Rosemary

Here is an interesting plant that I have used to help my mother. Mom had a stroke on the left side of her brain. Her right leg and her right arm were affected and her right hand would form a ball and curl into her chest. I didn't really understand the body effects but I wanted to help Mom.

I remembered reading in Mrs. Grieve's book A MODERN HERBAL about Dandelion or Rosemary helping one of the royals in Europe that also had a stroke, a couple hundred years ago. So it was back to the books for me. I found it! It seems that fresh Rosemary was cut and put into "Spirits of wine, this was allowed to stand for four days and then distilled." According to Mrs. Grieve this formula was "dated 1235, said to be in the handwriting of Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary." It was to be taken in small amounts like a tonic. (Tonics are taken once a day in a capsule or a tablespoonful. "Tonics are herbs that stimulate nutrition and permanently increase systemal tone, energy, vigor, and strength," according to Dr. John Christopher.)

After finding this again, I decided to try it. I make dandelion wine in accordance with an old family recipe given to me by my Dad's cousin. Having a few bottles of this homemade wine, I cut tops off my Rosemary and dropped them into the wine to allow the wine to pull all of the active ingredients into it. Then we started to administer this to my Mom. Within a few days we noticed that her arm had relaxed into her lab and her hand wasn't tightly curled. She seemed more at ease and not so agitated. She was unable to talk to us at that time so I didn't know how it was making her feel.

My boss mentioned that she had a client only in her 20s and had recently had a stroke too. She asked me to make this formula for her client. I did and made a disclaimer for her client to sign. Not sure if it would have held up in court but I needed to protect myself in case of a problem.

I didn't hear anything about this client so I asked my boss. She didn't know how it had worked either but gave me her phone number. The client lived with her parents so I got to talk to her Mother. I was told that the client was sleeping, so I mentioned that I had created the herbal tonic and wanted to know how it was working. The Mother was raving about it. She said that before the tonic, this girl only slept about two hours at a time as she was in so much discomfort. When the tonic started to work and the muscles relaxes, she was able to sleep for long periods of time. The Dandelion and Rosemary had released the torqued muscles.

Because Rosemary is so good at stimulating circulation it can be used for headaches, nervous diseases. I even read where it will help with kidney problems.

Dr. Duke in his book THE GREEN PHARMACY talks about it being used for Alzheimer's due to its antioxidant properties. He even mentions that it is sometimes called the "Herb of remembrance."

Duke mentions that Rosemary has properties that can be used to preserve foods without refrigeration. This is an interesting idea. We usually associate Salt with this ability. In the old west they would dry or salt meats to keep them from becoming un-useable, now we know that Rosemary has this capability also.

Rosemary has such a wonderful clean smell to it, almost a Pine smell, if you will. I decided to look in Dr. Duke's wonderful Database and see what is creating this wonderful smell. I found that 23 different constituents in this one herb, accounts for this smell. He labels them with the word, "perfumery".

Last week I decided to put Rosemary simmered in Olive oil on my hair, mainly to get the tangles out and found that it added a wonderful smell. For reasons unknown to me or anyone, I have not had my hair cut for three years so it tends to get tangled up and the tangles were easy to undo with this combination. I guess it might also help my brain and stimulate the circulation in the scalp with this combination, not a bad side effect.

While I was in Duke's Data base, I wanted to see what this plant is capable of doing. I found so many things that were anti-cancerous, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory. I bumped into Anti viral many times and antisalmonella was there along with antilymphomic and antirhinoviral. Even anti-Syndrome-X was in there, this is a precursor of diabetes.

I can truly understand why this is such a wonderful herb and in my area, I can have it in a pot in my house all winter long. So what am I going to do with this herb? After reading all the things that this wonderful lady can do, I think that every time I water her or clean around her, I will ask her permission for me to take one of her pungent leaves. Chewing on this will give my body a good feeling because not only am I able to ingest all of the constituents in this plant but I have been given a gift from this plant.

Comfrey

On one of my first visits to Boulder Colorado, attending Hanna Kroeger's seminar, I was introduced to a plant that I had never heard of before. That wasn't strange, as there are some 200,000 medicinal plants and I was just starting to learn about them at that time. The best part was that after the seminar, Hanna's son went to the garden and dug up a Comfrey plant for me to take home. I was honored.

I brought this plant home and put it in my back yard. It has large hairy, pointed leaves with beautiful blue flowers on the top. It grows about 2 to almost 3 feet high in my yard.

Since I planted it, I have learned a lot about it. One thing is that once it is planted, it wants to grow there forever. I have moved it twice. In both instances I have had to talk to the plant to get it to let go of its former place. The last move was to move it deeper into the hedge so that when it gets really tall; its leaves aren't over the grass area so that it gets mowed all the time.

During the lecture, Hanna mentioned that Comfrey was wonderful for rebuilding cells. She didn't specify which cells at that time but I have come to take that as all cells. Because it rebuilds cells quickly, it has gotten the nick-name of "People Putty." What an appropriate name. Perhaps that is why other common names for this plant are Knitbone, Bruisewort, and Knitback.

Dr. John R. Christopher was the founder of The School Of Natural Healing and he quoted a lot from one of his mentors, Dr. Shook. According to what I read Dr. Shook said, "It does not seem to matter much which part of the body is broken, either internally or externally; comfrey will heal it quickly. It is a great cell proliferant and new cell grower, it grows new flesh and bone alike, stops hemorrhage, and is wonderful for coughs, soothing and healing the inflamed tissues in a most remarkable manner."

Another thing that was mentioned by Dr. Christopher is the respiratory system. The lungs are able to heal well using this plant. It acts as an expectorant with soothing effects it reduces irritation.

Everyone that I researched this plant with reminded me that the root and young leaves contain a toxic alkaloid, which is said to create liver damage if taken in large amounts. But in the same articles it is mentioned that the root and the young leaves would be good for ulcerous wounds.

Most people that work with Comfrey, tend to put it in combinations. Combinations are made by finding herbs that would be most helpful for the area involved, a transporter (Something that has an affinity for the specific area.) and then the herbs that would supply that area with the most nutriments for healing.

It has been stated that certain plants tend to gravitate to specific areas of the body. I have been told that they think they can get out that way. As an example, parsley tends to go for the kidneys while Rosemary might head for the brain. Why they do this is unknown.

Comfrey has a demulcent mucilage presents which is helpful with things like hiatus hernia and ulcerative colitis.

Christopher Products has created a blend of herbs that was called Bone, Flesh and Cartilage (BF&C). I liked that name but it has since been changed to Complete Tissue. It has been made into an ointment and its uses are endless.

I used this ointment on a young boy who fell out of a tree and torn his face. With the help of comfrey that will repair and "guard against scar tissue developing incorrectly", according to David Hoffmann in his book AN ELDERS' HERBAL. It did just what he said it would do. This child has little or no scaring.

A nurse who broke her arm, was able to heal it in four weeks instead of the usual six weeks by applying the ointment topically and ingesting this formula in capsule form. Thus she healed from both the inside and the outside of her body.

When sores get to the scab stage, it is time to switch to the Complete Tissue formula to complete the healing. The nutrition will pass through the scab and speed up the healing process.

So far we have only talked about what Comfrey can do for human bodies but I did say that it was a cell proliferant and I meant it. I dry some of the leaves and when I am repotting my house plants, I mix these leaves into the soil to give my plants a real boost of energy.

Next, I wanted to check in with Dr. James Duke and his wonderful database to see what things this herb is capable of doing. The amazing thing is that in the leaf area, Dr. Duke didn't have a whole lot to tell me but when it came to the root of Comfrey, what isn't it able to do? The list went from antiaging to antiviral and everything in-between. I have always talked about how plants achieve a balance, and I even found two components in these roots that were antiproliferant.

After looking at Duke's list, I went to my Globalherb program to see what they had to say about Comfrey. Their list was just as impressive with; bruises, cough, diarrhea, anemia, fractures, hemorrhage, inflammation, sores, ulcers, boils, bronchitis, cancer, dysentery, leucorrhea, rupture, swelling, acne, arthritis, asthma, burns, catarrh, diabetes, gangrene, gout, hay fever, sore breasts, sprains and another page and a half of things that it would be happy to work on.

One must remember that unlike what most of us think, that more is better; when it comes to herbs a little goes a long way. This is a very safe herb if used correctly and that means not to overdo it.

All herbs have something to give us if we use common sense. We have not been trained to think like this. If we have a headache, we think that if one aspirin is good then two should be twice as good. It is the same way that we think about herbal tea. We like our coffee strong so it will really be good and how can a weak, see-through tea be helpful.

When making a tea out of an herb it is best to make it with distilled water. Distilled water is hungry water and for all practical purposes does not have all the minerals that tap water has. Because it has room for all the constituents contained in the herb, it is ready to pull these into the water that you will be ingesting.

It is for the reason that has just been pointed out that I don't like to see people doing the same things all the time. One wouldn't eat peanut butter for every meal so why would one take a comfrey tea or capsule all the time. By doing different herbs, we give the body different constituents to choose from. This is how healing really takes place.

Herbs don't heal, they give the body the building blocks to rebuild and Comfrey is a great rebuilder.

Ginseng


This wasn't one of the herbs that I was going to include in this publication but I will do it as a tribute to my late sister, Donna.

