End of Year Blah's

As the year comes to a close and the holiday’s wind down so can the body’s stress. But with this “let down” of activities; a person can feel a little out of sorts. Most attribute this to the last of a year of unfinished or unfulfilled projects or goals. And for others it seems that the pocketbook is the painful reminder of what we are missing.

The fact is; after a hectic physical and emotional rollercoaster like Christmas; a person will naturally feel tired and run down. Add eating poorly, sleeping too little and the added stress of figuring what to buy and how to pay for it and you have an opportune situation for illness. This can manifest itself in the form of a good old fashioned cold or the flu bug or it might become a more exotic illness such as liver or pancreas issues. These are little more than the body trying desperately to purge itself of unwanted toxins built up over the last few weeks.

For many; this time of the year is a let down emotionally as well. The missing friends and family that have passed on or poor relationship issues of a person not getting along with a family member or one that may be in a nursing home and it becomes not the season of joy but the season of depression.

These factors are very common during the holidays with many dreading this time of year instead of enjoying it. But it doesn’t have to be this way. A better way to remember this time of year is to think of it as a time to “clean house”. In ancient times; Christmas was considered a time to clean the house and the body of unwanted things….to rid itself of dust and debris from the whole year. For many religions the season of Advent was not only a cleaning time but a time of fast before the feast at the end of the year with the Celebration of Christ’s birth. It was traditional in ancient times to not only clean house but to rid the body of unwanted things by fasting for many days before December 25th; and while I do not advise people to do a fast through the whole Advent season; a fast of eating less; eating better and drinking lots of good clean water is a great way to get the body and mind back on track.

As we near the end of this year it’s important to realize that build ups of the toxins in our life weigh us down; not just figuratively but physically as well. Those unwanted pounds and inches are not a great reminder of what we didn’t accomplish this year and the sluggishness of the toxins can add to the emotional stress we feel.

I personally like to get the blood sugar issues under control first; after all the sugar cookies and pie I had didn’t really help me a bit in that department. This can be accomplished by simply eating more veggies and protein and staying away from that last piece of chocolate in the candy dish. I also utilize the great product of Licorice Root to help my body assimilate sugar better during my “binge” of unneeded sugar products. Then it’s on to the colon with a cleanse. I personally love the Tiao He Cleanse by NSP but you can use any cleanse that you feel comfortable with. Just remember that a cleanse should not hurt! It should make you feel less tired, more energized and make you more regular in the bathroom.

If you still feel really run down it may well be the liver. If we celebrate the holidays as most do; we feel the need to imbibe in alcoholic beverages and brightly colored drinks with many having a wealth of toxins and chemicals that do the body no good. It may seem really great to drink Aunt Ida’s spiced cider or brother Bob’s  eggnog but the fact remains that those drinks have little to actually offer the body but a build up of junk in the system from food colorings, milk and even the poison of alcohol. And it’s really important to note that although the liver has the most amazing ability to heal itself; even it has it’s limits and will let you know in no uncertain terms that this is not acceptable behavior if we take it to the limit.

A great product for the liver and the pancreas is Dandelion Root. This is actually a blood cleanse; and while it may seem that this is not going to help the liver; it actually accelerates the body’s capability to rid itself of toxins; therefore aiding the liver in it’s job of doing just that.
Dandelion Root has properties of being a mild diuretic are also a great benefit for the person who’s eaten junk food by helping rid the body of excess water. For that reason it is a great help to the kidneys as well. A note to those taking prescription meds for water retention; please consult your doctor before taking this herb.

Another help for the person who’s just too run down to get back on track is the benefit of the B vitamins. I particularly like Pantothenic Acid or B 5. This is an essential supplement that the body needs to help the adrenals do their job better. I am very fond of any herb that will help the adrenals as they are hormone regulators; working with the thyroid gland to keep me in balance with the proper energy.

As we go through the end of the year rituals of cleaning up our Christmas decorations and get the house ready for a new year remember that we don’t need to change everything in our life to feel better; we just need to treasure our body’s the way God intends by caring for it as we would our children and enjoy better health!

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Live to Fight another Day

With the advent of the holiday season a great deal of people feel the pressure to get things done and the stress of the season can take it’s toll. One of the worst things that can happen are stressors. These are things that bombard the body to cause potential illness if left unchecked.

 Stressors include money woes; too much work; cold season and even poor diet. It’s a common mistake to not get enough water during the cold season as we aren’t triggered by thirst as we would be during the hot summer months. But we need water even more when it’s a cold dry climate as this time can be. And a dehydrated body is prone to all sorts of illness. Couple that with a huge inundation of sugar and you have the perfect recipe for disaster.

