You work, run a family, you have a myriad of commitments - if you are like the average person today then you just can not afford to get sick.

Our immune system is negatively affected by physical and emotional stress, as well as poor diet or lifestyle choices.

Mother Nature has thought way ahead of us by creating herbs that stimulate the immune system and promote general resistance to protect us from disease.

Be on the lookout for times when stress factors are high. These might include moving house, changing jobs, or overseas travel. Remember, good stress such as a holiday or getting married can be just as stressful on the body and lower your immune system.

Plan ahead and make use of herbs which give your immune system that added boost when times of stress are on the horizon.

Echinacea - has traditionally been used to treat or prevent colds, flu and other infections. It is also used to stimulate the immune system to make the body more resistant to infections.

Siberian Ginseng - has long been popular to help cope with stress and adapt to life changes that come with a busy lifestyle. It enhances overall health and improves stamina.

Ginger - has had many health benefits attributed to it, including soothing symptoms of cold and flu. A warming agent it will help overcome chills, nausea and stomach upsets.

Lemon Grass - relieves insomnia & stress and it detoxifies vital organs which removes toxic build up making it easier for the body to function at it’s optimum level.

Of course there are many more herbs that will help you not only fight the symptoms of disease but to build up resistance to protect us from disease in the first place.

Stay Herbal!

I thought that my baby had a really good immune system. He is 29 months old, has only once been worryingly sick and has had the sniffles a few times but that’s about it. I was happy with that as an indication that his system is obviously being challenged by nasties along the way but that his body is dealing with them well.

Well, did I say well?

One singular day at day care, his first ever, and he is down with some horrid ‘lergy. Admittedly it is the season where many bugs are making the rounds and there were quite a few littlies at care who were off colour. Our darling was eager to go to “school” and had a brilliant day. He is such a little sponge, wanting to absorb every new thing he comes across. But I didnt think he would absorb every little bug that was available that day.

On Friday afternoon he had a slight case of sniffles…..by evening there was a streaming torrent coming out of his nose. By Saturday that torrent had turned green and so had his right eye - soon to be followed by his left eye. Fevers in the mid to high 39’s had us a tad worried but we managed to get them down over night Saturday.

Right……..

Since I dont accept my children suffering, I have to take action. Of course I realised that a trip to the doctor at this stage would be pretty pointless, a virus will have to take its course but there are herbal measures I can take to make his suffering lighter and shorter. In his case I decided to attack the virus in 3 ways - bath, tea & eyewash.

Firstly there were the Chamomile and Lavender essential oil baths (also great for teething littlies). These are soothing, healing and the steam opens up the airways. I also made a tea from Elderflowers, Shizandra Berries and Chamomile (I have run out of Echinacea Root or else I would have used some of that). My bundle of misery drinks 1/2 cup of this tea throughout the day. The chamomile increases resistance to disease, as does shizandra. And elderflower is just an all time favourite in our house - it tastes great, soothes a fevered brow and is a must in every cold and flu tea. I think he will continue drinking this tea on and off for a while longer yet to help him build up a good resistance to whatever is out there. For the eyewash, to help with his conjunctivitis, I brewed a chamomile and elderflower tea - I bathe his eyes with this throughout the day. The anti inflammatory and astringent properties of these herbs have reduced the itching and redness and there is a lot less discharge from the eyes which means that our zombie baby is almost back to normal.

As you know I am pregnant, and really do not wish to catch this bug (and I have the worst immune system known to man) I too am drinking my herbal brews - nettle, elderflower and peppermint for me…..with a dash of lemon juice and a dollop of organic honey…YUM! At night I have the humidifier going with essential oils - lavender, eucalyptus and chamomile - to make breathing easier for all of us during the night. So far so good, my baby is much better and I have had no symptoms *fingers crossed*.

Stay Herbal!

Hello Herb Lovers,

Do large multinationals, who use a multitude of chemicals in their products, really think that by adding a herbal compound and marketing that fact heavily, will make people fall over themselves to buy the product because it is suddenly healthy?

