herbs

Cleansing for the New Year

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Is anyone else ready to put away the dairy and desserts and cleanse for the New Year? I personally love a good cleanse, though I’m partial to the low-suffering kind. I know people who think it’s not a real cleanse unless you take in nothing but fresh juice and water, but that never made sense to me. Our bodies like balance, and balance by extremes is not really balance at all at the human level. Just look at how bad yo-yo dieting is for people or how hard it is on the body when there are huge weight fluctuations. Gentle detox is a way to cleanse while giving the body support to adjust, instead of shocking the body and then reeling from its effects. Of course, there is a time and place for everything and if you know what you are doing and have the right support, then by all means juice away your days. If you prefer a cleansing reboot that doesn’t leave your blood sugar levels bouncing and your mood-o-meter permanently set to hangry, keep reading for some options.

Adding powdered greens to your daily routine is one way to activate detox mechanisms in your body. While cleansing you should be drinking extra glasses of water anyway, so adding a scoop or packet to one of your glasses or bottles of water is a great way to get extra goodness. It is worth noting that some green mixes, like Paradise Herbs, are formulated for energy~

while others, like the Food Science one below, are formulated more specifically for cleansing. Greens in general, whether in a powder or in a whole fresh or cooked form, are cleansing though so an energy greens mix will still work towards detoxing your system. Both these mixes came in my New Hope Blogger Box and they are tasty as well as healthy blends, but there are of course other reputable greens out there. Just be sure to read ingredients lists thoroughly.

Adding a cup or two of detoxifying herbal tea a day is another easy way to help your body cleanse. There are plenty of blends out there, such as detox teas by Yogi and Traditional Medicinals that are as easy as boiling water. Flora makes a tea concentrate that you just pour a bit out and add hot water to. They promote their cleanse every year on Facebook so you can actually join a group of others using their product to get tips and expand your knowledge a bit into the world of detox. (Plus if you join in you just might get a coupon or more, depending on if you are one of the firsts to sign up.) They do have a dry blend as well.

If you want to do something a little more involved than greens and teas, making up a batch of kitchari is what one of my herbal teachers drilled into us as the most healing, cleansing, tri-doshic thing you could do. Kitchari is a meal from the tradition of Ayurveda that is made up of mung beans and basmati rice (brown or white depending on your preference), spices, and ghee. You can eat it once a day to support a general cleanse, or you can eat kitchari three times a day and nothing else but herbal teas for 6 days straight for a more intense detox. As with all things herbal, kitchari is a traditional dish that you can find a thousand variations for so this recipe can be modified as you like. What follows is how my herbal teacher told us to make it and it has never failed me. It’s a calming meal, easy on the digestive system, and healing.

Kitchari Recipe:

1 C mung beans

1 C brown basmati rice (my herbal teacher actually used white basmati rice, so your choice really)

1 tbsp. ghee (vegans can use coconut oil)

1 tsp. each turmeric, cumin, and coriander

After soaking the mung beans overnight (or at least 6 hours), cook them in 4 C of water until they are thoroughly soft, about half an hour.

Cook rice according to its instructions, depending on white or brown, then mix together with beans.

Warm the ghee in a sauce or sauté pan and add the spices, cooking until fragrant, about 2 minutes or so.

Mix the spices and ghee with the rice and beans and you are finished. Eat as often as you like.

I’ve never been big on resolutions, but I do like the spirit of renewal that January sweeps in. A gentle cleanse sets a nice tone for the year~ a reminder to think better, feel better, act better, and be better. Best wishes for health, fulfillment, beauty, and peace to everyone for the New Year. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested.