I have Ginseng growing in my yard only because Donna knew someone who grew it in northern Wisconsin. She and I took a tour of his farm that had acres covered with wooden laths. The reason for this is that Ginseng grows in the woods. Wisconsin used to be all woods until it was ravaged like the rain forest. Ginseng likes shade. The grower told us that if a disease started in his field somewhere, all he had to do was remove some of the laths in that area and where ever the sun shone directly on the plants, they would die out, taking the disease with them. This way he could save most of his field. Every year he would plant a new acre. He always had 7 acres planted but at the end of the seventh year, that acre was harvested, dried, weighed and sold. Asians were the principal buyers.

So with seeds in hand, Donna and I set out to grow them. At first we grew them under some laths too but after a couple of years, they were moved to a wooded area where they still live. We harvested a couple of them a few years ago and made a tincture out of them. The rest is still growing. I like to go out in the late spring and see how many are still surviving. They wait until the trees start to leaf out and then come out of the ground. I have a sign up that says, " Donna's Ginseng."

Every year at least two of the plants put a seed pod out…well, they aren't really seed pods but more like five or six seeds clinging to the same area. When they get bright red I pull them off or they fall off and I bury them. The next year I might find a couple of new plants in the area. The new babies have only three leaves as opposed to the mature plants that have five leaves. I have to be careful that I don't pull up the Strawberry-like plants that look like they don't belong there.

Now let's find out why Ginseng is so wonderful. Some of the things that Ginseng is capable of doing are: being antihistamine, anti-tumor, antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and a fungicide. It promotes the health of the liver and the heart along with slowing down coagulation time of the blood. It is also known to lower blood pressure and works as a vasodilator. According the Christopher Hobbs in his book THE GINSENGS – A USER'S GUIDE, Ginseng has the ability to lower blood sugar along with balancing out the adrenal output.

In Asia, Ginseng is used at a tonic for elderly people as it is supposed to increase the energy to major organs in the body. It balances out but also has a mildly sedative effect. One big plus is that it stimulates the brain and most elderly people like that effect.

It is also known that if taken regularly, it will improve vision so as you can see, it is a wonderful thing for the elderly, I think it is wonderful for anyone.

On the down side, it stimulates the uterus so it should be used with caution for pregnant women and women who tend to have excessive menses.

In spite of the coumarin- like effects, in Asia post-surgical patients are treated with a Ginseng mixture and recover faster than those without it.

Most of the Ginseng that is labeled Siberian Ginseng is really grown in Wisconsin but we won't tell anyone that. It is Wisconsin's major export.

Because the fields that have grown this can not be used again for Ginseng, a few years ago farmers were looking for alternative plants to grow. I put out a suggestion that perhaps they could grow Echinacea. They only have to take down the laths as Echinacea likes sun and our cold winters.

Black Cohoah

These plants grow all over my area and it is a leaf that seems to be familiar but no one seems to be able to identify it in the wild. O.K., maybe it is just me. I was visiting my neighbor and mentioned that she had Black Cohosh growing in her yard. She told me that the plant was really something else. I took a leaf off from her plant and brought it home to my Black Cohosh, it looked very close to the same leaf. (After a while you can't imagine all the leaf shapes that there are.) When mine flowered and put the tall spikes up, I took one over to her house, but her plants had fluffy feather-like flowers on a very short flat top. So they weren't the same plant even though they look alike.

So how do we know when we have a certain plant? I usually use a couple of identification books to help me do this and even when I can't find it in my books, I take a leaf off the plant and put it into the book to be pressed and identified later. The books that I have found helpful are: PETERSON FIELD GUIDES – MEDICINAL PLANTS and EYEWITNESS HANDBOOKS - HERBS. I like these two because they have drawings as well as pictures in them. I find that photos of plants don't give one all the characteristics to make a definite identification.

Black Cohosh made a big splash having to do with estrogen replacement for women who were in Menopause. It seems that this Herb was the buzz word for "I need help." I didn't understand that from an herbalist point of view because I could name fifteen to twenty herbs that are loaded with phyto-hormones. Black Cohosh is just one as is Catnip, Chamomile, Hops, Garlic, Raspberry leaves, Garden Sage and many more.

The problem is that most of the people talking about this herb are on some drug that is supposed to do this for them, like Pregnant Mare Urine, Premarin or some other medical drug high in Estrogen. The high estrogen found in these drugs is detrimental to the body in regard to bone loss and even some thyroid problems.

The reason that I prefer one or more of the organic plants with estrogenic properties is that for the most part we don't need estrogen but by taking an herb with estrogenic properties, the body can decide what it needs and how much. It isn't given this choice with pills.

What the body really needs are herbs that give the body the phyto-hormones that allow it to make what it needs to get and stay healthy. If the body needs more progesterone, the building blocks are available. If the body needs more testosterone, again the building blocks are there. The body is back in control and the symptoms lessen or stop all together.

According to The School of Natural Healing's director, David Christopher; for centuries women went through menopause without the help of a doctor. What we really need are minerals, vitamins and phyto-chemicals. With our present life style, we are not getting whole foods. There aren't any Black Cohosh farms. Wild plants have what we need and are not messed up with present time farming processes.

Black Cohosh is a wonderful plant. It is not only attractive and living in my yard but grows wild in my State. For those of you that still have trouble identifying it, Let me suggest that you head to the raspberry patch and make a tea out of raspberry leaves, or one of the other plants that I have mentioned in this article.

The School of Natural Healing suggests that by eating the proper diet of Whole Grains (Loaded with phyto-hormones), Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts and Seeds your body will be getting what it needs to help you weather a lot of storms.

Eat well and be well.

Chamomile

I got a call one day from a lady whose three-year old was cover with hives. This poor little dear had them everywhere. She was so uncomfortable. One of the first things that I did was confirm that it was hives. The Mother told me that they had been to the doctor, he told her it was hives and had given her some salve but it wasn't working.

I went into Dr. James A. Duke's book, THE GREEN PHARMACY to see what he used on hives and he suggested Chamomile as it contains at least seven (7) antihistaminic chemicals.

So this little girl was given Chamomile tincture with Chamomile tea to wash it down. Her mother told me that at first it got worse but within hours she could see the results. A lot of people call this a 'healing crisis'; that’s when things get worse before they get better. It is usually at this point that people decide that herbs don't work for them. By the next day this little girl has just a few spots on her and wanted to go to her swimming lessons.

According to what I read, Chamomile is great at stimulating the liver to throw toxins out. Here is one really safe herb. We use it mostly for stomach or intestinal complaints but it is also used in skin creams and lotions for its antibacterial properties.

I checked into some of the things that Chamomile is capable of doing and found that it is loaded with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. It also has a fair number of constituents that are antiviral, even found one that was antirhinovirol. (This is the cold and flu virus that is advertised all the time.)

Chamomile is a fun thing to grow in one's garden. It has these wonderful small white flowers. The best part is that you are using the flowers to make your medicine. So many plants give everything for our healing to the point of having to dig them up and use their roots but not so with Chamomile. It can continue to grow and put out more flowers.

We can use these flowers to make tinctures within 14 days. Or we can use the flower as a tea by pouring hot water over them and allowing them to steep for 3 to 10 min. (I use distilled water so that the constituents can be pulled into the water faster without having to deal with the calcium and iron that is in my tap water.) Another thing that can be made from these flowers, are skin salves or body lotions .

When people read about herbs the first thing that they want to know is, 'So how can I use this?' I want to say, any way you want to. Herb are foods so ingest them or use some of the methods that I have just pointed out.

This last summer, I had to take many small Chamomile plants out of the bed that they are growing in. It was taking over and not respecting the space of the plants around them. Once you get it started and don't harvest every flower, you are going to have more next year. Nature gives us abundance.

According to NUTRITIONAL HERBOLOGY written by Mark Pedersen, the flowers actually contain the following: Aluminum, Ash, Calcium, Chromium, Cobalt, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Niacin, Phosphorus, Potassium, Protein, Riboflavin, Selenium, Silicon, Sodium, Thiamine, Tin, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Zinc. He mentions that it is very high in Niacin, a substance that tends to care for the nervous system, making this a very sedative herb or antispasmodic herb.

I want to mention the first thing on this list. We have been told over and over again that Aluminum is something that creates brain problems…Alzheimers? This needs to be corrected! Aluminum is needed to make the connections in the brain but only if it is organic aluminum. How can this be? It is because organic chemicals have the ability to cross the blood/brain barrier both ways. In-organic chemicals do not have this ability. They are stuck once they get in there and if a lot of in-organics are going in and not coming out, we have a problem. The brain knows that it needs aluminum and because we are not eating foods with organic aluminum in them, the body will steal the aluminum from our soda cans or the foil that we put on our foods, all products waste products of the mining industry.) When we give it organic aluminum, it doesn't steal and can recognize the difference.

My computer program, Globalherb V2.0 tells me that it is good for; colic, colds, earache, indigestion, spasms, jaundice, swelling, toothache, bruises, fever, prevention of gangrene, gas, inflammation, insomnia, neuralgia, bronchitis, corns, cramps, gastritis, nervousness, sores, ulcers-leg, abscess, alcoholism, allergies, anxiety, lack of appetite, cancer, liver cancer, poor circulation, colitis, constipation, Crohn's disease, diarrhea, and gastric ulcers.

If you have never had a cup of Chamomile Tea, you must be sitting back right now wondering just how this mild tea is going to start working on any or all of this. It is because all the things available in this plant are designed for your health. They allow your body to receive the nutrition that is isn't getting in your daily meals or the snacks that you allow yourself.