Last night I was watching TV and in one of the ad breaks saw an advertisement for a new antiperspirant/deodorant by Rexona. In it a 2-dimensional paper woman while searching for clothes tears her armpits - that’s never happened to me I have to admit but according to the ad it is something women can expect to happen. As a way to fix this painful looking problem Rexona has added Calendula to one of its products. They claim that it “…. helps skin restore itself from damage caused by underarm shaving.”

Brilliant! Calendula (also known as Marigold) is a skin hero. Cream made from Calendula is infinitely versatile. Use it to treat any skin problem involving inflammation or dry skin, dry eczema, sore or split nipples from breastfeeding, and minor burns including sunburn. A compress soaked in Calendula infusion is great for slow healing wounds and varicose veins, or you can gargle it to ease mouth ulcers.

As to Rexona’s claim above…yes, Calendula would help heal shaving damage, but what about the aluminium salts making into the broken skin first?

Now what I pondered last night - and Light of my Life was unable to shed further light on - is this:

Does a small amount of a good ingredient, negate some of the bad ingredients and thus is some good better than none?

OR

Is a small amount of a good ingredient totally overrun by the bad ingredients thus making the addition of said good ingredient totally redundant?

I use natural, preferably herbal products wherever I can. Reading the labels on products has long become a habit when I shop. The terminology used, the abundance of number combinations, some really bad some not so bad for you but are you going to learn them all out by heart? I do wish more people would take the time to educate themselves in what they are putting on and in their bodies, but the manufactures and labeling laws do not make it easy for the consumer.

Personally, I found the ad last night totally laughable. The people who will respond positively to it are those that have no idea what Calendula is so why use it as a marketing tool? Maybe it just sounds good, maybe they hope that people will recognise the name from the plants they put in their flower beds…or maybe it is on a par with the “flexi bouncy technology” for a shampoo ad not too long ago and people actively want to believe something that is utter nonsense invented by a creative marketing department.

Well that’s my herbal rant for the day, have a great weekend …..

Stay Herbal!

Hello Herb Lovers,

Black Cohosh has been used for centuries to reduce menopausal symptoms and to bring on a slow labour in the late stages of pregnancy. Preparations of this herb are commonly sold in European pharmacies to relieve hot flashes.

Traditionally warnings for this herb have included cautions that it will bring on early contractions so should not be used early in pregnancy and only in very small doses later and adverse effects on blood pressure.

More recently, black cohosh has been linked to reports of liver damage. In May 2007 the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) updated its labelling rules for products containing black cohosh. Preparations containing this herb must be labelled with a cautionary advice of possible risk of liver damage.

The TGA’s expert advisory found that “…..Black cohosh is still suitable for use in complementary medicines, but recommended that the current warning statement on the medicine label be revised to better inform consumers about the risk and also to provide sufficient information to assist in the early detection of liver damage and, if detected, to seek medical attention.”

Yesterday I can across this article in The Medical Journal of Australia – “Liver failure associated with the use of black cohosh for menopausal symptoms”. By the sound of it the authors of this article are reporting on the same Australian cases of liver failure that had already been investigated by the TGA, but it does provide more information on the individual (9^th) case.

It is an interesting read…..particularly the “….Two safety reviews have found black cohosh extract to be well tolerated and adverse events to be rare when it is taken for up to 6 months. However, the seven case reports of hepatotoxicity potentially associated with black cohosh use in the past decade raise concern. Currently, there is no known biologically plausible mechanism to explain this hepatotoxicity, which is likely to be multifactorial.” I find their statement of“The most likely cause of our patient’s liver failure was her use of black cohosh,…” to be quite a leap although they do point out that she did not take the preparation according to instructions and exceeded the recommended duration of treatment by taking black cohosh for 3 years instead of the recommended 2 months.

I am no expert and I am certainly no scientist. The occurrence of liver damage in women who take black cohosh is very scary stuff. The TGA has this to say “… At the time of the review, there were 47 cases of liver reactions worldwide, including 9 Australian cases. In Australia, four patients were hospitalised, including two who required liver transplantation. Although some reports are confounded by multiple ingredients, by more than one medication or by other medical conditions, there is sufficient evidence of a causal association between Black cohosh and serious hepatitis. Considering the widespread use of black cohosh, the incidence of liver reaction appears to be very low. “

Here is my personal recommendation to all my readers who may be thinking of using black cohosh:

Black Cohosh has been used effectively for centuries – but that doesn’t mean that it may not also have some side effects. Before you take this herb, check with a professional herbalist, and if you have any liver problems (or have a family history of liver problems) I would find an alternative herb to treat my menopausal symptoms with.

