Natural Health and Herbal Remedies Blog – information on herbal medicine

When you get that tense, headachy tiredness after a stressful day, rub a little rosemary oil gently into your temples; it soothes and relaxes. Peppermint oil is good for all muscular tiredness. Lavender oil is gentle and relaxing to painful rheumatic joints; and thyme oil, the most powerful of all, can relieve migraine headaches caused by tension and overstrain.

Many recipes and instructions for simple aids to health and relief in illness have been included in the chapters on each individual herb. In general, don’t attempt to diagnose the illnesses of your family, your neighbours and your friends and prescribe herbs for them until you have either a comprehensive knowledge of natural medicine or a good solicitor or both! Orthodox medicine and the law still frown on unqualified or unskilled practitioners. Any natureopathic physician can help you with diagnostic problems, and then you can with his advice include in your diet the herbs that can be beneficial in your particular case.

No one, of course, can be stopped from dosing himself; and, as you learn about herbs and their uses, you can make herb teas or simple medicinal preparations with the fresh leaves and dried roots from your own garden. Never take more than the suggested quantities. Most herbs have a powerful immediate action within the body, and increased quantities will not mean speedier relief. Nature works slowly to remove not the symptoms of disease but the cause of it. It’s no use trying to stop the sneezing misery of hay fever or chronic asthmatic troubles by treating the mucous membranes of the respiratory system if the cause of the disease is faulty kidney action, or some vitamin or mineral deficiency. It may also take the body a long time to throw off the cumulative effects of drugs built up over a long period. So don’t be impatient at the apparent slowness of natural treatment. Your satisfaction will be the greater in the end if you get rid of the cause and therefore of any symptoms.

My own son, who for several years had chronic hay-fever that did not respond to orthodox medical treatment, lost it completely in three months after natural herbal treatment of the cause. He has never had an attack since.

Of course, you must first want to be healthy. So many people now seem, in that lovely Victorian phrase, to “enjoy ill health”, literally. It becomes an acceptable excuse for dodging life’s problems. If you really want to enjoy good health, it is up to you to do something about it.

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Various varieties LABIATAE

An anonymous English poet wrote in 1799,

Thick-growing thyme, and roses wet with dew Are sacred to the sisterhood divine.

Thyme has always been associated with female ailments, and is symbolic of the devotion of motherhood. It also stands for courage and strength. It was a favourite Roman herb, brought initially from Attica to provide beehives with its rich pollen. The common Thymus vulgaris is supposed to provide bees with the best raw-material in the plant world for their honey-making.

All the many varieties of thyme are edible, all are valuable medicinally, and all are perennial and evergreen. Originally natives of sun-drenched, rocky, mountainous districts, they thrive in courtyards, paths and rockeries, asking very little in the way of feeding; but they must have heat and good drainage to produce the tiny starry flowers typical of them all.

These herbs were all placed under the sign of Aries, the warm-blooded, and their antiseptic properties were used freely by earlier civilizations. Thymol, the oil that all members of the mint family contain, is present in very concentrated amounts, and the pure oil is an antiseptic twelve times as powerful as carbolic acid. This can be used whenever a headache strikes. Instead of reaching for drugs and sedatives, try some of Nature’s balm instead. Rub a few drops of the oil into your temples or wherever the headache is worst, and let its warmth and pleasing scent soothe your psyche. So simple, so economical, and so effective! Thyme oil should also be available through natureopathic suppliers or your health store. The milder oil can be used as an antiseptic to rub on cuts or grazes, too.

Sorting out all the varieties of thyme can be a headache to the botanist. They hybridize freely and lose their individuality in the process. However, some, of the more common species which remain fairly true to type are listed below. GARDEN THYME (Thymus vulgaris) An erect-growing tiny shrub, with dark green leaves and woody stems. Strong flavour, produces the best oil.

LEMON THYME (Thymus citriodorus) A lovely lemon-scented type, delicious with all meats, and a strong grower. Pink flowers in spring and summer.

CARAWAY THYME (Thymus herba barona) A native of Corsica. Rich caraway perfume when crushed, and a trailing creeping habit, rooting as it spreads.