 

Digestive Herbal Blend

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Most of the herbs in our kitchen cabinets, such as basil, fennel, and ginger, not only taste delicious, they also promote healthy digestion in one form or another. I like to make up a powdered blend of digestive herbs that is basically a version of chai without the tea but with cacao. It not only improves digestion, helps balance sugar levels, improves circulation, and is anti-inflammatory, it also is anti-aging because it is chock full of antioxidants. Those are a lot of benefits for just a half teaspoon at a time, twice per day in smoothies and coffee! It could also be sprinkled on granola, added to oatmeal, fruit, or yogurt. You can add turmeric to this mix, or really any other powdered herb that you would like, and in fact all the ingredients are subject to personal tastes and can be reduced or eliminated if desired. As with all things herbal, this recipe is to be used as a rough guideline, not something that needs to be followed exactly, though you certainly can if you want to. The cacao has a bit of caffeine in it and is not a traditional component of chai, but I add it because I like the depth it gives the flavor profile, plus it is full of antioxidants. If you are mostly looking for an evening, after dinner tummy tonic, then leave the cacao out.

My blend is equal parts cinnamon, ginger, and cacao powder, then a quarter the amount of cardamom, then about 1/2 again (1/8 cup) of ground cloves and nutmeg combined, with a few turns of a black pepper grinder added at the end.

So here’s an example mix:

1 cup cinnamon powder

1 cup ginger powder

1 cup cacao powder

1/4 cup cardamom powder

1/8 cup cloves powder

1/8 cup nutmeg powder

A bit of fresh ground black pepper to taste

I use it in morning smoothies and in my after lunch coffee. If my stomach needs a bit of digestive help after dinner, I tend to eat a small handful of fennel seeds and if that doesn’t help, drink an herbal infusion of whatever I have on hand that is caffeine free and has digestive benefits. Of course taking bitters 10-15 minutes before a meal helps start the digestive process off on the right track, and taking a probiotic can ease tummy woes as well. This blends smells amazing and is tasty enough for gift-giving. Please share with anyone who might need a little digestive support during the holidays.

Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested. Happy Solstice!

 

 

 

 

 

Herbs and Supplements for Students

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Students have specific needs whether they are in middle school or pursuing their third Master’s Degree. Some of these suggestions meet the needs of all students, while some are just for the older set. Most of these herbs and products are focused on either brain function or stress management so people other than students can certainly benefit from them as well.

There are several herbs known for brain functioning enhancement, and interestingly enough, a few of them happen to be adaptogens too which help with overall stress management. Adaptogenic herbs Ashwagandha, Tulsi, and Gotu Kola have also been traditionally used for brain functioning as well as their adaptogenic over-all body balancing benefits. Ginkgo Biloba is another herb known to enhance brain functioning with benefits to clarity, mood, and memory also traditionally observed and is especially good for the aging brain.

Blends are a great option for getting several ingredients that work together in a synergistic way in one supplement. Gaia Herbs makes one that comes in capsules, while Herb Pharm has one in tincture form. Herb Pharm also has an alcohol free one for kids to help with concentration. There is another tincture option from Anima Mundi which is a newer line of herbal products that are well-formulated and well-made. The video below has a brain function supplement from Neurohacker Collective that actually came to me through the New Hope Blogger Box of which I am a member. The packaging of this supplement called Qualia is so beautiful that it is gift-worthy, and honestly, pictures didn’t do it justice so I made the video below. You should check out their website for more information because these supplements are packed with vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs, and surely other ingredients I didn’t even catch.

Also in that video is Spice Pharm‘s Chocolate Elixir which is a great herbal drink that tastes like hot chocolate, has Ashwagandha and Turmeric in it, and helps reduce stress and hunger pangs. They also make a Golden Chai which is another delicious, healthy option for students and anyone else who is a chai lover.

Other herbs for stress management include herbs under the classification of adaptogens and nervines. Adaptogens are for long-term balancing and should be taken on a daily basis throughout a lifetime, while nervines are more for getting through specific events or tough times, unless there is a continual need to fight anxiety or depression, in which case the nervines can be taken long-term as well. I have rather lengthy posts already on adaptogens and nervines so click the links if you haven’t already read your fill about those. If I were to send a care package to a college student, I would definitely include a powdered mix of adaptogens that are also brain specific like the three mentioned above, and a tincture or two of an anxiety/stress-buster blend.

