Nourishing and Tonifying Herbs: Vinegars
posted by: farid fm
Most herbalists, throughout history, have been fascinated with poisonous plants. This fascination, along with careful study, experimentation, and observation, has given rise to pharmacy - the use of concentrated poisons - on one hand, and to homeopathy - the use of diluted poisons - on the other.
While respecting the ability of plants to stimulate and sedate, I have focused my studies elsewhere, specifically on the nourishing abilities of plants. The main premise of the Wise Woman Tradition is that health is inherent in each being, with nourishment being the key that unlocks it. Thus, I have spent the past 30 years recommending the use of nourishing herbs to a wide variety of people with a wide variety of problems.
Because nourishing plants, by definition, can't kill, they are scorned by many herbalists. Their effects are said to be slow and weak. Yes, poisonous plants do create instantaneous results, and I do use them when I need that immediate reaction. But they always undermine health.
Nourishing plants always build health. Their effects are slower, but still rapid - with significant improvement in well-being seen in 10 days or less - and powerful, often life-changing.
I call the nourishing herbs "people's herbs" because they are safe for anyone to use for any reason. And the use of nourishing herbs is "people's medicine," our birthright of health. People's medicine is a direct threat to hierarchy medicine, whether mainstream or alternative. It returns the power of health to the hands of the individual, out of the hands of the elite.
Nourishing herbs are powerhouses of protein, minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals that counter cancer and prolong life. The best ways to extract this richness are those that rely on water and dilute acid as solvents: that is nourishing herbal infusions and mineral-rich medicinal vinegars.
MINERAL-RICH MEDICINAL VINEGARS
Herbal vinegars are an unstoppable combination: they marry the healing properties of apple cider vinegar with the nutritional genius of plants - the mineral- and antioxidant-rich, health-protective green herbs and wild roots. Herbal vinegars are tasty medicine, enriching and enlivening our food, while building health from the inside out. Vinegar is unique in its ability to draw minerals out of plants. The addition of vinegar to cooked greens magnifies the minerals available to our bodies. And the addition of mineral-rich medicinal vinegar to our diet magnifies health by making high-quality minerals available.
VINEGARS SEEK MINERALS
Minerals are important for the health and proper functioning of our bones, our heart and blood vessels, our nerves, our brain (especially memory), our immune system, and our hormonal glands. No wonder lack of minerals can lead to chronic problems and getting more can make a big difference in health in a few weeks. One of the best way to get more minerals - besides drinking nourishing herbal infusions and eating well-cooked leafy greens - is to use herbal vinegars.
VINEGAR AND YOUR BONES
It is not true that ingesting vinegar will erode your bones. Adding vinegar to your food actually helps build bones because it frees up minerals from the vegetables you eat and increases the ability of the stomach to digest minerals. Adding a splash of vinegar to cooked greens is a classic trick of old ladies who want to be spry and flexible when they're ancient old ladies. (Maybe your granny already taught you this?) In fact, a spoonful of vinegar on your broccoli or kale or dandelion greens increases the calcium you get by one-third. All by itself, apple cider vinegar is said to help build bones; when enriched with minerals from herbs, I think of it as better than calcium pills.
VINEGAR AND CANDIDA
Some people worry that eating vinegar will upset the balance of gut flora and contribute to an overgrowth of candida yeast in the intestines. Some people have been told to avoid vinegar altogether. My experience has led me to believe that herbal vinegars help heal those with candida overgrowth, perhaps because they're so mineral rich. I've worked with women who have suffered for years and kept to a strict "anti-candida" diet with little improvement and seen them get better fast when they add nourishing herbal vinegars (and fermented foods such as sauerkraut, miso, and yogurt) to their diets.
MAKING HERBAL VINEGARS
Fill any size jar with freshly-harvested and coarsely-chopped aromatic herbs: leaves, stalks, flowers, fruits, roots, and even nuts can be used. For best results and highest mineral content, be sure the jar is well filled and the herb well-chopped.
Pour room-temperature vinegar into the jar until it is full. Cover jar: a plastic screw-on lid, several layers of plastic or wax paper held on with a rubber band, or a cork are the best covers. Avoid metal lids - or protect them well with plastic - as vinegar will corrode them.
Label the jar with the name of the herb and the date. Put it some place away from direct sunlight, though it doesn't have to be in the dark, and someplace that isn't too hot, but not too cold either. A kitchen cupboard is fine, but choose one that you open a lot so you remember to use your vinegar, which will be ready in six weeks. You can decant your vinegar into a beautiful serving container, or use it right from the jar you made it in.
WHICH VINEGAR?
I use regular pasteurized apple cider vinegar from the supermarket as the menstrum for my herbal vinegars. I avoid white vinegar. Malt vinegar, rice vinegar, and wine vinegar can be used but they are more expensive and may overpower the flavor of the herbs.
Apple cider vinegar has been used as a health-giving agent for centuries. Hippocrates, father of medicine, is said to have used only two remedies: honey and apple cider vinegar. Some of the many benefits of apple cider vinegar include: better digestion, reduction of cholesterol, improvements in blood pressure, prevention/care of osteoporosis, normalization of thyroid/metabolic functioning, possible reduction of cancer risk, and lessening of wrinkles and grey hair.
NOTES FOR HERBAL VINEGAR MAKERS
posted by: farid fm
Most herbalists, throughout history, have been fascinated with poisonous plants. This fascination, along with careful study, experimentation, and observation, has given rise to pharmacy - the use of concentrated poisons - on one hand, and to homeopathy - the use of diluted poisons - on the other.
While respecting the ability of plants to stimulate and sedate, I have focused my studies elsewhere, specifically on the nourishing abilities of plants. The main premise of the Wise Woman Tradition is that health is inherent in each being, with nourishment being the key that unlocks it. Thus, I have spent the past 30 years recommending the use of nourishing herbs to a wide variety of people with a wide variety of problems.
Because nourishing plants, by definition, can't kill, they are scorned by many herbalists. Their effects are said to be slow and weak. Yes, poisonous plants do create instantaneous results, and I do use them when I need that immediate reaction. But they always undermine health.
Nourishing plants always build health. Their effects are slower, but still rapid - with significant improvement in well-being seen in 10 days or less - and powerful, often life-changing.
I call the nourishing herbs "people's herbs" because they are safe for anyone to use for any reason. And the use of nourishing herbs is "people's medicine," our birthright of health. People's medicine is a direct threat to hierarchy medicine, whether mainstream or alternative. It returns the power of health to the hands of the individual, out of the hands of the elite.
Nourishing herbs are powerhouses of protein, minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals that counter cancer and prolong life. The best ways to extract this richness are those that rely on water and dilute acid as solvents: that is nourishing herbal infusions and mineral-rich medicinal vinegars.
MINERAL-RICH MEDICINAL VINEGARS
Herbal vinegars are an unstoppable combination: they marry the healing properties of apple cider vinegar with the nutritional genius of plants - the mineral- and antioxidant-rich, health-protective green herbs and wild roots. Herbal vinegars are tasty medicine, enriching and enlivening our food, while building health from the inside out. Vinegar is unique in its ability to draw minerals out of plants. The addition of vinegar to cooked greens magnifies the minerals available to our bodies. And the addition of mineral-rich medicinal vinegar to our diet magnifies health by making high-quality minerals available.
VINEGARS SEEK MINERALS
Minerals are important for the health and proper functioning of our bones, our heart and blood vessels, our nerves, our brain (especially memory), our immune system, and our hormonal glands. No wonder lack of minerals can lead to chronic problems and getting more can make a big difference in health in a few weeks. One of the best way to get more minerals - besides drinking nourishing herbal infusions and eating well-cooked leafy greens - is to use herbal vinegars.
VINEGAR AND YOUR BONES
It is not true that ingesting vinegar will erode your bones. Adding vinegar to your food actually helps build bones because it frees up minerals from the vegetables you eat and increases the ability of the stomach to digest minerals. Adding a splash of vinegar to cooked greens is a classic trick of old ladies who want to be spry and flexible when they're ancient old ladies. (Maybe your granny already taught you this?) In fact, a spoonful of vinegar on your broccoli or kale or dandelion greens increases the calcium you get by one-third. All by itself, apple cider vinegar is said to help build bones; when enriched with minerals from herbs, I think of it as better than calcium pills.
VINEGAR AND CANDIDA
Some people worry that eating vinegar will upset the balance of gut flora and contribute to an overgrowth of candida yeast in the intestines. Some people have been told to avoid vinegar altogether. My experience has led me to believe that herbal vinegars help heal those with candida overgrowth, perhaps because they're so mineral rich. I've worked with women who have suffered for years and kept to a strict "anti-candida" diet with little improvement and seen them get better fast when they add nourishing herbal vinegars (and fermented foods such as sauerkraut, miso, and yogurt) to their diets.
MAKING HERBAL VINEGARS
Fill any size jar with freshly-harvested and coarsely-chopped aromatic herbs: leaves, stalks, flowers, fruits, roots, and even nuts can be used. For best results and highest mineral content, be sure the jar is well filled and the herb well-chopped.
Pour room-temperature vinegar into the jar until it is full. Cover jar: a plastic screw-on lid, several layers of plastic or wax paper held on with a rubber band, or a cork are the best covers. Avoid metal lids - or protect them well with plastic - as vinegar will corrode them.
Label the jar with the name of the herb and the date. Put it some place away from direct sunlight, though it doesn't have to be in the dark, and someplace that isn't too hot, but not too cold either. A kitchen cupboard is fine, but choose one that you open a lot so you remember to use your vinegar, which will be ready in six weeks. You can decant your vinegar into a beautiful serving container, or use it right from the jar you made it in.
WHICH VINEGAR?
I use regular pasteurized apple cider vinegar from the supermarket as the menstrum for my herbal vinegars. I avoid white vinegar. Malt vinegar, rice vinegar, and wine vinegar can be used but they are more expensive and may overpower the flavor of the herbs.
Apple cider vinegar has been used as a health-giving agent for centuries. Hippocrates, father of medicine, is said to have used only two remedies: honey and apple cider vinegar. Some of the many benefits of apple cider vinegar include: better digestion, reduction of cholesterol, improvements in blood pressure, prevention/care of osteoporosis, normalization of thyroid/metabolic functioning, possible reduction of cancer risk, and lessening of wrinkles and grey hair.
NOTES FOR HERBAL VINEGAR MAKERS
Nourishing and Tonifying Herbs: Infusions
Most herbalists, throughout history, have been fascinated with poisonous plants. This fascination, along with careful study, experimentation, and observation, has given rise to pharmacy - the use of concentrated poisons - on one hand, and to homeopathy - the use of diluted poisons - on the other.