Let me suggest that you make a cup of Chamomile tea right now and relax while allowing your body to go to work for you. I think you will have a very pleasant day if you do.

Yellow Dock

While riding in the car on day, I insisted that my husband stop so that I could find out what that Brown plant was. (They usually get between 2 to 4 feet tall.) I got out of the car and found that it was a stalk of funny shaped seeds. Now I wanted to know who these seeds belonged to. I asked but most people have no idea what is growing around them, so it was time to research.

Did you notice that I wanted to know "Who" the seeds belonged to? Each plant has its own personality and is there for us to use. It is the human that needs to approach the plant because they have for a very long time felt we didn't appreciate them as beings.

I really learned a lot about this wonderful plant. The reason that I only saw the seeds was because the leaves had died off already. These leaves look so strange as they are long. Sometimes as much as 18 inches long and as wide as 2 to 3 inches. The edges of the leaves are wrinkled like stretched crepe paper.

The seeds have "wings" on them and grow on the top of the plant.

I used to think that this plant, being one of the docks like burdock was good for only its usable iron but after researching it, I have found so many good things that this plant is capable of doing.

I decided to see what Dr. James Duke's database could tell me and was amazed at all of the abilities in this plant. I decided to check on the constituents in Yellow Dock's roots. I will lay out some of the abilities that Dr. Duke attributes to these constituents. The following are capabilities in Yellow Dock roots: It is Antiacne, Antiaging, Antialzheimeran, Antianemic, Antiarthritic, Antiasthmatic, Antibackache, Anticapillary- fragility, Anticarpal-tunnel, Anticataract, Antichilblain, Anticolitic, Anticrohn's , Antidandruff, Antidementia, Antidepressant, Antidiabetic, Antiflu, Antiinflammatory, Antiinsomniac,AntiLyme, Antilymphonic, Antimaculitic, Antimigraine, AntiMS, Antipapillomic, Antiparkinsonian, Antiperiodontitic, Antipoliomyelitic, Antipsoriac, Antiseptic, Antistress, Antistroke, Antisyndrome-X, Antitumor, Antiulcer, Antivertigo, Antiviral, Beta-Blocker, Cancer preventive, Candidicide, Cardioprotective, Hypoglycemic, Laxative, Pesticide, Spermigenic, Vasodilator, along with being an Antidote for Lead and Aluminum.

I wrote all of these out so that you can see how many things this one herb is capable of working on. Most of the time when I write that an herb is capable of doing this or that, I know that anyone reading has no idea of all the thing that it can do so this time I decided to show a lot of the information that I gleaned from the Database.

How do hers do all of this? They do it by giving the body what it needs to handle the problem. It doesn't care what the problem is but if it has the ability to help in some manner, it will. Most plants will handle many situations. This is why I tell people not to just take one herb for whatever they are working on. Every time one ingests a different herb, we are giving the body more choices to use to make the corrections.

Dr. Duke has looked into all of the properties in this one plant and has mentioned that if one of these things is the problem, Yellow Dock might be able to provide what is needed to correct this situation.

I found that Yellow Dock Root has Calcium available for the bodies use. It also has Chromium, Iron, Magnesium, Maganese, Niacin, Potassium, Protein, Selenium and Zinc . Most of all it acts like all the other Docks as a blood purifier and perhaps that is why it can take on so many things.

According to Duke's article in PETERSON FIELD GUIDE - MEDICINAL HERBS, the anthraquinones in this plant are great at arresting growths of ringworm and other fungi.

The root is said to be a mild laxative and this is probably due to the action it causes with the liver. A lot of Laxatives do work this way by making the liver release more gall into the bowels, thus relieving the liver and helping it to recover from its overload. (Gall being a good Laxative.)

One must remember that the liver is the detoxer for the entire body. Its job is to detox not only what we take in by eating or drinking but the toxins that we bring in through the lungs and skin from the environment. Now add to that the neurotoxins that we create with stress or anger or even hormones that we are releasing into the system. All of these things create an overload on ones liver.

Dr. Duke does have a warning about Yellow Dock that I will pass on, "Large does may cause gastric disturbances, nausea, diarrhea, etc." It is not poisonous but again I wish to remind you to use herbs as foods. Just as you wouldn't eat a whole pie, you don't want to over indulge in any food/herb.

Sassafras

Every spring I start out my spring house cleaning with me. I put a tablespoonful of Sassafras root into a kettle along with water and simmer it for a while. As this reddish-brown root simmers, the volatile oils permeate my house. When it has simmer for a while (So what is a while, maybe half an hour to a whole hour.) I allow it to cool enough for me to sip on it. Dr. Christopher mentioned that while it is hot it will act as a diaphoretic. Sometimes that is needed in a spring house cleaning to get all the skin pores cleaned out.

Everything I have read about this herb talks about using it to mask disagreeable and bitter tastes of other herbs by combining it with them. I have to tell you that of itself, it is not a wonderful tasting herb. It has the smell and taste of varnish. I do a lot of woodworking and I know what varnish smells like, have never tasted it but if it has a taste that is what it would taste like. (Although coffee smells great but doesn't have that great taste.)

Sassafras does more than just taste strangely. It goes to work to help the body in many ways. According to Dr. John R. Christopher founder of the School of Natural Healing, It is "an antidote for poisoning by acid or alkaline corrosives." He also mentioned that it kills protozoa, a single celled parasite that we can pick up from just about anywhere. Gardeners pick them up a lot.

Sassafras contains tannic acids, gums, albumen, starch, lignin, resin, wax, heavy and light volatile oils, camphorous matter and salts.

Dr. Christopher mentions all the things that it is capable of handling, such as: Skin diseases, rheumatism, scrofula, impure blood, syphilis, poison-ivy, poison- oak, tobacco poisoning, colds, amenorrhea, ophthalmia (Inflamed eyes), spasms, pain in the heart region, colic, flatulence, problems of the kidneys, bladder, chest & throat, and as a tonic after childbirth.

Dr. C. says that "it is a blood purifier. The safrole is a trace mineral extremely important and will clean the heart, arteries, veins and cut cholesterol while giving elasticity to the veins. It is to be used ONLY IN ITS WHOLESOME STATE of Sassafras Bark Tea. The safrole should never be used alone but as a whole plant. It is very good in a tea for edema as it steps up the circulation and makes the heart sound."

According to Jethro Kloss author of BACK TO EDEN, the oil of Sassafras is excellent for toothaches and is a great external wash for varicose ulcers. He also recommended it as a tonic for stomach and bowels.

Looks like I could be using this many times a year instead of just in the spring.

Let's jump back to the word WHOLESOME. A lot of chemicals are found in "health food stores" but they are not the whole herb, they are just one of the chemicals that someone thought was most active. When we pull things apart, we start to get side effects. When we use the whole herb, all of the constituents that comprise this plant work together to help us heal without side effects.

Everyone that talked about this herb had warnings about it. Dr. C. says, "Do not use over 6 weeks at a time, change to another like it, maybe Morman Tea or Red Clover Tea." Kloss on the other hand, mentions that it should be taken for no more than a week and he recommends it being taken as a tincture in water.

Now we get to have a look at the other side of this. There was a Lilly Distinguished Professor of Pharmacognosis at Purdue University. I have Dr. Varro E. Tyler's book HERBS OF CHOICE and I always check to see what he has to say coming from the Pharmaceutical perspective. Sometimes I believe that he is against all herbs but let's see what he had to say about Sassafras. "Sassafras root contains 5 to 9 % safrole shown to be a carcinogenic in rats and mice." He mentions that in 1976 the FDA prohibited its sale. He said that it is "Not safe" and compared it to Comfrey, Coltsfoot, Borage and Mistletoe. (I will be writing about some of these later. One of my favorites is Comfrey.) He mentioned that "Sarsaparilla and Sassafras are ineffective and dangerous."

You don't think that they tested only one of the chemicals on rats, namely Safrole and found that alone it is dangerous? Again I want to stress only using WHOLE plants and herbs to give the body what it needs to repair itself.

I checked Nova Scotia Museum's Poison Plant Database and could not find Sassafras listed.

I decided to check Dr. James A. Duke's Database on this and found 33 different components in the roots of Sassafras. He had many more in the leaves and stems of this plant but because I use only the roots, that is what I am writing about. With all the good stuff that these 33 things do such as being; antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, (I even found antistreptococcic), antisalmonella, antiviral, cancerpreventive, candidicide, cardioprotective and as a vasodilator; I would say that these are some heavy stuff. I did find four things that would make this an herb "a not to take while pregnant."

We have heard from all the "good guys" and as you can see, even they don't recommend anyone staying on Sassafras for a long period of time. I try to put both sides in my writings and think it is time to simmer some Sassafras tea for me to sip on today.

Before I finish this writing, I remembered that I had heard of Sassafras as being a blood thinner but haven't been able to confirm this as of yet. The most that I can find out is that in the spring, this plant puts out chemicals that thin the blood but in the fall its chemicals tend to thicken the blood. When buying Sassafras at a health food store, are you getting spring root or fall root?

Always use your good judgment. If you have a health care provider that suggests something, do the research and find out all you can about whatever they have suggested. We have become a society that wants someone else to be responsible for us and our health. We need to take back that power and help ourselves. I write these articles to give you more information so that you can make good decisions for your health and the health of your families.