The most common illness is an upset stomach followed in popularity by the flu or a seasonal cold with headaches coming in a close third. These things are easily preventable with a few common sense steps.

First off; hydration and sleep are the most important things you can do. You might not be able to resist grandma’s sugar cookies but if you eat sensibly with the cookie and drink lots of water with it; you may not get the tummy or headache ache common to this type of eating. AND the added benefit of hydration allows the body to rid itself of a toxic condition that sugar provides and may even help shed those extra calories.

Sleep is the most overlooked and underappreciated thing we do this time of year and I have found that if I have several sleepless nights in a row; I can just mark on the calendar the following week will be fraught with either a cold sore or a cold or both! The body just does not have the reserves that it should if we do not repair with sleep.

The next thing that seems to always happen; especially if we are not eating and sleeping right; is to go to the crowded department stores and catch a virus or bacteria. This is such a perfect environment for illness; a virtual Petri dish of germs just waiting for a home!  So do we avoid these places? Are we to forgo the famous “Black Friday” specials in lieu of good health? It’s not always possible to stay away from those places and it’s not always going to help us keep away from illness. But if we arm our immune system with good food, sleep, water and common sense we can go a long way toward good health.

One thing that we can do if we just don’t have the ability to take as good of care of ourselves is to take herbal supplements to offset the devastating things we do to our body.

 One of my favorite herbs to take is to balance my pH with either Chlorophyll or minerals to help the body’s defense. A body that is alkaline is not going to be a good environment for bugs so pH is paramount to great health. Another thing I always keep on hand and use every day during flu season is Colloidal Silver. I also keep a tube of Silver Shield Gel in my purse for those times when I have to enter a grocery or department store. This is especially true if I know that those places are giving flu vaccines and nasal spray for the seasonal illness. Contrary to popular science information; this CAN cause you to get ill! So I try to arm myself with a shield of silver to offset this potential danger. Please note that this is NOT the same as sani wipes that are so popular. If you use those on your hands; you are basically wiping a pesticide on them! Who needs more chemicals in our body? No one!

If by some chance the flu or other viral or bacterial infection starts to hit; take immediate action in the form of immune boosters such as Elderberry; Garlic, Capsicum, Echinacea or Vitamin C; especially a type called Citrus Bioflavonoid. If you take immediate action followed by rest and hydration you may well find that you will be healthy enough to fight another day; AND without spreading illness to the rest of the family!

So make sure that you fill your medicine cabinet with herbs to help the immune system; your refrigerator with great food and your body with good herbs, water and nutrition and you will sail through this sometimes stressful time of year like a breeze!

Keeping your Family Safe this Winter

I’ve been asked a lot lately about how to protect families and individuals against the threat of illness. With flu, colds and even things like meningitis around it’s an important health issue.

First off,  it is important to have a clean environment to live and work in. We need to clean our workspace with soap and water. It’s always assumed that we need to use anti bacterial products on everything but the truth is; our immune system takes a big hit when we use chemicals to clean surfaces such as counters and door handles. Soap and water will kill over 95 % of all germs if done properly and is much safer to expose our body to than a chemically based product that affects our DNA and immune system.

I do recommend for those that are concerned with major illness to use Colloidal Silver. This can be either purchased or made by a silver generator with less cost to you and your family. A purchased Silver can be diluted at a rate of 10 to 1 in a sterile solution such as distilled water and wiped on surfaces and used as a hand sanitizer. There are products on the market such as Natures Sunshine that even have an effective gel that works wonderfully in lieu of hand wipes.

As for the flu season; one of my very favorite herbs to use for the whole family is Elderberry. This is a plant that is native to many parts of the world and is a common one found in many places in the United States with a hardiness zone of 3 through 9. It’s important to note that this is a plant that gets rather big; reaching heights of 6 to 12 ft and 6 to 10 ft wide.

The flowers and the berries are both used for medicinal and flavorings in dishes. Elderberry has a super anti oxidant in the berries that are housed in the color of the berry that work to help the immune system work at it’s very best called flavonoids.
It also has Anthocyanins which are ingredients that help block inflammation from starting in the body.

The berry comes in several varieties and is a beautiful addition to the garden or landscape. It should be noted that the berries should not be eaten raw; they have toxins that will cause illness and should always be thoroughly cooked for the best use of them for flavor and health benefits.

