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This short, yellow, flowery shrub has been helping ease emotional suffering and anxiety for over 2400 years now. 2400 years ago St Johns Wort was known for its ability to chase away demons that brought about anxiety and emotional disturbance. I guess St Johns Wort was some kind of herbal exorcist. Today, in countries such as Germany it is prescribed 80% more often than Prozac. Why then are there so many people who don't believe that it works?
First, there is a quality issue. I admit good St Johns Wort is hard to find. There are a lot of brands out there that are garbage. Click on my "More solid info" link and look at the testing that was done by the Los Angeles Times newspaper. I would bet a good percentage of people that tried St Johns Wort didn’t feel a thing. Second, the amt of time it could take until you feel the effects. Who wants to wait six weeks to see if it actually works!? And if the brand you bought was garbage you could take it for 10 years and it still wouldn’t work.
But, it's almost as frustrating as any prescription anti-depressant. Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Serzone, you name it, all usually take up to six weeks kick in, too. The only difference is that it’s not a big gamble on the quality factor. But, if you compare St John’s success rate against prescription anti depressant's success rate along with the side effects of each you would have to conclude that St Johns Wort is worth trying first.
What is the recommended dosage?
The recommended dosage is 900mg of "hypericum" per day. Take 300mg's 3 times daily. Hypericum is one of the main active ingredients in St Johns Wort. Some recommend buying a brand that is labeled "standardized to .3 hypericum extract". Others recommend just buying capsules with the pulverized plant directly put in each one. I like both. The pulverized plant in a capsule seems stronger at first but loses it's potency towards the end of the bottle because the pulverized plant chunks seem lose their freshness quicker than the extract.
How does it work?
I have no qualifications as a health practitioner. But, what I have read that St Johns Wort works by preventing the existing serotonin in your body from depleting too soon. At the time of this writing, scientists have not yet discovered exactly how it works.
What is it?
It's a plant. Wort actually means plant in some language, I forgot what language and I don't feel like looking it up again, maybe later. And the reason it's called St Johns Wort is because the best day of the year to harvest it is on June 21st. June 21st has something to do with St John the Baptist.
Are there side effects
Possible side effects could include increased sensitivity to sunlight (burn) and slight fatigue.
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