Calendula

After the seed catalogues have been in our hands for months and we still haven't decided what to put in that little corner of the garden that needs a spot of bright color, let me suggest a marigold called Calendula.

Calendula stands out from the hybrid marigolds in that the flowers have a sunflower look. Other marigolds have many petals all over the composite head of the flower but Calendula has petals only on the fringe or outside of the flower head.

Here is an herb that can cheer us with its pretty orange flowers and do some healing at the same time. Add to that the fact that it can be used in salads and soups, as a pot-herb or just a lovely garnish. We are talking about the multi-pedaled orange-flowered marigolds that were also "used to color cheese" according to Mrs. Grieves, author of A MODERN HERBAL. The yellow color is extracted from the flowers by simmering them.

The flowers and leaves are used for culinary purposes in rice and fish dishes as a garnish. More than that, the flowers were put into broths. Grieves said, "No broths are well made without dried Marigold," and this was without exception in time of plague or pestilence.

Herbalists always refer to this marigold by it botanical name Calendula. These lovelies open to the sun around 9 in the morning and close up again in the afternoon. They can grow up to 28 inches tall with paddle-shaped leaves. The thing that I personally like about them is their hardiness. It seems that they thrive with so little care.

Culpeper mentioned, "The leaves, when chewed, at first communicate a viscid sweetness followed by a strong penetrating taste of a saline nature." It seems the juice containing this pungent matter helps the liver clean toxins out of the body. Plants are so helpful that way. Culpeper mentioned that by adding vinegar to the leaves, one could give instant relief to "Hot swelling when bathed with it."

Lesley Bremness, author of the EYEWITNESS HANDBOOK – HERBS, mentions that "research into the ray florets show depilatory effects, potentially useful in face creams." The oils extracted from the macerated flower are very expensive but great for skin problems. One book that I read mentioned that the petals yield a soothing eyewash. This might be because of it antiseptic and antifungal properties?

So far we have only mentioned it being great for the outside of the body but it is great for things like inflamed lymph glands and to stimulate the liver. I have read where one can use it to soothe stomach pains.

I checked Dr. James A. Duke's Database on Calendula and found that so many of the properties in this plant, but mainly in its flowers are: Antitumor or anticancer. He uses words like Cancer Preventive and Cardioprotective and Antiviral and Candidicide along with Fungicide. There are so many properties in this little sunny flower that one could use it to stay healthy.

David Christopher, Director of The School Of Natural Healing, has mentioned that if you are using Echinacea to activate the immune system for some problem, you should only take it for 7 days and then switch to something else like Calendula for the next week.

Many books told about all the things that Calendula could do, so I decided to find out what my herbal computer program has to say about this. The Globalherb program listed the following things that Calendula is good for: Fevers, Bruises, Toothache, Amenorrhea, Cancer, Flu, Mouthwash, Sprains, Bleeding, Burns, Corns, Cuts, Earache, Hemorrhage, Hemorrhoids, Jaundice, Lungs, Measles, Menses, Piles, Pyorrhea, Scrofula, Skin, Stomachache, Syphilis, Tuberculosis, Ulcerations and Warts. All of this from a package of seeds, a first aid kit in itself.

So how do we collect these lovely flowers? One of the nice things is that you are not stripping the whole plant when you harvest just the flowers. When they put new flowers out, we collect them in the morning just after the dew has dried. Then we dry then quickly in an area where they are not touching each other. I like to lay them on a lined cookie sheet and turn the oven on warm. I put a wooden spoon in the door so the moisture can escape. Another way is to put them in a food drier. I store them in a colored glass jar until I am ready to use them.

Maybe it is time to order your seeds and enjoy the "Sunshine" of the Marigold?

Apple

Apple is a medicinal plant that grows just about everywhere. There are many varieties but they all contain the same medicinal properties.

When I was looking for some land to grow herbs, I told the gentleman that was helping me that I needed land that hadn't been chemically sprayed or fertilized for at least five years. We got into a discussion about medicinal herbs and the fact that it takes five years for the residue of chemicals to dissipate. Then when I use the plants to make medicine, I have no chemicals added to my formulas.

As we talked he asked if I could help him. He was unable to sleep at night in a bed. When he would lie down, his stomach acid would come up into his throat. For years he had slept in a reclining chair and still had the problem.

I suggested one tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar in 6 to 8 ounces of water, to be sipped on one hour before he went to bed. When mentioning apple cider vinegar, I don't mean the processed kind. We want the kind that isn't clear and has some "mother" in it. According to Jethro Kloss, author of BACK TO EDEN, "The ordinary apple cider vinegar is not fit to be used." But if you have the clear white processed kind, use it to clean windows and flower vases as it will dissolve the minerals on glass very well. The Organic Apple Cider Vinegar with some of the apple settled on the bottom of the jar will dissolve the minerals that are in the body that are being parked in the joints creating arthritis. It will clean up bone spurs but will not take the calcium out of teeth or bone as some people might think.

According to Dr. Christopher, most of us have gotten into the habit of not chewing our foods when we eat. He suggests that we "Drink our food and chew our liquids." This means chewing or mixing the saliva with our drinks as well as our food. This is the first step in digestion. It is also the first step in health as saliva will decrease the in-take of germs.

Germs have a very narrow range of pH. Saliva is alkaline and will kill the germs not happy in that environment. The stomach has an acid environment so the germs not liking that pH will be killed. By mixing the saliva, you have gotten rid of probable half of germs that you are taking in. Germs have a job and they are everywhere. We need to learn to live with them or in this case, around them.

What usually happens is that we make the stomach do all the work and by the time we are 40 or 50 years old, our stomach has the "acid making valves" set ON all the time. What do you think happens when we take an antacid? Right, it temporarily helps but then the stomach needs to get back to its natural state, which is acid, so it increases the amount of acid.

By sipping apple cider vinegar diluted in water, the stomach, getting a mild acid, recognizes this, it stops producing more. (Yes, our bodies are that smart!)

A couple of days after suggesting the remedy to this man, I got a call from him thanking me for the best sleep he had in years.

This is just some of the things Apples can do.

Hanna Kroeger, National Herbalist, talked about using Apple Peel Tea to pull toxins out of the body. I cut my organic apples peelings about 1/2 inch or more thick, dried these so when I wanted to use this tea, I boiled these peelings and served the tea that they make. (Children who want to taste my herbs are allowed to chew on these dried peelings. They tell me that my herbs are great.)

My Uncle Clarence told me how to keep the worms out of organic apples. Make a mixture of 50% vinegar and 50% honey. Put a little of this mixture in a wide-mouth jar and tape it to an almost horizontal branch of the apple tree just as the flower buds start coming out. Leave these jars on until the last petal falls off. You will have to clean the bugs out of the mixture several times, but they will not be laying eggs in the flowers, hence your new apples.

Kloss called Apples the "King of Fruits." He suggested that people who have too much acid, eat sweet apples and those with not enough acid should eat sour-green apples.

Even the very old and the very young do well on scraped apples. Kroeger suggested that "Whatever ails you; gallbladder trouble, liver trouble, diarrhea, tooth decay, constipation, loss of appetite, (even) good as poultices, too; when someone is very ill, take an apple and scrape the meat with a silver spoon. You will see them get better."

Kroeger was "big " on silver. She said that silver kills germs. When you toss a silver coin in the well, the whole village stays healthy as it is killing the bacteria in the well. (They are on their own for the happiness part.) I do not recommend Colloidal Silver for anyone. When you take silver into the body in large amounts, it is the same as taking a medical antibiotic. It kills off the good flora in the small intestines. Eating off a silver spoon will put silver into the body and the food that carries it but will not destroy the flora. She mentioned that when she was nursing in Germany, they had a box of silver spoons that all the babies and the very old were fed with.

According to Kroeger, silver also repels negative forces. I suggest that people wear this on their person.

Apple pectin is found to clean the bowels and has been put into many herbal formulas.

Dr. Christopher's Super Garlic Immune Formula is a formula that I have used with success to handle major problems. It contains: Garlic, Lobelia, Marshmallow Root, White Oak Bark, Black Walnut, Mullein, Aloe Vera, Gravel Rt., Skullcap, Plantain, Apple Cider Vinegar, and Raw Honey.

My daughter called and told me that she had been ill for a week and was not getting better. I took my herbs to her house, when I got there I decided to give her the Super Garlic Immune Formula. I gave her a tablespoonful every hour for three hours. Her fever broke and she slept, waking up feeling fine. This formula did the trick.

Herbs can be taken every hour when working on a problem. We are talking about food. Herbs feed the body what it needs to rebuild or get healthy. This is so contrary to what we have been taught about medicine. With chemical medicine, one can overdose with it but can one have too much pumpkin pie? I guess one could but it isn't dangerous just uncomfortable.

For more information on Garlic and how it works, go to my article about it.

Apple bark is very rich in Oxygen, Potassium, Sodium, Magnesium and Iron.

Kloss mentioned that apple tree bark is an old fashioned remedy for fever and as a tonic. When taken hot it causes perspiration. This helps with the liver, spleen, kidneys, boils, insect bites, toothaches, and digestion.