If you do not wish to make your own Elderberry; many companies such as Natures Sunshine are now putting this amazing herb in many of it’s products with astounding results for health.
I use Elderberry on a regular basis and Natures Sunshine has added a couple of new products on their line for help that also combine Vitamin D 3 for an extra boost to the all important immune system.

Whatever you decide to do to help your body; from purchasing a safe product from a reputable source or growing your own; Elderberry is an amazing help for keeping your family safe for all.


http://www.ehow.com/how_2093593_grow-american-elderberry.html

http://herbs.lovetoknow.com/Elderberry_Tea

Being Thankful

Today I’m going over things to suggest to several of my clients and as I go over a particular person’s diet am appalled. Not at the parent; not at the child certainly but at the societal problem so many of us face.
How do I tell this mother; this hardworking, overtired, over stressed mom that the diet she has her child on is half the problem? Because the food we eat is paramount to good health and this will lead to much needed help for her beautiful child.

But as a single mom I find I cannot tell her to stop cheap food; I cannot tell her that the junk in poor quality food is half of her child’s issue. And it’s exacerbated by the fact that this person lives in my small hamlet of a town and I see how she lives.  It’s a dilemma that I come across so much in my line of work and one that traditional medicine finds of little importance. Oh they do talk of cholesterol and high blood pressure but do not seem to see or believe the correlation of healthy food and a healthy healed body. But we in the herb world do believe we “Are what we eat”. And so the masses keep scarfing down Mac burgers and Chicken nuggets thinking at least I’m getting protein and vitamins right? Wrong! These food stuffs are so poor of quality that they actually cause disease and illness in the body!

But the real issue is not that the person who needs help is uncaring or uneducated. Most intelligent people know that to eat better we will feel better. But how do you tell a person on a fixed income that they will have to change their spaghetti O’s for organic greens? How do you tell your client that even though she can cook a meal for her brood for ten dollars you want her to double her costs at the dinner table?

It’s a constant battle in my mind how to be strong in my beliefs without insulting the intelligence; the passion of a good parent trying to do what will work for her family. I do try to bring up the idea that if better health becomes the norm in their household that money savings will follow in less visits to the doctor’s clinic and in the long run less money spent on prescriptions and over the counter drugs. But to believe that is to gamble the grocery money on herbs and alternative remedies. And this is a huge leap of faith for so many; especially in this uncertain political and social climate we live in.

So I smile and talk to them of Ph balancing and utilizing social services that are available to fixed income people. I explain about discount store helps for organic and utilizing food co-ops that will find great prices on needed organic items. And I try very hard to remember that these wonderfully hard working; lovely people are doing the very best they can for their families with the resources that they have.

So when you go to the grocery store; notice the next time you see a person at the cash register with a brood of kids checking out and try to remember that their food choices; the discount items and boxed and canned food may be the only way they are keeping their family fed. And be thankful.

Saving a little bit of Summer

Today is herb drying day. I love this time of year because the crops are almost done and the garden is about finished. But my pantry is full and the only thing left to “put up” is herbs.

The smell in the kitchen is wafting throughout the house as I dry peppers and herbs to store and use this winter. This is an important part of my organic gardening. I have tried freezing the herbs but this doesn’t seem to work well as they need to be blanched to stop the enzyme process. This is not a good thing to keep the volatile oils active in these all important herbs.

Right now I’m drying rosemary and then it will be on to garlic and regular chives. I couldn’t get the caterpillars to leave my cilantro alone so I have  none of that this year but the chives are marvelous. You can use these herbs just as you would store bought; but the difference is phenomenal! I adore fresh and freshly dried herbs in almost everything. From cooking chicken with rosemary and garlic to throwing a sprig of dried lavender into the bath before dipping in; herbs are an important part of my life.

So many ask; why do this? Why go to all the trouble of drying and storing your own herbs? It’s a simple answer. Chemicals and preservatives are the bane of our health in society. The hidden amounts of these man made dangers hold untold health problems that can be as simple as a headache to cancer in the long run. I find that if I can eliminate as many of those hidden dangers in my life; I feel much better! And I know that in the scheme of things; I will be a healthy individual as well as my family.

To dry herbs pick in the early morning the best and freshest herbs you have on hand. It’s very important to note that you will need to be sure they have not been sprayed with anything or have any exposure to chemical fertilizers. This will not only change the taste but can cause health issues.

