Natural Family Online Blog: June 2004 Newsletter

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NFO eUpdate
June 2004
Natural Family Online magazine
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com

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NFO eUpdate Newsletter Exclusive

NFO eUpdate newsletter is growing, just like Natural Family Online. Look for
an all-new article farther down in this newsletter -- an original feature
available only to newsletter subscribers!

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In the News

We get our fair share of stormy letters from formula-feeding mothers who
feel hurt and angry at confronting the facts on our pages about the dangers
and drawbacks of infant formula. There's no denying the very real risks
associated with formula - but mothers who bottle feed their babies will find
plenty of support at NFO, too.

Following the publication of Dr. Linda Folden Palmer's groundbreaking
report, The Deadly Influence of Formula in America
<http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/BF/200312-formula-report.htm> (
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/BF/200312-formula-report.htm), we
followed up with natural ways to make the healthiest use of infant formula
in Optimizing the Health of Your Formula-Fed Baby
<http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/BF/20043_formula.htm> (
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/BF/20043_formula.htm).

This month, Dr. Palmer is back with a look at how "nursing" is much, much
more than "breastfeeding" and how both breastfeeding and bottlefeeding
parents can make feedings a nurturing time that provide babies with actual
developmental benefits. Stop by and see this article at
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/BF/20046_palmer.htm.

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New Features for June

Special Feature:
Vacation time!
Don't let health issues hamstring your summer vacation. Dr. Elson Haas
offers his advice for vacationing with a peaceful mind and sound body at
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/YFH/20046_healthy-vacation.htm, while
Susy Goins helps you assemble a homeopathic first aid kit for travel at
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/YFH/20046_homeopathy-vacation.htm.

Be your own herbal expert
Renowned herbalist Susun Weed guides you through a self-study course in
safely preparing and using herbal remedies. Read Part One
(http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/YFH/20046_herbalexpert.htm), Part Two
(http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/YFH/20046_herbalexpert2.htm) and Part
Three (http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/YFH/20046_herbalexpert3.htm). Part
Four is available exclusively to you, our subscribers to NFO eUpdate,
farther down in this newsletter!

Special Feature:
Natural approaches to alcoholism
Is there such a thing as a natural approach to treating alcoholism? Cynthia
Perkins provides an overview of the holistic alternatives at
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/YFH/20046_alcoholic2.htm, while Susy
Goins lends advice on homeopathic support at
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/YFH/20046_alcoholic.htm.

Morning sickness blues
Jessica Hudson presents a truly comprehensive look at holistic and
alternative approaches to coping with morning sickness:
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/PB&F/20046_sickness.htm.

Nursing Bras 101
Select the right nursing bra with tips on fit, feature and care from Becky
Flora at http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/BF/20046_nursing-bra2.htm and
advice on styling from Joanne Davidson at
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/BF/20046_nursing-bra.htm.

We have dozens more - yes, dozens! - brand new articles this month. Visit
our home page at http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/index.htm and look for
the channel-by-channel listing.

Check out the attachment parenting and natural family books on the NFO
Bookshelf at http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/NFB/index.htm.

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When You've Got Questions ...
... we've got the answers! Read what our panel has to say about natural
family living, and send in a question of your own (sorry, personal responses
not available). http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/Q&A/index.htm

This month at NFO Q&A:

Question: I get angry with my kids all the time. Usually I end up yelling at
them, and this gets them to do what I want, but I feel terrible afterward.
Can you help me stop this? I can feel my kids are afraid of me. Mark
Brandenburg responds at http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/Q&A/20046ap.htm.

Question: My child suffers from chronic Lyme Disease and has been prescribed
several rounds of antibiotics. She still has significant joint pain,
headaches, brain fog and fatigue. I am told you can never get rid of Lyme
Disease. Are there natural remedies for Lyme? Andrea Candee responds at
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/Q&A/20046nh2.htm.

