Whole Herbs versus Fractions:  
Artemisia, Artemisinin, and Artesunate

 
Artemisia Annua has a wide range of benefits from killing worms, malaria, bacteria, and candida, cancer, weight loss, diabetes, inflammation, and autoimmunity
 
It is both immune boosting and immune modulating, and even helpful for mast cell activation in some cases.
 
Artemisia has a cult following like Ivermectin as a cure all of many things.
 
People are generally using the fractionated version of Artemisia Annua, Artemisinin, which does not have the great chemical diversity that can provide broader results.
 
Or the less potent and potentially toxic in high doses Artemisia Absinthe, often referred to as wormwood in parasite tinctures.
 
Artemisia annua is also referred to as sweet wormwood.
 
I want to distinguish between just three of the many variations and fractions used:  

1. Artemisia Annua: whole leaf
2. Artemisinin: most popular derivative
3. Artesunate: a fraction that is the most immune boosting and regulating, stronger, and used for “complex cases” of malaria.

There are four broad categories of chemicals in Artemisia explained the journal article:
Artemisia annua, a Traditional Plant Brought to Light.
 
Monoterpenes:
This is what is in essential oils of Artemisia.
These are also found in cannabis and pine needles: a pinene, limonene, etc.
 
Sesquiterpenes
There are 30 some components here and only one is Artemisinin, sesqioterpene lactone, 
Artemisinin is also used to synthesize other variations.
Artesunate is in this category as the most powerful immune modulator identified from Artemisia.
​See the article: New Insights into Artesunate as a Pleiotropic Regulator of Innate and Adaptive Immune Cells.
 
Phenolic compounds.
These are often bitter and part of the plants defense.
These include flavanoids like quercetin, luteolin, rutin and many other unfamiliar ones.
 
Couramin
Another part of the plant’s defense.  
 
Whole herb Aretemsia has a diversity of chemicals that have a greater impact than isolated fractions some research has shown.
This includes less resistant adaptation by pathogens due to the diversity that is harder to withstand.
A 2015 article titled: Dried whole-plant Artemisia annua slows evolution of malaria drug resistance and overcomes resistance to artemisinin.  Mostafa A. Elfawal, et al.
 
Despite this, fractions are more popularly used, perhaps due to the more research being conducted on isolated fractions to make the research easier.
 
James Schaller MD has a free online book explaining the various factions and their synethetic derivatives and talks about the advantages of Artesunate:
Artemisinin, Artesunate, Artemisinic Acid and Other Derivatives of Artemisia Used for Malaria, Babesia and Cancer
 
The Lyme herbalist Jerome Buhner favored whole leaf Artemisia, mainly for lyme bacteria but not the protozoan Babesia, despite being like malaria, it is tougher.
 
Much research assumes that it kills malaria or cancer directly rather than boost the immune system, even though they still aren't sure how it works.  I don’t know if they are attempting comparative studies to determine this.

Assuming that it kills directly is more a part of the medical paradigm. I’m not saying that it does not kill, but a broad impact could be obtained by activating and modulating the immune system in  diversity of ways.
 
Whole leaf powder can be swallowed raw or extracted as tea, for example. There is even research showing the tea extract is less potent that plain leaf. One reason is that heat denatures nutrients.
 
Some people may not know that artemisinin  is only a fraction of the plant and are therefore missing many of the benefits like those of artesunate.  Some people say artemisinin did not work for them but that the whole did. I can feel both working but whole leaf is stronger with more benefits.
 
I can’t give product recommendations or personal advice in social media comments, I have no idea what someone needs when I don’t know them.
 

​Eat to energize, detoxify & immunize.
Move to circulate, align, & relax.

​Primal Rejuvenation Health Coaching

Find out what you get in a
Free Assessment
See how I support you fully in
Health Coaching Steps ​

 I work over video: Facebook, Zoom, Google, from  Michigan, USA                 
[email protected] 
 
 Follow me on FACEBOOK:
​ choose “See First” to get all notifications. blog posts

​INSTAGRAM
​
​Primal Rejuvenation

Systematic
enough to make a difference
Simple
enough to implement
Sensitive
​to individual needs ​