Peppermint is a cross between spearmint and water mint. People are familiar with peppermint because of its menthol flavoring, which is used for candies, teas, and chewing gum. Mint also makes your mouth feel cool because menthol activates cold receptors in our tissues. Less known is that it can also be used to aid people … Read more
Arnica is a flower to be used externally only, as it may be toxic – even deadly – if taken internally (unless as a weak homeopathic preparation, which has been used for seasickness and post-partum bleeding). One of the ways Arnica acts is as a stimulation to local blood supply, which brings healing blood flow … Read more
“Antibiotic” is a confusing label. “Anti” means “against” and “biotic” means “life.” Pharmaceutical antibiotics such as penicillin or tetracycline are active against the life of some bacteria (only some, since many strains of bacteria have learned to survive around these substances). They are not active against viruses. They are active against the beneficial bacteria that … Read more
You can use herbal teas to drink, to soak cloths for external application, or even to pour into bath water where it will be absorbed into the body through the skin. The bath method is particularly helpful for the ill, children or to provide an absorption method for bitter tasting teas.
Last night, I was staying with my daughter’s family. After we’d all retired, my grandson started coughing and coughing. It went on and on. He’d caught a cold. I poked around in the kitchen and found some old, crystallized honey and a squeeze bottle of lemon juice. I managed to liquify enough honey to get … Read more
If there is anything you own, absolutely and without strings, it is your body. How absurd it would be to say about it, “I really want to improve the health of this body, which actually belongs to my (husband, wife, doctor, mother, father, minister, priest, best friend, nutritionist, trainer, coach, team, boss, or dog).” It … Read more
Do you have a blender? A grocery store nearby? If you do, you can make a tonic for the immune system very, very easily. This is an old recipe, and I’ve seen it called many things. I’ve always called it Immune Tonic. That seems to describe it perfectly. It destroys bacteria, viruses, and fungi on … Read more
Sometimes we hear people say that they tried some herbs to handle a physical problem and “it didn’t work.” Why is that? Did they take the wrong thing? (Of course, that is always possible.) Is it tainted or contaminated? (That certainly happens in our toxic world.) Does it really not work for anyone? (Unlikely, or … Read more