” she
says.
Lockard is a photographer,
and her own photograph of
Three Fingered Jack taken
from Green Ridge graces the
cover of her book. She says
she got a lot of help in the
writing process, particularly
from friends in law enforce-
ment. In Sisters Country,
Roger White, owner of the
Camp Sherman Store, and
Maret Pajutee, Sisters Ranger
District ecologist, provided
vital information. They are
listed inside the front cover
of the book.
“I could not have done
that book without the help of
those people in the front of
the book,” Lockard says.
Writing the novel was an
all-in experience that took a
full year, with the vital sup-
port of an understanding
husband. Lockard says she’s
all through writing novels
… except for that idea for a
sequel…
“Green Ridge” is available
in Sisters at Paulina Springs
Books, 252 W. Hood Ave.;
541-549-0866.
Recent DNA tests
ordered by New York State’s
attorney general’s office
concluded four out of five
herbal products selected
for testing at stores such as
Walgreens and Target con-
tain none of the herbs listed
on the jars. Instead they con-
tained substances like pow-
dered rice and house plants.
Because these products
are not tested regularly by
the FDA, unethical compa-
nies have been getting away
with this type of behavior.
One course of action would
be to avoid the industry
entirely. That would be
a shame, both for ethical
companies carefully craft-
ing plant medicine, and for
people who could benefit
from it. Herbal medicine is
easily accessible, afford-
able, and effective for many
conditions.
For people who would
still like to benefit from this
medicine, a few guidelines
can increase your chances of
getting a well-made product.
• Avoid the latest trendy
herb. Just read a great study
on gingko? One of the tested
products from Target was
a gingko product that con-
tained no gingko. If you
have read an intriguing
study, so have hundreds of
thousands of others. They
are now racing to the store
to see if it works for them.
The problem? Gingko is
a slow-growing tree, the
world’s supply doesn’t rap-
idly increase when demand
does. This means unethical
suppliers will fill demand
with whatever leaves they
can find. Find a good sup-
plier, or look for an unsung
hero, i.e., a plentiful herb
that can do similar things. In
this case a possible substi-
tute is rosemary.
Caution—These health
claims are so commonly
sought-after, any product
claiming one of these ben-
efits should cause you to be
extra vigorous in following
the other guidelines: weight
loss, increased sexual per-
formance, increased athletic
performance, anti-aging and
increased energy.
• Let your senses guide
you: I like to use tinctures
because one can easily taste
the difference between the
different herbs. A capsule
can be broken open and the
powder tasted — you should
be able to taste garlic if it is
one of the ingredients. Good
herbal capsules will often
taste strong and bitter —
cheap fillers like powdered
rice are bland and inoffen-
sive. If buying dry herbs
for tea, a larger-cut product
will last longer and help you
recognize it visually. Dry
products should have a dis-
tinctive smell; even a mild
green herb should have a
green grassy smell. Lack of
a smell may mean the prod-
uct is old and less effective.
• Begin with what you
know: We may not all
be familiar with herbal
medicine, but we all are
familiar with eating. Trying
herbs or a new company
for the first time? Start with
something you recognize.
Peppermint, garlic, rose-
mary and licorice are all
common medicinal herbs. If
a company’s version of these
taste strongly recognizable,
the tinctures verging on
overwhelming, the chances
are better that they will be
doing a good job with other
herbs.
• Embrace a little disap-
pointment: Ethical compa-
nies will sometimes run out
of product, because there
are limited supplies of cer-
tain herbs, especially if
gathered in the wild (Mother
Nature is not influenced
by demands of the market-
place). This is why shop-
ping for cheap herbs at large
chains is a bad idea. They
will try to fill demand con-
tinually and cheaply (really,
we have to blame ourselves,
it’s what we wanted, right?).
So will their suppliers —
hence, house plants in your
capsules. An ethical com-
pany can guide you to effec-
tive substitutes until they
can restock the product you
are looking for.
Many people live in this
area to interact with nature
for the benefits it brings to
mind and body. Safely using
medicinal plants is another
way we can benefit from this
interaction.
Kim Hapke, ND, is a
naturopathic doctor practic-
ing in Sisters.
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386 N. Fir St., Sisters
Pastor Ron Gregg, 541-549-5831
www.shepherdofthehillslutheranchurch.com
541-549-6464
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