While respecting the ability of plants to stimulate and sedate, I have focused my studies elsewhere, specifically on the nourishing abilities of plants. The main premise of the Wise Woman Tradition is that health is inherent in each being, with nourishment being the key that unlocks it. Thus, I have spent the past 30 years recommending the use of nourishing herbs to a wide variety of people with a wide variety of problems.
Because nourishing plants, by definition, can't kill, they are scorned by many herbalists. Their effects are said to be slow and weak. Yes, poisonous plants do create instantaneous results, and I do use them when I need that immediate reaction. But they always undermine health.
Nourishing plants always build health. Their effects are slower, but still rapid - with significant improvement in well-being seen in 10 days or less - and powerful, often life-changing.
I call the nourishing herbs "people's herbs" because they are safe for anyone to use for any reason. And the use of nourishing herbs is "people's medicine," our birthright of health. People's medicine is a direct threat to hierarchy medicine, whether mainstream or alternative. It returns the power of health to the hands of the individual, out of the hands of the elite.
Nourishing herbs are powerhouses of protein, minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals that counter cancer and prolong life. The best ways to extract this richness are those that rely on water and dilute acid as solvents: that is nourishing herbal infusions and mineral-rich medicinal vinegars.
NOURISHING HERBAL INFUSIONS
TEA FOR YOU?
Teas are a favorite way to consume herbs. Made by brewing a small amount of herbs (typically a teaspoonful to a cup of water) for a short time (generally 1-2 minutes), teas are flavorful, colorful drinks.
Herbs rich in coloring compounds - such as hibiscus, rose hips, calendula, and black tea - make enticing and tasty teas. They may also contain polyphenols, phytochemicals known to help prevent cancer. Since coloring compounds and polyphenols are fairly stable, dried herbs are considered best for teas rich in these.
Herbs rich in volatile oils - such as ginger, chamomile, cinnamon, catnip, mint, lemon balm, lemon grass, lavender, bergamot, and fennel, anise, and cumin seeds - make lovely teas which are effective in easing spasms, stimulating digestion, eliminating pain, and inducing sleep. Since much of the volatile oils are lost when herbs are dried, fresh herbs are considered best for teas rich in these, but dried herbs can be used with good results.
I enjoy a cup of hot tea with honey, which has its own medicinal value. But teas fail to deliver the mineral richness locked into many common herbs. A cup of nettle tea, for instance, contains only 5-10mg of calcium, while a cup of nettle infusion contains up to 500mg of calcium. For optimum nutrition, I drink nourishing herbal infusions every day.
INFUSION FOR ME!
An infusion is a large amount of herb brewed for a long time. Typically, one ounce by weight (about a cup by volume) of dried herb is placed in a quart jar which is then filled to the top with boiling water, tightly lidded and allowed to steep for 4-10 hours. After straining, a cup or more is consumed, and the remainder chilled to slow spoilage. Drinking 2-4 cups a day is usual.
Since the minerals and other phytochemicals in nourishing herbs are made more accessible by drying, dried herbs are considered best for infusions. (See experiment 2.)
I make my infusions at night before I go to bed and they are ready in the morning. I put my herb in my jar and my water in the pot, and the pot on the fire, then brush my teeth (or sweep the floor) until the kettle whistles. I pour the boiling water up to the rim of the jar, screw on a tight lid, turn off the stove and the light, and go to bed. In the morning, I strain the plant material out, squeezing it well, and drink the liquid. I prefer it iced, unless the morning is frosty.
I drink the quart of infusion within 36 hours or until it spoils. Then I use it to water my house plants, or pour it over my hair after washing as a final rinse which can be left on.
MY FAVORITE HERBS FOR INFUSION
Any herb that is free of poisons - that is, any herb that contains little or no volatile oils, resins, alkaloids, or glycosides - is a good choice for infusion. Additionally, I prefer to use herbs that are exceptionally high in protein, minerals, and vitamins for my daily infusions. See Chart 1.
Nourishing herbal infusions cost me less than a dollar a day. (I buy them by the pound at wholesale prices from Frontier Herb, and so can you.) A quart of infusion a day completely replaces all vitamin and mineral supplements, giving me a saving of at least per month. (The average supplement buyer spends 0-0 a month on pills, though some customers spend more than 0 monthly on nutritional supplements of various kinds.)
I use these five nourishing herbal infusions regularly, drinking at least a quart a week of each one:
nettle leaf (Urtica dioica): nourish and rebuild adrenals, kidneys, blood vessels, skin, hair
oatstraw (Avena sativa): longevity tonic, rebuilds nerves
red clover blossoms (Trifolium pratense): my anti-cancer ally
linden flowers (Tillia americana): anti-flu, anti-cold, lovingly soothes lungs and guts
comfrey leaf (Symphytum officinale): heals, nourishes brain, bones, mucus surfaces, skin
I also use, for excitement or for specific reasons, these nourishing herbal infusions:
chickweed (Stellaria media)
mullein stalk and leaf (Verbascum thapsus)
raspberry leaf (Ideaus sp.)
hawthorn berries, leaves, and flowers (Crateagus sp.)
elder berries or flowers (Sambucus canadensis)
burdock root (Arctium lappa)
violet leaves (Viola sp.)
plantain leaves (Plantago sp.)
marshmallow root (Althea off.)
slippery elm bark (Ulmus fulva)
I only use one herb at a time in my infusion. I keep it simple, so I can really get to know the plants - and myself.
HOW DO INFUSIONS TASTE?
Generally, great! Most people like the taste of nourishing herbal infusions, but here are a few hints to get you started. Remember you can add anything to like to your infusion, from instant coffee to whiskey, as well as honey, cream, lemon, or your usual seasoning choices.
Nettle infusion is improved by the addition of salt or miso when you drink it hot; I like it iced.
Comfrey leaf infusion heated, with honey, is wonderfully soothing; great iced too.
Oatstraw is mild and easy to drink hot or cold, sweetened or plain.
Linden flower infusion is great cold, but even better heated and taken with honey.
Red clover, especially flavored with mint, is so like iced tea you can fool your friends.
The tannins in red clover and comfrey make me pucker my lips, so I add a little dried peppermint (Mentha piperata) or bergamot (Monarda didyma) to my jar when I make the infusion, just enough to flavor the brew slightly. You can add up to a teaspoonful per quart of any aromatic herb without poisoning yourself. Or you can heat the completed infusion, a cup at a time, and pour it over an aromatic herb to make a tea infusion. Sage, ginger, lavender, thyme, marjoram, shiso, oregano, rosemary, lemon balm, hyssop, and basil are all wonderful choices.
Notes: Is comfrey safe for internal use? The roots of wild comfrey, Symphytum officinale, are known to contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids which can cause venous liver congestion. Two neonatal deaths are ascribed to ingestion of comfrey root. The leaves of cultivated comfrey, Symphytum uplandica, do not contain these alkaloids and appear to be safe for all women, even pregnant and lactating women. Four generations of people living at the Henry Doubleday Research Center have eaten cooked comfrey leaves regularly, including during pregnancy and lactation, and no liver problems have been seen in this population. See: Awang DVC. Comfrey. Canadian Pharm Journal 1987: 101-4. Also see: Gladstar R. "The Comfrey Controversy." Journal of the Northeast Herbalists Association. 1994
CHART 1: VITAMINS AND MINERALS IN HERBS USED AS NOURISHING INFUSIONS
per 100 grams dry weight
Chickweed: calcium (1210mg), magnesium (523mg), manganese (15.3mg), phosphorus (448mg), and zinc (5.2mg); vitamins A, C, K; protein (2% of total)
Stinging nettle: calcium (2900mg), magnesium (860mg), phosphorus (447mg), potassium (1750mg), and zinc (4.7mg); vitamins A, B, C, D, E, K; protein (10% of total)
Oatstraw: calcium (1430mg), phosphorus (425mg), and potassium (352mg); vitamins A, B, C, E; protein (15% of total)
Red clover blossoms: calcium (1310mg), magnesium (349mg), and potassium (2000mg); vitamins A, B, C, E, K; protein (20% of total)
Comfrey leaf: calcium (1130mg), chromium (0.8mg), manganese (7mg), phosphorus(211mg), potassium (1590mg), selenium (0.57mg), and zinc (0.28mg); vitamins A, B, C, K; protein (10% of total)
CHART 2: MINERALS IN HERBS USED MAINLY AS VEGETABLES
Kelp: calcium (3040mg), magnesium (867mg), manganese (7.6mg), phosphorus (249mg), potassium (2110mg), selenium (1.7mg), silica (7.6mg), and zinc (0.6mg)
Amaranth greens: calcium (1210mg), phosphorus (324mg), and potassium (1864mg)
Dulse: calcium (632mg), chromium (2.7mg), magnesium (593mg), potassium (2270mg), selenium (3.3mg), silicon (36.8mg), and zinc (3.9mg)
FOR CURIOUS MINDS
Experiment Number One Compare herbal tea and nourishing herbal infusion
Weigh out 1 ounce of dried stinging nettle, oatstraw, red clover, raspberry, or comfrey leaf. Put it in a quart/liter jar. Boil water and fill the jar. Stir until the herb is completely wet. Add a little more water if you can, until the jar is completely full. Cap tightly and let it sit for four hours.
When your infusion is ready, boil more water. Put a teaspoonful of the dried herb in teaball or directly into your cup and fill the cup with boiling water. While it steeps, strain the plant matter from your infusion, squeezing the wet place to release all the liquid it absorbed. Heat a cup of the infusion; put the rest of it in a tightly-lidded jar in the refrigerator.
Sit down with your cup of infusion and your cup of tea. Taste them just as they are, then, if you wish, add honey. Compare and contrast the colors, flavors, and sensations.
Experiment Number Two Compare fresh and dried herbs for infusion.
Weigh out 1 ounce of dried stinging nettle, oatstraw, red clover, raspberry, or comfrey leaf and make an infusion, as above, in a quart jar.
Weigh out 4 ounces of fresh stinging nettle, oatstraw, red clover, raspberry, or comfrey leaf. Use the same plant for both brews. Cut the fresh herb up so it fits in your quart jar and make an infusion by filling the jar with boiling water. (Herbs lose about 75% of their weight when they dry, so 4 ounces of fresh herb dry down into 1 ounce of dried herb.)
After one hour of steeping, look at both jars, taste and compare/contrast. Repeat three more times at hourly intervals.
Minerals are released slowly into water. They darken the color of the water and give it a dense, rich taste. Oil-soluble vitamins float to the top and make a thin glaze of swirls.
