COMFREY (Symphytum officinale; BORAGINACEAE) – the word in Latin means “grow together” insinuating it’s miraculous power

Common names: Knitbone, knitback, healing herb, boneset, bruisewort, blackwort, wallwory, consound, gum plant, black root, slippery root, nipbone, yalluc, Schwarzwurz (German), Coswelda, Sinfito (Spanish)

The comfrey plant is a perennial, in fact, it is often considered a pest because it grows so fast, spreads like crazy, and chopping it down only makes it spread more rapidly. But it is anything but a pest! The plant has long been used in England as feed for racehorses – it has also been used for giraffes which require a large amount of protein. Comfrey contains between 20-30% protein, making it one of the best natural sources of plant protein.

Climate:

Comfrey grows best in direct sunlight and cooler conditions, however, is very hardy. It can adapt to many soils but does best in fertile, light sand and loams. Comfrey is best grown from roots rather than seeds. Wilted root cuttings should be soaked in cold water until they firm up before planting.

Historical Use:

During the ancient Greek and Roman times, Comfrey was used to stop heavy bleeding, treat bronchial issues, and heal fractures and wounds. They used poultices for wounds and the tea for internal ailments. Roman herbalist Pliny observed that boiling Comfrey in water produced a sticky paste capable of binding chunks of meat together. As the paste dried it became a primitive but effective cast – and is the reason it earned the names knitbone and boneset.  On the battlefield, clothes were soaked in this same Comfrey paste and wrapped around broken bones and wounds.  The Greek physician Dioscorides in 50 A.D. began to prescribe Comfrey tea internally for respiratory and gastrointestinal issues with good success. He also used the herb for wounds and broken bones.

One early English herbalist recommended that “it helpeth [people] broken the bone of the leg” and the 17th-century English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper highly recommended Comfrey stating they were “full of glutinous and clammy juice”, useful for “all inward hurts, and for outward wounds and sores in fleshy and sinewy parts of the body… especially good for ruptures and broken bones” – Culpeper also recommended it for hemorrhoids, fever, gout, gangrene, and respiratory, as well as menstrual problems. Both the English, Greeks, and Romans considered Comfrey beneficial to the respiratory system.

Mexican midwives to this day apply Comfrey to torn vaginal tissue to quickly heal it. They don’t do it because it doesn’t work! In the Philippines Comfrey is used to threat Arthritis, Diabetes, Anemia, lung infections (respiratory issues again), and Leukemia.

In America in the 19th-century Eclectic physicians (akin to Naturopaths of today) prescribed Comfrey for diarrhea, dysentery, cough, bronchitis, and menstrual problems.

Why Comfrey Works!

Comfrey contains Allantoin, a potent cell proliferate. This natural plant chemical protects the skin, pulls it together (if cut) and promotes new cell growth. The author has seen this in personal experience many times and frequently when used on his horses. Once one of the mares kicked the other directly in the eye creating a scar and destroying the hair growth. After 1.5 months of using other herbs Comfrey was applied to the area and within 1 week the hair had grown out and instead of growing out white as usually happens with these injuries it grew out the natural color.

Conditions

Arthritis

In a German study 220 people with painful Arthritis of the knee where given either Comfrey cream or a placebo cream. Administered at 2 grams, 3 times a day. After three weeks, the Comfrey cream group showed significantly greater pain relief. This experiment was repeated again by another group of Scientists on 142 men with sprained ankles. Again, the Comfrey group reported statistically significant greater pain relief.^[1]The New Healing Herbs: The Essential Guide to More than 125 of Nature’s Most Potent Herbal Remedies By Michael Castleman

Internal Use

What About Liver Toxicity?

It amazes me how quickly word spreads that a herb is toxic. I know countless people taking drugs that are known liver toxins and they don’t care. You can tell them till you are blue in the face and they will not stop taking the drug. But tell somebody a herb is a liver toxin and they are ready to destroy every trace of it from planet earth.  Unlike the FDA this website is based on facts and fact-based-research so let’s take a look at every study that examined Comfrey and determine the facts.

