WHAT IS ESSIAC?
Essiac is a traditional Native American herbal tea that was originally given to an English woman living in Ontario, Canada by a native herbalist "medicine man" in the late 1800s. The woman had breast cancer and her cancer disappeared completely after taking the tea. However, it did leave a scar on her breast which was noticed by Canadian nurse Rene Caisse some thirty years later.
The original Native American tea contained eight herbs, but Rene Caisse never revealed the eighth herb. After using the tea on laboratory mice and real cancer patients for over fifty years she finally settled on just four herbs for the tea:
6 ½ cups of cut burdock root [arctium lappa]*
1 pound of powdered sheep sorrel herb w/roots [rumex acetosella]
1/4 pound of powdered slippery elm bark [ulmus rubrus/fulva]
1 ounce of powdered Turkish rhubarb root [rheum palmatum tanguticum]
*Click here for legal documentation of the Essiac tea formula and recipe.
Rene Caisse chose the word "Essiac" as it is her surname spelled backwards. (Her name is pronounced like "Reen Case".)
Rene Caisse specifically stated in writing that the roots of the sheep sorrel plants are "very essential" to the Essiac formula. Therefore, if the tea does not contain sheep sorrel roots it is not Essiac.
Essiac tea is a "decoction". A decoction is a tea-making process that is normally used for hard herbal ingredients like roots, seeds and bark in order to extract their health-giving properties. Essiac tea is boiled for ten minutes and then allowed to sit for eight to twelve hours. Click here for recipe instructions.
"If it works, don't change it." -- Rene M. Caisse, R.N.
ESSIAC TEA IS NOT A "DRUG". ESSIAC TEA IS NOT A "SUPPLEMENT."
ESSIAC IS JUST A TEA. ESSIAC TEA CONTAINS NO CAFFEINE.
Essiac tea has a well-established reputation for improving health. Although Essiac tea is well-known for use by cancer patients and helping diabetics, it is not just for cancer. People have reported many health benefits from Essiac tea since it became popular in the 1930s. Therefore, many people drink it daily to maintain good health.
Be sure to watch our "What Is Essiac?" video:
Essiac Circle of Friends
Essiac NorthWest, Humbleweed and many others have all contributed to the Essiac Circle of Friends, a natural society of like-minded people continuing traditional native herbal healing in the spirit of the Seven Fires Prophecy. The Essiac Circle of Friends is a cooperative effort to provide the highest quality Essiac tea herbs on the planet. It is not in itself a corporation or business but some of the people involved have started their own retail outlets to provide these high-quality herbs to the public. We are the people who plant, grow, harvest and supply these high-quality herbs to those in need. The Circle has evolved over the past decade with various people contributing to it and then moving on in the ever-changing ebb and flow of life.
* IMPORTANT NOTICE: We do not sell nor are we associated with the trademarked (TM) or registered (R) "ESSIAC" products that are sold by other companies in Canada and the US. We only sell the herbs so that people can make Rene Caisse's tea in their own homes. Rene Caisse never registered, patented or trademarked "Essiac" which was simply her last name spelled backwards and was originally derived from a native American herbal remedy for cancer. The word "Essiac" was in common usage in the 1930s, decades before anyone tried to corner the market by "registering" or "trademarking" the word "Essiac". Furthermore, we only use the "Essiac" formula which Rene Caisse's best friend, Mary McPherson, officially entered into the public domain in a sworn affidavit in 1994 in Bracebridge, Ontario. This formula uses Turkey rhubarb root which is much more pleasant tasting than the Indian rhubarb products on the market (which is why Rene Caisse switched to Turkey rhubarb in her final Essiac tea formula). The HealthFreedom.info website has posted Mary McPherson's "Essiac" formula affidavit here. This is the formula we use.
We include sheep sorrel roots in all our Essiac tea products at precise percentages. The percentages refer to the ratio of sheep sorrel root to the total sheep sorrel content in the formula.
The information on this page and on this website is for historical and general information purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice.
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