Herbs for the Kidneys

I received this information in an email from someone who keeps up with this blog.  In the information that they had found online was a list of herbs that will help to cleanse the kidneys.  I, having kidney stones, will be trying some of these but thought I would pass it along to anyone else who might be interested.

Herbs for Kidney Cleansing

Uva Ursi (Bearberry)

When taken orally, Uva Ursi transforms in the stomach into a compound with antimicrobial and disinfectant properties. It then passes down through the urinary system and so can also aid with urinary infections.

Parsley

Parsley detoxifies the kidney by flushing toxins out, and is beneficial in the treatment and prevention of kidney stones. Parsley contains a compound named Apoil, which has now been isolated and used in medication to treat kidney ailments and kidney stones.

To make a Parsley tea, place 2 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley into a pot with the lid on. Heat the water to almost boiling, then turn off the heat. Let it sit for fifteen minutes, then strain the parsley out and enjoy the tea.

Nettles

Nettles are effective diuretics and anti-bacterials that can help to treat and prevent kidney stones. They are available as a tea or in capsules.

Disclaimer

I am not a licensed medical practitioner and cannot give out medical advice.  Just like you wouldn't take a medication your doctor gave you without reading up on it and it's side effects; I do not take or give my children an herb or essential oil without researching it first.  Not being a doctor I cannot diagnose or dispense advice; only my opinion.

If you know of an old wives tale or something that has worked for you in dealing with kidney stones please post below in the comments section.

Chamomile

I love Chamomile tea.  I like the taste and I love the smell.  I have read many things about Chamomile being a nervine herb for kids and that it can help to settle the stomach and relieve gas.  Last week my four month was fussy; it was obvious he had a stomach ache.  I couldn't tell if it was gas or if he was constipated.  So, I made a weak Chamomile tea infusion.  I put it in a baby bottle and let him drink a little.  He did not turn it away, so I let him drink as much as he wanted (it was less than an ounce.)  An hour later he had a bowel movement.  After that he was back to his happy self!  Because I breastfeed, I could have drank it and then when he nursed he would have gotten some but I wanted it to start working a little quicker and that is why I gave it to him straight. 

Chamomile can calm the nerves of children and adults.  If you feel restless when it is time for bed, drink a cup of Chamomile tea to help settle you down.  After making the weak infusion for my baby, I had some leftover so I poured it into a glass and told my other little ones they could drink it if the wanted. 

As with anything else, I would never give herbs to anyone without first doing my research.  If you have any questions or comments please place them below and I will answer them as soon as I get a chance.

Cleansing

In my research lately I have been hearing a lot about cleansing.  I was very interested in hearing more about this and how it works.  I know it helps to rid your body of toxins and I know that you lose weight in the process.  But I wanted to know more.  Is it safe?  What are the side effects?  So I spoke with someone who has been doing an annual cleanse for years, Christy Ingram.  She has tried a lot of different kinds of cleanses and she has found one that works great.  So all of the following information is credited to her or the papers she gave me, I am just getting the information to you. 

Cleansing can eliminate waste and impurities, nourish your body, help you lose weight and inches and feed your body nutrients.  It is important to choose the right product because certain ingredients can work together to detoxify your body and to improve your health.  Cleansing can support the body's natural systems to help improve metabolism.  Theses systems include the liver, colon, kidney, lymphatic and adrenal systems.  It also burns fat efficiently and help you lose unwanted fat in a safe and natural way.

The following is what she said on her blog about the cleanse she and her husband due annually:

"Billy and I try to stay healthy (even though we love to eat).  So, yearly we do a 9 day cleanse (Health and Wellness System).  It cleanses everything…blood, lymph, colon, liver, etc.  But mostly it makes us feel so much better.  We’ve tried other ‘cleanses’ before but nothing does the job like this.  More importantly, we’ve kept off the weight we’ve lost on this because it cleans at a deeper cellular level."

Her final results were 7 lbs and 12 inches lost!  She says that she feels so much better after cleansing; that she can think more clearly. 

If you are interested in finding out more information about cleansing or the particular product they use you can email Christy Ingram directly at cleansechristy@yahoo.com

Resources: Health Journal Volume 9/Number 1 and of course Christy Ingram

A Friends Questions Answered

I had a friend email me other day asking me some questions about herbs and essential oils.  I asked her if I could share her questions and my answers here so that we can all learn something from them. 

Her first questions was, "Are there any herbs or essential oils that I can use to help my baby that is constipated?"  She went on to say that her baby only poops every two weeks and she is breastfed.  My Answer: As for using oils...with her age I would only use them externally.  Rosemary is a good one but it is an emmenagogue which means it can bring on the menstrual flow so it should never be used if you are pregnant.  Since it makes me nervous I just steer clear of it.  I would try (if you like it) drinking a few cups of Chamomile Tea everyday since you are nursing she will get the effects of that too and it is supposed to be good for overall digestion.  It is perfectly safe for babies and mama's.  In fact it is so safe that you could make it and give her a few drops of it with a dropper if you wanted.  Remember Peter Rabbit's mama?  She gave him Chamomile tea.