Question: I am starting to see mosquitoes when I take my daughter out for
our evening walks. I don't want to use any chemical insect sprays on her,
but I am afraid she might get West Nile Virus. What else can I do to keep
her safe? Christine Climer responds at
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/Q&A/20046nh.htm.

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NFO eUpdate Feature
Exclusive content for eUpdate subscribers only!

Part Four of Four:
Be Your Own Herbal Expert
By Susun S. Weed

Editor's note: Find parts one through three of this series in the June issue
of Natural Family Online.

Herbal medicine is the medicine of the people. It is simple, safe, effective
and free. Our ancestors used -- and our neighbors around the world still use
-- plant medicines for healing and health maintenance. It's easy, and now
you can do it, too.

In your first lessons, you learned how to "listen" to the messages of
plant's tastes, how to make effective water-based herbal remedies and how to
distinguish safe nourishing and toning herbs from the more dangerous
stimulating and sedating herbs.

In this lesson, you will learn how to how make herbal tinctures. You will
make tinctures from fresh and dried roots as well as from fresh flowers and
leaves. Then you will collect your tinctures into an herbal medicine chest
and begin to use them.

Tinctures act fast
Tinctures are alcohol-based plant medicines. Alcohol extracts and
concentrates many properties from plants, including their poisons. Alcohol
does not extract significant amounts of nutrients, so tinctures are used
when we want to stimulate, sedate or make use of a poison. (Remember that
nourishing herbs are best used in water bases, such as infusions and
vinegars.)

The concentrated nature of tinctures allows them to act quickly. It also
makes them perfect for a first-aid kit or herbal medicine chest; a little
goes a long way.

I have dozens of tinctures in my cabinet. But these are the ones I carry
with me when I travel, the ones I don't leave home without. This is my
traveling herbal medicine chest.

Echinacea tincture Motherwort tincture Skullcap tincture
Ginseng tincture Dandelion root tincture Wormwood tincture
St Joan's Wort tincture Poke root tincture (danger) Yarrow
tincture

Making dried root tinctures
I strongly prefer to make tinctures from fresh plants. But many people have
a hard time getting fresh plants. Most books therefore ignore fresh plant
tinctures and focus on making tinctures only from dried plants. The only
dried plant parts I use to make tinctures are roots and seeds. For all other
plant parts, I use fresh when making a tincture, and I actually prefer to
use fresh roots too.

To make a tincture from dried roots:

* Buy an ounce of dried Echinacea augustifolia or Panax ginseng root.
* Put the whole ounce in a pint jar.
* The dried root should fill the jar about a third full; if not, use a
smaller jar.
* Fill the jar to the top with the alcohol. Cap tightly and label.

Almost any alcohol can be used to make a tincture. My preference is 100
proof vodka. A lower proof, such as 80 proof, does not work nearly as well.
Higher proofs such as 198 proof or Everclear can damage the liver and
kidneys, so I don't use them to make medicine.

The tincture is ready in six weeks but gets stronger the longer it sits. I
like to wait about six months before using my ginseng tincture and a year
before using my echinacea tincture.

Making fresh root tinctures
Roots generally hold their properties even when dried. But two of my
favorite root tinctures must be made from fresh roots; the dried ones have
lost much of their effect.

Making a tincture with a fresh root is similar to making one with a dried
root.

* With great respect for the plant, dig up its root.
* Gently rinse mud away. (For more about digging dandelion root, see
Healing Wise.)
* Chop root into small pieces and fill a jar to the top with the
chopped root.
* Fill jar to the top with alcohol. Cap tightly. Label.
* Fresh root tinctures are ready to use in six weeks.

Making fresh leaf and flower tinctures
I use only fresh flowers and leaves in my tinctures. These delicate plant
parts lose aroma and medicinal qualities when dried.

Tinctures can be made from dried herbs, but I find them inferior in effect,
energetics, taste and somatics (how something makes you "feel").

What if the plants you need to make all the tinctures in your medicine chest
don't grow where you live or you can't find them? Try one or more of these
solutions.