Other products that can help students, especially those living in dorms, are powdered greens. It’s hard to get all the fresh produce that a working-hard brain needs when living away from home, so a greens mix is a nice supplement to include to enhance daily nutrition. There are several good ones out there but this one by Food Science of Vermont which I received recently in that same New Hope Blogger Box is doctor formulated and enhanced with probiotics and enzymes. Just mix half a scoop in 8 oz. of water or juice.

Essential oils can also be used for students of all ages for stress reduction and also for clarity and memory enhancement. Rosemary essential oil is the best known scent for memory, and actually the fresh or dried herb can be used for cognitive functioning as well so it’s a great plant to have in study areas, although not the best for sleeping rooms since it is stimulating. Any essential oil can be used for studying though, and in fact it is best to change up the oils used according to the subject being studied. If you or your student is studying for a math test for example, you could diffuse the essential oil of orange in the room while working on it, then during or just before the test sniff that same scent. Then when it’s time to study for History, you would use a different scent, such as cinnamon, then again have the scent available to smell during or just before taking the test. In other words, it doesn’t matter what scent you use as long as it is a scent you can smell at the time of studying, and then again at the time of test-taking. You can take the scent along with you by putting it on a cotton ball, sticking it in a sealed plastic bag, then sniffing it before the test, or even better, you can make an oil with it and put it on your neck before the test. (Use 6 drops of essential oil per teaspoon of base oil.) Scent really helps with memory so it is a great tool to use for studies.

Students of all ages are working hard and handling stress to differing degrees. There is plenty of help for them in terms of nutrition, brain functioning, and stress management. Please share this with any student or parent of student that you know who might be looking for natural help with the hard work associated schoolwork. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested.

 

Immune Boosters for Winter

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The samples I received from the natural marketing co-op I belong to were so good this time around that I’ll be doing two posts with some of the contents. We don’t get any compensation for these posts by the way, we’re just asked to write about anything that we like, and I like quite a bit. These are the immune boosting supplements that came in the #NewHopeBloggerBox which we’ll be using this winter to ward off the seasonal sickies.

New Englanders have a traditional herbal tonic that is catching on around the country which I’ve been wanting to try, but honestly been too nervous to make myself. This one is from Shire City Herbals and the ingredients include: Apple Cider Vinegar, Honey, Oranges, Lemons, Onions, Ginger, Horseradish, Garlic, Turmeric, and Habanero Pepper. So now you know why it has the name ‘fire cider’ and why I was hesitant to try to make my own. If a shot of this a day doesn’t keep the ickies away, I’m not sure what will, because it’s wicked strong.

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For a more travel-friendly vinegar option, these apple cider vinegar shots from Vermont Village have a variety of flavors and can be thrown into your gym bag or backpack. I had to add the shot to water myself because downing vinegar, even with ginger and honey added, is still not my favorite thing. With water though, it was tasty and apple cider vinegar is so good for your digestion (as long as it has the mother, which these do.)

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Probiotics are important year-round, but most important after a round of antibiotics. If you do happen to get sick this season, don’t forget to load up on a good probiotic during the antibiotic regimen and definitely after. This one from Ora Oraganic is very clean with no gluten, dairy, soy, GMOs, tree nuts, added sugars, filler ingredients, artificial colors or flavors, sweeteners, or preservatives, plus it has prebiotics which feed the probiotics.

This probiotic from Jarrow Forumulas targets women’s issues specifically, so it is a great one to take if you tend to get bladder or yeast infections, especially after a round of antibiotics. The box even reminds you to take it two hours after taking antibiotics which is a good rule of thumb for any probiotic during an antibiotic regimen. Then when you are all finished with the antibiotics, hit those probiotics hard.