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PEPPERMINT (Mentha piperita). This mint was known to the early Chaldeans as a soothing and pleasant digestive aid. The Romans also used it this way, and the custom persists in our “after-dinner mint”. It was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, and by the middle of the eighteenth century was in general use in Britain. A pleasant drink for flatulence can be made by chopping a few leaves into a cup, half filling it with boiling water, covering and leaving for five minutes. Sip slowly.

Peppermint oil is a handy home remedy. It stimulates the cold-perceiving nerves, and thus is good for rheumatic and muscular aches and pains, particularly in winter, giving a sensation of warmth in the affected area.

Peppermint is a low-growing, creeping plant with small purplish leaves and long runners rooting into the soil. It needs more water than the others, especially if grown in full sun, where its flavour and oil content will be higher.

Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) planted near peppermint will double the amount of essential oil from the plant. Commercial growers may care to take advantage of Nature’s help once again, to increase their yield without cost or danger to themselves, the soil, or posterity.

Do not confuse peppermint oil with the peppermint essence used as a flavouring. The essence has an alcohol base. The strength and penetrating power of peppermint oil can be of great relief to sufferers from a heavy head cold. A few drops on the corner of your handkerchief can be inhaled, freeing the head of that stuffed-up misery, and if you are at home you can add a few drops to a bowl of boiling water, put a towel over your head, and inhale the pleasant fumes. If you are in bed, a tissue with a few drops on it can be placed near the bedhead, and it will effectively clear your breathing passages all night. (Make sure not to get the oil anywhere near your eyes.)

GARDEN MINT. The common roundish-leaved type, with a more mellow flavour, and a strong sturdy habit of growth. It does best in full sunshine, and will grow well in a pot on the patio or near the kitchen door.

To increase your mint plants, chop downwards into the bed with a sharp spade or hoe in the early spring, and a new rooted plant will spring from each piece. It can be then dug up and potted or given away. Root division is easy too, many new plants being gained from one length of root which has been chopped off at each junction. Give all the mints soil rich in organic matter and humus, and lime or dolomite is essential. Now for some recipes that benefit from mint’s cool flavour.

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In Elizabethan England, Henry Butte, a gourmet and scholar, experimented with flavour companions for dill. Here is one of his ideas:

Before cooking spinach, add a good handful of chopped dill to the leaves. Slice several shallots, green tops as well, and add these also. Then boil or steam the spinach mixture as usual. Try this served with a dob of butter on top and a trickle of lemon juice.

Dill is indigenous to the Mediterranean, and Southern Russia and Scandinavia, and is a very ancient herb. It was used often in the incantations and magic rites associated with protection from witchcraft. On St John’s Eve (23rd June) various herbs were smoked or dried in the holy fires lit to mark the festival period. These herbs were then taken back by the people to their homes, and hung there as protection from sorcerers, witches and the Evil Eye. Vervain, hypericum and yarrow were also used.

Many writers recommend sowing dill seed where the plants are to remain, for the herb can be difficult to transplant. I have never found it so. My own nursery pots of dill are all transplanted from seed boxes or punnets, and with ordinary care they will transplant once again to the garden without any casualties. Although the seed can be sown almost all the year, spring is the best time, because the plants will grow quickly during the hot weather to come.

Plant dill beside your cabbage patch in the vegetable garden. It helps the growth of carrot plants, too, but be sure to dig out the dill or, use it before it flowers: in bloom it can inhibit the growth ot the carrots, owing to chemical changes in the plant at that time. All these “companion plant” relationships can be traced to chemicals either taken or supplied by one plant with benefit to another. This field seems to me of increasing importance in its applications. Overcropped or depleted land could perhaps be brought back under cultivation earlier if we were able to use the gradually growing knowledge coming in from all parts of the world. Plants have interlocking economies just as important to them as our trade agreements are to us. “Reciprocal business” seems a wonderfully waste-free way of using these chemical-swopping activities, without having to add unnatural outside agents.

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Plant your borage in the rockery or somewhere a bit raised up from ground level. The starry blue flowers hang down in clusters, and you will be able to see them to advantage without getting down on all fours. The flowers can be candied, too, for an unusual garnish on cakes, fruit salads or sweets. Pop a couple, together with fresh mint leaves, on top of a plain egg custard served in individual crystal dishes, and watch your hostess reputation rise overnight. Here are two different methods of crystallizing the flowers:

1. Pick the flowers when barely open, lay on waxed paper, brush all over each blossom with beaten egg white using a small soft paintbrush, then dust castor sugar over through a fine sieve, and let dry. When quite dry and hard, store in airtight jars, lined with grease-proof paper.