* Take a vacation to a place where the plant you need does grow, and
make sure to go at the best time to gather it.
* Find an herbal pen-pal who lives in the area where the plant you
want to tincture grows. Have your pen-pal make a tincture of the fresh plant
for you. You could make a tincture of something you have lots of to give to
her, too.
* Even if the plants do grow where you live, it may take a year or
longer for you to find them, harvest them and make tinctures. While you are
"in limbo," it's fine to buy tinctures to use in your herbal medicine chest.

When you finally find the plants you want, don't be afraid to make several
quarts of tincture. Tinctures last for hundreds of years if protected from
heat and light.

St. Joan's Wort tincture: eases muscles spasms; anti-viral, pain-relieving

* Pick yellow Hypericum perforatum flowers in the summer's heat.
* Fill (don't stuff) a jar with the blossoms and leaves.
* Fill jar to the top with alcohol. Cap tightly. Label. (It will turn
bright red.)
* Your fresh St. Joan's wort tincture is ready to use in six weeks.

Motherwort tincture: eases menstrual cramps, mood swings, stress

* Pick Leonurus cardiaca flowering tops (leaves and flowers) in early
fall or late summer.
* Fill (don't stuff) a jar with coarsely chopped blossoms and leaves.
* Fill jar to the top with alcohol. Cap tightly. Label.
* Your fresh motherwort tincture is ready to use in six weeks.

Skullcap tincture: pain relief, headaches

* Pick Scutellaria lateriflora flowering tops when there are seeds as
well as flowers.
* Fill (don't stuff) a jar with the blossoms and leaves.
* Fill jar to the top with alcohol. Cap tightly. Label.
* Your fresh skullcap tincture is ready to use in six weeks.

Wormwood tincture: counters food poisoning and parasites

* Pick Artemisia absinthemum leaves in the late summer or early fall,
when mature.
* Fill (don't stuff) a jar, with the coarsely chopped leaves.
* Fill jar to the top with alcohol. Cap tightly. Label.
* Your fresh wormwood tincture is ready to use in six weeks.

Yarrow tincture: counters bacteria internally and externally, repels insects

* Pick Achillea millefolium flowering tops (white ones only) when in
bloom.
* Fill (don't stuff) a jar with the coarsely chopped herb.
* Fill jar to the top with alcohol. Cap tightly. Label.
* Your fresh yarrow tincture is ready to use in six weeks.

Double and triple tinctures
An herbalist in Austin, Texas, shared her special way of preparing a
tincture that helps her keep her cool in stressful situations. She tinctures
fresh lemon balm, gathered before it flowers, for six weeks in 100 proof
vodka. She pours that tincture over a new jar of fresh lemon balm leaves.
After that sits for six more weeks, it's a double tincture. She then pours
the double tincture over another new jarful of fresh lemon balm and lets
that sit for six weeks. After which she has a triple tincture. She uses "a
dropperful sublingually -- works absolute wonders for me when I'm stressed
out and ready to scream."

Plant poisons
You remember that there are four types of poisons in plants: alkaloids,
glycosides, essential oils and resins. The first three are fairly easy to
move from plants to a tincture.

Resins, because they "fear" water (hydrophobic), are difficult to tincture.
When I want to tincture a resin, I do use high proof alcohol. Some examples
would be: pine resin tincture, balsam bud tincture or calendula flower
tincture.

Taking tinctures
I see many people put herbal tinctures under their tongues. I prefer to
protect my oral tissues from the harsh, possibly cancer-causing effects of
the alcohol. I dilute my tinctures in a little water or juice or even herbal
infusion and drink them.

Using your tinctures
Here are a few of the ways I use the tinctures in my herbal medicine chest.
For more information on using these tincture, see my books and my web site.

Acid indigestion Five to 10 drops of Dandelion root or Wormwood tincture
every 10 minutes until relieved. I use a dose of Dandelion before meals to
prevent heartburn.

