I have had many prescriptions from my GP over the past 9 years to relieve pain & improve mobility after a fall off a building onto scaffolding that taught me a good lesson. ( Don’t be stupid & climb random objects when drunk )!

As I have never been too happy about taking prescription medication, I have looked into natural ways to control inflammation & when I cycled fro Vietnam to Cambodia last year, the doctor that accompanied us on the trip thought I was a bit mental at first when he saw me drinking bright yellow water & found that I was putting turmeric extract into most of my drinking water.

His attitude towards this really changed after a couple of days & then thought that my way of managing my body was ( although new to him ) a good way to curb inflammation.

I have also started giving some of my daily mug of turmeric tea to my greyhound, if she has had a sprain & this seems to help her too.

I found this recipe, that I have added to my daily diet from James Wongs, Grow Your Own Drugs. It is called Teh Halia & is a Malaysian recipe.

I buy my fresh ginger & turmeric roots from a local Thai supermarket & then make up a couple of weeks worth of base paste at a time. Even when wearing latex gloves when preparing the fresh root I often have yellow stained hands afterwards as I usually forget to don gloves again when washing my pestle & mortar.

Below is James Wongs recipe off his Grow Your Own Drugs website for Teh Halia ( stretched ginger tea ). The stretching part is explained in the recipe: a bit messy but fun, delicious & a massive help to those who suffer joint pain

TURMERIC ‘TEH HALIA’ FOR ARTHRITIS

3 sticks fresh turmeric or 4g dried
Thumb-sized piece fresh ginger root
Few pinches black pepper
250ml whole milk
250ml water
1 tsp black tea leaves
Palm sugar, to taste (or maple syrup or brown sugar)

1. Peel and chop the fresh turmeric, if using (being careful not to stain surfaces or hands). Peel and grate the ginger. Put into a mortar (with the dried turmeric, if using) and add a few pinches of black pepper, then pound with the pestle until you get a smooth paste.

2. Combine the paste with the milk, water and tea leaves in a pan and simmer on a low heat for 10-20 minutes, or until the liquid is reduced by half. Strain. Sweeten with palm sugar to taste, and stir.

3. Before drinking, pour the Teh between two containers, holding them the maximum width apart to aerate the tea as much as possible and produce a froth on top. Despite not having too much of a medicinal effect on the remedy, this is more than just a flamboyant whim. Aerating the mix improves its flavour by making it easier for your tongue to perceive the chemicals that give the drink its unique taste.

USE: Make the Teh up as you need it, and drink at once. Take daily to help with arthritis, aches and pains in the joints, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease and other inflammatory conditions.

STORAGE: The paste keeps for up to 1 month in the refrigerator.

QUICK-FIX TEH HALIA

112g dried turmeric
28g dried ginger
½ tsp black pepper
25g black tea leaves
140g brown granulated sugar

Stir together, then store in a dry, airtight tin. Makes 14 cups - or one a day. To make up into a Teh, place 5-6 teaspoons of the mixture in a pan with 250ml whole milk and 250ml water, then simmer over a low heat for 10-20 minutes, or until reduced by half. Strain and serve. The mixture will keep in an airtight tin for 2 weeks.

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The article below was on Yahoo news last week. It is not the first time I have come across the theory of seaweed being added to foods to aid weight loss. Apart from the fact that seaweed is a highly nutritious natural ingredient to add to your diet anyway.

As this report below has said that scientists have tested the effectiveness of 60 different natural fibres with an ” artificial gut “, I decided to try it on myself.

I sourced a supplier of dried bladderwrack & I have been adding 2 teaspoons of this + 1 teaspoon of lemon pepper to my basic bread mix.

It is thorougly delicious & all friends that have tasted it so far are in total agreement with me regarding how good it tastes.

As from today:-

I will be eating 1-2 slices of this bread every day for 1 month & sharing my results on this blog. I do not own bathroom scales, as I do not think it is healthy to weigh yourself too regularly.

