Know your body

   I often hear people say : "I know my body" or "My body is telling me...." I am actually one of those people. And there is nothing wrong with that. If we could all listen to our bodies and follow their direction life will be a lot easier. Unfortunately, a lot of us have developed selective hearing when it comes to our bodies. Some don't even speak the same language. Throughout all the research, and expanding my herbal knowledge, a miracle happened. My body and I started communicating in a way that made me understand. It turns out the different parts of our bodies are like words in a sentence. Together they make perfect sense, create beauty and wisdom. Taken out of context they can be interpreted as anything our imagination can possibly think of. Have you ever tried to diagnose yourself based on one of those website symptom generators where you enter your symptoms and it tells you what you might have? Talk about bringing an extra level of stress!
  As an herbalist one of my most important lessons was to look at the body as a whole. Don't cure the symptoms, heal the whole body. It's sort of a mantra you have to remember. There is another part of this that we must remember, which is sort of the break down of the whole body approach: assimilation, utilization and elimination. I know it sounds complicated but it is actually very simple:

1.  Assimilation - what do you put in your body? The the first and most important thing is the quality of nourishment we provide for our bodies.Our bodies are part of Nature and only natural things nourish them properly. Do not get caught in the madness of it's made from ... so it is the same as.... Ask how exactly is it made ? If the process has a complicated name and you can't reproduce it in your own home don't eat it. For example to eat lettuce you need seeds, some soil, water and patience. Just pick it when it's grown , wash and eat. Can you make margarine or Splenda at home? So next time you go to the grocery store try to buy foods closest to their original state. Your body will thank you , since this is what it has been asking you for all along. Think of it like this- eating natural foods will bring your body to its natural state of health and well being.
2. Utilization - does your body absorb the nourishment that you give it? If you eat anything that comes in a package with months of shelf life, the answer is probably NO. Every toxic, unnatural thing we put in our bodies affects our ability to process our food and extract the nutrients that we need. It was quite a shock for me to learn how little it takes to disturb the balance in our bodies. I am a home made kind of girl and I love cooking for my boys. We do buy organic when we can. We eat clean meats and avoid artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup and artificial coloring like the plague. We stock our fridge with tons of veggies and fruit. So imagine my surprise when I was diagnosed with H.pylori and an overly acidic body environment. Then I sat down and took account of all the foods that we eat that I don't prepare at home. It turns out little shortcuts cost us a lot more than we think, and also, organic does not equal healthy. A lot of prepackaged organic foods are still highly processed. Take agave syrup for example, it is as processed as white sugar. You don't have to eat complete "junk" to cause damage to your body. Do not be caught in every new miracle health ingredient that gets on the news. It is often just a marketing trick.   My first step towards healing was to heal my gut. I had to take antibiotics for the H.pylori and I admit that it was something I dreaded but had to be done. In order to avoid side effects of the antibiotic I tried to introduce more probiotics in my diet - fermented foods, home made yogurt and lacto- fermented drinks. It takes a while to reverse any damage done to our bodies. Remember that a healing journey is like crossing the country in a horse carriage and not a plane. It takes a long time but the knowledge you pick up along the way is priceless.
3. Elimination - This is somewhat of a taboo topic and I personally think that is a big problem. How many times have you seen people cringe when they hear the words "bowel movement", or "discharge", or "mucus"? Elimination is the key to a healthy body. I am not going to talk about bowel movements either. I think that everyone that has taken the path of natural healing is aware of the benefits of "regular" bowel movements and proper digestion. I do support cleansing the body as part of the healing process. It is only through a good cleanse that the body can eliminate the toxins embedded in our tissues. A cleanse is like a spring cleaning for the body. And don't forget that the skin is our biggest organ and it also is a path of elimination. It takes about 30 seconds for anything you put on your skin to be absorbed in your bloodstream. A lot of people think about what they put in their bodies and often forget that what we put on our bodies is as important. There is a number of wonderful and fragrant oils you can use to heal and nourish your body from the outside. Use dry skin brushing and self massaging techniques to help your body eliminate any toxins and heal. 

Those are just the first three steps on the path to understanding our bodies. Each of us is unique and we speak an unique language. We need different nutrients, different stages of cleansing, and different stages of healing. Just remember to listen and pay attention. We are made to be healthy, it is our natural state. We are humans and we often forget that we are a part of nature as well. Turn to the Earth and she will provide you everything you need to be strong and healthy.