Experiment Number Three Compare fresh and dried herbs for teas
Buy or grow a tasty, aromatic herb, like ginger, peppermint, or rosemary. For this experiment you will need one tablespoon of fresh herb, and one teaspoon of the same herb dried. Place the fresh herb in a cup or mug and the dried herb in another. Fill both to the top with boiling water. After one minute, taste, smell, compare the teas. Wait another minute and compare again. Then wait five minutes and try each one again.
Experiment Number Four Using seeds for infusions and teas
Make a tea with aromatic seeds - anise, caraway, coriander, cumin, fennel, or fenugreek. Use a teaspoon of seeds in a cup of boiling water. At the same time, brew a seed infusion using a quarter-ounce of seeds per cup of boiling water. After a minute, taste, smell, and contrast the tea and the infusion. Repeat in five minutes, then in thirty minutes, then after an hour, then after four hours.
Teas of dried seeds are usually best, as the longer brewing time of the infusion releases volatile oils that taste bitter and can damage the kidneys and liver.
FURTHER STUDY
1. Drink 2-4 cups of nourishing herbal infusion for a month and see if your health changes in any way. Best if you don't drink coffee or tea during this month.
2. Choose a green ally to focus on this year.
3. Read Healing Power of Minerals by Paul Bergner.
4. Read about stinging nettle and oatstraw in my book Healing Wise.
5. Make vinegars at different times of the year and compare them.
6. Unpasteurized vinegar can form a "mother." In a jar filled with herb and vinegar, the vinegar mother usually grows across the top of the herb, and looking rather like a damp, thin pancake. Kombucha is a vinegar mother. Does your local health food store sell mothers? Kombucha? What is a vinegar mother? Is it harmful?
7. What is an ionic form of a mineral?
8. What is a mineral salt?
9. How do our bodies uptake and utilize minerals?
About the Author
Susun is one of America's best-known authorities on herbal medicine and natural approaches to women's health. Her four best-selling books are recommended by expert herbalists and well-known physicians and are used and cherished by millions of women around the world. Learn more at www.susunweed.com
Green Tea: An Antioxidant Power House
For centuries in China, Japan, Malaysia, and Indonesia, green tea has been a popular drink. In the past few years green tea has become popular in the United States and continues to grow around the world. Part of this ever growing popularity is because of the scientific data supporting the health benefits of green tea.
Many Americans ask the question, what makes green tea better than black tea; they both come from the same plant? Green tea leaves are harvested fresh and steamed. Black tea is harvested in the same way but the leaves are left to age and oxidize, this oxidation creates chemical compounds that are good for cholesterol among other health benefits, but does not exhibit the cancer fighting benefits of green tea.
Green tea unlike black tea is high in polyphenols, which have powerful cancer fighting antioxidant properties. These beneficial compounds will vary from season to season along with the climate the plant is located in so not all green tea supplements are the same. Also, harvesting processes will determine how much healing polyphenols are left in the herb at time of encapsulation. Many studies have come out on the benefits of green tea and a few on black teas, with all this research, scientists still believe green tea is better than black tea as an antioxidant and cancer prevention herb.
With all the research pointing to the positive benefits of green tea, more than 4 times the amount of black tea is consumed in the United States and around the world as apposed to green tea. With in the next few years green tea is expected to grow in popularity by leaps and bounds. Many gourmet coffee shops have added green tea to their menu, along with grocery stores. At gas stations, bottled green tea can be purchased as well in the United States.
Ninety percent of all the research done on green tea has been done on its ability to fight cancer. Green tea has a greater Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) then both vitamin C and vitamin E, this means green tea can fight free radical damage better than either vitamin. Green tea not only has a great ORAC value, it also helps improve the body’s natural antioxidant activity as well. Studies have shown that green tea inhibits the creation of nitrosamines and carcinogens that cause cancer in the body, as well as helps detoxify other cancer causing agents. Green tea has shown to be effective against breast, colon, lung, pancreas, stomach, and small intestine cancers.
Another recent study suggested that green tea can protect the skin from the damaging effects of the sun. Green tea, when ingested or rubbed on the skin externally in both tea or extract form, showed skin protection from the sun. Green tea is good for sensitive skin and can help sooth irritations offering relief to those individuals with sensitive skin. Many cosmetic companies are adding green tea as their main ingredient to help reduce fine lines. Green tea can safely be used with facial steaming and herbal baths to help sooth the skin.
Green tea does contain small amounts of caffeine, but the caffeine does not exhibit the same stimulating effects as other caffeinated beverages. To date, there have not been any significant side effects reported so daily consumption is safe for most individuals. Some individuals need to stay away from all caffeinated products; supplement manufactures now offer caffeine free green tea as well.
For centuries third world countries have been benefiting from the consumption of green tea, don’t you think its time we start to as well? Green tea in regular or decaf can be found at your local or internet health food store.
The Yoga of Menopause - Alternatives to HRT
Susun maintains: “Menopause is not a ‘pathology’, but a passage to power. Like puberty, menopause is a natural – and healthy – change. Wise women the world over herald menopause as a health-promoting event. They see hot flashes as ‘power surges’ and menopause as an intense spiritual journey. Most treatments – including ERT, HRT, isoflavone, and progesterone creams – disrupt this process and can do severe damage to a woman’s health.”
MENOPAUSE IS ENLIGHTENMENT
The energy aspects of menopause are of special interest to me.
As a long-time student of yoga, I was struck by the many similarities between menopausal symptoms and the well-known esoteric goal of "awakening of the kundalini." Though the ideas presented in this section may seem strange or difficult to comprehend, they contain powerful messages about menopause, which lie at the heart of the Wise Woman approach.
Kundalini [is] the root [of] all spiritual experiences ... Kundalini is a special kind of energy known in many cultures, including Tibetan, Indian, Sumerian, Chinese, Irish, Aztec, and Greek. Kundalini is said to be hot, fast, powerful, and large. It exists within the earth, within all life, and within each person. Psychoanalyst Carl G. Jung called kundalini anima. Kundalini is usually represented as a serpent coiled at the base of the spine, but women's mystery stories locate it in the uterus - or the area where the uterus was, if a hysterectomy has occurred. During both puberty and menopause, a woman's kundalini is difficult to control and may cause a great number of symptoms.
East Indian yogis spend lifetimes learning to activate, or wake up, their kundalini. This is also called "achieving enlightenment". When they succeed, a surge of super-heated energy goes up the spine, throughout the nerves, dilating blood vessels, and fueling itself with hormones. As kundalini continues to travel up the spine, it changes the functioning of the endocrine, cardiovascular, and nervous systems. Not just in yogis, but in any woman who allows herself to become aware of it. Menopause is a kind of enlightenment. Hot flashes are kundalini training sessions.
TAKING HORMONES? THESE HERBS ARE FOR YOU
More and more American women are using herbal remedies to help them with menopausal problems. Those who do take ERT (estrogen replacement) or HRT (hormone replacement) may be surprised to discover that herbal medicine has a lot to offer them as well.
Herbs for women on ERT/HRT include those that alleviate side-effects as well as those that counter problems caused by the hormones.
Herbal Helpers Counter Side-Effects
Water retention is the symptom most often cited for dissatisfaction with hormone replacement. Herbal tinctures and tea, such as dandelion or cleavers, and ordinary foods can not only relieve the distress, they will go to the root of the problem and help prevent recurrences.
Dandelion root tincture (Taraxacum officinale) strengthens the liver and helps it process out the excess hormones you are taking. When the liver works well, the kidneys work better, and tissues no longer bloat. A dose is 10-20 drops in several ounces of water or juice 2-3 three times a day. If you have any digestion problems, take your dandelion before meals; otherwise, anytime is fine. You can safely take dandelion daily for months or years if you need or want to.
Cleavers herb tincture (Galium molluga) tells the lymphatic tissues to get moving. Relief from edema is usually rapid when 20-30 drops are taken in several ounces of water or juice. Repeat up to six times at hourly intervals if needed. Cleavers is especially helpful for easing swollen, sore breasts.
Foods that relieve water retention include (in order of effectiveness): asparagus, nettles, corn (and corn silk tea), grapes, cucumbers, watermelon (and watermelon seed tea), parsley, celery, black tea, and green tea.
Headaches are the second most common side-effect of hormone use. Unfortunately, they are common among menopausal women not taking hormones, too. Herbs that help relieve headache without a drug-like action - such as dandelion, yellow dock, milk thistle, burdock, garden sage, skullcap, and St. John's/Joan's wort - are generally considered safe to take with hormones.
Chinese herbalists say headaches are caused by liver stress. My favorite liver-strengthening herbs are dandelion, yellow dock, milk thistle seed, and burdock. I use one at a time, a 15-25 drops of the tincture several times a day, for two weeks. If symptoms continue, I switch to a different herb.
A strong tea of garden sage leaves (Salvia officinalis) offers immediate relief from headaches and helps prevent future ones. It also reduces night sweats. Tinctures of skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) and St. Joan's/John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) ease pain and relieve muscle spasms. Use 5-20 drops of skullcap and a dropperful of St.J's at the very first sign - no, the very first thought - of a headache. Repeat the doses every five minutes until pain free. Skullcap can be quite sedative, especially in large doses.
Herbal Allies to Prevent Problems Caused by Taking Hormones
Breast cancer risk is increased 20% in women who use ERT for five or more years. Use of HRT for five or more years increases breast cancer risk by 40%. Each five years of continued use increases the risk. In addition, women who take ERT are far more likely to get uterine or endometrial cancers. All women on hormones increase their risks of lung and ovarian cancer, too. Nourishing herbs such as red clover, and foods such as beans and yogurt, offer easy ways to stay cancer-free.
Red clover blossoms (Trifolium pratense), when dried and brewed into a strong infusion (one ounce herb steeped an a quart of boiling water for at least four hours) prevent cancer by providing phytoestrogens that counter the cancer-promoting effects of oral hormones. Usual dose is 2-4 cups a day. The infusion tastes like black tea and can be flavored with mint if you like.
Since uncooked beans and unfermented soy contain anti-nutritional factors that may promote bone loss and dementia, soy "milk" and tofu are not recommended. Miso and tamari definitely help to prevent breast cancer but soy isoflavones may promote it.
Yogurt helps build powerful immunity. Women who eat a quart of yogurt a week have 700% less cancer than women who eat no yogurt.
Dry eyes afflict more than 9% of women using ERT and over 7% of those on HRT. Risk increases by 70% for every year of continued use. And the longer a woman uses hormones, the greater her risk. Herbs such as oatstraw, chamomile, and chickweed can help relieve and prevent this problem.