I weighed in at 150 kilo, at my friends house on Sunday evening & I had been eating seaweed bread then for 4 days.

One observation that I have made so far on this, is that if you are constipated. eating seaweed bread may help to wake up the bowels. Nothing extreme you understand. But if you are an irregular person, eating a slice a day may make you function on a daily basis.

Seaweed bread ‘key to obesity’

Seaweed bread could be the answer to the obesity epidemic, scientists have said.Skip related content

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Researchers found seaweed fibre could reduce the body’s fat uptake by more than 75%.

A fibrous material in Sea Kelp called alginate was better at preventing fat absorption than most over-the-counter slimming treatments, laboratory tests showed.

Dr Iain Brownlee, who co-led the University of Newcastle team, said: “This suggests that if we can add the natural fibre to products commonly eaten daily - such as bread, biscuits and yoghurts - up to three quarters of the fat contained in that meal could simply pass through the body.

“We have already added the alginate to bread and initial taste tests have been extremely encouraging. Now the next step is to carry out clinical trials to find out how effective it is when eaten as part of a normal diet.”

The scientists used an “artificial gut” to test the effectiveness of 60 different natural fibres by measuring the extent to which they affected the digestion of fat.

They presented their findings at the American Chemical Society’s spring meeting in San Francisco, US.

Dr Brownlee said the aim was to see if the same effects modelled in the laboratory could be reproduced in living volunteers.

“Our initial findings are that alginates significantly reduce fat digestion,” he said.

The research is part of a three-year project funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

Minor kitchen burns:-

Even if you do not like the taste of it one ingredient I think you should always have in a kitchen is HONEY. After working for years in commercial kitchens, I swear by the use of honey when a minor burn occurs. The amount of burns suffered in commecial kitchens is huge. The first time I was offered a jar of honey after a burn I thought they were joking, but I tried it and have used it every time since. Applying a thin layer of honey to the skin & leaving it on for a while first takes out the heat of the burn, but it also helps to prevent blistering. You can have a special burn treatment jar of honey by adding a few drops of teatree oil to the jar to make it even more effective. I have also heard of this being used for healing a dog bite inflicted on a lady who said the healing of the bite was clean & rapid by using honey & teatree to treat it with.

Potato poultice:-

Well, if you don’t like or don’t have any honey, try this remedy. Peel a potato & grate it. Grab a handful of the grated spud, give it a gentle squeeze and place it upon the effected area. This poultice again draws out the heat from the burn, but as always with minor burn treatments, including the one above, running the effected area under cold water is the first thing to do. You can wrap some cloth over the potato poultice and gently tie it around where your skin is burnt to be able to leave it on for a longer period.

Sunburn:-

I think that using Aloe Vera for sunburn is very well known & there are lots of products available for sunburn which include this great plant as it’s main ingredient. If you do get sunburnt & you do not have any Aloe products to hand or an Aloe plant close by to pick your own skin soother than this one is much easier to find.

 A good, old fashioned, simple teabag.

A used teabag, cooled and dabbed onto the skin, helps to take the heat out of the burn & prevent blistering. This, I think, is due to the tannins in the tea but it does work & you should never be too far away from a nice cup of tea.

O.K,  So some people, infact lots of people give the likes of Christmas presents to their pets.   Sharing the Easter chocolate binge with your furry friend is not such a good idea.

This link was todays yahoo news article on a dog who got pretty sick on an Easter egg binge http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090409/tuk-easter-warning-after-dog-scoffs-12-e-45dbed5.html

Human chocolate contains Theobromine which is a bitter alkaloid from the cocao plant.

Theobromine is used medicinally as a diuretic, heart stimulant ( more effective on the human body for this than caffine ) &  as a blood vessel widener.