You have probably heard about "Food combinations" to increase our energy. This is when you combine some foods with one group of foods but not with another group. Example: Bread goes well with fruit but not as well with meats. (What do we eat for lunch but meat sandwiches and wonder why we have no energy in the afternoon?) According to Kroeger, apples go with anything you wish to combine with them. For more information on food groups, see Hanna Kroeger's book THE BASIC CAUSES OF MODERN DISEASE AND HOW TO REMEDY THEM.

"An Apple a day keeps the doctor away" – has new meaning after looking at all it can do. Enjoy Apples in any form.

Blue Cohosh

This lovely lady, and when you meet her you will feel the same as I do, is found in my Wisconsin woods. She has a fragile feeling about her. Her tulip-like leaves flutter eighteen to twenty-four inches off the floor of the forest. She prefers to be around mature trees where the leafy canopy is high over head, allowing small plants to thrive without much competition.

Her early flowers are in clusters and are hard to notice as they are greenish-yellow in color and blend in with the new foliage. By the time you notice Blue Cohosh, the "woodland spring flowers" have been in blossom awhile.

Blue Cohosh gets her name from the blue-green of her leaves and the bright blue berries that are found in the fall. Her common names are Squaw root, Papoose root, Blue Ginseng, and Yellow Ginseng, all of which you will understand as you read. Her leaves have three lobes ending almost the same length with the middle one sometimes having a two-toothed lobe. This gives the appearance of a blue-green tulip. I guess if I had been the one to name her, she would have been called the blue tulip plant.

The fruit of the flowers have "one or two seeds about the size of a large pea, which ripens in August," according to Mrs. Grieve in her A MODERN HERBAL, "these are sometimes roasted and boiled in water and given as a decoction resembling coffee." I usually harvest these blue berries and replant them in woody areas.

The roots are "hard thick, irregular, knotty contorted caudex (the base of the stem), one to several inches long, with slender radicles (roots) up to 8 inches long, externally yellowy brown, internally whitish to yellow, with a central pith running longitudinally" all according to Mrs. Grieves.

As a medicinal herb, Blue Cohosh qualifies. It is said to have estrogenic properties. Historically it was prescribed by physicians for cramps and chronic uterine diseases.

A study in India suggests that the roots may possess some contraceptive properties.

Blue Cohosh has been used to relieve childbirth pains when given at the proper time, which means that it should only be taken in the last month of pregnancy.

Although I have called this plant a she and so far have discussed her uses for women, she is very helpful for men as well.

Blue Cohosh has been used successfully for rheumatism, epilepsy, leukorhea, neuralgia, dropsy, hysteria, palpitations of the heart, high blood pressure and diabetes. I have read that it is also good for hiccoughs and whooping cough. A tea can be used for children with colic.

Jethro Kloss, author of BACK TO EDEN wrote, "Blue Cohosh contains the following vital minerals; potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, silicon, and phosphorus. These minerals help to alkalize the blood and urine. This herb can be quite irritating to mucus surfaces and therefore should be used with some caution. It should not be used during pregnancy and should be taken only one week at a time, one to three capsules daily."

When I went to Dr. James A. Duke's database, I found a lot of things that this plant has the ability to work on. Here are just a few of the many: Antibacteric, Anticancer, Antidiabetic, AntiHIV, Antiinflammatory, Antioxidant, Antispasmodic, Candidicide, Cardioprotective, Pesticide, Vasoconstrictor and Vasodilator. These last two are a reminder that even when a plant works in one direction, it also has the ability to work in another direction. It is the plant working with the body that does the healing. The body knows what of this plant is needed and the plant supplies it.

It has been my experience that most people using this herb combine it with other herbs in making formulas. When we put together a formulation, we are looking for that formula to do a certain thing. We combine the herbs that will help us in this manner.

One of the formulas contains Blue Cohosh is Dr. John R. Christopher's B & B Tincture. This formulation is used as a nerve and hearing loss/ earache formula. Due to the formulation, it is great internally and externally. In this formula Dr. Christopher combines Blue Cohosh with four other nervine herbs. Dr. Christopher says that this formula can be "Used to aid in nervous conditions, sore throat, hiccups and restore malfunctioning motor nerves." The combination is designed to go to the nerves that are in trouble and help with the rebuilding. When my thumb muscles didn't work without hurting after my arm was taken out of a cast, I dropped B&B tincture on the skin and allowed it to be absorbed. When the nerves had been relaxed, I manually worked those muscles and in a short time, I was able to use the thumb without assistance and discomfort.

According to Dr. Christopher in his Natural Healing Newsletter, Volume 5, no. 9, "Dr. King of the Eclectic School of Medicine employed Blue Cohosh for its benefits on the mucous membranes. Later Dr. Scudder believed Blue Cohosh effected its good through the hypogastric plexus, thus affecting the circulation, nutrition, and reproduction."

Herbs are designed to cleanse the help the body rebuild. They supply the building blocks and allow the body to heal.

Catnip

Catnip or Catmint, as it is called, has been used worldwide for thousands of years as a medicinal herb. It was an emigrant from Europe where it was used as a beverage. In Old England it was the beverage of choice until the trade routes made green tea and black tea more prevalent. David Christopher, director of the School of Natural Healing, tells about a Mrs. Bardwell who writes in her book THE HERB GARDEN, "Catnip tea was more wholesome to the British Empire than the Black tea with all the sugar that they needed to make it palatable. Catnip has a mildly sweet flavor all by itself."

On page 260 of his book, THE SCHOOL OF NATURAL HEALING, Dr. John Christopher lists the therapeutic actions of Catnip as: "aromatic, relaxant, diffusive, stimulant, diaphoretic, emmenagogue, antispasmodic, nervine, sedative, carminative, anodyne, refrigerant, antacid." From all of that you can imagine that this little plant can handle a lot of problems. How do plants do this? They do this because they don't contain one compound like a drug would to handle just one thing; they are composed of a balance of nutriments. No, the active ingredient might not be in the amount that the pharmacist would prefer, but in its own subtle way it gets the job done. It might not do what it is supposed to do in 10 minutes but it will work without the side effects of inorganic chemicals.

This plant is so mild that it has been used by mothers of children for a very long time. By making a tea of Catnip and giving it to a baby even though it is only days or weeks old, it will relieve Colic. It can be given with a teaspoon to do its work. Mom and Dad can go back to sleep and so will baby. Dr. Christopher, found that by adding a little fennel, this tea worked even better for adults at dispelling gas.

Another use for Catnip tea is to rub some on the gums of babies when they are teething.

As much as it has a relaxing effect on people, it seems to have the opposite effect on cats. It is almost like a "fix" for cats but research has shown that only 2/3 of all cats are affected. This includes all of the cat family from house cats to tigers and lions. I dried some catnip in a plant press and found the press torn apart and the catnip broken into pieces by my cats. I guess mine are in that 2/3 percent.

According to David, the American Medical Association in JAMA 1969 (Their major publication) claimed that Catnip produced Marijuana-like effects. The wire service picked up this story and according to David, pet stores had a run on cat toys. Contrary to this claim, Catnip is not hallucinogenic.

Catnip was registered from 1842 to 1882 in the US Pharmacopia, thus registering it as a medicinal herb, as it should be. According the Daniel Mowrey in THE SCIENTIFIC VALIDATION OF HERBAL MEDICINE, it has been found to have antibiotic properties.

This is why it is so useful for Colds and Flu, but according to the Globalherb V2.0 computer program it can even be used to prevent Chicken Pox. This was a little strong for me but their reference for this came from Steven Horne's NATURE'S FIELD book published in 1991. David Christopher has suggested mixing it with Saffron to handle Smallpox and Scarlet Fever. Looks like Catnip is more powerful than we give it credit.

Another thing that Catnip tea is good for is to cut phlegm in the bronchial system. Native Americans smoked Catnip for asthma and bronchial problems. In Europe they would mix it with honey to create a cough medicine.

Catnip can be used to expel worms from the intestine by making an enema of the tea. Dr. John Christopher called this an injection.

Herbalist do not puncture the skin with needles. Once you break the hematic seal, your body is exposed to substances that are not in its best interest. (It is the job of the skin to seal the blood from foreign matter.) The premise is that the vaccines will get the immune system to "kick" in and try to get rid of the invaders. The bad part is that foreign proteins along with other things are introduced beyond the skin barrier and into the blood system. (For interesting reading on what is in vaccines read Dr. Leonard G. Horowitz's book called EMERGING VIRUSES, AIDs & EBOLA- NATURE, ACCIDENT OR INTENTIONAL?)

The foreign substances that are introduced into the blood system are not all killed. Some are parked or find their way to a specific organ and we have the beginnings of autoimmune diseases.

One of the cautions that I ran into regarding Catnip was that is shouldn't be taken during pregnancy as it promotes menses. According to David Christopher that is what all the books say but his wife, Fawn said that because it is a relaxant, when she was pregnant and started spotting, she made a cup of Catnip Tea and sat back to relax. The anti-spasmodic effects "Will calm the uterus and stop cramping during menstruation," according to the Christophers.

Along with all that we have mentioned about this little wild mint, (and it grows everywhere) it will also aid digestion. Many years ago a friend of mine from England told me that the way the British stay slim is to follow a meal with a nice mint tea. I guess that is because Catnip relaxes the body along with assisting with the meal. I have an idea that Catnip is now on the dinner mint list.

Cayenne

The pepper family is a wonderful herbal family that takes in all the members from Sweet Green Peppers to hot Cayenne Peppers. Some of the hot peppers have the ability to burn the skin but for the most part, what you purchase in the store will not be that hot and will give the body a lot of benefits. Dr. John R. Christopher once mentioned that a person could stand all day on a clove of garlic in bare feet and nothing would happen but if they stood on a hot Cayenne, they would find the skin affected.

