Hi folks,
I'd like to share a few thoughts on making medicinal teas from various types of plants. These are a few simple tips to make your home remedies more effective.
We should keep in mind that when making a medicinal tea, this is not the same thing as making a beverage tea. A medicinal tea must be much stronger, and at times may taste bad (add a little honey to sweeten the taste if necessary). Use a larger portion of herbs, and give them more time to steep/ decoct. The liquid should have a strong color and taste when it is ready. Sometimes we need a little bitter medicine to help us feel better in the long run.
1) Leaves and flowers: Many herbs and plants have flowers and leaves with medicinal properties that can benefit us. When we make a tea or decoction from these parts of the plant, we must remember that there are beneficial essential oils that are lost when we boil them. For this reason it is better to use water that is 30 seconds off (below) boiling point. For a tea, take the water off of the heat and pour into your pot over the flowers and leaves, cover the lid, and let steep for 10 minutes. If you are adding leaves or flowers to a decoction, add them at the end for not more than a few minutes and keep the lid on.
2) Roots and bark: These parts of the plant should be boiled (decocted). Depending on if they are fresh or dried, you may want to decoct these medicinals anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. If they are dried herbs, a longer decoction time is appropriate. For example, when I make ginger tea from fresh ginger root, I will often boil the root for 15-20 minutes. If I am making a decoction of dried Chinese herbs, I usually cook them for 45-60 minutes.
3) Quantity- Not only should you make your herbal teas strong, you should ingest them frequently- 2-5 times a day depending on what the herbs are and what you are using them for. A single cup of weak tea is usually not enough to be effective. Have a strong cup at least 2 or 3 times a day (morning, afternoon, evening). Depending on the situation, some general guidelines are to take your herbs 5 days in a row and then take 2 days off. Or a week on, a week off. Or a month on, then 2 weeks off. These variations depend on which herbs you are taking, if it is for an acute or chronic condition, and how you respond to the specific herbs.
Consult an experienced herbal medicine practitioner before embarking on a self- prescribed herbal program.
There are many books and teachers out there that deal with plant/ food medicine. The two books that I find myself consulting the most right now are "The Way of Herbs" by Michael Tierra, and "Healing with Whole Foods" by Paul Pitchford.
stay well,
Keith Judelman, EAMP
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Seasonal eating, seasonal living: a good way to stay healthy.
The other day a mycologist friend took me out mushroom picking. In a few hours we found a bag full of boleets and chantrels and cooked them up that same day and had a fresh, delicious feast. (note- don't pick wild mushrooms unless you are an expert or your harvest has been supervised and approved by someone who knows what they are doing!).
This brings up a great point that I would like to share with you. The value of seasonal eating. As the year goes through its cycles, and the seasons rise and fall, we the living creatures of Earth also go through cycles. Our needs shift with the seasons, and it is healthy for us to be mindful of these changes and to adjust our behavior accordingly.
Generally speaking, the food that will give us the most nutritional value and the type of nutrients we need most at any given time, is what is in season locally. Nature knows how to provide for us, we just need to learn to listen.
In the summer, fruits are abundant. The vital energy is on the surface, in the fruits. Fruits generally speaking have a yin, cooling cleansing property. In the heat this is beneficial, but in winter we shouldn't eat so much fruit.
In the fall, we need to start gathering in our vitality so it can be preserved through the winter. Just like the plants that shed their leaves and retreat into the depths of their roots, so for us it is a time to move inside and to consolidate and refine ourselves. Fall is a great time to eat squash and other vegetables that are in season, and in particular root vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, beets, radishes. As the plants shift their vital energy into their roots in the fall, it is the roots that will provide the most nourishing sustenance. Of course the fall fruits such as apples and pears are great right now as well. (And I can't forget the fresh mushrooms popping up all over the nw).