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For an overall immune booster, this powdered drink mix from Oxylent is a great way to take in extra vitamins, minerals, and extra immune-boosting ingredients. It tastes like a liquid sweetart to me which is a nice antidote to the vinegar shots! 13C35F30-B2D6-40DC-9997-F2310C153E1D[1]

Oh dear, I missed one for the group pic! This supplement from Source Naturals is a unique combination of immune boosting herbs and ingredients to help one sleep, which is perfect for when the sniffles threaten sleeplessness. It is chock-full of good stuff so I’ll definitely be keeping this stocked in my medicine cabinet for when someone starts feeling a cold coming on at night. (It always happens at night, doesn’t it?)

Stay warm and stay well everyone! Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested.

 

Adaptogens

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As I said in my last post, adaptogens are herbs that help our bodies respond to stress. I like to think of them as ‘slow health’ workers, akin to the slow foods movement, where you are thinking strategically about long-term health goals and supporting those goals through small daily doses of herbs that help get the body out of ‘fight or flight’ mode and into a healthier zone. We want our bodies to be relaxed so imbalances can be addressed before they turn into illnesses. The demands of modern life are such that if we don’t consciously address the pace, stress, overwhelm, and information overload, we can get caught in a continuous day-in and day-out stress mode cycle, which is definitely not a thriving place for our health and well-being. We hear a lot about self care lately and that very often translates into hot baths or massages which are great things to do, but we also have herbal allies to keep it real on a daily basis, keep us healthy long-term, and remind us that there are no prizes for being the most stressed out.

You can take adaptogens in pill form, tinctures, teas (herbal infusions), or as powders. In powder form, you are getting the whole herb and nothing else, which is a nice way to do it. I like to add one of my adaptogen powder mixes into coffee or tea, and the other mix I make, which currently includes Eleuthro and Rhodiola, I put into smoothies for my family and myself. You can also mix them into juice or just water, or add them to foods such as yogurt or cereal. It’s best to start with just a 1/2 teaspoon per day of an herbal powder, then add another 1/2 teaspoon later in the day once the first half teaspoon is perfectly tolerated. More can be added in time if desired, but adding too much too fast is a recipe for digestive issues and that will only add stress, not help it. Concentrating on being consistent is more important than how much you take because only a small amount is needed if taken over a long period of time.

Switching up your adaptogens is advisable, and don’t worry, you will still get the benefits of sticking to adaptogens over time. If you are new to adaptogens, this article will introduce you to probably the best known adaptogenic herb, Ashwagandha. Ashwagandha is a great place to start if you are new to adaptogens, but there are plenty of others to choose from as well, from many different traditions around the world. This article gives a brief overview of a few others, and these are some of my favorites you might want to look into: Tulsi, Rhodiola, Reishi, Fo-ti, and Schisandra, and keep in mind that combining adaptogens lets them work in a synergistic way.

280F9A5A-A3EE-4CF2-9387-2AEACC88EBEE[1] Ashwagandha and other adaptogens are showing up more and more in functional foods and drinks, such as SpicePharm’s Golden Chai (pictured above) and Chocolate Elixir, and Gaia’s Golden Milk as well as Amazing Grass’s Brain Elixir. There are cold drinks by REBBL that have adaptogens in their full line of flavors which I’ve found at my local Whole Foods but not online yet. (They are tasty!)

All this is to say, that adaptogens are abundant in numbers, available in ready-made products, and easy to incorporate into daily life so there is no reason not to make a conscious choice to have them in whatever way works best for you. Don’t let stress mode become your everyday mode and if it already is, then know you can make choices to get to a healthier space. You deserve it. The holidays are fast approaching so this just might be the perfect time to start building up your body’s stress response for the better. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested.

 

 

 

Ayurvedic Herbs

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Ayurveda has been around for over 4,000 years and the herbs and herbal combinations are still popular today. Now that’s staying power! It must be for a good reason….and it is. These formulas have withstood the test of time by being effective, gentle, and reliable. Check out this infographic from Delicious Living in partnership with Himalaya Herbals to see if anything rings true for your unique needs and health goals. Personally I love Ayurvedic adaptogens, digestive combinations, and of course turmeric for its amazing array of benefits. I’ll show you exactly how I use those on a daily basis in my upcoming posts. Stay tuned by subscribing!