Let's start with its ability to balance out blood pressure. In our family we use Cayenne Caps like other families use aspirin, to handle headaches. A lot of headaches are due to increased blood pressure and Cayenne will not allow the pressure to be more in one place (the head) than in another place (the legs.) Headaches come from a lot of different things so we will just talk about blood pressure at this time.

Dr. Christopher mentioned that this ability would be helpful for someone that had been injured and was bleeding. By giving that person a Cayenne Capsule or infusion, the blood pressure would balance and there would be more time to get the person to medical help with less bleeding. He also mentioned that if one were having a heart attack, by using Cayenne and balancing the pressure out, the damage would be minimalized before getting medical assistance. My family has a history of heart problems so I carry Cayenne Caps with me all the time.

I want to tell a story about the headache remedy that we use at our house. My husband called from work, it seemed that his secretary had a headache. All he had was Cayenne in his desk drawer. He wanted to know if he could give her one, she has ulcers. I mentioned that he could and that the Cayenne might kill the Heicobacter pylori (H. Pylori) bacteria that causes ulcers, in any case it might cauterize the wound. I did tell him to remind her that it would create some discomfort in her stomach most people don't want help that hurts.

Side story is that the H. Pylori doesn't like an alkaline environment but does like acid. The mouth with its saliva is an alkaline environment and would have killed this bacteria had it spent more time there than in the acid of the stomach. This person is not taking time to eat properly and chewing foods into small particles, thus allowing this acid-loving bacteria through. Bacteria have a very narrow comfort zone and if we can kill the acid-loving ones in the mouth and the alkaline-loving ones in the stomach, we will find that our bodies don't have to work hard at all to keep us healthy.

While attending classes in Utah, one of the things that students were asked to participate in was the Cayenne test. Powdered Cayenne was put into the palm of our hand, then we were told to cover one nostril with the other hand and snort the powder. This gets the Cayenne powder to the sinuses and starts the healing. Most of us have more mucus than is needed in the sinuses area. Cayenne cuts this and starts the healing process to these tissues. Yes, it is best to do this with a box of tissue because one's nose and eyes will run for a very long time and you will feel the mucus draining down the throat.

After doing this for a while, Cayenne is something that believe it or not, one gets used to and there are side benefits from this. The optic nerve is very close to the sinus area. I found that I didn't need my glasses after I cleaned the toxins from the sinus area.

In his book ALKALIZE OF DIE, Dr. Baroody Says, "Cayenne Pepper – A miracle food! Cayenne heals the body. Black pepper, an acid-former, irritates the stomach, while cayenne is especially good for stomach ulcers. It can be eaten in pods, as a powdered condiment, or taken as a nutritional supplement to stimulate the entire endocrine system. Take 1 to 2 capsules, 3 times a day. " On the Alkaline scale, it rates as a 7.0; this is very, very alkaline. Perhaps this is why it is good for a heart patient because when one goes to the hospital, they give an alkaline solution to the heart patients for the same reason that we suggested.

Cayenne is loaded with vitamins and minerals. I found over 200 different chemicals in this one herb. With all of them working simultaneously, is it any wonder that this herb is so powerful.

Cayenne has been used for Stomach problems, Gas, Gastrointestinal tract aches and Cramps. It has been used as a gargle for sore throats and as a counterirritant for rheumatic arthritic pain.

Because this herb has some powerful effects on the system, I feel it is ideal to talk about how to take herbs. A lot of people tell me that they can't "take" herbs and when I ask them why, they tell me that the herb "backs up" on them and they taste it all day. This is because no one has taught them how to take an herb. We are so used to popping a pill with a sip of water and expecting it to go to work for us. Herbs don't work that way. Let's say we just took a capsule of any herb with a sip of water. This capsule goes to our stomach and sits on top of the acid that is naturally there. The water that we sipped this with has filtered through the system. This capsule finally opens, leaving all of its contents just sitting there on top of the stomach acid. Little at a time this will assimilate into the acid but to properly take an herb, one needs to make a tea out of it.

To do this with a capsule is to take the herbal capsule with the sip of water, wait for a short time and then drink the rest of the glass of water. Now the herb will be made into a usable tea and will readily enter then rest of the body to go to work for us.

The major problem with herbal health is that we have never been taught about it in any of our education. We aren't even told about its benefits as foods, let alone the healing benefits.
This blog is to educate.

I cannot teach anyone anything.
I can only make them think.
Socrates

Hyssop

Hyssop is a small shrub like plant that is from the mint family. It tends to grow about 1 to 2 feet high with square stems like its cousins. The three varieties with Purple/blue, red or white flowers in whorls give the plant family away. The plants flower from June to October and make a very nice border plant. Hyssop has been naturalized in the United States having been brought here from Southern Europe. The hot spicy smell makes this a most agreeable plant. Its taste is somewhat bitter. These plants require cutting occasionally, but do not need much more attention according to Mrs. Grieve in her A MODERN HERBAL books.

Hyssop is spoken of in the Bible (Psalms 51:7) in connection with cleansing and purifying the body. "Purge me with Hyssop, and I shall be clean". Mrs. Grieve suggested that the Hebrew plant called "Ezeb" has been translated "Hyssop" and this is said to have grown out of the walls. According to her it is quite possible that the name is applied to several plants of similar properties.

The Greeks called it Hyssopos as a name of a Holy herb, because it was used to clean sacred placed. It seems that evil spirits hated it. I have used this plant to clear/clean negative energies out of my home. I even gave cuttings away to people that need to clean negative energies from their living and working spaces. I have found it will settle an unhappy person into someone who can be dealt with.

Hyssop was brought into a room where a blind person had become very cranky and was crying all the time. She was not aware that the Hyssop was there but it seemed to calm her down and she became herself again.

Hyssop is a most widely used purification herb in magic. It is added to baths in sachets, infused or sprinkled on objects or persons to cleanse them, and hung up in homes to purge them of evil and negativity, according to the Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs.

The tops and leaves are used in teas and tinctures and are valuable for asthma, colds, grippe and all chest afflictions and shortness of breath. It is also an excellent blood regulator as it increases the circulation of the blood and reduces blood pressure. It is a great tonic for mucus tissue of both the respiratory and the gastrointestinal tracts in all weakened conditions. "Serviceable in connection with hygienic herbs, scrofula, gravel, various stomach complaints, jaundice, dropsy, spleen malfunctions. (it) Has been used in herbal preparations for epilepsy." It has been used as a gargle with sage for sore throats." All according to Alma Hutchens in her book, INDIAN HERBALOGY OF NORTH AMERICA.

Hutchens also sights Plants Used Against Cancer, A Survey by Hartwell, for its mention as being used against sclerosis of the liver and tumors.

Medicinally it has been used as an expectorant, diaphoretic, stimulant and carminative. The healing virtues of the plant are due to the volatile oils. It has been used as a warm infusion mixed with horehound, Hyssop tea is a grateful drink for toning feeble stomachs, being brewed with the green tops. The leaves can be used externally for relief of muscular rheumatism and for bruises and discolored contusions. Bruised green herb will heal cuts promptly. Hyssop has been used in baths as part of the cure for rheumatism.

The flower-tops have also been used as a kitchen herb in salads and broths. If I remember right, Grieves mentioned that any household with an illness should include stews and soups with Hyssop tops for the health of the family. Herbs are food, enjoy.

Hawthorn

When Herbalist think of heart or heart problems, Hawthorn Berries come to mind and rightfully so, as you will soon see.

The Hawthorn tree usually grows from 15 to 30 feet in height. There are as many as 1000 species in North America. In my state I find the shorter variety. I find them in old farm fields as it is one of the first plants to start the change from the unused field back to forest. I find many people confusing the Buckthorn for Hawthorn and vice versa. There are two differences. One is the leaves; the other is how the berry is attached to the tree. Neither of these is visible in the winter when people are chopping down trees with large thorns on them.

When you find a Hawthorn, you will understand its Latin name; "Crataegus" is Greek for hardness –of the wood. "Oxus" means sharp and "akantha" means a thorn. All are referring to the needle long thorns found on the branches. Also according to Mrs. Grieves in A MODERN HERBAL, the word "Haw" is an old word for hedge. This tree is also found as hedge filler in many areas.

The white flowers appear in May and turn into a bright red fruit that dries on the tree in the fall. This dried fruit is dark purple/red. It resembles a miniature stony apple but it has two large seeds in relationship to its pea-sized fruit. It should resemble the apple for it is another relative of the Rose family along with Apples, Apricots, Quince, Wild Cherries, Raspberries and Blackberries.

Now let me tell you how Hawthorn works on the heart muscle. The heart muscle needs Calcium, Potassium and Magnesium. Hawthorn Berries are very high in the first two and sufficiently high in the third according to the constituents in Blake's Globalherb computer program.

Hawthorn has Chromium. It is said to lower bad Cholesterol (LDL) and raise the good cholesterol (HDL). "Studies done by the Chinese state that Hawthorn Lowers Cholesterol and triglycerides by improving excretion. It increases urination" according to Hanna Kroeger.