Bacterial infections (including boils, carbuncles, insect bites, snake
bites, spider bites, staph) 30 to 50 drops of Echinacea or Yarrow tincture
up to five times daily; for severe infections, add one drop of Poke tincture
to each dose.

Colds As a preventive, use Yarrow tincture, five to 10 drops daily; to treat
them, I rely on Yarrow but in larger quantity -- say a dropperful every
three to four hours at the worst of the cold and tapering off.

Cramps during menstruation Ten drops of Motherwort every 20 minutes or as
needed; also as a tonic, 10 drops daily during the week before.

Cramps in muscle Twenty-five drops St. Joan's every 25 to 30 minutes for as
long as needed.

Cramps in gut Five to 10 drops Wormwood, once.

Diarrhea Three drops of Wormwood hourly for up to four hours.

Energy lack Ten drops of Dandelion or Ginseng tincture in the morning.

Fever One drop Echinacea for every two pounds of body weight; taken every
two hours to begin, decreasing as symptoms remiss; or a dropperful of Yarrow
tincture every four hours.

Headache Twenty-five drops St Joan's plus three to five drops Skullcap every
10 to 15 minutes for up to two hours; five drops of Skullcap may prevent
some headaches.

High blood pressure Twenty-five drops of Motherwort or Ginseng tincture two
to four times a day.

Hot flashes Twenty to 30 drops Motherwort as flash begins and/or 10 to 20
drops once or twice daily.

Insect bites Prevent bites from black flies, mosquitoes and ticks with a
spray of Yarrow tincture; treat bites you do get with Yarrow tincture to
prevent infection.

Nervousness, hysteria, hyper behavior Fifteen drops Motherwort every 15 to
20 minutes.

Premenstrual distress Ten drops Motherwort twice a day for seven to 10 days
preceding menstruation, or 10 drops daily all month.

Sore throat Gargle with Yarrow tincture.

Swollen glands One drop Poke root tincture every 12 hours for two to five
days.

Viral infections (including colds and the flu) Twenty-five drops of St.
Joan's Wort tincture every two hours; add one drop of poke root tincture two
to four times a day for severe cases.

Wounds I wash with Yarrow tincture, then wet the dressing with Yarrow
tincture too.

Experiment 1
Choose one plant and make several small tinctures of it using different
types of alcohol. Taste and smell each tincture every week or so for six to
eight weeks.

Experiment 2
Buy or make different tinctures of the same plant: dried herb, fresh herb,
timed with the moon, in different menstrums, made by different people,
harvested in different places. Can you taste differences? Are the effects
different? What else do you notice?

Experiment 3
Make a double or triple tincture of motherwort, skullcap or lemon balm. See
if it relieves anxiety, hyperactivity, emotional distress, headaches. I use
a dose of five to 30 drops. Remember, skullcap can induce sleepiness.

Experiment 4
Tincture four plants that are common to your area. Learn at least three
things they can each be used for -- and if at all possible, use them.

Further study
1. What is osmosis? Why does 100 proof vodka make stronger tinctures
than 80 proof?
2. What is a menstrum? What other menstrums are used to make tinctures?
3. Of the four plant poisons, which are present in each of plants used
in the medicine chest?
4. Why don't I consider vinegars tinctures?
5. How is a glyceride different from a tincture?

Advanced work

* Make a tincture from a resinous plant.
* Make a glyceride.
* How is a standardized tincture made?

You can read parts one through three of this series at Natural Family Online
<http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com> (http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com).

(c) Susun S. Weed; for permission to reprint this article, contact Susun
<mailto:[email protected]?subject=Reprint%20Permission> .
NFO regular contributor Susun Weed has been living the simple life for more
than 30 years as an herbalist, goat keeper, homesteader and feminist. Read
more about Susun <http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/Contrib/s-weed.htm> .
The information appearing at Natural Family Online(tm) is for educational
purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for professional
medical advice. Please review the rest of our disclaimer and user agreement
<http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/Site/disclaimer.htm> .

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Celebrate summer with NFO ... naturally! Have a great June.

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