Theobromine levels in chocolate are low enough that humans can safely consume it. That’s assuming non rediculous amounts are eaten. Anything comsumed to ludicrous levels can be a bit dodgy. I recall a case not so long ago where a woman died from eating too many carrots. If you eat a few sackloads a day of the same thing, no matter how healthy it would be it normal dosages, it may cause some bad reactions in the body. Dogs metabolize therobromine slower than humans & can get theobromine poisioning.  This can cause excitability, digestive issues, dehydration, seizures, it can cause the heart to slow down & in the worst case of theobromine poisoning can cause death.

 Death by chocolate  …..   not for my dog!

I just looked this one up as a friend of mine asked me earlier where she could by some from & what they looked like. I said I would try and get some for her but I had some at home if they were for something she needed them for now. And as for my description, I said they looked a bit like small guineapig jobbies!

Caraway is very similar to the carrot plant & the same goes for the seeds. They look similar but caraway has a stronger taste similar to anise. Just one carraway seed can give out quite a flavour in your mouth & are most commonly used in bread ( I have my jar in the kitchen for my honey & caraway wholemeal ) but they are also used in stews and as a flavouring in liquors.

Back to what they look like, caraway seeds although they are called seeds, are actually achenes, which is actually a fruit containing a single seed.

Here is wikipedias explaination of an achene:

encyclopedia

Achenes on a dandelion, also known as dandelion clocks.

A microscopic view of a dandelion clock showing the pericarp and the achenes.

An achene is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are “monocarpellate” (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not open at maturity). Achenes contain a single seed that nearly fills the pericarp, but does not adhere to it. In many species, what we think of as the “seed” is actually an achene, a fruit containing the seed.

[edit] Examples

Typical achenes are the fruits of buttercup, buckwheat, and dandelion. It is sometimes spelled “akene”, and occasionally called “achenium” or “achenocarp.”

The most familiar achenes are those of the strawberry, where the “seeds” are the achenes (technically the ‘botanical’ fruits), while what is eaten as the (’culinary’) fruit is a so-called accessory fruit.

Fruits of sedges are sometimes considered achenes because they have a one-locule compound ovary. By the same definition, the common fruit type in the Family Asteraceae is also usually considered achene (some term the asteraceous achene cypsela, however). A sunflower “seed” in the husk is not really a seed, but an achene. The white-gray husks are the walls of the fruit.

Medicinal uses for caraway:

Caraway seed oil  can be used as a treatment for colic. It can also be used to help with digestion.

I first tried dandelion coffee a couple of years ago as I was wanting to detox from caffine for a while. My friend had some dandelion coffee which she offered me to try. I rushed to the health food shop the next day to get myself some as I liked it so much. With regular coffee I take milk, but when I drink dandelion coffee I much prefer it black. It has a deep, earthy taste which to me has a hint of liquorice to the taste. The bitterness of the dandelion stimulates the liver, bile flow and digestion.

I have not yet tried to make my own, but I do intend to dig up the roots of dandelions sometime when I see a large area covered in dandelions and to dry them out & roast them and make some of my own. Yet annother thing to add to my things to do list to expand upon my homemade kitchen larder.

Fenugreek is both a herb and a spice. The seeds are used as a spice and the leaves used as a herb.

Fenugreek seeds exert hypoglycemic effects which can benifit dibetes by increasing insulin secretion from the pancreatic cells.

Go to this link to read more on pancreatic diabetes http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/12/10/715

History of treating diabetes with fenugreek:

Fenugreek was an ingredient in Lydia Pinkham’s vegetable compound, which was a marketed as a cure for “female problems”.

Fenugreek is still used for treating many conditions but the best documented are the positive effects on diabetes, although it has been used in this way for centuries as it has been used more recently in controlled studies showing hypoglycemic effects on animals.

Fenugreek has been noted to be more effective on treating diabetes than metformin, which is the most popular anti diabetic drug un the USA.