Oatstraw infusion (Avena sativa) cools and moistens your eyes from the inside out, builds strong bones too. Use one ounce of dried herb in a quart jar; fill to the top with boiling water and cap tightly. Let steep four or more hours. Dose is 2-4 cups a day. Refrigerate after straining.
Cucumber slices ease dry eyes; so do chamomile tea bags.
The ultimate ally for women with dry eyes is fresh chickweed (Stellaria media), applied as a poultice to the closed eyes. Leave on for five minutes, or until the plant material feels warm (it will heat up). Repeat as needed.
Stroke and heart attack are actually increased by use of ERT/HRT, though modern medicine has long proclaimed the opposite. Every major double-blind study done to date has created a larger and larger gap between ERT/HRT's supposed ability to help cardiovascular health and its actual results. Protect your heart with nourishing and tonifying herbs and foods such as motherwort, hawthorn, and cherries.
Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) tincture helps the heart. The Japanese claim it is their secret of longevity. A dose is 5-15 drops, twice a day. Motherwort also relieves hot flashes, calms tachycardiia, and eases anxiety. It's an all-in-one remedy for menopausal women.
Hawthorn (Crataegus oxycantha) flowers, leaves, and fruits are all used to maintain heart health and control fluid build-up in heart tissues. A dose is 20- 30 drops of tincture 2-4 times a day, or a cup of tea with meals. This widespread shrub is considered one of the finest heart tonics in the world.
Cherries are even better than apples at keeping the doctor away. Dried cherries and cherry juice, even tincture of cherries.
More than three-quarters of the women in America over the age of fifty have refused ERT/HRT. If you want to join them, taper off your dosage slowly, while continuing to use nourishing and tonifying herbs such as dandelion, motherwort, red clover, oatstraw, and seaweed.
THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF ESTROGENS
Women make estrogens.
Plants make estrogens and estrogen-like compounds.
Chemicals, especially organochlorines, act like estrogens (xenoestrogens).
Pharmaceutical companies make estrogens from substances such as horse urine, wild yam roots, and petrochemicals. Tamoxifen, used to treat and prevent breast cancer, is a type of pharmaceutical estrogen.
Women make at least thirty types of estrogen, including estradiol, estrone, and estrace. Estradiol is the strongest; it is turned on at puberty and turned off at menopause. Estradiol is positively linked with breast cancer; other human estrogens are not. Anything that reduces the amount of estradiol a woman produces (such as pregnancy, lactation, early menopause, and late puberty) also decreases her risk of a breast cancer diagnosis.
Phytoestrogens counter the detrimental effects of estradiol by competing for the same receptor sites.
Estradiol is a strong estrogen and is metabolized by the long path. The other estrogens our bodies make are weak estrogens and are metabolized by the short path. Alcohol turns off the short path. Phytoestrogens are weak hormones and hormonal precursors. Phytoestrogens in foods are metabolized by the short path. Phytoestrogens appear to protect tissues from the cancer-causing effects of estradiol, xenoestrogens and pharmaceutical hormones. Phytoestrogens in foods prevent cancer and promote health; phytoestrogen supplements and processed soy fake-foods may do the opposite. Breast cancer occurs four times more often in women whose urinary output of phytoestrogen by-products is low compared to women whose urinary output is high.
Phytoestrogens are common in food. They are concentrated in seeds (grains, beans, nuts, berries) and roots. The exceptions to the rule that plants don't contain human hormones: French beans, rice, apple seeds, licorice, and pomegranate seeds contain the "weak" estrogen estrone.
To get the greatest benefit from phytoestrogenic foods and herbs remember:
1. Isolated phytoestrogens are not as safe as those "in matrix."
2. To make use of plant hormones, you need active, healthy gut flora.
3. Herbs and foods rich in phytoestrogens need to be used in different ways.
4. Phytoestrogens may have different effects on women who do not have their ovaries.
1. Plants contain many types of phytoestrogens; additionally, they contain minerals and other constituents which help our bodies modify the phytoestrogens and so we can use them safely. Red clover is mineral-rich and contains all four of the major types of phytoestrogens: lignans, coumestans, isoflavones, and resorcylic acid lactones. It is the world's best-known anti-cancer herb. In general, foods and herbs rich in phytoestrogens, with the possible exception of licorice, show anti-cancer abilities. Isoflavone, however, when isolated (usually from soy) has the opposite effect: in the lab it encourages the growth of breast cancer cells.
2. Plant hormones, including most phytoestrogens, can't be used by humans. But we can convert them into ones we can use - with the help of our gut bacteria. When women take antibiotics, their excretion of phytoestrogens plummets. Get your gut flora going by eating more yogurt, miso, unpasteurized sauerkraut, homemade beers and wines, picked-by-your-own-hands-and-unwashed fruits and salads, sourdough bread, and whey-fermented vegetables. (See Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon for whey-fermented vegetable recipes.)
3. Plants which are exceptionally rich in phytoestrogens are regarded as powerful herbal medicines. Plants which are good sources of phytoestrogens are regarded as foods. While food can certainly be our medicine - a practice I advocate - it is also true that medicines are more dangerous than foods. Foods rich in phytoestrogens are different than medicinal herbs rich in phytoestrogens. They have different places in my life.
I eat phytoestrogenic foods daily in quantity.
I use phytoestrogenic food-like herbs regularly (not daily), in moderate quantity.
I take phytoestrogenic herbs rarely, in small amounts, for a limited time.
Phytoestrogenic foods are the basis for a healthy diet and a long life. The first food listed is the highest in phytoestrogens. The best diet contains not just one but many choices from each list:
Whole grains (rye, oats, barley, millet, rice, wheat, corn)
Edible seeds (buckwheat, sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, amaranth, quinoa)
Beans (yellow split peas, black turtle beans, baby limas, Anasazi beans, red kidney beans, red lentils, soy beans)
Leafy greens and seaweed (parsley, nettle, kelp, cabbage, broccoli, kale, collards, lamb's quarter)
Fruits (olives, cherries, grapes, apples, pears, peaches, plums, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, salmon berries, apricots, crab apples, quinces, rosehips, blueberries)
Olive oil and seed oils. Garlic, onions and their relatives leeks, chives, scallions, ramps, shallot
Phytoestrogenic food-like herbs are generally considered longevity tonics. For optimum effect, use only one from the list below and to stick with it for at least three months.
Citrus peel, dandelion leaves and/or roots, fenugreek seeds, flax seeds, green tea, hops, red clover, red wine.
Phytoestrogenic herbs are usually too powerful for long- term use. From the list below (which is in alphabetical order), it is safest to use only one herb at a time, and use it only when needed, although that may mean daily use for several months. More information about these herbs, including specific dosages and cautions, is in New Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way.
Agave root, black cohosh root, black currant, black haw, chasteberries, cramp bark, dong quai root, devil's club root, false unicorn root, ginseng root, groundsel herb, licorice, liferoot herb, motherwort herb, peony root, raspberry leaves, rose family plants (most parts), sage leaves, sarsaparilla root, saw palmetto berried, wild yam root, yarrow blossoms.
4. Most of the warnings about phytoestrogenic herbs center on their proven ability to thicken the uterine wall in animals who have had their ovaries removed. This could encourage cancer, just as taking ERT encourages cancer of the uterus by stimulating cell growth. Women without ovaries are probably safe eating phytoestrogenic foods, but may want to use phytoestrogenic herbs - especially ginseng, dong quai, licorice, red clover, and wild yam - in small amounts and only for short periods.
NEW NOTES ON PHYTOESTROGENIC PLANTS
Recent studies indicate black cohosh does not suppress luteinizing hormone, has no estrogenic effect, and contains no compounds related to estrogen. Red clover flower heads contain many hormone-like flavonoids, including isoflavone, daidzein, genistein, formononetin, biochanin, sitosterol, and coumestrol, a particularly strong phytoestrogen (six times more active than the one in soy). Red clover contains all four major estrogenic isoflavones; soy has only two of them. A cup of red clover infusion (not tea) contains ten times more phytoestrogens than a cup of soy beverage, is richer in calcium, has less calories, and contains no added sugars.
Researchers in Australia report a million lambs a year are aborted after sheep eat clover on pasture. Yet red clover is renowned as a fertility enhancer. What's up? Stephen Buhner, author of The Secret Language of Plants, says clover plants make blood-thinning compounds (which cause abortion) when overgrazed, but don't otherwise. Plants, it turns out, can fight back.
When unfermented soy takes the place of animal protein (meat and milk), its anti-nutritional factors can create brittle bones, thyroid problems, memory loss, vision impairment, irregular heartbeat, depression, and vulnerability to infections. Unfermented soy is high in hemoglutin, which causes clumping of red blood cells and may increase risk of stroke. It is also impressively rich in aluminum (up to 100 times more than is found in the same amount of real milk). Eating tofu more than once a week doubled the risk of Alzheimer's in a small group of Japanese men studied for thirty years.
Human gut bacteria can cleave a sugar molecule from wild yam's steroidal saponin, producing diosgenin. Labs make progesterone from diosgenin, but our bodies can't. Diosgenin itself has a weak estrogenic effect. According to Australian herbalist Ruth Trickey: "A more probable explanation [for the observed effects of wild yam] ... is that [diosgenin] interacts with hypothalamic and pituitary hormones and ... initiates ovulation."
About the Author
Visit Susun Weed at: www.susunweed.com and www.ashtreepublishing.com For permission to reprint this article, contact us at: susunweed@herbshealing.com Vibrant, passionate, and involved, Susun Weed has garnered an international reputation for her groundbreaking lectures, teachings, and writings on health and nutrition. She challenges conventional medical approaches with humor, insight, and her vast encyclopedic knowledge of herbal medicine. Unabashedly pro-woman, her animated and enthusiastic lectures are engaging and often profoundly provocative. Susun is one of America's best-known authorities on herbal medicine and natural approaches to women's health. Her four best-selling books are recommended by expert herbalists and well-known physicians and are used and cherished by millions of women around the world. Learn more at www.susunweed.com
Cure Constipation With Cayenne Pepper and Other Home Remedies
Constipation is a wretched condition and a common complaint for many people. Constipation occurs when bowel movements are small, hard, and difficult to pass. You may have few bowel movements or always experience a feeling of never finishing the movement. There are numerous causes of constipation including anxiety, stress, dehydration, nutrition, injury and some medications can cause constipation.
There are several natural ways to help those who suffer from constipation. A balanced diet including plenty of fruit and vegetables is advisable. Green leafy vegetables such as lettuce and parsley are especially good for helping to prevent constipation.