Stay Herbal!

While grocery shopping at the supermarket, Spawn (teenage son) asked for some rosehip tea - good boy - and since I was out of dried rosehips at home I agreed to some teabags. I always like having a look at what the conventional shops stock and this time was pleasantly surprised by the selection available.

Sure there are the usual odd creations by Twinnings, and some long standing European favourites, but one brand I had not seen on these tea shelves before was Healtheries.

I was impressed to see herbal combinations such as Be Wise Tea - Gingko Tea with Tangy Lemon - which utilises lemongrass, gingko biloba, cinnamon and fennel to help you concentrate and think clearly.

When your mind runs overtime you may like to try Be Sleepy Tea - Passionflower & Chamomile Tea with Lemon Balm (yum) - which combines the calming powers of passion flower, chamomile, lemon balm, and lime flowers (linden) to gently soothe your mind and enables a pleasant night’s sleep.

I also picked up Be Well Tea - Echinacea Tea with Lemon & Vitamin C. This is very relevant for this time of the year (remember we are trying to PREVENT all the nasty winter bugs) as the echinacea, lemon, rosehip and added vitamin C in this tea will help boost your immune system.

There is no added sugar or artificial sweeteners involved, instead Healtherie uses Stevia which is a natural sugar alternative

Dont be afraid to try new things.

There are quite a few different herb combinations available in the “Be something Tea” range - apart from the ones I mentioned above there are: Be Clean, Be Spicy, Be Charged, Be Happy and Be Soothed.

These products are packed in New Zealand (we like that), the ingredients are blended in Germany (they know their stuff over there but we like to support things a bit more local) and the blend is made up of local and imported ingredients (is that local for us Australian consumers? for New Zealand packers or for the German blenders?).

Oh and I would like to point out that I have not been hired or paid by anyone to write this review.

Stay Herbal!

Hello Herb Lovers,

On TV recently, the month of May was announced as being the month of colds, flu and various other viral nasties. Well, if that is the case then I have decided that April is the month to use our herbal knowledge to PREVENT all those bugs taking hold in the first place.

Herbology Thymes - Protect Your Health with Herbs Edition IS OUT NOW!

This month we talk about stress and how it can sap your immune system. Herbology answers your questions of how you can use herbs to boost your immune system. As usual I love using food as my favourite delivery system, so there are yummy recipes for you under Food as Medicine as well. Let’s keep those bugs at bay!

Every month the Herbology newsletter delivers informative articles, entertaining recipes, news and event information in a way that is relevant to contemporary life. It’s free too! You can subscribe from the sidebar on the right, easy!

Stay Herbal!

Hello herb lovers,

Every now and then I read a post by another blogger I feel compelled to comment on, especially if it means that Herbology can come to the aid of someone who is in need of herbal assistance. The recipient of today’s herbal emergency is Lee from Urban Cultivation.

When I read that Lee is about to have a a healthy crop of lemon grass that he does not know what to do with I ran to my herbal library to gather as much information as I could find (in 7 minutes).

Well Lee, fret no more, help is at hand……even for a herbivore like yourself

First, medicinally lemon grass has been used as a mild antibiotic for flu, fevers and pain, colic, gas and stomach problems. It relaxes the gut, is a mild antidepressant and helps lift your spirits when your mood is sour. The essential oil is an antifungal and antibacterial agent which can be used locally on ringworm.

You can crush the leaves and stalks to release the citronella - rub onto your skin to repel mozzies and other flying bugs. lemon grass tea is great for the complexion (listen up teenagers!!) The tea makes a great iced tea in summer too.

Culinary uses are many, but since Lee specified non meat versions, I will concentrate on those for now.