Her second question was, "Have you heard of any herbal remedies that help with the pain & swelling of teething?"  My Answer:

Gum-Omile oil is helpful for teething.  One word of caution: just because this 'blend' had certain essential oils in them does not mean they are safe to give a baby alone.  When blended they are done so in a laboratory where they make sure that the formula is safe.  You can find the oil at http://www.herbsforkids.com/product.asp?productid=363  Here you are buying directly from the company. 

You drinking the Chamomile Tea can help with the teething too! :)  The Omile in Gum-Omile comes from the fact that it has Chamomile in it.

Disclaimer

I am not a licensed medical practitioner and cannot give out medical advice.  Just like you wouldn't take a medication your doctor gave you without reading up on it and it's side effects; I do not take or give my children an herb or essential oil without researching it first.  Not being a doctor I cannot diagnose or dispense advice; only my opinion.

Please continue to send you questions or comments.  I might add your question to a future post but don't worry....you will remain anonymous.

Stay tuned....I have a very interesting topic I am researching and I think you will find it as interesting as I do.  Save my blog into your favorites and check it a few times a week to see if I have updated it.

A Bloody Mouth...No Problem At This House

You hear 'boys will be boys' but you don't know what that means until you have four of them.  The other day my next to youngest who is 3 years old was outside playing catch with his older brothers when the baseball bounced off the sidewalk and hit him in the mouth busting his mouth open.  He came toward the house crying with a pool of blood in his hand.  I put a wet paper towel on it but the bleeding wouldn't stop.  That's when I remembered that I had read that plantain herb can stop bleeding.  I ran to the deep freeze (that is where I keep my herbs to keep them fresher longer) and put some between two paper towels and ran hot water on them until the paper towel started to turn colors (then I knew the medicinal properties were being released)  I put it on his mouth and he immediately stopped crying and most importantly the bleeding stopped too.  He held it on there for about 5 minutes and when I tried to take it off he said it hurt when I removed it.  Not wanting him leaving the house with a paper towel stuffed with "green stuff" I had another thought.  My Green Salve has plantain and comfrey, both good for cuts, so I grabbed that and put some on his lip like I was putting on chap stick and he was fine.  He said it stopped hurting and he went back outside to play.  A friend arrived at our house 15 minutes later to go somewhere with us and when I said I was running late because my little on had busted his lip open she said she would have never known if I wouldn't have told her because the swelling and the cut had already started healing.  When my husband arrived home from work that afternoon the cut was all but healed you could not tell at all that just 3 hours earlier he had been bleeding from the mouth!  It just goes to show yet again, the power of herbs.

How To Make Your Own Salve

It might sound really hard to make your own salve but it is very easy. The part that takes the longest is infusing the herbs with oil. I use a crockpot to do this.

1. Decide what herbs you want to use. I used comfrey leaf and plantain herb. Comfrey leaf is used for mending wounds and broken bones. It is a contact healer; relieves pain and helps new flesh and bone to grow quickly. Plantain herb is a great "first aid" plant. It helps to quickly stop the bleeding of an open wound. It also relieves pain and inflammation of stings, bites and the itching from poison ivy. You can also use if for diaper rash.

2. Fill a mason jar 2/3 full of your dried herbs.

3. Fill jar with oil (I used olive oil but you can also use coconut, sweet almond, etc.) of your choice leaving an inch or more from the top of jar. Screw the lid on tight.

4. Put a towel (I used a hand towel) in the bottom of your crockpot. Put the jar in the center of the pot on the towel. Fill the crockpot with water, one inch below the top of jar.

5. Keep crockpot on low heat (you want your oil to be hot but not boiling) for 3 days. The water will evaporate so you will need to keep adding water.

6. When the infused oil is done will have taken on the color of the herbs because the herbs properties have released in the oil.

7. I used a cotton t-shirt to strain my herbs out of the oil.

8. To make the infused oil into a salve you will need beeswax. You need approximately 2 oz. of grated or pellets of beeswax for 8 oz. of infused oil.

9. On low heat, warm oil and beeswax until melted.

10. Add a drop or two of Vitamin E oil (found right at Wal-Mart) for every oz. of oil. This helps preserve your salve naturally.

11. While the salve is still hot pour into your container (a jar with a widemouth, can, etc.) It needs to be something you can get your hand in to get the salve out.

12. Let it sit over night or until the salve has hardened.

13. Put a lid on it and label what it is and the date. It will keep up to five years or more.

If it is too soft, reheat it and add a little bit more beeswax. If its to hard reheat and add a little bit more oil.

