Catch up with what's going on at Herbalist & Alchemist
Autumn News      November 2016     Vol.8 No. 3
Autumn...Summer is over and the holidays will be here soon.  But...don't get too caught up in the hustle & bustle. Hoping you enjoy the colors of fall...a brisk hike, a countryside bike ride or just jump into a pile of leaves...       
DNA Testing Industry Update!
 
The industry debate on just how reliable  DNA testing is for herbs heated up considerably last month. 
In The Media
 
David forgot to tell us that he had done an interview on adaptogens for Gwyneth Paltrow's website Goop. What a wonderful surprise when people started calling us.
David also filmed an excellent video interview at Expo East for VegTV.

Interview with David Winston, RH (AHG) at Natural Products Expo East 
Beth was interviewed for several articles recently, including one for New Hope on the challenges small herbal companies must overcome.  
And another for NutraIngredients-USA on growth in herbal product sales
Beth was also one of the panel members for a very interesting Botanicals Forum by NutraIngredients-USA discussing a number of issues the herbal industry faces, which is archived to watch on demand. She made the excellent point that specialized companies like H&A that start with raw herbs are very different from the big companies that just use powdered extracts, and it's important to factor in that difference when planning industry self-regulation initiatives.
David Winston's Students: Where Are They Now? 

For each newsletter we interview one of David Winston's former students to find out what inspired them to learn about herbal medicine and how they are using their training. This quarter we were privileged to obtain this wonderful interview from  Wendy Warner, MD, ABIHM at
Medicine in Balance. 

Congratulations to Our Contest Winners  
 
We give away far better things in our booths at trade shows and conferences than stress balls and pens - people who stop by have a chance at a product basket, a library of David's herbal education materials, and even a Kindle Fire! Here's who scored these goodies in the past few months:
 
AHVMA Conference 2016 Build Your Herbal Library Basket
Anne Carroll 
Chelsea Animal Hospital 
Chelsea, VT

AHG Symposium 2016
Build Your Herbal Library Basket
Kristen MCPhee 
Kristen McPhee Nutrition & Herbs
Marquette, MI

ExpoEast 2016
Kindle HD
Tansy Rodgers, and it was her birthday!  
Beu Complete
Lititz, PA
 
Build Your Herbal Library Basket
Jill Schubert
Better Thymes
Front Royal VA
 
Natalie Fox
Health Food Center
Youngstown, OH
 
David Gets Together with Former Students
2016 AHG Symposium.
David, Beth and Karen Report on Conferences      

David Winston, RH (AHG) shared
some of the highlights of two conferences, the Florida School of Holistic Living and the 27th Annual American Herbalists Guild Symposium:
  • I spent the weekend teaching at this wonderful school in Orlando, FL, the Florida School of Holistic Living.  The primary instructor is Emily Ruff, who also organized the Florida Herbal Conference (where I was the keynote speaker in 2014).  Emily and the rest of the staff are energetic, knowledgeable and passionate about teaching people the benefits of herbal medicine and healthy living.  I taught my class Talking Leaves, an indigenous Language of Plants and Medicines of the Soul: The Ritual Use of Plants.  It was a great weekend with smart, interested students and gave me some time to look at local Florida native and introduced plants including Sida (2 species), Boerhaavia diffusa, Selenicereus grandiflorus, Melaleuca, Camphor, Banisteriopsis caapi, Holy Basil, Bitter Melon, Turmeric, Ginger (in flower), Passionflower, Horsemint and Yaupon.  While this is perhaps not the best time weather wise to visit central Florida, the warm reception, kindness and deep interest of the students made this a go to event.
  • The 27th Annual American Herbalists Guild Symposium, Connecting to our Roots, took place at the Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Western Pennsylvania from September 29th to October 3rd.  The conference was very well attended and had many excellent teachers and classes.  I taught a pre-conference intensive on the Ten Tastes; the Energetics of Herbs, as well as 2 conference classes on Migraines and the Ritual Use of Plants.  I also took classes on the controversial herb Kratom, a bronchiectsis case study (taught by Patricia Kyritsi Howell), Susan Kramer's class on Wen Bing Xue (the 4 levels of infectious disease) and Danny O'Rawe's classes on Tacit Knowledge and Herbal Medicine and Bitters are Better.  All the classes were informative and well taught, I especially found much to think about in the classes that Danny taught, he is a brilliant thinker and herbalist from Northern Ireland. The Keynote talk was given by Phyllis Hogan and she did an amazing job, discussing her journey with Native Elders in the Southwest documenting their knowledge of plants for ritual, medicine, food and economic uses. It was inspirational.  Saturday night I met with a large group of my former and current students (more than 40, although some did not get into the picture) who were at the conference.  There were students who graduated from the 2 year program in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s.  It was inspirational to see so many amazing students who have gone on to become great clinicians, educators, herb growers, etc. I was humbled and proud of their achievements.   
American Holistic Veterinary Conference
CEO Beth Lambert said she visited with many of our wonderful veterinary customers in September at the American Holistic Veterinary Conference held in Columbus Ohio. "I was excited to hear several vets discuss Adaptogens in their lectures. Dr. Rona Sherebrin passed around many Herbalist & Alchemist extracts for "organoleptic" evaluation in her Intro to Botanical Medicine class. And we had a great late afternoon herb walk down by the steamy Scioto river organized by the Veterinary Botanical Medicine Association and led by Chip Carrol, United Plant Savers' Goldenseal Botanical Sanctuary Steward."
 
Expo East 2016
Marketing Manager, Karen Tuorto said " This was certainly one of the busier years at the Baltimore Convention Center. Located on one of the busy corners in the supplements section, our booth experienced a steady stream of people passing by, stopping in, or just window shopping. Many of our customers stopped in for a chat with David, and we made new friends during our books signings. Traffic in the supplements section overall seemed to be hot this year, even though the same type of supplements and/or foods seemed to be repeatedly offered at the show. Probiotics and Protein Shakes were found aplenty. How a health food store decides what brands to carry is mind-boggling. H&A as an herbal tincture company offered what most others did not."  

David Winston's Herbal Salon 2016 Schedule   

We're pleased to see more Practitioners and Health Food Store Staff participating in David's free Herbal Salons held once a month on Wednesdays at Noon Eastern time. Not receiving your invite? Please email karen1@herbalist-alchemist.com. Access to David's Salons is limited to wholesale customers, so please be sure to include the name of the store or practitioner for whom you work.   
 
Next Topics:
December 7 - Sleep / Insomnia
David Winston's Herbal Jeopardy-Autumn Edition Contest    

Answer correctly & you will be entered into a drawing to win an H&A "cash card" worth $50.00 towards future purchases of our quality products.   
Our Summer Contest winner was Susan Anderson from but congrats to all who answered " Pueraria lobata (Kudzu)"  as the correct answer.  
Center For Herbal Studies
David Winston's Center for Herbal Studies     
David's 2016-2018 class are deep in their studies in the current Herbalist Training Program. If you've thought about deepening your herbal medicine knowledge, you can't do better than this two-year program, which David has been teaching for 36 years. David's past students utilize their training in a variety of ways, from clinic, to research, hospitals, product manufacturing, retailing and educating. The two-year course can be attended in person or online, with classes meeting once a week on Tuesday evenings.  
Use the button above to find more information and see where else David is teaching this year on his Center for Herbal Studies website.

David Winston Resources 
   
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