 

Herbs for the immune system

 This blog is an addition I wanted to make to the the previous post about our immune system. I am convinced that we don't need to spend tons of money on fancy supplements at the health food store in order to achieve the results we desire. I personally purchase my herbs in bulk from Mountain Rose Herbs. They make sure that their products are grown in a sustainable way and offer very good pricing. They also have monthly specials, so you can stock up on herbs, oils and other items if you need to.
 I have experienced great success with three wonderful herbs which I consider our immune system's best friends.  Those three herbs are Echinacea, Elderberry and Astragalus Root. They stimulate the body's immune functions in different ways and can help you prevent or overcome the common cold or flu faster.
 I've told you before that I often give my 2 year old Echinacea glycerite as a preventive measure or in the beginning stages of a cold, like runny nose, slight cough, or even when he seems restless, or when he is in his "snugly" stage before he gets a fever. Echinacea works miracles for his little body and he loves taking it, and even brings the tincture bottle to me when I forget (very cute, my little herbalist).

                       picture by http://www.divine-journeys.com/


 I use the whole Echinacea plant for my herbal preparations. Rosemary Gladstar recommends the whole plant tincture since the different parts of the plant bring different strength of the similar constituents. In her book "Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide" , she gives detailed instructions on how to make you own whole plant tincture from  plants you grow in the garden. I personally use dried herbs ( since I ,unfortunately, live in an apartment and can not grow echinacea in my back yard) and it still works great.
 Echinacea helps the immune system by increasing T-cell and macrophage activity in the body, thus increasing the first line of defense. It is best if you take Echinacea with the first signs of an illness. It will often help you prevent a cold or even the flu. Prolonged uses of the herbs are not necessary, that is to say that you don't have to take it daily as a supplement in order for it to work. It might even prove to have an opposite effect, since you don't want your immune system to be working overtime all the time. You can take larger doses with the onset of any symptoms and it is a pretty safe herb for children and the elderly.
  If, somehow, Echinacea doesn't do the trick and we get sick, my next line of defense falls on the wonderful Elderberry tree.

I love this plant because it is more of a food than a medicine. Or at least to me. My grandmother used to make elderberry flower syrup as part of her canning/ preserving for the winter. Who knew it had an amazing healing plant, we kids simply thought it was delicious and tasted like summer.
 I use the berries in my herbal preparations. I try to keep a jar of elderberry syrup on hand in the winter time. We use it for the occasional cough and in addition to echinacea when we are fighting away a cold or the flu. The syrup is easy to make and  it keeps well in the fridge.
 Elderberries help the immune system by destroying the ability of cold and flu viruses to infect cells. If viruses can not infect cells, they can not multiply in the body, hence people that take elderberry while sick report a shorter duration of symptoms. The berries are an excellent source of vitamins A, C and  B6.  They also contain calcium, iron , and tons of antioxidants that are known to improve heart health and reduce cholesterol. It's a miracle plant , I know!
 I use Echinacea and Elderberry to treat my two year old boy, but wheen it comes to me and my husband, we often need a little extra kick of something else. This comes from the wonderful Astragalus root. Known as huang qi in Traditional Chinese Medicine, it is recently gaining more and more popularity amongst Western herbalists.

Astragalus is an adaptogen herb, which means it will bring balance to your body where it needs it. Even though it does have the ability to increase the production of white blood cells, I use it in my herbal preparations for a lot of other amazing reasons. Astragalus has the ability to balance adrenal function and to reduce stress levels. It is healing to the gut and it improves metabolism. Those are all great benefits that can help the body heal. Often times stress and intestinal problems will lower our body's ability to defend itself from virus and bacterial attacks. I consider my two year old to still be in the stage of "carefree childhood" but my husband and I definitely need the extra benefits that astragalus provides, in order to battle those everyday stresses.
 I use all three plants to make my "Power Punch" tincture.  Every time i feel like I am coming down with something , I start taking a dropperfull every two hours. It works miracles!

What other plants do you use to keep your body healthy and energized?

Our immune system - do we really know what it is?

I have to admit, I had to deal with the flu and colds more times this year than I thought necessary. In my search of more natural ways to alleviate the symptoms,and help my family get over the pains and aches of being sick, I often will come across things like "immune booster", "it strengthens the immune system", "improves immune function". I started wondering, do we really know what this means? Where is that magical part of our body that can keep us healthy and how does it work? I started asking questions and doing some research. It turns out there is as many opinions out there as experts. Still, they had a few things in common , which I want to share with you and which opened my eyes to a different approach towards what "being sick" really is.

                       image by medicalcenter.osu.

