John Easterling founded the Amazon Herb Company in the mid-‘80s, after a trip to the Amazon Rainforest.  During the trip, he became ill, but recovered after ingesting some herbal teas and medicines given to him by the native Ship Ibo Indians.  He founded the Amazon Herb Company to manufacture and market herbal remedies made from wild plants grown in the Amazon Rainforest.

Apparently, Mr. Easterling has studied ancient Chinese medicine because his rationale for the effectiveness of his products strongly echoes the explanations of traditional Chinese medicine.  For example, Amazon Herb Company claims that its herbal formulas treat and cure entire body systems, but do not act upon any single health problem.  (In Chinese medicine, this is the explanation of “chi.”)  The company claims that the “bio-energy” of the Amazonian plants builds resistance to illness in the body because their bio-energy is never reduced by chemical processing.  {Italics are mine.}  Really?  I find that hard to believe, very hard!  Surely, the plants are not just harvested, chopped up, and shoved into bottles to sell!  Don’t they come in pill form?  The Amazon Herb Company states that the “homeopathic” element of the plants is essential for curing the body of illness.  “Homeopathic” is defined as home grown; it’s difficult to see how being home grown is an essential factor in curing illness.

Another claim made by the company is that improvements in health and even cures for disease are possible by a change in thinking by the patient.  If you think you are ill and suffering, you will develop symptoms and get worse.  But, if you disregard illness and think of yourself as healthy, you overcome illness through mental strength.  I would ask,  “If that’s true, why do I need the herbs from the rainforest?”  The idea of wellness through positive thinking is also part of the Chinese concept of “chi.”

The Amazon Herb Company hires villagers to harvest all the plants they use.  It also donates 10% of its profits for preservation of rainforests and provides local tribes with Rainforest Rescue Funds.  While these are generous gestures of Mr. Easterling, I think that the claims of his company and the rationale behind the development of the products are weak and unproven.  It seems to me that he should have considered that his illness during his trip to the Amazon might have been cured by the body’s natural recovery processes and not by the teas and herbs he was given.  At the least, some experimentation should be done to determine the effectiveness of these plants.  Reliance on testimonials is not enough.

Selling these products to the gullible would be pretty easy, but only you can decide what you are willing to do for money.