See the original here: https://goo.gl/mhpeLe

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Herbalism for Today’s World

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In a lot of ways, herb usage hasn’t changed that much. We still use herbs on our foods to make them taste better and be more digestible, and we drink herbal infusions for their taste and health properties as well. Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, and Naturopathic doctors rely on herbs even today for balancing out bodily systems, and other health advisors such as nutritionists and massage therapists sometimes use herbs to produce certain specific effects in the body. Modern doctors on the other hand do not study herbs nor nutrition (for the most part), and pharmaceutical drugs have taken over as the one size fits all band-aide for almost any illness or ailment. Now modern medicine has its place and I absolutely do not fault doctors for not studying herbs and nutrition and for relying on drugs, because they have their own body of knowledge to learn and it’s incredibly important. No one wants to go back to leaches and non-medicated surgery I’m sure! But we need to remember our roots, (and our seeds, and our leaves), and know that often there are things we can do to help ourselves that don’t require pharmaceuticals with scary side-effects, nor a ton of money or effort. People used to know which herbs cured what in their own little communities, and they ate simple seasonal food because they had to, back when all food was organic and non-gmo. They also used herbs daily in other practical and even spiritual ways as well, to bless their homes and keep out ‘evil’, to keep vermin out of the house or out of their bedding, to help with bad smells of both house and body, and to beautify their surroundings and themselves. Many still do these things, and more, because herbs have never left our sides, they have weaved through our humanity over time and provided a vine of ancient memory we can tap into and remind ourselves of our humanness, despite our chronic phone addictions and race towards a more and more technologically advanced world. We are still people who eat, who get sick, who enjoy beauty, who fight the signs of aging, who want to connect with the world beyond the screen and breathe clean air, drink clean water, and resonate with the plants, animals, and people in our world. We are local beings and yet we are the first humans on earth to collectively live international lives through screens and keyboards. In this time of major transition, we need to remember that herbs were the first medicines, food was once all organic, and we still need this earth and her goods way more than she needs us. Let’s be good to ourselves, and good to the earth, and take a moment every day to remember that the natural world is still all around us, waiting for us to engage.

This is the role of the herbalist in today’s world, as I see it. We are here to remind others to stay connected to the earth and all its inhabitants, green or furry, scaly or funny, these are the connections that will support our health and well-being as we age and grow. Some herbalists concentrate on knowing all the herbs out there and their uses, others concentrate on a smaller set and understanding them inside and out, while still other herbalists concentrate on client consultation, and others are the makers who turn plants into medicine. I’ve worked with an herbalist who mostly wild-crafted herbs and also did a bit of medicine making, and another herbalist who taught and wrote about herbs as well as saw private clients. Personally I’ve taught classes, written about herbs, and I love making herbal elixirs of all sorts, and I have tried growing them with varying degrees of success. I’ve also worked in the natural foods and products industry where many know more than the average person about herbs and use that knowledge purely for personal and family use while others used it to set up their own stores or to consult customers on the floor. We all have our specialties and with modern-day access to global knowledge and traditions, the herbalists of today have an abundance of options when it comes to their personal practice. The things that do not vary though, are the respect for the plants and the earth, the understanding that our ancestors had intelligence that is often overlooked today, and a deep love for herbs and all that they offer in terms of health, beauty, and well-being. I am so excited to share this space with you and I encourage you to seek out the herbalists in your own communities. You might be surprised at the expertise you find and the local products available to you. I hope to get a list going here with local information for everywhere in the world, but that’s going to take your help. If you are an herbalist or know of a great herbal resource, please contact me via the contact page or comment below so we can start gathering resources together. Also, please follow this blog by subscribing because this is just the beginning~ there is so much more to share in terms of optimal health and beauty and I have a feeling we are going to gather a great community here. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested.

Take Care, Kristen

Autumn Mushroom 2017