Next wash thoroughly all dirt and debris off the plant pieces. If they are long stems like chives; wash well and lay on a paper towel in a single layer.
Next chop the herb up if it’s something like chives into little bits that are easy to sprinkle. If it’s a rosemary stock; place the whole branch on the cookie sheet. No oil is needed; they will not stick.
Turn the oven on to 185 or 200 F. In the case of chives; it will only take about 1 to 2 hours to finish the process. They will feel a little soft in places when you take them out but the next step will finish them. Take the cookie sheet and place on the counter until cool. They should be dry at that time.
Store in an air tight container which should keep for at least 6 to nine months until your new crop is at hand.

For Rosemary or other stocky, woody type herbs like Sage, put the whole stock on the cookie sheet and let dry for at least 4 hours. This will take less time if you remove the leaves first but I find that the flavor is not as intense if you do that. The Rosemary can be stored in jars as well as the sage. If sage is dried properly it can be crumbled up to fit the jar and your recipes better.

Another way to finish after the drying process is to grind the herb in an herb or coffee grinder. It’s always best to use a new one for this process. Nothing is more disappointing than tasting coffee in the herbs that you have worked so hard to prepare! I use a grinder that is especially for this purpose only.

Then place in a decorative jar for storing. I like to use old herb jars or the mini ½ pint canning jars for this purpose. Don’t forget to label carefully and store in a dark cool cupboard to use in your favorite recipes.

Just think; the next time you make grandma’s famous stuffing won’t it taste wonderful to have sage from your garden for the it!

Hope is a Wonderful Thing

I just got off a two day battle with a person on Facebook about the idea that herbs and alternative medicine is not “New Age” but rather old age. In fact herbs and alternative therapies for better health have been around for literally thousands of years and many references to herbs and other therapies have mention in many works of prose and even in  the Bible.

The idea that someone would not understand that herbs come from God and not from man seems a simple idea but one that my friend did not seem to grasp. And given his career choice of being a Baptist pastor even more baffling! How could a man that had devoted himself to the works of God; of Jesus find that herbs weren’t God made??
Still the skepticism of many people runs deep and I had found someone that decided that since some practitioners of  alternative arts are in fact somewhat questionable; therefore all practices of said work must be.

This battle brought to fore a common theme I hear when working with people about better health choices. They state that the doctor says this and the doctor says that with many of my clients hearing that alternative medicine is not going to work; that it’s not going to help the health problem at hand. I’ve even heard some physicians state that herbs are potentially dangerous and that anyone that pushes these products is either a “quack” or a charlatan; only bent on the sale of the products for profit.

These physicians could not be more wrong in the case of me. And in fact; I find that most alternative helpers to be wonderful in listening to the client; that they are taking the time to be the kind of person we all wish a physician would be to us. Most physicians are overworked and underpaid with little time to actually listen the way they would like but have no time for. Sure there is the occasional person who is exorbitantly overpaid and the arrogant type that thinks the sun rises and sets with their comings and goings. But for the most part physicians are not the enemy. The system however is another matter altogether.

The government and the ad campaigns that are out there about the flu and the vaccines; the commercials of the latest medicines that they push are not only incorrect but perpetrate the problem of people’s idea of health. We are made in God’s image; and in doing so; God made a person that is able to heal many of the diseases that traditional medicine could not possibly think we can!
Diseases like diabetes, cancer and auto-immune problems are all able to be helped and yes in some cases; stopped by alternatives. This is such a foreign idea to many that to even suggest an alternative to traditional treatments seems like quackery. I’ve had people look at me and say straight to my face that although I mean well; I can’t possibly help THEM….after all herbs are just like vitamins right?

Wrong. Herbs have the ability to do some pretty amazing things with a little faith and a steady diet of eating healthy and taking better care of ourselves. And I have seen in my practice a wonderful abundance of people that are really starting to get the idea that they are in charge of this ship; this body that God gave them. This hope of recovery is a heady one; and is very tenuous in nature. A wrong phrase; a wrong person can burst that bubble of potential good health. We in the herb world like to call this the “Voodoo Hex”. This hex is a dangerously powerful thing that can undo all the good that God and herbs and supplements have done. Our body; our brain wants to please us. And as the brain assimilates information it will try very hard to follow this command that others and even our self has stated or thought. So if we are trying to do better health; to try to conquer illness we need to THINK we are going to be well. And we need to be very very careful whom we are around and who we listen to.