 
 By definition the main purpose of the immune system is to keep any infectious microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi, out of the body or to destroy them if they manage to invade the body. It is comprised of organs called lymphoid organs, which affect growth, development , and the release of lymphocytes ( a type of white blood cells). The picture above shows the organs that roughly comprise the immune system. I really want you to look at it . Did you notice it includes the tonsils, the appendix and the bone marrow? The first two are often deemed unnecessary by modern science and the last one is often forgotten until something goes wrong. But know this, all the cells in the body are formed in the bone marrow and initially they are all the same. The way they mature turns them into the building blocks of you immune system. Some cells move to the thymus and become T-cells. Some cells stay in the bone marrow and mature to become B-cells. T and B cells are the two major groups of lymphocytes which recognize and attack infectious microorganisms. Once mature some lymphocytes stay in the lymphoid organs, while others travel continuously throughout the lymphatic vessels and the bloodstream.
 I am not going to follow every detail of how this complex system of cells work in our bodies. It is not my point. The details I gave above were to prove one thing - the immune system is a whole body experience. Which means we have to keep our bodies whole in order to protect them . Think twice when your doctor tells you that you don't need your tonsils and all those times that you got sick were because this is you week spot. The opposite is true. You were getting sick because the immune response was strong and your body was doing its job. Your skin, your tonsils, your sinuses - those are the first line of defense. We often mistake the symptoms they cause for the disease. The fever, the sinus problems, the aches and pains - it all signifies your body is fighting to make itself better.
 But wait, some of you might say, we've heard that majority of the immune system is in the gut. And you will be right to believe this. It is a whole body experience, remember? The bacteria in your gut determines what nutrients are absorbed by your body , and what toxins or allergens are kept out.There are 500 species which comprise roughly 3 pounds of bacteria in our gut. They help us digest food, regulate hormones, excrete toxins, and produce vitamins and other healing compounds that nourish the body and keep it healthy. An imbalance in the digestive system can cause an imbalance in the whole body.If you are not properly nourished and your body can not absorb the nutrients it needs, all those lymphatic organs will be flooded with toxins and not be able to do their jobs.
 According to Dr. Mark Hyman here are a few things that might cause imbalances in our gut, and respectively imbalances that affect our whole bodies and how our immune system works:

• Our low- fiber, high- sugar, processed, nutrient-poor, high calorie diet, which causes all the wrong bacteria and yeast to grow in our gut and damages the delicate ecosystem in our intestines.
• Overuse of medications that damage the gut or block normal digestive function - things like acid blockers ( Prilosec, Nexium, etc.), anti - inflammatory medication ( aspirin, Advil, and Aleve), and overuse of antibiotics, steroids, and hormones.
• Undetected gluten intolerance, celiac desease, or low grade food allergies to foods such as dairy, eggs, and corn.
• Chronic low-grade infections or gut imbalances with overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine, yeast overgrowth, parasites, or even more serious gut infection. 
• Lack of adequate digestive enzyme function, which can come from acid blocking medication use, or zinc deficiency.
• Stress, which can alter the gut nervous system, cause a leaky gut, and change the normal bacteria in the gut.

So, now that we have this basic information, a question comes to mind: how do we make all this better? And the answer is simple: you actually do not need to spend a lot of money on well advertised products that claim to " boost your immune system". The first and most important thing you need to do is cleanse and nourish the body. A lot of people are afraid of the word "cleanse" thinking that it involves starving oneself for a period of time. And some people definitely do that but it does not have to be the only way. I cleanse my body with proper food and herbs. Eat more produce and give up allergen foods such as dairy , gluten, eggs, and meats. In other words bring more easily absorbed nutrients in you diet so your body can focus on detoxing and not on digesting. With the help of herbs such as ginger, dandelion, red clover, we can enhance the process of eliminating toxins from our organs and blood. There are plenty of herbal cleanses available out there and they will all do the job since the main part of your cleansing process will be proper nutrition. Do a cleanse once or twice a year and after awhile your body will tell you when it needs it.
 The second and most important part of your immune support should be proper nutrition. This requires long term commitment and is the only path to a disease free life. Whether you choose to be a raw foodie or eat a traditional diet, it is important to always choose you ingredients well. Make sure your food is as close to its natural state as possible, choose dairy with no growth hormones in it, choose pasture fed meats and butter. All those things are getting more and more accessible due to a higher demand. Even your regular grocery store can provide a wide variety of healthy, nutrient dense foods.
 A clean healthy body will work the way it is intended. You might not even know that your immune system is working since most of the time it deals with invaders so fast that it does not trigger any symptoms to tell us that it is fighting something off.
 So next time you see an offer for an immune support "miracle pill" please keep walking towards the produce department. Food is the best preventive medicine that we have. If you let your guard down, and a few symptoms of a cold or flu decide to show up, do not be alarmed. The foundation you've build through cleansing and nourishing your body is your best support. And , of course, there are always friendly plants that will help you restore your health faster. But I will leave that for another post.
 And just remember : "Let food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food" ( Hippocrates)

What ways do you have of staying healthy and vibrant?