Coconut and Lemon Grass Ice Cream courtesy of The Kitchen & Garden Book of Herbs by J. Houdret and J. Farrow

Serves 5-6

Ingredients

4 lemon grass stalks (10cm pieces from the bottom)

400ml coconut milk

3 egg yolks

90g caster sugar

2tsp cornflour

150ml whipping cream

rind of 1 lime finely grated

lime slices to decorate

For the lime syrup:

75g caster sugar

75ml water

1 lime thinly sliced, plus 30ml lime juice

1) Cut lemon grass stalks in half length ways, bruise with rolling pin (or something else that’s heavy)

Put them in a heavy pan, add coconut milk and bring to just below boiling point (dont walk away, it happens quickly). Remove from heat and leave to infuse for 30mins - then remove lemon grass.

2) Whisk egg yolks in a bowl with sugar and cornflour until smooth.

3) Gradually pour the coconut and lemon grass milk over the mixture and whisk well.

4) Return the mixture to the pan andheat gently, stirring until the custard starts to thicken. Do not let boil!

5) Remove the custard from heat and strain into a clean bowl. Cover with a circle of dampened greaseproof paper to prevent skin forming. Leave to cool.

6) BY HAND: Whip cream until it has thickened but still falls from the whisk. Stir into custard with the lime rind. Transfer mixture to a freezer proof container and freeze for 2 hours. Remove from freezer and scrape with a fork to breaqk all the ice crystals that have formed. (Whisk or use a food processor to make it smooth). Freeze for another 2hours then whip it all up again.

USING ICE CREAM MAKER: Stir cream & lime rind, into the cooled custard - churn.

7) Spoon the mixture into 5 or 6 dariole moulds and freeze for at least 3 hours.

LIME SYRUP:Heat water and sugar in pan until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and let boil for 5 minutes without stirring. Reduce heat- add thinly sliced lime, and lime juice - simmer gently for another 5 minutes. Leave to cool.

9) Un-mould ice cream, spoon over lime syrup and decorate with lime slices.

Thai Vegetable and Coriander Curry with Lemon Grass Jasmine Rice courtesy of The Kitchen & Garden Book of Herbs by J. Houdret and J. Farrow

hmm…….this is a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge recipe. Lee, darling, if you want it, give me a shout, but for now I’ll just give you the Lemon Grass Rice part, ok?

For the rice:

225g jasmine rice, rinsed

1 lemon grass stalk, outer leaves removed cut into 3 pieces. (it will probably be the usual 10 cm piece from the bottom)

6 cardamom pods,, bruised

1) Tip the rinsed rice into a large pan, and add the pieces of lemon grass and cardamom pods. Pour over 475ml water, bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover and allow to cook for 10-15 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is tender and slightly sticky. Season with salt, cover and leave to stand for 10 minutes.

2) Remove the spices and serve with curry. Sprinkle with coriander leaves.

There you go Lee (and everyone else), a multitude of applications. So many possibilities to put your crop to use. Definitely give the lemon grass tea a go, it’s a very delicate and pleasing taste

Stay tuned for details of my visit to a local herb nursery and an update on my gardening adventure.

Stay Herbal!

Hello Herb Lovers,

Guess what? The parcels have arrived!! You know what that means, right? Lots of herbal goodies for me to share with you.

Of course they have arrived while I am mid nervous breakdown. Tomorrow is my 40th (good grief has time really gone that fast?) then there will be a 40th birthday bash on saturday and as most of you will already have noticed the “quick and easy” upgrade of my CMS has shut the site down and I am working as hard as I can to get it all back and running. I may even go back up tonight, as long as you guys dont mind a screwy login that doesnt let you logout (then throws you out after 120minutes) it also doesnt talk to the forum login, and there are some questionable colours happening up top. We’ll see how much I can get done.

As much as the upgrade was meant to be “quick and easy” it obviously wasnt. So I thought I would give you something that is quick, easy, and works on so many levels it’s one of my absolute essentials…have it with me wherever I go. I am not the hugest fan of using essential oils because the sheer quantity of plant material necessary to obtain such a small amount of oil. I do believe that there are other ways of using the same plants with similar results. - albeit they may take a bit more work.

But, having said that, I do use some essential oils. The three permanents in my cupboard are Tea Tree, Lavender & Chamomile.

I am now going to show you the easiest remedy you have ever seen. All you need is some carrier oil - in this case I use an organic olive oil, tea tree & lavender essential oils. That’s it.