Cautions:

Although I would usually opt for, and suggest a natural foodstuff , opposed to prescription drugs there does seem to be cause for some caution with this one. I am not suggesting that it may be a good idea for anyone with diabetes to try adding lots of fenugreek into their diet. Especially not recommended for pregnant women due to it’s oxytocic effect which can cause premature births by inducing labour.

Fenugreek is also an anticoagulant so don’t use this spice for medical reasons if you are on any blood thinning medications.

Below is copied from Wikipedia’s

Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound

Of the five herbs in Lydia Pinkham’s original formula:

• Pleurisy root is diaphoretic, anti-spasmodic, carminative, and anti-inflammatory.
• Life root is a traditional uterine tonic, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, and emmenagogue used for amenorrhea or dysmenorrhea.
• Fenugreek is vulnerary, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, tonic, emmenagogue, galactogogue, and hypotensive.^[12]
• Unicorn Root was used by several Native American tribes for dysmenorrhea, uterine prolapse, pelvic congestion and to improve ovarian function.^[13]
• Black cohosh is an emmenagogue, anti-spasmodic, alterative, nervine, and hypotensive and is used traditionally for menopausal symptoms.^[14]

Of the newer additions, motherwort is a nervine, emmenagogue, anti-spasmodic, hepatic, cardiac tonic, and hypotensive. Piscidia erythrina (Jamaican dogwood) is an eclectic remedy that has been found effective for painful spasms, pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea and ovarian pain.^[15] Licorice is anti-inflammatory, anti-hepatotoxic, anti-spasmodic and a mild laxative. Gentian is a bitter, sialagogue, hepatic, cholagogue, anthelmintic, and emmenagogue. Dandelion is a potassium-sparing diuretic, hepatic, cholagogue, anti-rheumatic, laxative, tonic, and a bitter.^[16]

From a box of her medicine

Lydia Pinkham Memorial Clinic in Salem, MA

(It is often suggested by the alternative medicine community that black cohosh (and a purified version, Remifemin) really do provide relief from symptoms of menopause. A report by the Natural Standard, which performs evidence-based reviews of alternative therapeutics, says:

Black cohosh is a popular alternative to prescription hormonal therapy for treatment of menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, mood problems, perspiration, heart palpitations, and vaginal dryness. Initial human research suggests that black cohosh may improve some of these symptoms for up to six months. However, most studies are not well designed and results are not conclusive.

The report gives the evidence a “B” rating, “good scientific evidence for this use.”

In a day when the mainstream treatment of these conditions was sometimes surgical removal of ovaries—with a mortality rate of 40%—it can be argued that at the very least Pinkham’s remedy followed the sound medical principle of “first, do no harm.”

Back to my thoughts:

I can well believe that fenugreek could play a part in rectifiying some ” womens troubles “.  when I first started making my fenugreek coleslaw, which some friends have said ” is the best coleslaw they have ever eaten” I can rememver commenting more than once that more hormones seemed to be effected, but it was in an enjoyable way.

My fenugreek coleslaw recipe:

I am sure you can by ready sprouted fenugreek from some health food shops, but I buy the seeds and sprout them at home. Sprouters are fab and one in your kitchen can produce salad all year round.

So, for the coleslaw, in a large bowl toss in a couple of handfulls of fenugreek sprouts, add 1 large red onion very finely sliced, grated carrot and some mayonaise ( hopefuly  made from free range egg’s ).Then just season and toss.

Delicious on a baked tattie or on oatcakes as a snack.

If pregnant and overdue you may wish to have a large bowlfull.

On googling stinging nettles, I found it a bit of a shame to see that there were as many sites on how to get rid of stinging nettles as there was on their many uses.  But one thing  came up on google that was amusing news to me was the world nettle eating championships, here is the link to BBC story  http://www.bbc.co.uk/dorset/content/articles/2005/06/17/nettle_eating_feature.shtml

Medicinal uses:

For centuries nettles have been used in medicinal use in the forms of a tincture, ointment, compress, tea or powdered form.