A lot of my students are surprised to find out that the heart doesn't make the cholesterol. This is made by the liver and the heart has to put up with this junk. By the way, low cholesterol reading on a serum blood test doesn't mean that you have low cholesterol. If all the cholesterol is attached to the walls of the veins and arteries, everything will look fine but your blood pressure will be high. The heart just has to work harder to get the blood through your narrowing "pipes." When there is high cholesterol or triglycerides, I tell my students to clean up the liver—a much better practice than using diuretics. This can be handled with "Liver" herbs like Milk Thistle.

Hawthorn also contains Selenium and is recommended for weak hearts. Selenium is very hard to find in our food because of the depleted farm soil but trees have the ability to put roots down 30 to 50 feet. They don't depend on what we do to the top three feet of the soil. When they want something to keep them healthy, they just extend a hair root and find what they need. This is why everyone needs to be using some form of herb. Our bodies need trace minerals. Herbs have trace minerals. They are called trace minerals because we don't need a whole capsule of something like Selenium.

Hawthorn, like its cousin the Apple, is very high in Vitamin C. When you combine Vitamin C with Selenium, you have two of the most important antioxidants in the nutritional world and they are said to protect against strokes. Vitamin C is very good at protecting the arteries against capillary breakage or leakage along with excessive clotting. It also helps to lower the cholesterol levels.

What we are doing with Hawthorn Berries is supplying the heart with all the elements that nourish it. In doing so we are allowing the heart to rebuild. I tell my students that you can't make a cake without flour and eggs in the house. When we nourish the body it does amazing things in the rebuilding area. With today's medicine we are in such a rush to transplant and drug the ill organ, when what we should be doing is supplying the body with what it needs to rebuild what we were originally given. Did you know that every organ can rebuild if 10% of the organ is healthy and you start to supply it with the right nutrition?

Hanna Kroeger, noted herbalist wrote, "Unlike digitalis, Hawthorn is not effective in correcting a complete failure as they don't contain the same compounds." Although she did use Blue Malva Tea to correct heart valve problems with much success.

The German equivalent to our FDA (Kommission E) published in there "Monograph Notes" that there were "No contra-indications from Hawthorn Berries. The German elderly used it as a tonic even without a heart condition according to Kroeger.

There have been studies made in China showing a marked relief from angina attacks when using Hawthorn. Laboratory studies suggest that Hawthorn's action "May be created through the effects on the central nervous system. Oxygen levels increase in the heart," According to Kroeger.

Other things that are seen as problems for the heart are, atherosclerotic (Artery plaque), arteriosclerosis (Hardening of the arteries), irregular heartbeats and palpitations, general tightness in the chest, difficult breathing and fatigue, all of which are treated in both China and Germany with the herb, Hawthorn.

Because of its ability to increase the force with which the heart contracts, it appears useful for congestive heart failure as suggested by Dr. Kim Vanderlinden in the Health Counselor, Vol.7, No. 4.

Dr. Shen, a Chinese herbalist, whom I met on the Internet, suggests Chinese sage (Dan Shen) 9gm, Safflower (Hong Hua) 9gm, Pseudoginseng root (San Qi) 3 gms and Chinese Licorice root (Zhi gan Cao) 6 gms. Slow boil the herbs in 4 cups of water for 40 minutes. Drink twice a day along with Hawthorne and Ginseng for "Remarkable recovery from by-pass surgery."

In my herbal classes, my students enjoy learning how to make a tonic and the one we make is a Hawthorn Berry Tonic. This is made by soaking the dried berries, then simmering them for 20 to 30 minutes, strain and return the liquid to a cleaned kettle. We add to this, raw sugar (SUCANAT), cool and bottle it. This is good for many months in the refrigerator. I like to add some Black Cherry Juice Concentrate for flavor but Hawthorn doesn't taste bad.

While making the tonic, we are struck by its dark red/purple color. This is the compound known as flavonoids. Hawthorn Berries have a large amount of this substance which is said to balance the body's hormones. "Flavonoids work with Vitamin C (Hawthorn being high in Vitamin C) to build bones, collagen, tendons, capillaries and strong teeth according to Kroger. Sounds like additional bonuses?

Flavonoids made the news a while ago when some French study came out exclaiming that a glass of red wine daily would help one to have a healthy heart. It is the purple skin in the grape that is loaded with Flavonoids as are the other members of the Rose family, namely the dark-skinned berries.

Hawthorn Berry Tonic is normally taken daily over time to reap the results that have been mentioned here, so it surprised me when one person told me of experiencing pain periodically in the upper left arm and by taking a dose of Hawthorn Tonic, was relieved within the hour.

There are many other herbs that affect the heart but none quite as effective yet mild and safe as Hawthorn.

Stevia

Tonight a plant was screaming at me. They tend to do that when I'm too busy to give them the attention that they want.

This little plant is a real sweetie and I mean that literally. Her name is Stevia and tonight she was trying to get my attention to show me some tiny white flowers. No wonder she wanted water. She isn't hard to grow in a pot sitting on a windowsill most of the time and she gives me a leaf or two all the time.

Stevia has a substance called Stevioside in it that is said to be as much as 250 times as sweet as sucrose and 50 times sweeter than sugar. Tests show that the Stevioside is heat stable, pH stable and non-fermentable. Looks like I will have to stick with regular sugar to make my dandelion wines.

There are about 250 plants in this genus or of this sunflower family. They are found growing all over South America, Central America and in the southern part of North America.

All studies repeat that she is safe for diabetics to use as she contains no sugar. She will not interfere with anyone dealing with Candida either.

In the past I have contacted the American Diabetes Association and asked why they recommend aspartame for diabetics and their response came in a letter. They said basically, "There continues to be unsubstantiated claims that the non-nutritive sweetener aspartame (Brand name NutraSweet) poses health risks to people with Diabetes." The letter continued but it told me a lot.

Most countries recognize this sweetener and in Japan it makes up 40% of their sweetener market.

The United States has restricted it to being labeled as a dietary supplement but not a food additive. Both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are producing a commercial product and hope to be able to get the "Food Additive" label approved by the government.

Dr. James Duke's Database showed me things that are contained in this plant and are known to be Cardioprotective and Cancer-preventive along with a whole lot more.

When I give a person a leaf to taste, I always take one myself so that they know it is safe to eat. Most people are surprised by the taste. First comes the sweet taste and then it is balanced out. Nature never over does what is needed.

Try two Stevia leaves for dessert tonight or plan to adopt a member of her family.

Red Clover

One of the first introductions that I had to herbs was with Red Clover. These little plants have been around all my life. It is so surprising to find out just how powerful these soft red flowers are.

I first read about Red Clover while reading BACK TO EDEN by Jethro Kloss. He talked about being sent by his parents to gather the blossoms for their "postmaster, who had a serious cancer. He (The postmaster) lived to be a rather old man, without an operation." I think that is when I decided that herbs could do some very important things. Did you know that Kloss grew up in Manitowoc, Wisconsin? Herbs are so wonderful!

Kloss suggests that it is excellent for cancer on any part of the body. He even has a formula that is: 1 ounce Red Clover blossoms, 1 ounce Burdock seed, 2 ounces Wild Oregon Grape root, and 1/2 ounce Bloodroot root. He suggests mixing them in one pint of hot water and one pint of hot apple cider. Cover and let stand for a couple of hours, and then use 4 ounces, four times a day. With throat cancer, he suggests gargling with this formula four or five times a day and swallowing some of the tea.

I remember my mentor, Hanna Kroeger mentioning that four ounces of anything goes right into the blood stream. She said that more didn't.

Wherever the cancer is located on the body, that part should be bathed five to six times a day with this formula.

That wasn't the only reference that I found connecting cancer to Red Clover. The "Flower tea is drunk daily for breast cancer, and the whole plant is included in experimental treatments for diverse cancers," according to Lesley Bremness in the EYEWITNESS HANDBOOK – HERBS.

Research shows that there are compounds in Red Clover that inhibit some laboratory tumors. Scientists are trying to catch up with herbalist and prove things that are already so.

Kloss even suggested that Red Clover is splendid for handling Syphilis.

Red Clover is one of the great blood cleansers of the herbal kingdom. As a blood cleanser it doesn't screen the blood but cleans the cells that are loaded with toxins and gives them nourishment.

There has been some research that Red Clover is helpful for Thrombosis as an anti-coagulant.

Red Clover is good for Whooping Cough and Bronchial problems along with Arthritis and skin complaints.

When we think of a clear, hot tea doing all the things that have been mentioned here, it is hard to imagine, but herbal teas have been doing this for hundreds of years with amazing results. Why do we think that only "hard on the body" heavy radiation or chemicals will eliminate cancers?

Red Clover is so identifiable. The three oval leaflets have a chevron of light green on them. The red flower petals on the composite heads can be pulled off one at a time or in a group. The base of the petals are sweet. The bees know just what they are doing when they head for Red Clover.

Did you know that white Clover has been made into feed for animals and that the flowers were once made into bread? Herbs are food.

Lamb's Quarters

Lamb's Quarters not to be confused with Lamb's Ears is this little weed is often called Pigweed (Chenopodium album L.) It is the first thing that we pull out of our gardens when weeding. No one I knows cultivates it as it has so little appeal. There is only green; green leaves, green flowers, and green seeds. I have seen it growing up to 4 feet tall and taking over an area of the garden. It grows mostly where the soil has been disturbed, as in gardens or even new construction.