Fall/ late summer is also traditionally when the big salmon runs happen in the nw, as well as hunts to prepare for the winter. For those of us who eat fish or meat, the fall and winter are times when this diet is more appropriate. We don't need to eat meat for every meal or every day, but a small portion a few times a week can be beneficial. For those of us who are vegetarian and don't eat meat or fish, nuts and legumes (ex. almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, lentils, split peas, beans etc) and whole grains can provide us with that heartier sustenance that will help us build our reserves for the cold season.
In winter, life is still, resting. We should also rest, allowing ourselves to sleep more in order to recharge ourselves so we can be full of energy when the growing seasons return. Winter is a time when nature lives off of its stores. We can benefit from the yang warming and building type of hearty sustenance- whole grains, nuts, legumes, root vegetables, fish, meat, etc. Soups are great to keep us warm, as are stews. We can benefit from our evolution today because we can find fresh vegetables in our markets that in the past were not available. A guiding principle is to eat the more yang, warming and building foods, and not too much of the yin cooling dispersing foods such as fruits.
In spring the shoots come out. The vital energy is bursting forth from the depths. We can come out of our hibernation refreshed and hungry to take on the new growing season, ready for our new growth. Following what is in season, we can eat leafy greens, sprouts etc. It is a good time to lighten up our diet and clean out the residue built up from winter. We should be more active, and get outside.
more on this as the seasons progress,
live well,
Keith
This brings up a great point that I would like to share with you. The value of seasonal eating. As the year goes through its cycles, and the seasons rise and fall, we the living creatures of Earth also go through cycles. Our needs shift with the seasons, and it is healthy for us to be mindful of these changes and to adjust our behavior accordingly.
Generally speaking, the food that will give us the most nutritional value and the type of nutrients we need most at any given time, is what is in season locally. Nature knows how to provide for us, we just need to learn to listen.
In the summer, fruits are abundant. The vital energy is on the surface, in the fruits. Fruits generally speaking have a yin, cooling cleansing property. In the heat this is beneficial, but in winter we shouldn't eat so much fruit.
In the fall, we need to start gathering in our vitality so it can be preserved through the winter. Just like the plants that shed their leaves and retreat into the depths of their roots, so for us it is a time to move inside and to consolidate and refine ourselves. Fall is a great time to eat squash and other vegetables that are in season, and in particular root vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, beets, radishes. As the plants shift their vital energy into their roots in the fall, it is the roots that will provide the most nourishing sustenance. Of course the fall fruits such as apples and pears are great right now as well. (And I can't forget the fresh mushrooms popping up all over the nw).
Fall/ late summer is also traditionally when the big salmon runs happen in the nw, as well as hunts to prepare for the winter. For those of us who eat fish or meat, the fall and winter are times when this diet is more appropriate. We don't need to eat meat for every meal or every day, but a small portion a few times a week can be beneficial. For those of us who are vegetarian and don't eat meat or fish, nuts and legumes (ex. almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, lentils, split peas, beans etc) and whole grains can provide us with that heartier sustenance that will help us build our reserves for the cold season.
In winter, life is still, resting. We should also rest, allowing ourselves to sleep more in order to recharge ourselves so we can be full of energy when the growing seasons return. Winter is a time when nature lives off of its stores. We can benefit from the yang warming and building type of hearty sustenance- whole grains, nuts, legumes, root vegetables, fish, meat, etc. Soups are great to keep us warm, as are stews. We can benefit from our evolution today because we can find fresh vegetables in our markets that in the past were not available. A guiding principle is to eat the more yang, warming and building foods, and not too much of the yin cooling dispersing foods such as fruits.
In spring the shoots come out. The vital energy is bursting forth from the depths. We can come out of our hibernation refreshed and hungry to take on the new growing season, ready for our new growth. Following what is in season, we can eat leafy greens, sprouts etc. It is a good time to lighten up our diet and clean out the residue built up from winter. We should be more active, and get outside.
more on this as the seasons progress,
live well,
Keith
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