Home & Garden
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Everyday without fail James Duke takes his medicine to keep his gout in check: four stalks of fresh celery, as a crunchy snack or a flavorful ingredient in soups or salads. Sometimes he throws the celery in a blender with carrots and garlic for a zesty drink that also doubles as insurance against high blood pressure and cancer. The curing field
Retired botanist James Duke harvests
a bounty of health benefits from
his garden of medicinal plantsThe medicine is harvested fresh on Duke's six-acre organic farm, Herbal Vineyard, in Fulton, Md., which he uses also as an outdoor lab for himself and classroom for others interested in nature's living pharmaceuticals.
As he approaches 73 (April 4 is his birthday), Duke is a picture of health, which he attributes partly to good genes, over which he has no control, and partly to a healthy and natural diet, which he adheres to religiously. Exercise is essential, too, and he gets it naturally by gardening.
"I haven't had an episode of gout in six-and-half years," Duke said. "I think the celery has something to do with it. Celery contains at least 20 antiflammatory compounds, and also may be good for arthritis, which is related to gout.
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"I like to say I haven't proven it; I am just an anecdote. But I am not selling anything, so there's no reason for me to lie."Duke, a retired botanist with the United States Department of Agriculture, is a recognized authority on nature's remedies after devoting nearly 40 years to research on the subject. He is a sought-after lecturer and the author of 25 books on plants and their medicinal value.
Duke will be bringing his message to Hawaii next week as a guest of Lyon Arboretum, a botanical research facility of the University of Hawaii. He will give a lecture and conduct a workshop, both open to the public.
The lecture focuses on his two gardens, the one in Maryland and another in the Amazon in Peru. It will be held in the School of Architecture Auditorium at the University of Hawaii from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday. Admission is free.
In the workshop, Duke will discuss Amerindian, Chinese, Ayurvedic, African and biblical herbal remedies, and the history of spices. The workshop will be held from 1 to 3:30 p.m. March 16 at the arboretum. The fee is $35, and includes his book, "Dr. Duke's Essential Herbs." Seating will be limited, and prepayment is required. Call 988-0456 for more information and reservations.
(Although he has included traditional Hawaiian use of medicinal plants in his lectures, he does not plan on discussing the topic in this visit. Experts are available in the islands, Duke said, so he prefers to concentrate on other topics.)
DUKE, WHO HAS a Ph.D. in botany from the University of North Carolina, has been fond of plants and gardening from childhood. He planted his first garden when he was 8. But he did not become interested in the medicinal qualities of plants until the mid-1960s while working as a field ethnobotanist in Panama.
Lecture on medicinal herbs in North America and the Amazon of Peru A Tale of Two Gardens
Place: School of Architecture Auditorium, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Time: 7 to 9 p.m. March 14
Admission: Free
Call: 988-0456
Discussion on Amerindian, Chinese, Ayurvedic, African and biblical herbal remedies, and history of spices Herbal Workshop
Place: Lyon Arboretum,
Time: 1 to 3:30 p.m. March 16
Cost: $35, includes a book by James Duke, "Dr. Duke's Essential Herbs." Prepayment is required.
Call: 988-0456
"I call that my mid-life conversion. I noticed that these people in Panama depended on the forest for everything they consumed -- their food, shelter and medicine. Everything they needed came out of the forest, and I figured they must know something I don't," Duke said.
He began to compile a list of medicinal plants and his 30-year career later with the USDA allowed him to travel the globe to gather information. He has visited more than 50 countries, and for five years he devoted his time entirely to searching out plants that offered possible cures to cancer in a special federal research program.
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"I had the best job. I couldn't imagine a better job," Duke said, explaining that plants offer a fascinating and seemingly endless number of compounds that may be useful to ease human ailments. "Plants are a lot more imaginative than humans. If you put all the chemists together to make compounds, they couldn't possibly come up with the same number of the chemicals that plants have."IN HIS RETIREMENT, Duke maintains a vigorous schedule of gardening, writing, lecturing, researching and other duties. He continues to work in his Maryland farm where his Green Farmacy Garden, featuring 300 types of medicinal plants, is a star attraction. The garden is divided into 80 plots, each devoted to cures for a particular disease.
For example, pineapple is planted in the plot for burns and sunburns, and also is found in the plots for carpal tunnel syndrome, bursitis and tendonitis. Duke said the thorny tropical fruit associated with Hawaii (but not native to the islands) is useful in general against inflammatory diseases.
Natural medicine doesn't mean only herbs or herbal concoctions, it usually comes in the form of tasty foods, such as pineapples, and makes taking one's medicine a pleasure rather than a bitter chore.
"I like to get my medicine fresh and in my diet. I am not saying you should eat more food, just make sure you get a variety of food," said Duke, who advocates a daily diet that includes seven kinds of vegetables and seven kinds of fruits.
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Vegetables and fruits or other plant material not only offer possible cures but also may be effective prevention of illnesses, Duke said. Healthful food -- red meat with high fat content is a dangerous indulgence -- is essential in ensuring longevity and good health."I think if most Americans just eat right and exercise right, we would not have nearly the numbers of cancers, heart diseases and diabetes. And the thing I am talking about that would make a big difference is food," he said.
Duke isn't against taking his medicine in capsule form or resorting to man-made drugs when he can't take in enough fresh food. Celery seed capsules are more manageable when he's traveling. And echinacea capsules are an alternative because Duke thinks the flowers are too pretty to harvest.
At times he also takes his daily clove of garlic, another powerful medicinal food, in capsule form. "I have trouble getting raw garlic down. Besides, you may not want to be eating raw garlic; you may lose a lot of friends that way."
Gardening Calendar
Suzanne Tswei's gardening column runs Fridays in Today.
You can write her at the Star-Bulletin,
500 Ala Moana, Suite 7-210, Honolulu, HI, 96813
or email stswei@starbulletin.com