In this instance I used a roll on perfume bottle (sterilised), filed it most of the way with the organic olive oil, then added 5 drops of Tea Tree and 5 drops of Lavender Essential Oils. Now, that is quite a lot for such a small quantity of carrier oil, but Tea Tree and Lavender are two of the few essential oils that can be put directly onto the skin, so unless you are allergic to the two, you wont have a problem.

Shake it.
Pop the roll on top back on and Robert is your proverbial relative.

How easy was that?

As I said, this particular remedy I carry everywhere. Due to the antiseptic and antibacterial nature of these oils it is great for nicks and cuts, insect bites - it reduces the itching and swelling. Sunburn, mild burns in general, headaches, herpes sores, the list is practically endless. It is so versatile! and takes less than 2 minutes to make I like using the roll on because it sits happily in my handbag until needed and is a lot less messy than a bottle of oil to carry about. Or you could heat it a little and melt a tiny amount of beeswax into it, pour into a small lip balm size jar, pop in the fridge and when set you have a salve version which is also less messy.

!!! Oh, dont use too much Lavender when pregnant, it is said to be a uterine stimulant.!!!

I hope that wet your appetite for more herbal info I have to impart, but for now that will have to last you until after the weekend - afterall a girl only turns 40 once well, maybe I’ll do it a few years in a row.

Stay Herbal!

Good morning herb lovers,

The term “carbon footprint” is becoming more and more embedded into our language. We are concerned about what effect our energy consumption will have on the planet and our future.

What does this have to do with herbs?

Well I was making an ointment for a friend the other day. Her mother suffers from a very annoying and unsightly form of dermatitis and wanted to try a natural remedy.

The recipe called for a hot infused oil, which was to be made by leaving the herb material soak in oil in a warm oven for 3 to 5 hours. Have the oven running for a small bowl of oil for 3 to 5 hours?! Well I thought that was just a little too much energy consumption for my liking. So instead of the suggested heating method I had the oil on the gas stove, heated it slowly, and then turned it off. I let it sit and do its thing for about an hour before giving it a bit more heat. I did this probably 3 more times each time leaving it an hour or so in between heating.

Have any of you found that you have adjusted the way you use energy at home?

Guess anything that makes the earth last that bit longer and that way providing us with healing herbs longer as well – has got to be a good thing.

Stay Herbal!

Good morning herb lovers,

There is something I find a tad irritating. Scientists!

I realise that that is probably a bit of a strange statement, especially since the light of my life just happens to be a scientist.

You see, my beef isnt with the profession as such but their tendency to boohoo the unproven use of something, then - when they themselves find evidence that it does in fact work in the way it has been used for 100’s of years - tout it as a NEW discovery.

So why am I standing on this here soapbox? Rosemary! That’s why.

Some bright spark out there has realised that Rosemary contains a compound which may be of use in the treatment of neuro-degenerative diseases. Some of you may already know that Rosemary has been used to improve mental faculties for many hundred’s of years. Of course no one then, or until recently, knew that the active ingredient is called carnosic acid (CA), but they did know that Rosemary had very few (if any) side effects. Something this modern day scientist thinks is very good NEW news.

OK, look, I think it is excellent that science is looking into herbs for their answers, I honestly believe that everything we need already exists in nature, it just needs to be found. And that is where scientists do come in handy. If they could just get off their high horse while doing so, and work in co-operation with those people who have a lot of historical and traditional (albeit unproven) knowledge. In this case it will be great to specifically target a specific disease such as Parkinson’s. In the old day Rosemary was used to keep the mind alert, aid concentration and other mental faculties. Unknowingly, by using Rosemary in many low doses as they would have in their diets and in remedies, people had been protecting their brain cells from damage caused by free radicals. Certainly herbs used in such a fashion are more a broad spectrum treatment for overall health instead of a treatment for one singular problem, but I happen to think that that wholistic approach is a good one. What do you think?

Have a read of this Medscape article it’s actually very interesting. Active Compound in Rosemary May Be Neuroprotective by Caroline Cassels (Nov 15,2007). Registration to Medscape is free.

Stay Herbal!