One home remedy which is particularly recommended is the use of cayenne pepper either as a seasoning on your food or you can take Cayenne capsules which are available in most grocery stores and pharmacies. Cayenne pepper is what is called a stimulating herb' - a natural blood thinner and can help improve circulation. The main medicinal attributes of cayenne are derived from a chemical called capsaicin. As well as adding heat to the pepper, capsaicin acts to reduce blood platelet stickiness and relieve pain.
When ingested, cayenne soothes the digestive tract and increases the flow of stomach secretions and saliva. These secretions carry substances that help digest food. Cayenne tablets or capsules can be taken at each meal after you finish eating. Capsaicin is known to help improve the digestive tract and the circulatory system, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and speeds healing. Today, cultures which consume large amounts of Cayenne pepper experience a much lower rate of cardiovascular disease. Cayenne has been employed as medicine for centuries. It is universally considered helpful for various conditions of the gastrointestinal tract, including stomach aches, cramping pains, constipation and gas.
You may experience a burning in the upper part of your stomach after taking a cayenne capsule. This sensation will go away as your body becomes used to the pepper. Adding cayenne pepper to soups, salads, and other foods you like will also be of benefit. When your constipation has been alleviated, cayenne will also help your bowel movements remain regular.
There are numerous other terrific and simple home remedies to ease constipation. For example, try eating a banana each day. This can help with constipation as well as help keep potassium levels even. An apple a day keeps the doctor away is something our grandmothers told us as children. Did you know it can also help keep constipation away? Well, it can!
Vegetables are fundamental ingredients necessary for regulating your digestive processes and avoiding constipation pain. Parsley, lettuce, and cabbage when included in a salad are a wonderful side dish with the added bonus of helping to keep your digestive tract in tip-top shape. Red beets and the liquid from boiled potatoes are also recommended. Tomatoes and tomato juice are believed to relieve many constipation problems.
There are several natural remedies that don't include vegetables or fruit. You can eat one half cup of sunflower seeds every day or try drinking two cups of warm water on an empty stomach each morning. Half a teaspoon of lemon juice and one teaspoon of olive oil can be added to that warm water for a little extra help.
Blanched thyme leaves in a cup of water with a bit of honey can help if you drink it each morning, and if you like honey, eat a little every day! Sounds like a sweet way to ease constipation. Eating whole wheat breads, bran, and even oatmeal each day will also help your problem.
In addition to these simple remedies from the kitchen, natural therapies such as aromatherapy and herbs can also help provide constipation relief. Try one or more of the following recipes to help encourage your digestive tract to become more regular and efficient.
Constipation Massage Oil
* 6 d. Rosemary oil
* 6 d. Thyme oil: in 1 oz. olive or Almond oil.
Massage on abdomen in a clockwise circular motion.
Constipation Relief Oil
Massage in a clockwise direction over the lower abdomen three times a day with the following:
* Rosemary 15 drops
* Lemon 10 drops
* Peppermint 5 drops
Dilute mixture in 2 tablespoons Massage Oil
Digest-Eze Herbal Tea
* 1 cup water
* 1 tablespoon freshly chopped Basil leaf
Put Herbs and water in a pot with the lid on. Bring to a boil and then immediately turn off the heat. Let the Basil steep for fifteen minutes and then strain it out. Drink one to two cups a day.
Wise Woman Ways to Prevent Depression
The dark months are a time of rest and renewal, not a time of high energy. The fairies return to their underground homes at Halloween and return aboveground on May Day. Give in to the slower pace of the winter. Expect less of yourself; enjoy more time in bed. Stop fighting the dark. Let it be deep and nourishing. Before electric lights, humans slept twelve hours a day during the winter. Recognize the softer energy of contemplation and enjoy it, just as you do the active energy of summer.
Herbal tonics can help us lighten up and stay healthier all winter. My favorite winter tonics are sunlight, St. Joan's wort tincture, elder berry tincture, linden infusion, sauerkraut, and organ meats.
Get out into the sun. Not just in the winter, but in the summer too. And skip the sunscreen. Overuse is causing an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency, which leads to depression, weak bones, and cancer. For optimum mental and physical health - and for sustainable energy - humans need 15-30 minutes of unfiltered sunlight on hands, face and eyes (no glasses, no contacts) every day. You won't make vitamin D in the northern states during the winter, but sunlight still has beneficial effects on the pineal gland, and thus, overall health. Special high-intensity lights are used to help those who deal with winter depression; but natural sunlight is preferable.
Hypericum perforatum is the botanical name for the famous St. John's wort, better known to me as St. Joan's wort. This yellow-flowered plant thrives in the hottest, sunniest locations and spends the summer soaking up the sun so she can give it back to you when the outer or inner skies are grey. A dropperful of the tincture, taken as often as every two hours, if needed, can brighten your mood rapidly. I love the winter, so I use Hypericum as an antiviral. A dropperful a day (more if flu threatens) helps prevent colds and the flu.
Elder berries are the fruit of the magical elder bush (Sambucus nigra). All parts of the elder have been used to help us get through the winter. It is said that a powerful woman lives in the elder; I call her Elda Mor, though she has many, many names. If asked to help, she will. But she resents demands and grows furious if she is used without thanks. As much as a teaspoonful of elder berry tincture can be used daily to improve mood and immunity.
Linden blossoms (Tillia Americana or europa) are the world's most popular winter tonic. I make an infusion by brewing a half-ounce (weight measurement) of the flowers in a quart of boiling water. I steep my infusion, tightly covered, off the heat, for at least four hours. For remedial relief of sore throat or bronchitis, I start with cold water and bring the herb and water to a boil together. A big spoonful of honey in each cup of the infusion - strained and heated - isn't necessary, but adds delight.
Sauerkraut, or any naturally fermented vegetables including Kimchee, feed the underground parts of our beings. A small serving daily from the beginning of December through the end of March can totally prevent the flu. Let the summer stored in the vegetables speak to you of joy.
Organ meats are an old secret for staying healthy, especially in the winter, when we need the concentrated goodness of meat. Liver is a powerful, rich source of vitamins D and A, as well as iron and other minerals needed to keep depression away and strengthen immunity. Eating animals is the surest way to love them and help them. When we buy organic meats, we are voting for well-tended animals who live with dignity and who take pride in contributing to our well-being. When we refuse to eat animals, we leave them in the hands of those who don't care. And we short-change our own health.
Green blessings!
Legal Disclaimer: This content is not intended to replace conventional medical treatment. Any suggestions made and all herbs listed are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, condition or symptom. Personal directions and use should be provided by a clinical herbalist or other qualified healthcare practitioner with a specific formula for you. All material on this website/email is provided for general information purposes only and should not be considered medical advice or consultation. Contact a reputable healthcare practitioner if you are in need of medical care. Exercise self-empowerment by seeking a second opinion
Building Better Bones
"It is a bone-deep change you are going into, my beloved," counsels Grandmother Growth. "You must open to your very marrow for this transformation. No cell is to remain untouched. You are to open more than you ever dreamed you could open, more than you have opened in birth or in passion. You open now to the breath of mortality as it plays the bone flute of your being. What can you do but dance to the haunting melody, develop a passion for an elegant posture and a long stride?
"Ah, yes," Grandmother Growth smiles rather wantonly. "It would do you well to develop a taste for dark greens tarted with vinegar and mated with garlic. These things will build strong flexible bones to support you as you become Crone."
Did you know that your bones are always changing? Every day of your life, some bone cells die and some new bone cells are created. From birth until your early 30s, you can easily make lots of bone cells. So long as your diet supplies the necessary nutrients, you not only replace bone cells that die, you have extras left over to lengthen and strengthen your bones.
Past the age of 35, new bone cells are more difficult to make. Sometimes there is a shortfall: more bone cells die than you can replace. In the orthodox view, this is the beginning of osteoporosis, the disease of low bone mass. By the age of forty, many American women have begun to lose bone mass; by the age of fifty, most are told they must take hormones or drugs to prevent further loss and avoid osteoporosis, hip fracture, and death.
Women who exercise regularly and eat calcium-rich foods enter their menopausal years with better bone mass than women who sit a lot and consume calcium-leaching foods (including soy "milk," tofu, coffee, soda pop, alcohol, white flour products, processed meats, nutritional yeast, and bran). But no matter how good your lifestyle choices, bone mass usually decreases during the menopausal years.
For unknown reasons, menopausal bones slow down production of new cells and seem to ignore the presence of calcium. This "bone-pause" is generally short-lived, occurring off and on for five to seven years. I noticed it in scattered episodes of falling hair, breaking fingernails, and the same "growing pains" I experienced during puberty.
I did not see it in a bone scan, because I didn't have one.
The idea behind bone scans is a good one: find women who are at risk of broken bones, alert them to the danger, and help them engage in preventative strategies. There's only one problem: bone scans don't find women who are at risk of broken bones, they find women who have low bone density.
I would like to help you let go of the idea that osteoporosis is important. In the Wise Woman Tradition, we focus on the patient, not the problem. In the Wise Woman tradition, there are no diseases and no cures for diseases. When we focus on a disease, like osteoporosis, we cannot see the whole woman. The more we focus on one disease, even its prevention, the less likely we are to nourish wholeness and health.
Focusing on osteoporosis, defining it as a disease, using drugs to counter it, we lose sight of the fact that postmenopausal bone mass is a better indicator of breast cancer risk than broken bone risk. The twenty-five percent of postmenopausal women with the highest bone mass are two-and-a-half to four times more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than those with the lowest bone mass. And that hormones which maintain bone mass also adversely affect breast cancer risk. Women who take estrogen replacement (often given to prevent osteoporosis), even for as little as five years, increase their risk of breast cancer by twenty percent; if they take hormone replacement, the risk increases by forty percent.
Focusing on bone mass, we lose sight of the fact that a strong correlation between bone density and bone breakage has not been established, according to Susan Brown, director of the Osteoporosis Information Clearing House, and many others. We lose sight of the fact that women who faithfully take estrogen or hormone replacement still experience bone changes and suffer spinal crush fractures.
Bone-pause passes and the bones do rebuild themselves, especially when supported by nourishing herbs, which are exceptional sources of bone-building minerals and better at preventing bone breaks than supplements. The minerals in green plants seem to be ideal for keeping bones healthy. Dr. Campbell, Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University, has done extensive research in rural China where the lowest known fracture rates for midlife and older women were found. He says, "The closer people get to a diet based on plant foods and leafy vegetables, the lower the rates of many diseases, including osteoporosis." Women who consume lots of calcium-rich plants and exercise moderately build strong flexible bones. Women who rely on hormones build bones that are massive, but rigid.