2. Pick flowers when barely open. Wash them and spread out to dry. Make a syrup of 1 cup sugar and f cup water, and boil until it spins a thread (25 degrees on a candy thermometer). Pour into a heat-resistant bowl (not glass), and place in a bed of crushed ice to cool it quickly. When syrup begins to crystallize, dip blossoms in one at a time, holding them with fine tweezers by the base, and thoroughly coat with the syrup. Shake off the surplus, put on greaseproof paper, and dry. As they begin to harden, dust with castor sugar through a fine sieve. Store in airtight jars when thoroughly dry.

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For maximum success, suggestions should always be positive and phrased in the affirmitive. Use the pronouns I or we. Phrase each suggestion in the present tense as though your goal were already accomplished. Instead of saying, “I will overcome this cold, say, I am free of all cold symptoms.” Instead of, “My white cells and antibodies will destroy all invading viruses,” say, “The cold or flu has already disappeared and I feel terrific.” Use positive action verbs like I can, / am, I feel and I believe. Never use words like try or attempt or perhaps or possibly. All messages to the subconscious must be absolute.

Since feelings intensify images, tell yourself how it feels to be free of a stuffed-up nose, or to have a throat no longer sore, or to be free of a hacking cough. Tell yourself, “I feel wonderful, great, happy and pleased. It feels terrific to be free of that sniffling nose and sore throat. Robust health is now mine to enjoy.” Describe the end result you want and, as far as possible, phrase all suggestions as though the desired result had already been achieved.

If you prefer, you can think your suggestions instead of silently phrasing them. This may heighten results. Otherwise, keep suggestions short and simple. During creative imagery, repeat each suggestion at least four tames. As you say each phrase, picture it and experience it

Few people are unable to create mental pictures. If you appear to have difficulty, however, write out your suggestions several times each. While writing, you will probably see the image you desire clearly portrayed on your inner movie screen.

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Among the very best foods you can eat are apricots, cantaloupe, citrus (including lemons and limes), cranberries, mangoes, papaya, peaches, pineapple and strawberries— all good sources of vitamins A and/or C. The best vegetables include asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots, collards, kale, lettuce (excepting iceberg), mustard, pumpkins, sweet pepper, sweet potatoes, winter squash, spinach, turnip greens and most varieties of sprouted seeds and grains—most are also high in vitamins A and C.

Good sources of zinc include plain unbuttered popcorn, sweet potatoes; most nuts, seeds and peanuts; green beans, lentils, wheat germ, wheat bran and brewers or nutritional yeast, which can be sprinkled on cereal. Cod liver oil is also an excellent source of vitamins A and D while most legumes and whole grains supply the B-complex vitamins and vitamin E.

The late Professor Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, an eminent scientist and Nobel prizewinner, who died recently at the age of 93, reported that since he began eating one-fourth of a cup of wheat germ each day at breakfast several years ago, he did not experience a single cold. Wheat germ is a rich source of zinc as well as vitamin E and manganese.

Because cooking can destroy vitamin C and other vitamins in food, we should eat as many foods as possible fresh and uncooked. For similar reasons, we should avoid all foods that are canned, processed, manufactured, prepared or dehydrated. And when we do cook, we should steam, broil, bake or stew instead of fry.

An important note: dried beans contain zinc but their phytate makes some of that zinc unusable. So be sure to soak the beans overnight before cooking to remove the phytate.

Don’t forget, either, that the vitamin C in orange juice, and in other juices, is easily destroyed by freezing, dehydrating or canning. As a result, the actual vitamin C content of most canned or frozen orange and grapefruit juice is often disappointingly low. Whenever possible, either squeeze your own juices from fresh fruits and vegetables; or else eat the fruits and vegetables themselves. Since fruit juices are also high in fruit sugar, which is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream where it creates a high blood sugar level, fruit juices should be sipped slowly rather than gulped down.

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To really bolster our immunocompetence, we need a sufficiency of the following nutrients. (The recommended daily amounts given below are for adults while treating a cold. Lesser amounts may be sufficient for daily maintenance.)

