Let's Talk Herbalism

[Thought Art]

Recently I've been getting into herbalism. I think herbs are an often overlooked but highly important aspect to healthy nutrition. 

Here are some links:

 

 

I've been consumer more ginger, turmeric, cinnamon and black pepper in tea for the winter.

Now that it is Spring, I've been drinking roasted Dandelion root tea. It tastes good and makes you feel great. Super healthy for the liver.

 

Edited April 15 by Thought Art

[Salvijus]

I'm obsessed with herbalism lately. 

There's endless well of wisdom in there. I especially enjoy the energetics of it. And the esoteric side of it. Ayurveda and Chinese medicine are really good at exploring that aspect. 

For example, I was reading how one energy healer was talking about panax Ginseng (Korean Ginseng) is known in Chinese medicine to be a "cure all" medicine.  Interesting thing about it he says is if observed clairvoyantly and scanning the patients energy body after consuming Ginseng. The influence on the energetic body is such that immediately flashes of while light begin to happen tho the consumer may not feel anything. The gray depressed energy is being cleared out. The chakras become brighter, bigger, denser, the navel is filled with "synthetic ki" (whatever that means). Etc. 

Basically each herb also has an energetic influence on the subtle bodies that can't be measured with science (as of yet at least). And there're these energy freaks who have figured out such interesting intricasies and where able to make formulas, that do very specific things on the level of energy body. I just think that's really cool. 

Anyhow, herbs rule. Curcumin + peppering, Haritaki, He Shou Wu, Huang qi are kings aswell. 

Edited April 16 by Salvijus

[Thought Art]

 

[Thought Art]

@Salvijus Nice to hear, I’ll have to look into ginseng.

I wonder if he means postnatal Qi and not synthetic 

I like that you talk about Energetic Herbalism as well. I am listening to an audiobook on it:

 

Edited April 16 by Thought Art

[Thought Art]

@Salvijus Are you doing anything herbal for spring/ summer specifically?

Did a little research and decided to buy Siberian Ginseng to my daily herbs.

Edited April 16 by Thought Art

[Thought Art]

Another great spring herb I like as tea

 

Edited April 17 by Thought Art

[Thought Art]

 

 

[Salvijus]

18 hours ago, Thought Art said:

@Salvijus Are you doing anything herbal for spring/ summer specifically?

I'm not focused on the seasons. I'm focused rather on what my body needs. There's currently lots of internal heat inside me that I try to balance it out with cooling herbs. Liver stagnation is a problem for me and it's big source of excess heat for me. So I've decided to try Xiao Yao San tcm formula which deals with that and is very popular and safe liver tonic. 

Other than that, Huang qi, Ginseng, Curcumin, Haritaki, to name a few are all very highly praised for longevity and purity and health in general. So I enjoy the consumption of these just for the fun of it. Because why not. Extra health and well-being is nice. There are some much more complicated and sophisticated formulas available in tcm that are geared for overall wellbeing and good for long-term use. I'm still new in all this tho. 

Edited April 17 by Salvijus

[Michael569]

Interesting topic, thanks for raising the thread. I think with herbs the key factor is sourcing and processing. There are a lot of crappy herbal products which were planted and harvested incorrectly, sprayed with pesticides and processed in a way that a lot of the therapeutic benefits would have been lost. Different herbs also require different soil quality, environment, nutrient richness in soil, moisture, dampness etc.

Some herbalist even claim that the time of harvest during moonlight adds some health properties, I don't know if i believe that but harvesting herbs i grown myself in the middle of a night under the light of the moon sounds like an incredible experience.

I've used a variety of herbs in my practice with some clients with mixed results. I think one i consistently see results with is aswagandha. That one seems to work even as a supplement. 

A combination of lavender and chamomile works well for sleep and relaxation even when done as a simple infusion 

Oregano oil seems to work well for IBS in some people when combined properly with an elimination diet. I think fennel seeds help during those times too but I've never been able to pinpoint the effects to single things because the IBS protocol generally includes lots of things we do.

Hawthorne is an interesting one I'd like to experiment with some day but it is a tricky one because the people who could benefit from it are already on other medication that contraindicate it.

I've had single person i put on St John's Wort once during antidepressant withdrawal and it worked beautifully but we did a lot of other things but they had a consent of a psychiatrist while we did that so could have been a bias factor too

With most of the other adaptogens like Ginseng Panax, Rhodiola or Passiflora so far I'm unconvinced they are anything but expensive fibre. 

