In 1996, I took a leave of absence from nursing to raise a family.  During that year, I had an opportunity to take a medicinal herb class from well-renowned herbalist, Karen Sherwood, instructor, at Tom Brown's Wilderness and Survival School. During that class, a book entitled "Calling of an Angel" by Dr. Gary Glum was passed throughout the classroom; no one knew who started this circulation about the essiac history. In disbelief, I read the book's preface and the apparent struggles Rene Caisse, RN, went through in order to provide this essiac tea to her clients.  The recipe was provided within this book, so I took the opportunity to copy it down and carry it home to Tehachapi, CA with me. A few months later, a friend of mine was interested in taking this herbal tea, but was unable to afford the essiac tea most natural food stores were carrying. Feeling an urgency to help my friend, I offered to begin brewing A Nurse's Herbal Tea (essiac) for her.

I knew I had to thoroughly research this tea and investigate the best way I could provide my friend and others with this essiac tea. I purchased and read the entire Calling of an Angel and Essence of Essiac books (see bibliography), after which I then performed extensive research to find the best sources for herbs. I became involved with the discussion board of a prior website owned by Anne Harris (essiac-info.org), eventually becoming a resource for others with questions. 

After contacting the late Sheila Snow, author of Essence of Essiac, I decided that between my discussion with her and the extensive literature I read, I had enough information about essiac. So, by combining what I learned about herb harvesting and preparation in my medicinal herb class, I began the painstaking search for high quality, organic herbs grown in the US. In the beginning, I found inferior herbs coming from various companies (wrong type or aged), but fortunately, I was able to find a source I have been with for 15 years.

I am sure at this point you are overwhelmed and frustrated with the depth of information and controversies you have found on the internet about essiac tea. One of the best quotes I have read comes from Teresa Tsalaky's book, To Life:  A Guide to Finding Your Path Back to Health (2002):  "If you search the internet for more information about essiac, you will find a raging debate over who has the real recipe used by Rene Caisse.  Apparently, she learned the formula from local Indians.  A naturopath of Ojibwa descent told Cynthia Olsen (author of a popular book on essiac) that the argument over the exact recipe is silly.  He said he makes the tea using "a big handful" of one ingredient and a "wad" of another."

So, I advise you to read up on as many different essiac-related sites and the 3 above-mentioned books (also see the bibliography section) so that you can feel good about making an informed decision. I have lived with, breathed, and personally cooked well over 75,000 quarts of essiac for 16 years so I can, with confidence, ascertain what literature is nonsense and what is highly factual.

Finally, my advice to you is this: Trust your instincts. Read books, investigate, chat with people, and ask
questions! We all need to take control of all aspects of our bodies and treat mind-body-soul accordingly. It takes hard work and as long as you keep an open mind and understand that there is no one "silver bullet" when it comes to health, you will be on the right road to recovery. I would also strongly suggest that you inform your health practitioner of any herbal remedies you are taking.

Wishing you the best of health,
Chris Corpening, RN

*With every order, you will receive a free essiac handbook (authored by myself) and a free gift!*

Copyright 1996-2012 anursesherbaltea.com; A Nurse's Herbal Tea is trademarked.