Essiac tea is one of those underappreciated remedies that warrant a second look. Why? For one reason, Dr. Charles A. Brusch, personal physician to President John F. Kennedy, not only worked with the originator of this tea to study its effect on cancer but made this statement: “I will not say you have a cure for cancer. But you have more evidence of a beneficial treatment for cancer than anyone in the world.” (Boston Globe, May 8, 1984, “The Tea That Heals.”)
So exactly what is Essiac tea and who was its originator? The story is fascinating. A Canadian nurse named Rene Caisse reportedly learned about the herbal blend of tea from an Ojibwa Indian healer in the 1920s. The recipe had been handed down from generation to generation and was used to treat a variety of health conditions….