While Comfrey is allowed to be sold in the US, is approved by the Germany council for external use, it is unlawful to sell it without stating it cannot be ingested internally. This by a corrupt FDA that legalizes drugs for 10, 20, even 30 years before recalling them after millions of lives are impacted.

Where it all started…

In 1984, Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council placed Comfrey on the nation’s “Poison Advisory list” – you might be well in assuming that to be placed on this list significant data must be present to warrant such a call. But as we will soon learn this is not the case. The FDA followed suit in 2002 banning all sale of Comfrey marketed for internal use. This is why all Comfrey extracts say “do not ingest”.

Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids

What was the basis for this ban? What instigated this move to so emphatically declare absolutely NO internal use of Comfrey? It is all based on the fact that Comfrey contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids which modern medicine [big pharma] deems as poisonous. They completely ignore the fact that at least 3% of the world’s flowering plants contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids, and foods such as honey, grains, milk, and eggs as well. Australian honey can contain up to 1mg/kg. In eggs 5-168mg/kg have been found^[2]https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/publications/documents/TR2.pdf which is between 2-46 times the amount found in an average daily dose of Comfrey ROOT, which is the most “toxic” form of Comfrey. Something isn’t adding up is it?

What absolutely astonishes me is that Australia was so quick to ban Comfrey when they are well aware that “The levels of PAs found in various grain commodities in Australia have ranged from <50 to >6000 µg/kg”^[3]https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/publications/documents/TR2.pdf – this is upto 1666 times that of a daily dose of Comfrey root and yet there has been NO action to determine the cause or FIX it. Do you smell a rat?  In their defense they do state that the major exposure to pyrrolizidine alkaloids is not Comfrey but grains, eggs and then honey is a minor contributor in their opinion.

It is also important to note that the Australian government admits “There are also no known reports of cancer in domestic animals caused by exposure to PAs in their diet.” – there is an important clue here: DIET! As we will soon note, when you isolate properties from a plant you can do much harm that is not actually found in consuming the whole plant. Modern medicine may never learn this lesson.  Another important point they make is “…it would appear that there are important differences in the response of the human liver and other tissues to PAs compared with those in laboratory and domestic animals. To data, there is no evidence that PAs are carcinogenic in humans. “^[4]https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/publications/documents/TR2.pdf

In a risk assessment by the Hong Kong government, Centre for Food Safety and Hygiene Dept, they found that over 6000 plant species contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids and most widely found in… grains. But what may surprise you is that out of 48 food items tested over half contained PAs. Among these were dried spices, honey, tea leaves, wheat, rye, duck eggs, yoghurt and cheese. They state that honey, tea leaves and dried spices contained the highest concentrations (after grains).^[5]https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/files/Pyrrolizidine_Alkaloids_in_Food_e.pdf  So here is the deal, if you want to rid your diet of these PAs you have to quit eating all grains, honey, eggs, cheese, yoghurt and all tea as well as dried spices which contain varying amounts. Again, does anyone smell a rat? Why is Comfrey being singled out when in all these analysis it isn’t Comfrey that is showing up as the culprit, general everyday foods are being found to contain high levels of PA and nobody seems to care.  Most teas were found to contain relatively small concentrations of PAs but rooibos tea – kiss your Chai tea/latte good bye – verbena, peppermint and dried spices such as cumin, oregano and tarragon were found to contain relatively high concentrations.  In response to this finding the German government recommended the public to widen and alternate their teas to avoid excessive exposure. So explain to me why Comfrey gets the knife and these other teas are allowed up to the users discretion? The rat smell is getting stronger…

The conclusion of the Hong Kong analysis was “The findings of the dietary exposure to total PAs in the present study did not provide sufficient justifications to warrant changes to the basic dietary advice on healthy eating” – even though large concentrations as high or higher than Comfrey of PAs were found the conclusion is no changes are warranted. SO WHY WAS COMFREY BANNED?

Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid Poisoning in History and Research

If you look at the research and look at the epidemics of PA poisoning you find the vast majority of them involved third world countries where the people were malnourished and consumed PA contaminated grain in large quantities over LONG periods of time.  Now I am going to do my best to break down each study on Comfrey…

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Veno-occlusive disease of the liver secondary to ingestion of comfrey – Published in the British Medical Journal Vol. 295 18 July 1987

A 13 year old boy was admitted in July 1986 for investigation of hepatomegaly(enlarged or swollen liver) and ascites(Abdominal swelling). Three years earlier he had been diagnosed with Chron’s from radiographs showing consistent changes in the terminal ileum and colon. He was treated with Prednisolone and Sulphasalazine (at least a month prior in June).  At parents request these drugs were discontinued and he was treated with acupuncture and Comfrey root, prescribed by a naturopath. In 1886 while taking Prednisolone and Sulphasalazine developed fatigue, diarrhoea, and began to lose weight,  a few weeks later he took fever, was discomforted with abdominal pain and swelling. He had iron deficiency and raised serum bilirubin concentration. He was then treated with spironolactone

Some interesting points from this paper. First they state “Only two cases of hepatic veno-occlusive disease as a result of pyrrolizidine alkaloid ingestion have been described in Britain,” – only two cases in ALL of Britain of hepatic veno-occlusive disease attributed to PA poisoning. Meanwhile Aspirin kills 3000 Britains a year.^[6]Aspirin killing 3,000 Brits A YEAR as docs blame popping pills daily for 20,000 ‘major bleeds’ annually – yet nobody is breaking down the doors of the FDA to ban Aspirin, a known liver toxin! Throughout this paper they state frequently “we think”, “may have”, “possibly” and other words that are non-conclusionary. Basically, in their own words, they cannot prove anything.

The question is, how many of the meds and treatments used are toxic? For example, Prednisolone causes Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in children, which affects white blood cells and would affect iron levels.^[7]The adverse effect of prolonged prednisolone pretreatment in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia BUT more importantly we know that Sulphasalazine is a liver toxin and causes hepatic failure.^[8]Successfully treated sulphasalazine-Induced fulminant hepatic failure, Thrombocytopenia and Erythroid Hypoplasia with intravenous immunoglobulin – in this study a 12 year old girl (similar age) was given Sulphasalizine and her liver failed. And they banned Sulphasalizine after that because of it’s toxic nature…. nope! They call it a “rare adverse effect”. In another paper describing Sulphasalizine poisoning we find an interesting intersection of symptoms the boy experienced in our study. Acute Sulphasalazine hepatotoxic poisoning symptoms in this paper were fatigue, diarrea, fever^[9]Acute sulphasalazine hepatotoxicity

But that isn’t all. A report in the British Medical Journal Vol 289 published Sept 1984 discusses the case of a 22 year old man with ulcerative proctitis – which is an inflammatory bowel disease just like chron’s disease that our 12 year old comfrey boy had – just like the boy this man was prescribed PREDNISOLONE and SULPHASALIZINE but did NOT take Comfrey. 4 weeks later he is admitted to the hospital with an ENLARGED LIVER.^[10]Bone marrow necrosis after treatment with sulphasalazine So we have proven that you can get an enlarged liver simply by taking those two meds without Comfrey. So maybe Comfrey had nothing to do with it. And maybe we should ban these drugs, what do you think? Interestingly enough both the boy who ate comfrey and this man were from Jamaica, so maybe Jamaica is bad. At what point do we call it irrational and ridiculous.

But, unlike the FDA, we are thorough and wish to clearly set forth the proof that these drugs not Comfrey are the most likely culprit. 1982 Deputy Head of the Division of Tissue Pathology, Institutes of Medical and Veterinary Science published an article with two cases of Hepatotoxicity, not from Comfrey but from Sulphasalazine. These two cases are interesting, in the first case the patient hepatotoxicity occurred after initial administration. But the second case, hepatotoxicity only occurred after being “re-exposed” 3 weeks later. Not only was abnormality of the liver found but LIFE-THREATENING NEURO TOXICITY in every single dose.^[11]Combined Hepatotoxicity and Neurotoxicity following Sulphasalazine Administration – we might expect with such findings that the FDA would immediately ban such a dangerous drug. But no, unlike Comfrey, this poison gets the benefit of the doubt. They state “Sulphasalazine is a valuable drug” – to whom? Assassins? I thought that when we discover a hepatotoxic poison we ban it?  But wait, what is this? The first case in this study the patient was taking both SULPHASALAZINE and PREDNISOLONE? This is just a wild idea, but what if known liver toxic drugs that the boy was on caused the problem?