You can use this for cuts, bites, burns, rashes, etc.

Keep it out of light and extreme heat.

This is so easy. I got these instructions out of a herb magazine and tried it. I put a picture above of what mine turned out like. We have used it on everything. I put a little in a jar for my boys and they just go get it and use if when they need it. I made extra to give to family and friends too.

If you have any questions just post below and I will answer them.

Honey For Allergies?

I have heard about using local honey to treat outdoor allergies. Have any of you heard about that or tried it? A friend of mine told me about it and I have a three year old with bad allergies and I was wondering if it works. I am doing some research and I have found good and bad so I was looking for some other opinions. I will update this post when I get some more information.

Peppermint Essential Oil

I have read so many things on Peppermint Essential Oil and so I tried it about a month ago and I love it. When I have a headache I rub a few drops on my forehead, temples and the back of my neck. I use it neat (undiluted) but you can add it to a carrier oil if you find it too strong. When my husband knows I have a headache he puts the oil our air purifier and it makes the whole room smell like peppermint. Here are a few other things to use Peppermint Essential Oil for: injury inflammation, poison ivy, poison oak, aphids, animal ticks, house paint fumes, house rats, cockroaches, ants, arthritis, cold congestion, stomach issues, fever, heartburn, hiccups, indigestion, nausea, skin itching, sore feet, travel sickness, appetite reducer, bad breath, concentration, energy boost, pain reliever and to flavor food. If you would like the instructions on how to use Peppermint Essential Oil for these things please place your question as a comment below and I will answer it. As you could see this post would be really long if I gave the ways to use the oil for all of the things I listed above. If you are looking to purchase Peppermint Essential Oil you can go to Peppermint essential oil to find the place where I purchase my essential oils online or you can go to your local health store or herb shop to buy them. When buying essential oils make sure they are 100% Pure. If you just buy the scent like used in making candles and perfumes you are not getting the medicinal properties that you need. Like I said before if you have any questions please place them in the comments below; if I don't know the answer I will research and find it.

*Updated* How did you sleep last night?

Did you have a hard time falling asleep last night or did you wake up during the night and couldn't fall back to sleep? My husband has a hard time some nights going to sleep and staying asleep. I was unsure what to do to help him sleep well until I was talking to a friend about about one of my boys having "night terrors" and what to do to stop them. He would wake up in the night and would cry uncontrollably and he would not even know who we were. My friend recommended Lavender essential oil . She told me to put a few drops on his pillow every night before he went to sleep. I put it on his pillow and he has only had one "night terror" since I started it and that night was when I had forgotten to put it on. I thought that if Lavender was good for helping to induce a deep and restful sleep that maybe I should give it to my husband to try. He was very leery about if it would work; but after a few nights of trying it he loved it and has used it every night since. Lavender Oil is very reasonably priced. It averages about $10 for a half ounce bottle. That bottle will last a long time! We have been using it for months and our bottle is not even half gone. Lavender oils is good for many things including anxiety, high blood pressure, burns and many other things! You can read more about it by clicking on Lavender essential oil
If you have any questions or comments be sure to place them below!

Here is a quick update:
I was reading today that lavender essential oil is good for acne!!! Put a drop on a cotton swab and apply it to the individual blemishes as needed.

I am still learning.....

I have a lot to learn about herbs and what they can do. I have had such a wonderful time reading and trying new things! I have read a few books and have done a ton of research online. I have purchased some herbs to try things with and I am growing a few myself.

You may wonder why I chose to call this blog "Eden's Herbs"....the reason I chose this name is because I am curious about the herbs that our sister Eve might have learned to use in the Garden of Eden. She did not have "modern" medicine, a medical doctor or a Walgreen's on the corner; she must have had to make her own medicines.

As I write this I am drinking an herbal tea called the Blues Brew; it is for when you are feeling emotionally down. After I have a baby I tend to have problems with feeling depressed, I didn't want to be drugged by some doctor and have to pop a pill everyday so that "Mama could feel like herself again"; so I went to one of my friends that I knew I could trust to give me good advice. She told me about using essential oils to help with postpartum depression. After doing some online research I found a couple of bulk herb stores that sold the oils as well. Afterall essential oils are the oils that are removed from the plants(herbs) so I thought I would give them both a try. I purchased an oil and some herbs; after about a week I could tell a huge difference in myself. I had more energy and I felt like I was in a better "mood". That is when I decided to try a few other things. I won't talk about all of them now...otherwise I won't have anything to write about in my other posts! :)

I hope you enjoy reading about my journey and please feel free to place comments or question below.

If you are interested in looking around at some herbs you can check out the website to the right or go to http://www.morethanalive.com/?a_aid=c7ec173f .

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