Replied By Michael (New Zealand) on 04/23/2022

It always worried me to read that people were advocating taking Comfrey internally, as I had often read that it had the POTENTIAL to possibly damage the liver. As my dearly beloved Aunt would say, "You Have Been Warned!! ".

It's not difficult to do the research on this one but I can see why people get confused! Both my (library) books on Herbs, Spices and Folk Remedies that date from a few decades ago(! ) see no problem with making a tea out of the leaves.

HOWEVER, Asa Hershoff N.D.and Andrea Rotelli N.D. in their more recent publication, "Herbal Remedies"(Avery: 2001), caution that prolonged use is contraindicated. They would also prefer that only the leaf of the American Comfrey variety be used rather than the roots and even suggest not utilizing external ointments for longer than one month. There are other cautions they mention - one really ought to do one's OWN research before diving into the deep end on this one!

Apparently, in most commercially produced preparations, the suspected, implicated alkaloids have been carefully removed but who knows?

I use Comfrey leaves in my compost heap, as, along with seaweed, it is supposed to be a beneficial activator for the workings of the compost heap and, as you folks already know: "The Answer lies in the Soil". I harvest the leaves before I cut the flowers off and this also serves to help stop it spreading, which it would otherwise have a strong tendency to do.

Cheers from Down Under

Replied By Mama to Many (TN) on 04/23/2022

As Paracelsus said, "The dose makes the poison."

There are quite a few controversial remedies discussed on this website that are difficult to find discussed in other places. Borax, for example. I am thankful that there is a place to discuss and learn about their uses even when various organizations might villainize or ban them.

In his tome, "Medical Herbalism, " David Hoffman, FNIMH, AHG says, "Long-term studies with rats have demonstrated that the pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) in comfrey are hepatotoxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic...The herb must therefore be recognized as a potentially genotoxic carcinogen in man. However, the risk of genetic damage from these PAs appears to be low...To minimize potential risk, lengthy internal use is to be discouraged." He does go on to describe ways to use it internally.

I have found that many herbalists seem to agree with this approach. Few seem to be inclined to completely ban internal use (except for the root, which is generally considered to be used only externally.)

Recently I used fresh comfrey leaves internally when I had a suspected ulcer (from a prescription I was taking.) I felt that the risk of using comfrey internally was probably less than the risk from another prescription. And all ulcer symptoms did resolve in short order.

I would hate to see the feedback about the internal uses erased from this site, as that would reduce our power as consumers to make our decisions about the remedies we use. And the article that mentions comfrey tea does state, "While comfrey is a folk remedy that is still commonly recommended by herbalists, some scientists are concerned about the safety of comfrey, believing it to be harmful to the liver. You should do your own research and use wisdom and common sense about the use of any herbs. A natural practitioner will be able to help you understand any specific concerns about comfrey use for your own situation."

Definitely everyone should do their own research about what works best for them. No one should use a remedy that they are uncomfortable with.

~Mama to Many~

Replied By Karen Z (Australia) on 10/31/2022

The "science" denigrating comfrey is fake and like many herbs, the medico/pharma junta set out to discredit anything that they can't make money from (ie cheap and effective herbs).

Please DO some REAL research and find out the truth and stop being a mindless repeating station for bunkum that that Big Pharma want you to keep repeating and scare people off.

There are enough people, including myself who eat, drink and have in smoothies. I grow it and make comphrey oil and give it to people to injure themselves or have skin issues and it HEALS.

There is NO ISSUE with ingesting the stuff. If you want to be scared off, you will. If you want to do some actual research (and get behind the smokescreen they have generated - and I have discovered that also includes the "prestigious" Australian CSIRO (which has also a reputation for killing off Peter Andrews wonderful work on regenerating farmland so water is attracted to it)).

You have to really drill into the historical documents to find the truth. I believe the CSIRO scientist who did the research (finding "so many more alkalysing pyrroloids" than ever before) was put up to it, to kill people's faith in this remedy.

My advice: If you are sick, try it. It will NOT kill you. You are more likely to be cured more than anything else.

Yes I have Honours in Biochemistry, and I research until I get to the truth.

I suggest the people squarking about the "liver damage" danger, do likewise.

Go back to Lawrence Hills' well researched work. It isn't easy to find but there are pdf versions if you hunt them up.

Take it and get healed and avoid the medical/pharma juganaut that is NOT for your health. They just want to empty your bank account into theirs.