About Herbs of Kedem
Herbs of Kedem is an international cosmetics brand from Israel that utilizes both the minerals and unique flora from the Dead Sea as researched by Dr. Amir Kitron.
Our North American Distribution channel is Headquartered in Montreal, Canada. 
Learn more about the science and philosophy behind Herbs of Kedem products below:
What is Self-Healing?
Our body has tremendous capabilities to heal itself. For example:
- In a mechanism called "Homeostasis", the body is able to maintain a constant body temperature, blood glucose levels, and intestinal conditions.
- When bacteria or viruses attack it, in most cases the body reacts by producing anti-bodies, which protect the body without any side effects (unlike synthetic antibiotics, which may affect the liver).
- When the skin is bruised, the body first stops blood leakage by creating a blood clot; then, a scar is created from a protein called collagen; finally, an enzyme called collagenase breaks up the scar to allow the skin to grow back into place.
- When a bone is broken, it only needs to be set in place, and the body will heal it.
Then why do people get sick?
In some cases, our immune system is not strong enough to fight a bacteria or virus. In other cases, the body, or parts of it, start to attack the body, for example:
In type-II Diabetes, the body cells stop to react properly to insulin, consequently failing to take up glucose;
In all auto-immune diseases, the immune system triggers an attack: on the skin (psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, eczema, lichen planus, pemphigus, vitiligo), and in the joints (arthritis), the respiratory tract (asthma, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis), and the colon (Crohn's disease) etc.
In all forms of cancer, cells start to multiply and the body's immune system is unable to stop them.
Restoring the Body's Self-Healing Capability
When the body itself or parts of it become self-destructive, the best strategy is to activate its self-healing, so as to restore health, such as in the following :
- The Mind: In many cases, changing one's attitude to life, practicing prayer, meditation – help to bring about spontaneous healing, even in severe cases (see Deepak Chopra's Quantum Healing: Exploring the Frontiers of Mind/Body Medicine, 1989).
- Physical Fitness: physical training enhances the body's tolerance to stress, emotional stability and mental capacity. This can be enhanced with proper breathing, body balancing techniques etc.
- Nutrition & Detox: This will be discussed in subsequent sections.
- Signaling the Body with herbs and minerals: in the following, we shall show how it has been done since ancient times, and what is the scientific backing for it.
The fundamentals of Biblical medicine
help promote self-healing
The ancient Hebrew medicine was practiced in the Land of Israel at least until the second century B.C., as attested by contemporary historians who described the export of ointments from the Judean Desert region. Its approach included:
- The use of powerful local herbs: "Though shall purify me with Hyssop and I shall be purified"(Psalms, Chapter 51). The Biblical Hyssop apparently included the Oregano and Thyme species, rich in powerful phenols. These phenols are not only anti-fungal and anti-bacterial; they enhance the body's immune functions.
- Emphasis on total change of an existing condition, as exemplified by the symbol of a snake on a staff (current symbol of pharmacies), which Moses received: His staff was converted to a snake and back into a staff. Immediately upon receiving this symbol, he performed an act of healing on himself, converting a healthy hand into a hand affected with leprosy, and then healing it again. We will show shortly how local herbs, rich in phytosteroids, can bring about such changes in response to specific ailments.
- Importance of liver and kidneys for detox: "liver" in Hebrew means also "heavy, respectful"; "kidneys" in Hebrew mean also "totality".
Phytosteroids of the Judean Desert frontier
The Judean Desert is situated between the Judean Hills, with an elevation of up to 1000 m above sea level and a rainy, Mediterranean climate, and the Dead Sea, which is the lowest place on earth -- more than 400 m below sea level, with constantly warm and dry conditions. These two climatic extremes are separated by a narrow strip, ca. 30kms (14 miles) wide, which includes the Judean Desert. This creates a rare encounter between two herbal populations, and a strong climatic gradient, resulting in high stress levels in plants. One result of this stress is a relatively high level of certain phytosteroids, involved in plants' adaptation to stress. It appears that such phytosteroids are useful for various therapeutic purposes, including:
- Replacing Cortisone, for treating auto-immune skin diseases such as psoriasis, rheumatic problems, and various other inflammations;
- An adaptogenic effect, such as in the case of ecdysteroids helping faster muscle recovery during training by athletes;
- Blocking the 5-alpha reductase enzyme, which helps treat male-pattern hair loss, as well as prostate hyperplasia
Plants proposed for use, are presented in Annex A below.
The use of Dead Sea minerals for activating self-healing
During recent years, scientific research has shown that minerals absorbed into the body while soaking in Dead Sea water, help treat inflammatory conditions such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis, and Osteoarthritis.
Research has also shown that regularly bathing in Dead Sea water helped relieve skin problems, such as acne and psoriasis. It has been suggested that the high concentration of magnesium in Dead Sea water acts to reduce inflammations. This can also be beneficial in fighting the appearance of aging in the skin. Scientists believe that trace elements, such as Selenium, may have an important contribution.
How does self-healing compare with conventional medical treatment?
When a person is found to have high cholesterol (LDL), for example, doctors prescribe medication in the form of pills. These medications need to be taken for life. Cholesterol lowering medications from the statin family (Lipitor, Crestor) may eventually cause changes in the liver cells, because the liver is required to constantly remove residues of the medication. Once the liver is weakened, its capability to remove toxins from the body is decreased. Higher levels of toxins in the body may result in joint problems, for example, for which more medications may be prescribed. As a result of this process, many people end up taking more than 10 different drugs per day by the age of 70.
The statins, blood-pressure reducing drugs, and aspirin-type drugs are taken by a large part of the elderly population in the West. They often cause blood coagulation problems, stomach bleeds, muscle cramps, inflated and chapped legs.
Herbal preparations differ from synthetic drugs, in that they frequently contain hundreds of different ingredients, some of them acting in synergy. This often allows them to be effective even at low dosages. Also, bacteria are less likely to develop resistance to herbal preparations, as compared to synthetic antibiotics (super-resistant bacteria are now a major problem in hospitals, after decades of exposure to synthetic antibiotics).
While almost half of synthetic drugs are actually molecules that had been discovered in herbs, these drugs do not consist of a mixture of hundreds of ingredients, as in the herbal extracts. The pharmaceutical industry is not interested in registering herbal extracts as drugs, for the following reasons:
- plant extracts are often more expensive;
- the complexity of the changing concentrations of different ingredients inside-plants;
- it is difficult to register a patent over herbal extracts, which may have been used for centuries;