Hormone replacement regimes do not increase bone cell creation; they slow (or suppress) bone cell killers (osteoclasts). There is a rebound effect; bone loss jumps when the hormones are stopped. Women who take hormones for five years or more are as much as four times more likely to break a bone in the year after they stop than a woman of the same age who never took hormones. Women who build better bones with green allies and exercise nourish the bone cell creator cells (osteoblasts).
Hormone or estrogen replacement, taken as menopause begins and continued for the rest of your life, is said to reduce post-menopausal fracture rates by 40-60 percent. Frequent walks (you don't even need to sweat) and a diet high in calcium-rich green allies (at least 1500 mg daily) have been shown to reduce post-menopausal fractures by 50 percent. The first is expensive and dangerous. The second, inexpensive and health promoting. It's easy to see why more than eighty percent of American women just "say no" to hormones. It is never too late to build better bones, and it is never too soon. Your best insurance for a fracture-free, strong-boned cronehood is to build better bones before menopause. The more exercise and calcium-rich green allies you get in your younger years, the less you'll have to worry about as you age.
"A woman has lost half of all the spongy bone (spine, wrist) she'll ever lose by the age of 50, but very little of the dense (hip, hand, forearm) bone. Attention to bone formation at every stage of life is vital; there is no time when you are too old to create healthy new bone." - American MD
CALCIUM
"Osteoporosis is much less common in countries that consume the least calcium. That is an undisputed fact." -T. C. Campbell, PhD. Nutritional Biochemistry
Step 1: Collect Information
Calcium is, without a doubt, the most important mineral in your body. In fact, calcium makes up more than half of the total mineral content of your body. Calcium is crucial to the regular beating of your heart, your metabolism, the functioning of your muscles, the flow of impulses along your nerves, the regulation of your cellular membranes, the strength of your bones, the health of your teeth and gums, and your vital blood-clotting mechanisms. Calcium is so critical to your life that you have a gland (the parathyroid) that does little else than monitor blood levels of calcium and secrete hormones to ensure optimum levels of calcium at all times.
When you consume more calcium than you use, you are in a positive calcium balance: extra usable calcium is stored in the bones and you gain bone mass (insoluble or unusable calcium may be excreted, or stored in soft tissue, or deposited in the joints). When you consume less calcium than you use, you are in a negative calcium balance: the parathyroid produces a hormone that releases calcium stores from the bones, and you lose bone mass.
To ensure a positive calcium balance and create strong, flexible bones for your menopausal journey, take care to:
Eat three or more calcium-rich foods daily.
Avoid calcium antagonists.
Use synergistic foods to magnify the effectiveness of calcium.
Avoid calcium supplements.
Step 2: Engage the Energy
The homeopathic tissue salt Silica is said to improve bone health.
What does it mean to you to support yourself? To be supported? To stand on your own? To have a backbone in your life?
Step 3: Nourish & Tonify
What do we need to make strong flexible bones? Like all tissues, bones need protein. They need minerals (not just calcium, but also potassium, manganese, magnesium, silica, iron, zinc, selenium, boron, phosphorus, sulphur, chromium, and dozens of others). And in order to use those minerals, high-quality fats, including oil-soluble vitamin D.
Many menopausal women I meet believe that protein is bad for their bones. Not so. Researchers at Utah State University, looking at the diets of 32,000 postmenopausal women, found that women who ate the least protein were the most likely to fracture a hip; and that eating extra protein sped the healing of hip fractures.
Acids created by protein digestion are buffered by calcium. Traditional diets combine calcium- and protein-rich foods (e.g. seaweed with tofu, tortillas made from corn ground on limestone with beans, and melted cheese on a hamburger). Herbs such as seaweed, stinging nettle, oatstraw, red clover, dandelion, and comfrey leaf are rich in protein and provide plenty of calcium too. Foods such as tahini, sardines, canned salmon, yogurt, cheese, oatmeal, and goats' milk offer us protein, generous amounts of calcium, and the healthy fats our bones need. If you crave more protein during menopause, follow that craving. CAUTION: Unfermented soy (e.g., tofu) is especially detrimental to bone health being protein-rich, naturally deficient in calcium, and a calcium antagonist to boot.
Bones need lots of minerals not just calcium, which is brittle and inflexible. (Think of chalk, calcium carbonate, and how easily it breaks.) Avoid calcium supplements. Focus on getting generous amounts of calcium from herbs and foods and you will automatically get the multitude of minerals you need for flexible bones.
Because minerals are bulky, and do not compact, we must consume generous amounts to make a difference in our health. Taking mineral-rich herbs in capsule or tincture form won't do much for your bones. (One cup of nettle tincture contains the same amount of calcium - 300 mg - as one cup of nettle infusion. Many women drink two or more cups of infusion a day; no one consumes a cup of tincture a day!) Neither will eating raw foods. I frequently come across the idea that cooking robs food of nutrition. Nothing could be further from the truth. Cooking maximizes the minerals available to your bones. Kale cooked for an hour delivers far more calcium than lightly steamed kale. Minerals are rock-like, and to extract them, we need heat, time, and generous quantities of plant material.
Green sources of calcium are the best. Nourishing herbs and garden weeds are far richer in minerals than ordinary greens, which are already exceptional sources of nutrients.
But calcium from green sources alone is not enough. We need calcium from white sources as well. Add a quart of yogurt a week to your diet if you want really healthy bones. Because the milk has been changed by Lactobacillus organisms, its calcium, other minerals, proteins, and sugars (no lactose) are more easily digested. This carries over, enhancing calcium and mineral absorption from other foods, too. (I have known several vegans who increased their very low bone density by as much as 6 percent in one year by eating yogurt.) Organic raw milk cheeses are another superb white source.
Horsetail herb (Equisetum arvense) works like a charm for those premenopausal women who have periodontal bone loss or difficulty with fracture healing. Taken as tea, once or twice a day, young spring-gathered horsetail dramatically strengthens bones and promotes rapid mending of breaks. CAUTION: Mature horsetail contains substances which may irritate the kidneys.
Step 4: Stimulate/Sedate
Beware of calcium antagonists. Certain foods interfere with calcium utilization. For better bones avoid consistent use of:
Greens rich in oxalic acid, including chard (silver beet), beet greens, spinach, rhubarb.
Unfermented soy products, including tofu, soy beverages, soy burgers.
Phosphorus-rich foods, including carbonated drinks, white flour products, and many processed foods. (Teenagers who drink sodas instead of milk are four times more likely to break a bone.)
Foods that produce acids requiring a calcium buffer when excreted in the urine, including coffee, white sugar, tobacco, alcohol, nutritional yeast, salt.
Fluoride in water or toothpaste.
Fiber pills, bran taken alone, bulk-producing laxatives.
Steroid medications, including corticosteroids such as prednisone and asthma inhalers. (Daily use reduces spinal bone mass by as much as ten percent a year.)
Restricted calorie diets. Women who weigh the least have the greatest loss of bone during menopause and "neither calcium supplements, vitamin D supplements, nor estrogen" slow the loss. Among 236 premenopausal women, all of whom consumed similar amounts of calcium, those who lost weight by reducing calories lost twice as much bone mass as women who maintained their weight.
Although chocolate contains oxalic acid, the levels are so low as to have only a negligible effect on calcium metabolism. An ounce/3000 mg of chocolate binds 15-20 mg of calcium; an ounce of cooked spinach, 100-125 mg calcium. Bittersweet (dark) chocolate is a source of iron. Recent research has found chocolate to be very heart healthy. As with any stimulant, daily use is not advised. Chocolate is an important and helpful ally for women. Guilt about eating it and belief that it is damaging to your health interferes with your ability to hear and respond to your body wisdom. If you want to eat chocolate - do it; and get the best. But if you're doing it every day - eat more weeds.
Excess phosphorus accelerates bone loss and demineralization. Phosphorus compounds are second only to salt as food additives. They are found in carbonated beverages, soda pop; white flour products, especially if "enriched" (bagels, cookies, cakes, donuts, pasta, bread); preserved meats (bacon, ham, sausage, lunch meat, and hot dogs); supermarket breakfast cereals; canned fruit; processed potato products such as frozen fries and instant mashed potatoes; processed cheeses; instant soups and puddings.
To avoid phosphorus overload and improve calcium absorption:
Drink spring water and herbal infusions; avoid soda pop and carbonated water.
Eat only whole grain breads, noodles, cookies, and crackers.
Buy only unpreserved meats, cheeses, potatoes.
Avoid buying foods with ingredients; they are highly processed.
Excess salt leaches calcium. Women eating 3900 mg of sodium a day excrete 30 percent more calcium than those eating 1600 mg. The main sources of dietary sodium are processed and canned foods. Seaweed is an excellent calcium-rich source of salt. Sea salt may be used freely as it contains trace amounts of calcium. Salt is critical for health; do not eliminate it from your diet.
Increase hydrochloric acid production (in your stomach) and you'll make better use of the calcium you consume. Lower stomach acid (with antacids, for example) and you will receive little bone benefit from the calcium you ingest. Some ways to acidify:
Drink lemon juice in water with or after your meal.
Take 10-25 drops dandelion root tincture in a little water before you eat.
Use calcium-rich herbal vinegars in your salad dressing; put some on cooked greens and beans, too.
Step 5a: Use Supplements
I really wish you wouldn't use calcium supplements. They expose you to dangers and don't prevent fractures. A study in Australia that followed 10,000 white women over the age of 65 for six and a half years found "Use of calcium supplements was associated with increased risk of hip and vertebral fracture; use of Tums antacid tablets was associated with increased risk of fractures of the proximal humerus."
If you insist on supplements, go for calcium-fortified orange juice or crumbly tablets of calcium citrate. Chewable calcium gluconate, calcium lactate, and calcium carbonate are acceptable sources. Dolomite, bone meal, and oyster shell are best avoided as they usually contain lead and other undesirable minerals.
For better bones, take 500 mg magnesium (not citrate) with your calcium. Better yet, wash your calcium pill down with a glass of herbal infusion; that will provide not only magnesium but lots of other bone-strengthening minerals, too.
Calcium supplements are more effective in divided doses. Two doses of 250 mg, taken morning and night, actually provide more usable calcium than a 1000 mg tablet.
Step 5b: Use Drugs
Even if you take hormone therapy (ERT or HRT) you must get adequate calcium to maintain bone mass, according to researchers at Columbia University. That's 1200-1500 mg a day (a cup of plain yogurt, two cups of nettle infusion, a splash of mineral-rich vinegar, plus three figs is about that). As you increase your intake of calcium-rich foods/herbs, gradually cut back on your hormone dose if you wish.
Step 6: Break & Enter
Bone density tests are frequently used to push women into taking hormones or drugs. If your bone density is low, use the remedies in this section and schedule another test (for at least six months later) before agreeing to such therapies.