Vitamin A
10,000 IU
B-complex vitamins including Bl, B6,

pantothenic acid, B12, folate and PABA
as suggested
Zinc
as suggested
Vitamin C
as suggested
Vitamin D
400 IU
Vitamin E
200 IU
Calcium
1,000 mg
iron
25 mg
Magnesium
500 mg
Selenium
100 meg

While reduced immunocompetence has been clearly linked with a deficiency of vitamins A and C and with zinc, adequate amounts of the entire spectrum of nutrients listed above is recommended by many nutritionists to ensure complete nutritional support in reducing the severity and duration of cold symptoms.

The consensus of many similar studies is that vitamin C stimulates production of interferon; that it enhances the ability of the thymus gland to produce T cells; that it helps detoxify surplus histamine; and that it bolsters bacterial phagocytosis (ability of phagocytes to destroy bacteria). Doses of 2 to 3 grams have produced significant increases in immunocompetence.

To enable you to maximize their properties, here is a brief rundown of the most important nutrients known to enhance immunocompetence.

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A clear and unmistakable warning that a bacterial infection is present is when previously clear nasal mucus turns a yellow or green color, or has a foul smell.

Bacterial infections frequently commence with largyngitis before spreading to bronchitis, ear infection, pneumonia, pharyngitis or strep throat, or tonsillitis. These complications frequently require medical treatment. Since they are primarily bacterial infections, they respond readily to antibiotics. Because complications may be either viral or bacterial, you should see a doctor without delay.

Other danger signs indicating a complication, and for which medical care should be sought, include these:

A fever over 101°F (38.3°C) with shaking, chills and coughing up of thick green, yellow or rust-colored, or foul-smelling phlegm.

A fever over 101°F (38.3°C) that lasts more than four days.

A persistent high fever over 102°F (38.8°C) with muscle aches that extends beyond three days.

A fever higher than 103°C (39.4°C).

Shortness of breath.

A sharp pain in the chest following a deep breath. Coughing up of blood.

Severe cold symptoms or a sore throat which do not ameliorate after seven to eight days.

Throat pain in a child.

Breathing difficulty in a child with a cold, especially if accompanied by a hoarse cough.

A painful sore throat accompanied by:

—yellow-white pus spots on throat or tonsils.

—exposure to someone with strep throat.

—tender or swollen glands or bumps in front of the neck.

—a rash which appears during or after a sore throat.

—any past history of rheumatic heart disease, rheumatic fever, kidney disease or chronic lung disease such as emphysema or chronic bronchitis.

Appearance of any one or more of these warning signs may indicate a bacterial complication for which you should consult a physician without delay. You should also see a doctor if hoarseness from a cold has not improved after two weeks, especially if you smoke.

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Abrupt changes of posture can trigger tension headaches. Avoid cradling a phone under your chin for more than a few minutes. Sit up straight and keep the head erect and the shoulders low while using the phone. Whether standing, sitting or lying, keep the shoulders down. Avoid hunching them up around the ears.

Avoid slouching or slumping at any time, especially while watching TV. Place the TV screen at the same level as your eyes and straight in front so that you avoid looking down or turning your head. Get up and walk around at least once per hour, roll and rotate the shoulders and neck, and pull the shoulder blades together several times.

Avoid working overhead with your arms and hands raised for long periods. Use a stepladder instead. Don’t permit your head to slump or hang forward. Always sit and stand tall, straight and upright. When sitting at a desk or working at a bench, change positions every fifteen minutes. Breathe through the nose, keep your tongue relaxed, and avoid grinding the teeth. Also avoid shallow breathing. Inhale fully and fill the bottoms of your lungs at each breath.

Reading or working in a poor light is a common cause of headaches. Use a bulb with a minimum power of 60 watts directed down over your shoulder. We used a 250-watt soft white light bulb mounted overhead while writing this book. Fluorescent lighting is even better. The older you are, the stronger the light you should have.

Poor posture while slouched over and reading in bed can also contribute to tension headache. Avoid reading in bed with your head propped up on pillows. Instead, sit upright in bed with a pillow under your knees to prevent pressure on muscles in the lower back. Always sleep on a pillow. Sleeping without a pillow causes more blood to flow to the head, setting the stage for a migraine attack.

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