It reminds me of the story I heard once of a woman that was diagnosed with liver cancer. She was a widow with three small girls to care for. Her physician told her that she was a hopeless case; that her illness would kill her in less than 6 months. She just smiled a little smile; patted her doctor on the knee and said  “You see my youngest girl, doctor?” pointing to a pretty little nine year old. “I will dance at her wedding!” and promptly walked out of the office to the astonished look on the physicians face. And 12 yrs  later she did exactly that.

So are we to never listen to a doctors advice? Are we never to follow the traditional protocol for disease and illness? I cannot tell you what to do in the case of you; or even your illness. As an herbalist I can only suggest a therapy or herb or supplement that may help your issue. I am not a physician and as an herbalist cannot diagnose; treat or cure.  But I want everyone that reads this to understand that you do have choices; you DO need to ask questions and you do have a brain! So use the information that doctors give; do your own research and do your own deciding. This will lead to the best choice for you and your family and ultimately lead to a better healthy lifestyle.

The Fight for Freedom

In our country right now we have a political hotbed happening. The world seems a dangerous place with angry and worried people seemingly everywhere. This climate all seemed to happen with change. The change of Republican to Democrat. The change of going from an economy that wasn’t great to one that is going straight into the toilet.

As a natural health expert; I’ve seen those changes on an almost daily basis. People are afraid of the future and it translates into a feeling of hopelessness.  This in turn causes untold health issues of stress and other issues.

As an alternative health person; I’ve watched the political atmosphere with some trepidation as this climate of change can cause me grief as well. I’ve been working with my mentor/ teacher for a couple of years trying to do something about it. She has become the head of the steering committee to help our state with a safe harbor bill to allow practitioners such as her and myself to be allowed to help people to better health. We wish to be able to do our work in peace without interference from governmental issues.

Now having said that I wish to address some questions I see forming in some skeptical minds. When I say we wish to have freedom to do our work; I mean we want to be able to work with our clients toward better health without harming anyone. This is a very important distinction from what people might think. We cannot go willy nilly through our life; just throwing out advice that is dangerous or irresponsible. We believe in what traditional medicine used to say about themselves. “First Do No Harm” was a quote most often described to show the physicians role of healer.

This idea of great health for all is one I firmly believe in and in following this path have found a way of life that suits me well. As a person who was  sickly as a child; found myself at the doctors clinic more often than not through my growing years. And as a married woman found myself as a healer again in the form of helper to my asthmatic husband and children. But the traditional approach to asthma and other issues was not working for us at all. In fact I found that the medicine that I was put on actually was making me much much worse. And when my husband was told he had to have back surgery or would be crippled; we looked another way and found it. Several months and trips to a Shiatsu massage therapist later and my husband is driving over 2000 miles a week in a semi. 
So you ask; how does a person get to this healthy way? It takes time; it takes patience and it takes an alternative view of alternative means of health.
When a physician sees an illness he wishes to stop the reaction to it. For instance if you have back pain; such as my husband did; you get a pain killing pill. This belief of stopping the reaction of the body to the ailment is a common belief in traditional medicine. But in an herbalists eye; this is a very dangerous thing! The body is designed to “talk” to the different body parts; to communicate things that may be important to the body as a whole.

So if your back tells you that it’s in pain; we believe that we need to get to the root cause of that pain rather than just stop the nerve response to it. If we stop the pain sensation it doesn’t fix the issue at all does it? It just stops the uncomfortable feeling we have with it. But if we work on the aliment and muscle tenseness and build up the back structure (which we did with my husband) we can have better health without surgery.

Now having said that I note that not all things can be fixed by herbs. If you are in a car accident and your spleen is damaged, or your appendix bursts; then YES you need to have surgery! I don’t ever want anyone to misconstrue what I say about herbs helping all things all the time. But having said that I must also say that if I or another of my family is in the hospital for a health issue I will do my level best to help them heal quickly with herbs and other alternative methods that I can provide.

So today I’m going to think of better ways to help with our cause in the state of Colorado. It looks to be a big year with many issues to work on. Many are issues of people that want what they want in our realm of alternative health instead of thinking of the whole. Many are financial in nature. We have a long row to hoe in this fight for our freedom and the freedom of others to be able to treat their body the way God intended.

If you wish to learn more about our organization you can reach us at this website http://cosunshinehealthfreedom.info/

Although I hesitate to mention this; it’s vital that for all our health benefits; we pass this bill. We are in dire need of monies to provide a bill to the legislature this year. If you wish to donate you may do so by going to the website to find the information on where to send donations or you may reach us at my email address of wenigater_54@yahoo.com.