It has been used as a food for a long time as it is a cousin to Spinach. When the plants are less than 10 inches high they are tender and can be cooked as a pot herb. They have the taste of pea pods. They are very high in Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Thiamin, Riboflavin and Niacin.

What I am finding in Duke's Database states that this plant has some things in it that are: Anticataract, Antiasthmatic, Antimalarial, Antidiabetic, Antieczemic, Antiparkinsonian, and Antipapillomic (This is the virus that they give young girls a vaccine for so that they can be "one less" but there are 72 papillomas and the shot takes care of only four of them. Even men can get this virus.) Hey, this plant isn't going to do it all if you nibble on a leaf here and there but it sure gives the body more than what we are getting in our food supply.

According to Dr. Christopher founder of the School of Natural healing, it is a very good source of usable calcium. I eat the leaves raw while I am in the yard or put them into a salad with tomatoes, celery, purslane, chickweed and add any dressing, my favorite being oil and vinegar. This is a great way to get my calcium with lots of flavors.

The American Indians used the leaves to treat stomachaches and prevent scurvy. Using the cold tea is known to check diarrhea. A leaf poultice is great for burns. As a folk remedy Lamb's Quarters is used for vitiligo, a skin disorder.

The next time you see this plant, taste a leaf, I think you will like it.

Bergamot

A couple of years ago I wanted a "Bee Balm" plant in my yard so one my friends gave me some of what she had in her yard. They were beautiful with their red tassels on the top of the plants. I put them in my back yard to add color. But while riding my bike on the bike trail, I noticed these same plants growing wild along the sides of the trail only they had purple tassels on the top. So I did some investigating and found that wild Bee Balm or Bergamot is purple.

As I usually do, I "liberated" a few of these plants and put them in my yard. My usual habit is to wait until the plants go to seed and then take the seeds for my yard but these plants are so "nondescript" that I thought I might not recognize them without their purple tops. I was right. They are hard for me to sort out among all the weeds growing along the trail.

Then I set out to learn about them.

The first thing that I learned was that this whole plant is edible. I also have a book written by a Native American, Tis Mal Crow called NATIVE PLANTS, NATIVE HEALING Traditional Muskogee Way. In this book Tis has a whole chapter devoted to this one plant, Wild Bergamot. If one is to believe this, the Muskogee tribe used this plant for everything, from Lung infections, Tuberculosis, Skin rashes, Stings and Bites, Depression, Anxiety, Insomnia, Burns, Fevers, Frostbite, Scar tissue, Digestion, Blood Infections, Ear Infections, Sore Muscles, Appendicitis, and even Love potions. He mentioned that it is called Sweet Leaf and related to the mint family. When they make a tea out of this plant it is called OSWEGO TEA.

I went into Dr. Dukes Database to learn more. I could understand why the Native Americans could use this plant for everything. He has a list of about 60 different constituents in this plant and they were loaded with abilities to handle things like; bacteria, inflammation, Candida, vermin, virus and some even mentioned that they were antioxidant and anticancer along with being sedative.

We just don't give enough attention to things that our bodies could use that aren't found in the food or drug departments anywhere.

Wild Violets

Living in Wisconsin, I would be remiss if I didn't take time to talk about this wonderful plant. It just happens to be the State Flower of Wisconsin.

The name of this plant is taken from the flower but there are wild violets with pink flowers and some with white flowers. Mrs. Grieves, author of A MODERN HERBAL mentions that the word Violet when broken down is a deviation of via or wayside. These plants tend to grow in areas that allow the eight inch plant to thrive without much competition.

The Violet flowers attracted my attention. I always knew that they were edible and that they have a sweet taste in their base but until I read what Dr. James Duke said about them, I didn't think they had a lot of medicinal uses. A couple of the things that Dr Duke talked about was that they could be used for varicose and spider veins. This is so exciting because a lot of people that I know are dealing with this very problem.

According to Dr. Duke, "Violet flowers contain generous amounts of a compound called rutin, which helps maintain the strength and integrity of capillary walls." The amount would be a half cup of fresh violet flowers, I guess that is why I like eating them and get my 5 to 10 flowers a day. Dr. Duke mentioned that one could eat as many as 100 flowers a day without any adverse effects.

Mrs. Grieves mentioned that, "Piny prescribed a liniment of Violet root and vinegar for gout and disorder of the spleen. She states that a garland or chaplet of Violets worn about the head will dispel the fumes of wine and prevent headaches and dizziness." That sounds like a prescription for a good old fashion hangover.

Violet flowers have been used in cooking for a very long time, both in the dish and as a garnish. I have used Violet flowers and find that most people pass them up instead of eating them. Maybe they just don't know what is good for them?

They have been used as a coloring agent and in the making of perfumes. They can also be candied as a dessert. A "Syrup of Violets" was made and was considered to be a nice dessert when added to lemon syrup or ice cream to be served in the summer months.

To get the best flowers from the plants means that they need to be thinned from time to time. When overcrowded, they tend to just grow a lot of leaves. They will also go to leaves when the soil is very rich.

A salad can be made by adding Violet leaves to any of the other garden greens. This salad might relieve a degree of pain as Violet leaves contain Salicylic Acid although not to the degree that can be found in Willow Bark or even Honeysuckle leaves. In fact, when I checked my resources, I found about 25 to 30 constituents contained in this little plant. Just think of the organic choices that one is giving the body when Violet leaves are included on the menu. When it is organic the body can use it or not as it wishes. When the body is given inorganic matter, it doesn't have those choices.

I read that one could cook the roots of this plant for food, so I decided to try that. The article suggested boiling them like potatoes. This was a very interesting experience as the roots have a slight bitter taste to them due to the alkaloid content. In the future I would cook them like acorns and do several rinses or changes of the water as they are being cooked. I have since read that medically they are used to incite vomiting. "They have occasionally been used as adulterants to more costly drugs, notably to ipecacuanha."

A tincture of the whole plant has been used for spasmodic coughing and Mrs. Grieves mentions that it can be used for rheumatism of the wrists.

We have deer that come into our yard mainly for the apples or the acorns but they also trim the tops off the Violet plants that are under the apple trees. Do they know something that we don't?

The leaves have been used to cure cancer. I believe the story goes that a nurseryman ate Violet leaves when he found out that he had cancer. He ate a lot of them and his cancer was cured.

Recently one of my friends asked me if we are responsible for all the cancer around us. I didn't have an answer at the time but when you look at all the things that nature provides us with to handle this very problem, my answer is, "Perhaps." Why the "perhaps"? I think it is because we keep eating the same foods over and over and over without taking advantage of what is really available to us. Violet leaves are wonderful for glands as a tea and even an ointment. When our glands are working the way they should, errant cells don't have a chance.

As you can see Violets aren't just for show. They might be shy plants but they do pack a punch.

Shepherd's Purse

One year I had an interesting weed growing in my garden. I decided to see who it was. I allowed it to continue to grow and when it was 18 inches high, it flowered. I still didn't know who he was. Then it had seeds and I knew. Who could mistake the seed pods of Shepherd's Purse? Their leaves look like wild lettuce but the seed pods dangle along the branches and they are flat and heart-shaped. They are a member of the mustard family and are found in waste lands all over my state.

My thought was to find out what part of this plant was used medicinally and harvest just that part. I thought I would be harvesting the seed pods or maybe the roots, but I was surprised to find out the "herb" is used. This means that the whole plant is used. The stalk, leaves, and seeds.

Alma Hutchins, talks about this plant in her book, INDIAN HERBALOGY OF NORTH AMERICA. The first thing that I learned from her was that the American Indians used this plant for food. They ate the leaves raw or cooked and the seed pods were collected and roasted. Sometimes they added them to another meal, perhaps ground up acorns and made a type of bread.

Out of the 60 constituents that I found in this plant, some of them have the ability to stop bleeding by coagulating blood. Dr. Mowrey talked about it lowering blood pressure in his book THE SCIENTIFIC VALIDATION OF HERBAL MEDICINE. Dr. Mowrey suggested using the fresh or dried whole plant as a tea.

According to Mrs. Grieves in her books, A MODERN HERBAL, in "The Great War", when medicine ran out, a tea a poultice of Shepherd's Purse was used on the soldiers. They even made an ointment of it "especially for head wounds."

Ointments are made by heating vegetable oil (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) and simmering it with the herb in it. After it has simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes, strain the herb out of the oil and return the oil to the pot. While still on low heat, add bees wax until a spoonful of this mixture can be tested in a cool place. (Refrigerate for 3 minutes.) The consistency will be just as it will be when it has cooled naturally. If it is too hard, add a little more oil. If it is too runny, add more wax.

Because of its ability to stop bleeding, it will check hemorrhoids. This can be done by putting the juice of Shepherd's Purse on cotton and inserting it or by making a little of the ointment with more wax and harden it into a suppository.

Dr. James Duke's database talks about all of its abilities and they surprised me. I would just like to mention a few of the things that this plant can do. In the Database I ran into its anticancer ability many times. I found cardio protection in there and anti-inflammatory along with antibacterial properties. Antioxident was there as was antidiabetic but one thing that really surprised me was pituitary-stimulant. I might in the future to go back into the database to find out what of the 60 properties had this ability.

In the folk medicine department I found that it had been used for stomach ulcers, kidney and bladder problems (especially when bleeding is involved), and lung problems such as tuberculosis, also as a tincture for typhus.

Our weeds are so valuable. Enjoy learning about them and making medicine with them.