[Salvijus]

1 hour ago, Michael569 said:

I think with herbs the key factor is sourcing and processing. There are a lot of crappy herbal products which were planted and harvested incorrectly, sprayed with pesticides and processed in a way that a lot of the therapeutic benefits would have been lost. Different herbs also require different soil quality, environment, nutrient richness in soil, moisture, dampness etc.

I can relate to this. Filtering out so much crap in the market is the hardest part. Especially for someone with the untrained eye like me. And indeed it is super important to get the right quality to get the benefits. Sigh...

Edited April 17 by Salvijus

[Michael569]

@Salvijus Yeah. I found the best way is to find a herbalist company or a solo private herbalist who sell you whole products rather than supplements. If they make the tinctures and decoctions themselves and the dispense to their clients, even better. Especially if their website looks a little bit amateur-ish but they seem highly rated among the herbalist communities (worth joining some groups on FB) and they pride themselves with using organically grown herbs, seem to be doing things ethically etc. People like that are herder to find but they exist. 

Also a thing to look out for is if they seem to be excessively salesy like describing all these miraculous herbs and what they do and why you need them, that's a red flag. A good herbal company will talk a lot about sourcing, about the individual herbs, the categories, the way they are grown, harvested etc. They'll have blo articles about cultivating herbs and occasional low key articles like "making your own echinacea cream" ...that sort of stuff. 

The  moment they do a lot of adds on their website and blast you with discounts, deals , that's when you know the company is likely doing too much sales and too little sourcing. 

I'd not buy from large international supplement companies even if they specialise on herbs. That level of supply chain complexity will increase the product price significantly or they are using some shady ways to do business if they are cheap and cutting costs on the labour force or quality standards. 

Good herbs aren't cheap. You should expect to pay 40 dollars + for a high quality 150ml tincture and up to 10 dollars for a good quality herbal loose tea from organically grown herbs. 

Edited April 17 by Michael569

[Princess Arabia]

Mountain Rose Herbs is a good company.

 

 

[Thought Art]

13 hours ago, Salvijus said:

I'm not focused on the seasons. I'm focused rather on what my body needs. There's currently lots of internal heat inside me that I try to balance it out with cooling herbs. Liver stagnation is a problem for me and it's big source of excess heat for me. So I've decided to try Xiao Yao San tcm formula which deals with that and is very popular and safe liver tonic. 

Other than that, Huang qi, Ginseng, Curcumin, Haritaki, to name a few are all very highly praised for longevity and purity and health in general. So I enjoy the consumption of these just for the fun of it. Because why not. Extra health and well-being is nice. There are some much more complicated and sophisticated formulas available in tcm that are geared for overall wellbeing and good for long-term use. I'm still new in all this tho. 

For your liver I would look into Dandelion, Milk Thistle, and Stinging Nettle.

Spring is related to the liver in Chinese medicine, so now is a good time to look into it and try them. 

I defintely recommend Roasted Dandelion root tea for your liver health, and stinging nettle leaf tea.

I haven't tried milk thistle but saw it on a shelf saying it was for liver function.

Edited April 17 by Thought Art

[Thought Art]

Make sure to only take over the counter herbs and don’t self prescribe TCM.

Some herbs like basic nervines, bitters and adaptigens can be consumed without prescription but be wary of going deep into herbs without proper training and professional guidance. 

 

Make sure to consult a traditional Chinese medicine doctor or herbalist if you have specific health concerns.

Edited April 18 by Thought Art

[Thought Art]

@Princess Arabia Thanks for sharing. 

[Princess Arabia]

Just now, Thought Art said:

@Princess Arabia Thanks for sharing. 

👍

[Thought Art]

@Michael569 Good points. However, an argument could be made that if you don’t have a large income you also can still get involved with some organic teas that aren’t too expensive. I can buy organic tea here for 6 dollars. Of course, there may be herbs that are more expensive and I can get those too. 
 

It’s important to note there isn’t a perfect correlation between price and supply chain quality and this is a far more nuanced situation.

[Princess Arabia]

2 hours ago, Thought Art said:

I haven't tried milk thistle but saw it on a shelf saying it was for liver function.

I've taken this many times, even though not lately. Good stuff. It does help flush the liver. I take it in tincture form.

[Thought Art]

@Princess Arabia okay, sounds good 😊

I’ll get some in may. 

[Thought Art]

I’ve been drinking chlorophyll mixed with activated charcoal. Been feel super good lately. The stuff I drink also has mint and tastes very good. I buy a concentrate and water it down. 

I drink 2-3 times a day.

Highly recommend!
 

 

Edited April 18 by Thought Art