Legal Disclaimer: This content is not intended to replace conventional medical treatment. Any suggestions made and all herbs listed are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, condition or symptom. Personal directions and use should be provided by a clinical herbalist or other qualified healthcare practitioner with a specific formula for you. All material on this website/email is provided for general information purposes only and should not be considered medical advice or consultation. Contact a reputable healthcare practitioner if you are in need of medical care. Exercise self-empowerment by seeking a second opinion
Digestive Distress
Step 1: Collect Information
As the mix of hormones in your blood changes during your premenopausal years, you may notice the effects on your gastrointestinal tract both directly - estrogen is a gastrointestinal stimulant and varying levels may swing you from loose stools to dry ones - and indirectly, as the hormonal load places ever heavier demands on the liver.
Hormones have a strong effect on the motility of the intestinal tract. When your levels of estrogen and progesterone change (as they do throughout menopause, during pregnancy, and before menstruation and birth), your bowel patterns change, too.
Your liver is, among other things, a recycling center. It breaks down hormones circulating in the blood when they are no longer needed and makes their "parts" available for the production of more hormones. During the menopausal years some hormones (such as LH and FSH) are produced in such enormous quantities that your liver may struggle to keep up with its recycling work, and have little energy left over for digestive duties. Help yourself with these Wise Woman Ways.
Step 2: Engage the Energy
Bless your food out loud before you eat; say grace; thank the plants and animals who nourish you; breathe in and feel grateful.
My mother's favorite way of preventing digestive distress and ensuring regularity is to eat at regular times and go to the toilet at regular times. You'd be surprised how effective this is.
First thing in the morning, get yourself a cup of hot water (or herbal tea) and bring it back to bed. Sip it slowly, and gnaw gently on your bottom lip. Then lie on your back and bring your knees up, feet flat on the bed; place your palms on your belly and breathe deeply. Gently begin to rub your belly (in spirals): up on the right, across the middle, and down on the left. Soon you will feel the movement gathering momentum. Sit up slowly and head for the toilet.
Step 3: Nourish & Tonify
Yellow dock root vinegar or tincture is a wonderful ally for menopausal women with digestive distress. Daily doses of 1 teaspoon/5 ml vinegar or 5-10 drops of tincture eliminate constipation, indigestion, and gas. Yellow dock is especially recommended for the woman whose menopausal menses are getting heavier.
Dandelion is everyone's favorite ally for a happy digestive system and a strong liver. It relieves indigestion, constipation, gas, even gallstone pain. How to use it? Have a glass of dandelion blossom wine. Eat the omega-3-rich leaves in salads. Enjoy the phytoestrogenic roots as a vinegar or tincture (a dose is 1-2 teaspoons/5-10 ml vinegar or 10-20 drops tincture taken with meals) or as a coffee substitute.
Any rhythmical exercise, especially walking, relieves digestive gas and improves intestinal peristalsis (the movement of feces). Oriental wisdom says the liver loves movement.
Motherwort, fenugreek, vitex, or black cohosh tinctures, taken daily, strengthen digestion and ease menopausal digestive woes. Or try a cup of garden sage tea.
If constipation occurs due to a lessening of the moistening, lubricating cells in the colon, slippery foods such as slippery elm bark powder, oats, seaweed, flax seed, and seeds from wild Plantago (or cultivated psyllium) are wonderful allies. Adding a teaspoon/5 ml of any, or better yet, all of them to a cup/250 ml of rolled oats and cooking until thick in 3 cups/750 ml of water is a delicious way to prepare this remedy.
My favorite remedy to relieve digestive and gas pain is plain yogurt. Sometimes even a tiny mouthful will bring instant relief. Acidophilus capsules work, too. I use both when dealing with chronic constipation or severe diarrhea.
Step 4: Stimulate/Sedate
White flour products slow the digestive tract; so does too much grain-fed meat. Whole grain products, well-cooked beans, wild meats, and cooked greens speed it up.
Add more liquids and soft foods to your diet - applesauce, yogurt, nourishing soups, herbal infusions - to help relieve constipation. Chew your food slowly and savor it. Drink lavishly between meals.
Menopausal women will want to avoid the use of bran as a laxative, as it interferes with calcium absorption. Instead try prunes, prune juice, rhubarb with maple syrup, or figs.
Ginger tea with honey is a warming, easing drink when your tummy is upset. Ahhh. Try the fresh root grated and steeped in boiling water, or put a tablespoon of the powdered stuff from your spice cupboard in a cup of hot water and enjoy.
Crushed hemp seed (Cannabis sativa) tea - rich in essential fatty acids - is a specific against menopausal constipation.
Herbal laxatives such as aloes, cascara sagrada, rhubarb root, and senna are addictive and destructive to normal peristalsis. Except in rare cases (such as relief of constipation for a ninety-year-old woman confined to a bed), I do not advise their use.
Step 5a: Use Supplements
Constipation and digestive distress are common side effects from taking iron supplements. A spoonful of molasses with 10-25 drops of yellow dock root tincture in a glass of warm water is a better way to increase iron, and improve elimination.
Step 6: Break & Enter
Enemas and colonics are last-resort techniques. They do not promote health and may strip the guts of important flora. Regular use of enemas is highly habit-forming. For the sake of your health, avoid them.
Legal Disclaimer: This content is not intended to replace conventional medical treatment. Any suggestions made and all herbs listed are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, condition or symptom. Personal directions and use should be provided by a clinical herbalist or other qualified healthcare practitioner with a specific formula for you. All material contained herein is provided for general information purposes only and should not be considered medical advice or consultation. Contact a reputable healthcare practitioner if you are in need of medical care. Exercise self-empowerment by seeking a second opinion.
Depressed? Wise Woman Ways Offer a Helping Hand
Winter time is depression time for many women. Perhaps it is harder to look at the bright side when days are short, perhaps the holidays and family demands take their toll on us. Of course, depression can also be triggered by lack of thyroid hormone and by use of steroids, high blood pressure drugs, and ERT/HRT.
But most often the cause of depression is the belief (valid or not) that nothing you do makes any difference. Victimization and poverty lock women into depression. More than one-third of all American women have been victims of sexual or physical abuse; and women make up more than two-thirds of all Americans who live below poverty level. Yet our culture frowns on women who express their anger. No wonder depression is a woman's issue.
“Look here,” Grandmother Growth motions to you as she spreads her story blanket at your feet. “See how depression is deeply woven with anger and grief. When our need for reliable, joyous intimacy is frustrated, and expression of our frustration would endanger us, depression comes and protects us. When there is no way to deal effectively with situations that enrage us, depression comes and helps us quiet our violent impulses.
“Depression is not an easy companion on your journey, but she knows much about life. In her bundle, she carries the anger you have carefully frozen with frigid blasts of fear and kept nourished with your pain. She carries your wholeness. She carries your ability to go beyond the pain, your ability to allow your rage to move you into health. She carries your wholeness. Will you let her teach you?"
Wise Woman remedies don’t seek to eliminate our feelings, or turn “negative” ones into “positive” ones, but to help us incorporate all of our feelings into our wholeness/health/holiness.
Welcome the dark. Cherish the deepness. Give yourself over to a day or two of doing nothing. Then, get up, no matter how bad you feel. Set a goal for the day and meet it. Smile - it releases brain chemicals that make you feel good. Smile no matter what. Do it as an exercise. Hate it while you do it. But SMILE!
Homeopathic remedies include Arum metallicum, for women with frequent thoughts of suicide who feel cut off from love and joy; and Sepia, for women who are disinterested in everything, angry at family and friends, and just want to be left alone.
It’s more than idle chatter that depression comes with gray skies and happiness with sunny ones. For emotional health (and strong bones) get 15 minutes of sunlight on your uncovered eyelids (outside, no glasses, no contacts) daily. If you can’t get out (or if the sun doesn’t cooperate), wake up 1-2 hours earlier than usual. (You can stay in bed, but keep those eyes open.)
Sing the blues; dance ‘em too. Women have depended on songs and dances to carry them out of depression for centuries. Dance therapy is more effective than talk therapy for reaching and healing traumatic experiences. Even a single session may have a dramatic effect.
Find your rage and write it down. Get a massage and let the anger move out of the muscles. Volunteer to help change something you are upset about, even a small thing.
St. Joan’s/John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) lives in very sunny locations and blooms at summer solstice. I call it bottled sunshine. A dropperful of the bright red tincture taken 1-3 times daily has helped many women relieve SAD (seasonal affective disorder), move through grief, ease the physical pain of depression, and walk on the sunny side! CAUTION: Hypericum in capsules is not as effective and can cause unwanted side effects.
Oatstraw infusion (not tea, tincture, or capsules) has been an ally for depressed women since earliest times. Gentle Avena nourishes the nerves and helps you remember why life is worth living. To make an infusion: Brew one ounce by weight of dried herb (that's a cup by volume) in a quart jar filled to the top with boiling water. Steep for at least four hours, then strain and refrigerate your infusion. Drink as many cups a day as you wish. Or make an oatstraw bath by adding two quarts of infusion to your bath water.
Garden sage (Salvia) is an ancient ally for emotionally-distressed women. In some societies, only crones were allowed to drink the brew made from the nubbly leaves (at least partly because it delays menses and dries up breast milk). Make an infusion (see oatstraw); drink by mixing a few spoonfuls of the dense brew into hot water or warm milk; add honey to taste. The undiluted infusion keeps for weeks refrigerated.
Behavioral and interpersonal therapies are as effective as drugs in relieving depression. Not only that, two-thirds of those who simply read about therapy improve significantly.
Thirty minutes of aerobic exercise, especially soon after awakening, has been shown to help women whose depression is resistant to all treatments, including drugs.
Sleep less. If you are a woman who overproduces a normal depression-causing substance which accompanies sleep you will feel depressed and often find it difficult to wake up. Sleeping more will only compound the problem. Instead, stay up all night once a week. If you can’t cope with no sleep, even mild sleep deprivation (such as sleeping five hours or less for two nights in a row) dramatically decreases depressive symptoms in some people.
Low levels of calcium, zinc, and B vitamins are associated with depression. Get more by eating more cheese and yogurt, more garlic and mushrooms, more whole grains and beans.
Lack of vitamin B12 doubles the risk of severe depression for older women. This critical nutrient, found only in animal products, is destroyed by tofu and soy beverage. Drink real milk, eat real cheese, eat meat at least occasionally and watch your mood improve :)
1600 mg of SAM-e (A-adenosylmethionine) relieved the symptoms of moderate depression as well as imipramine, but no better than Hypericum (St. J's wort). CAUTION: Of the brands tested by Consumer Reports, only Natrol, Nature Made, TwinLab, and GNC passed all tests.
