The American Botanical Council (ABC) has teamed up with the producers of the popular public television series Healing Quest to create a segment on popular herbs and herb issues, titled “Herbal Insights.”
ABC Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal has co-created and recorded 7 “Herbal Insights” segments for Healing Quest. Episodes with those segments began airing in select markets in January 2010 and are scheduled to run throughout the year. Healing Quest is co-hosted by entertainment icon Olivia Newton-John and co-producers Judy Brooks and Roy Walkenhorst of Lightbridge Productions in Sonoma, California.
The first 7 “Herbal Insights” briefly profile the following popular herbs: chamomile (Matricaria recutita, Asteraceae), ginger (Zingiber officinale, Zingiberaceae), licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra, Fabaceae), marshmallow (Althaea officinalis, Malvaceae), peppermint (Mentha x piperita, Lamiaceae), senna (Senna alexandrina, Fabaceae), and slippery elm (Ulmus rubra, Ulmaceae) bark.
“We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to work with the producers of Healing Quest to distribute these brief segments to public television audiences,” said Blumenthal. “Being on public TV helps enhance ABC’s nonprofit educational mission to educate the public about the traditional uses and modern research on herbs and medicinal plants.”
Since its inception, Healing Quest has been the only weekly national TV series focused entirely on integrative health and natural approaches to optimum well-being. It frequently features interviews with noted leaders in the natural health and consciousness movements, including author Deepak Chopra, MD; integrative medicine pioneer Andrew Weil, MD; bestselling authors Marianne Williamson and Joan Borysenko, PhD; holistic pediatrician Alan Greene, MD; and others. Now in its seventh season, Healing Quest is cleared for broadcast on 140 public television (PBS) stations across the United States.
The show’s underwriters include Traditional Medicinals, a manufacturer of medicinal herbal teas and related products; Bionorica, a German producer of clinically-tested phytomedicinal products; and RFI Ingredients, a supplier of herbs and other dietary ingredients for the food and dietary supplement industries. More information about Healing Quest is available at www.healingquest.tv/.
A schedule for the Healing Quest episodes containing the “Herbal Insights” segments is available on ABC’s website (www.herbalgram. org). The schedule can be accessed via the link “ABC on the Air” on the News section of the website. ABC is currently working with the producers of Healing Quest to initiate new “Herbal Insights” segments for 2011.