So to summarize… both drugs the boy that ate comfrey was taking are toxic, and it seems that together they create a potent liver destroyer, are implicated in liver toxicity as well as liver enlargement specifically. Not an isolated case but several show that these drugs together are involved in clinical cases of LIVER TOXICITY AND LIVER ENLARGEMENT. We have found that the FDA doesn’t care about liver toxicity when it comes from drugs, so we highly doubt the ban of Comfrey is with your best interest in mind.

These findings do not prove Comfrey is safe, but they prove that the drugs are liver toxins which means that this case cannot be used to cite Comfrey as toxic.
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Hepatic veno‐occlusive disease associated with comfrey ingestion MEE LING YEONG BOYD SWINBURN MARK KENNEDY GORDON NICHOLSON First published: March 1990

Okay, ready for another Hepatic Veno-Occlusive case “induced by Comfrey”? This one involves a 23 year old man who actually died of liver failure, so this case is extra interesting to look at. In this paper we find some weird points that show this is no ordinary person. He is cited as having a “binge-like appetite” where he would consume only a specific food such as grapes or cashew nuts for days or even weeks on end. Any logical human being knows this alone is dangerous to the liver and robs the body of a varied diet of nutrition. You can’t get full nutrition from eating cashews all week long.  In the 1-2 weeks prior to the onset of the new symptoms he at a diet of young comfrey leaves steamed and eaten as a vegetable.  He reportedly ate 4-5 leaves every day for 1-2 weeks. He also took Marijuana which is implicated itself as a possible hepatotoxin.^[12]Possible hepatotoxicity of chronic marijuana usage He was emaciated when he was found, a sign of malnutrition, which is directly linked to liver disease^[13]Malnutrition in end-stage liver disease: Recommendations and nutritional support Generally it is considered poor practice in medical research to use emaciated subjects to prove or disprove efficacy. Feed a malnourished person large quantities of potatoes and you may see them remarkably “recover” and then you could market potatoes as the miracle cure. Alternatively feed large quantities of apples and you could kill the patient and therefore conclude apples are toxic. As you can see this is not valid research. According to the authors of the next paper we are discussing, “Comfrey is widely used, but this is only the third documented patient with associated veno-occlusive disease.“ Upon looking at the first case, the 13 year old boy, we found that the drugs were more consistent with liver enlargement and had documented cases, whereas Comfrey up to that point had not. In the next case, a malnourished man who ate a single food like cashews for days or weeks on end, was emaciated and also consumed marijuana in some form.  So far neither of these cases is even remotely conclusive.

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/////////J Pharm. Sci 1994 May;83 (5):649-53 – Determination of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids in Commercial Comfrey Products(Symphytum sp.)JOSEPH M. BETZ’, ROBERT M. EPPLEY, WENDELL c. TAYLOR, AND DENIS ANDRZEJEWSK – Published 1993.

In this study they found that Comfrey leaf combined with other herbs had the lowest PA content, as low as 0.1ppm. Dr Christopher the famed herbalist which used Comfrey and nearly every formula only used Comfrey root externally, he always used Comfrey leaf for internal healing. Highest levels of PA were found in bulk Comfrey root and the highest tested was 400ppm. 1ppm roughly equates to 1mg/kg^[14]https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.files/fileid/14285 so 0.1ppm is extremely LOW concentration of PAs and lower than contaminations of grain, yogurt and eggs.

In the book The Safety of Comfrey, J.A. Pembrey states “there appear to be no cases, in medical history or veterinary records, of humans or animals, showing clinical symptoms, of pyrrolizidine alkaloid poisoning from the consumption of Comfrey”