Avoid hormone replacement - ERT/HRT - if you're depressed; it's strongly associated with an increase in suicide attempts.
Women who used to take lithium say they have gradually switched over to skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora). A dose of infusion is one cup/250 ml or more per day; of fresh plant tincture is 5-8 drops twice a day; of the dried plant tincture is a dropperful/1 ml several times a day. CAUTION: Skullcap can make you sleepy.
For women whose depression resists all other therapies, electro-convulsive treatments (ECT), previously known as shock treatments, have been updated with special care taken to minimize harm. The women I spoke with who were using ECT told me it was incredibly effective, and the side-effects, including severe memory loss, acceptable to them.
From doing nothing, to ECT, the range of remedies available to depressed women is enormous. To help you choose wisely, these effective, simple Wise Woman remedies are in order of safety: the safest remedies first, and the most dangerous ones last.
Losing Weight a Problem? Get Help from the Right Herbs
Excess weight and obesity is a growing epidemic.
It is tempting and easy to say that simply eating less and exercising more will make you lose weight. But maybe eating less is the not necessarily the ultimate answer? Maybe it is more to do with eating the right things. Eating foods that will speed up rather than slow down your metabolism. Two of the herbs I am highlighting in this article are the currently popular appetite suppressants, hoodia gordonii and garcinia cambogia . But they are not to stop you eating. They serve to help you control and manage your intake, so that you can regulate the quantity and sort of food you are eating, and cut back on, maybe even eliminate, the snacks. You haven't got a hope in Hades of winning the weight battle if you are ravenous all the time. You need to give yourself a chance by curbing that appetite.
Also, as you get older, you need to give your digestive/evacuation system all the help it can get. The longer your food hangs around your system the more toxins there are in your body to drag you down. You are never going to feel a hundred percent if your food, including all the fats and toxins you consume, is going through your system at a snail's pace. A number of herbs are particularly effective in helping to achieve a smoothly working system, from mildly laxative herbs, such as dandelion ( taraxacum officinale ) to bulking herbs, to be consumed with lots and lots of water, such as psyllium (plantago psyllium ), which contains mucilage, which builds bulk to push the waste out. Cascara sagrada is the herb generally recommended for persistent and/or severe constipation. It is commonly supplied in supplements that combine it with other herbal ingredients that soothe the intestinal tract.
But the big weight loss success story of the past two and bit years in Western society is the hoodia gordonii plant. African Sans Bushmen have used hoodia for centuries to curb appetite while on their long hunting treks. In 2004 the West “discovered” it and much research has been carried out to establish the processes which make it work and to ascertain whether there are any adverse side effects. It seems the hoodia plant is rich in steroidal glycosides, which actually fool the brain into thinking the stomach is full, as if you have just eaten a big meal. And, seemingly, it has no discernable detrimental side effects. Certainly at this point in time the hoodia plant appears to be a blessing, with no negatives, particularly for those people who are grossly overweight and whose uncontrollable overeating is likely to lead to diabetes and other diseases.
Another traditional weight loss plant being currently researched is garcinia cambogia . It is being promoted for weight loss due to various possible beneficial effects it may have on the body. It has an effect on an enzyme which is used by the body to store fat, possibly resulting in a greater portion of fats consumed to be eliminated. Also it seems to cause the body to use up fat stored for energy during prolonged exercise whereas normally carbohydrates are used up before fats during exercise. Other sources suggest that the hydroxy citrate acid (HCA), which is contained in the rind of this Indian fruit, appears to block the conversion of sugars and starches into fats. It is also surmised that HCA may suppress appetite by raising levels of certain brain chemicals such as serotonin, a key stimulator of appetite. Although more research has to be carried out with this fruit, importantly it has not shown any negative side effects so far.
Other ingredients in herbal weight loss products include elderberry for its beneficial effect on the urinary tract and bladder; raw, they are a laxative and diuretic. Cranberry, vaccinium oxycoccus, and bearberry, uva ursi , are also herbs that support urinary tract health. Bearberry, dandelion and gallium aperine, are also diuretic and bearberry and yarrow (milfoil), achillea millefolium, promote kidney health. Anise, p impinella anisum, calendula, calendula officinalis , and licorice, g lycyrrhiza glabra , are commonly included for stomach, digestion health and carminative properties. Senna ( cassia senna ) is a well-known stimulant laxative and diuretic but is not often used on its own. Yarrow is also known for cardiovascular support and licorice used for constipation, and liver problems. Two culinary herbs sometimes included in weight loss products are parsley and mint, m entha piperita, for their property of aiding digestion.
Of course, as with any medicinal regime, whether it comprises a combination of pharmaceutical, herbal, vitamin or mineral components, it is absolutely essential that you are aware of potential detrimental interactions. It is also important that you don't double up on an active ingredient that could be part of more than one of the components. I am not a great fan of mixing pharmaceutical and herbal medicines, although there are many other experienced and knowledgeable herbalists who are happy to use herbal products as complementary to pharmaceuticals. That is an issue for another day's debate. If in doubt, if you are mixing and matching medicines, if you are unwell, or pregnant (actually or possibly), or a nursing mother, make sure you get advice from a professional with herbology training.
Reduce your food intake; look after your digestive system. Make sure your system is evacuating waste efficiently and eat foods that will speed up your metabolic rate, not slow it down – and exercise. Herbs can help with all of that, except maybe the exercise – you are on your own on that one.
Introduction to Herbalism
Herbal medicine or Herbalism is the component of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (C.A.M.) which has to do with the use of herbs and their extracts for various conditions therapy and it is based on traditional and folk recipes from all over the world. Medical herbal products are used more and more in the modern western world for natural healing. Many herbs have been used for centuries and have been proved to be beneficial for various diseases treatment. Herbs are natural products, but this often leads to a common misunderstanding. Herbs and herbal extracts and supplements are not harmless. They should be used only under the guidance of an experienced herbalist, physician, GP or doctor.
In order herbs to be used safely it advisable to observe the next precautions:
• Ask your doctor for advice whenever you have any doubt.
• Ask your doctor for the appropriate dose.
• Women during pregnancy should be very careful and never use any herbal medicine without the permission of the responsible gynaecologist.
• Diseased persons who take drugs, should be very cautious when using herbal products because of possible interaction with the drugs.
• Beware of fraud or adulterated products.
• Special attention should be paid when buying herbal products on internet.
• Search for reliable information and ignore unconfirmed rumors about herbs, before trying any remedy.
Probably you do not know what is the definition of the word Herb, but it is most possible to have drunk an herbal tea or used a nutrition supplement. Herbs are called the plants or usually the useful part of them that are used for therapeutic or alimentary purposes. Herbs they have special scent or favor and this why they have drawn our ancestors’ attention. Nowadays, there is a fast growing market which merchandise herbs (fresh or usually dried), herbal teas or products with herbal substances as principal ingredients (tablets, powders etc.).
There are a few hundreds herbs that grow all over the world. Several of them have therapeutic attributes and are used as natural or pharmaceutical medicine, many others are used only in cooking and some dozens are harmless for external uses but very dangerous if taken internally. Although herbs are generally wild plants that grow in mountains, forests or leas, some of them can easily grow in a home garden or even indoor! Some of the most popular and commonly used herbs are: Basil (Ocimum Basilicum), Chamomile (Chamaemilum nubile), Oregano (Origanum vulgare), Garlic (Tulbhagia violacea), Peppermint (Mentha piperita) and Ginger (Pelargonium x nervosum).
As mentioned above, herbal teas and nutrition supplements can promote general health and wellness. If you search for the maximum success you should combine the herbal extracts digestion with a healthy diet and lifestyle. Herbs are great immune system booster and body functions regulators. Moreover, they offer essential nutrients and promote heart’s operation. What is more, herbs have anti-oxidant and anti-aging properties, while they can contribute to a better vision, memory and energy. Additionally, herbal medical products believed to be effectual digestive enhancer. Last but not least, drinking herbal teas can help you achieve calmness, clear mind and improve quality of sleep.
s Devil's Claw The Herbal Answer To Inflammation
Many native African tribes have been using devil�s claw for centuries. Found in the Kalahari savannas and Namibian forests of southern Africa, locals use it to treat fevers, blood diseases, dyspepsia and postpartum pain. Additionally, they make an ointment for treating sores, ulcers, and sprains. The name �devil�s claw� comes from the translation of the German word for it used by the Namibian farmers. This herb first became known in Europe in the mid-1900s thanks to a German soldier who was studying native medicines of the Bushman, Hottentot and Bantu. The first studies on devil�s claw were done in German universities over forty years ago. However, research on the healing properties of devil�s claw is continuing to this day. In fact, devil�s claw is among the herbs that are approved by the German Commission E and the European Scientific Cooperation on Phytotherapy (ESCOP). Both of these organizations consider devil�s claw to be a safe and effective alternative for treating rheumatism, arthritis, osteoarthritis, and tendonitis due to its analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. This herb is found in the same family as sesame. Devil�s claw is a perennial herb, growing for more than one season. Unless killed by harsh weather, it does not need to be replanted each year. Studies done on this herb show that it has the ability to reduce pain and improve mobility in patients who are suffering from rheumatic and arthritic conditions in only a few short weeks. Additional studies have revealed that this herb has hypotensive and artiarrhythmic properties, along with bitter qualities which have been shown to relive stomach complaints. However, currently the clinical use of devil�s claw is limited to only the treatment of dyspepsia and rheumatism.
Scientists believe that devil�s claw is more effective with chronic conditions such as arthritis and back pain than it is on acute conditions. Recent studies done by Europeans have tested the effects of devil�s claw on back pain. Although the study results vary, one study found that lower back pain was reduced by twenty percent compared with eight percent in a placebo group. Devil�s claw is typically used in conjunction with traditional treatments by European doctors because there are no reported negative drug interactions for devil�s claw. Actually, there are no reported serious side effects for devil�s claw. In some few cases, patients have experienced mild gastrointestinal discomfort from the gastric-stimulating effects produced by devil�s claw. Because of this, devil�s claw is not recommended for those people who have ulcers. Active compounds in devil�s claw, which are called iridoid glycosides, are associated with a wide range of bioactivity. The dosages in scientific studies on devil�s claw have ranged anywhere from twenty to 1,200 mg of the herb compounds per kilogram of body weight. Effective preparations such as infusions, capsules, and topical salves are made from the dried tubers or an extract of the herb. To check out an article on devil�s claw, visit herbalgram.org for an article in the 50th issue of their well-known journal.
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