They are packed with vitamin C and also contain vitamins A, B1, B2, vitamin E and Vitamin K as well as containing Iron and calcium and magnesium.

Gout:

Gout is caused due to a build up of uric acid in the blood which leads to join inflammation. Taking nettles can help to flush out excess uric acid from the blood.

Bronchitis and pleurisy:

As nettles have anti-viral  and expectorant properties and are said to be good to clear the chest of mucus.

Asthma:

The antihistamine properties make nettles good for those suffering with asthma.

Colds and flu:

Nettles can help to fight off signs of colds and flu, due to the anti viral properties and the levels of vitamin C.

Depression:

Vitamin B levels in nettles can help to elevate mood.

Hayfever.

The anthisthamine in the nettles will help to give a resistance to hay fever symptoms.

Uses in the garden:

Nettle leaves are used by ladybirds to rear their larve on so giving your garden help against aphids from your fruit and vegetable crops. Other uses are as a fungicide and insecticide.

There is a great book, 101 uses for stinging nettles by Piers Warren. For more detail of the many wonderful uses of this fantastic plant

click on this link to view the cover , or to buy the book http://www.wildeye.co.uk/stinging-nettles/

I was given this book for Christmas a couple of years ago, and it still surprises me when I look at the book to see just  how many ways nettles can be good for our gardens and our bodies.

Spring treat:

One of my favorite spring activities is the first time in a year when I go into some woodland to find the early, small, young nettles. I now keep a pair of thick rubber gloves and a carrier bag in the glove compartment of my car ready for nettle picking. With most things that I pick I do not bother donning gloves,  as I do not mind a little staining from berries etc, but nettles are a different matter completely when it comes to the consequences of picking to make a big batch of my nettle soup.

My nettle soup recipe:

Gently fry a couple of large onions and a couple of handfulls of green lentils in a little butter and oil. This is best done in the biggest pan you can find in the kitchen.

Add a couple of large potatoes ( diced ) and fry for a couple of minutes.

Vegatable stock then needs to be added and when the potatos have softened add your nettles.

This is why I suggested using the biggest pan as they will overflow if the pan is not gigantic, but they very quickly wilt so push the pile of nettle into the liquid quickly.

The amount you will need is about 1 carrier bag full. These need of course to be washed well, and can be done by tipping out the bag into cold water and with gloved hands, moving the water around to rinse. Repeat this and drain the water and any little bugs that are left will be killed in the cooking process, adding a bit of extra protein!

The nettles cook quickly so there is no need to simmer for very long.

Season with a good amount of grated nutmeg, salt and pepper and blitz using a hand blender.

The finnished soup will be thick in consistency and be a lush green in colour & is  good served with a little swirl of double cream. Nettle soup is an especially  comforting luch when served with a good wholemeal bread, cheese sandwich to dunk into the funky green, vitamin packed soup.

I did this post a couple of days ago then last night realized I must have accidentally deleted it. ( arse ! )

I thought of Turmeric the other day as I had some inflamation in my back & hip and remembered how I used to put Turmeric in my tea when flair ups of imflamation occured. A teaspoon of turmeric into a cup of Chai tea twice a day was more effective and and better way of reducing discomfort than the taking of any anti inflamotory drugs prescribed for me by my GP. I am collecting some extract of turmeric from Napiers dispensary later today to try. The food extract has a 1:1 plant to liquid ratio so a couple of drops in water should work on the inflammation. I will report later in this post how it was.

Turmeric is a source of curcurmin ( turmeric extract, it has which has an earthy, bitter, peppery flavor and has a mustardy smell ) which is known to reduce inflammation amongst mant other health benefits including reversing the effects of Alzhemers, fighting osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and cancer.

Tumeric extract is also anti fungal, antiviral and anti bacterial.

The anti cancer agents in curcumin make it a hugely powerful chemopreventative.

So much to read up on & write about ,yet so little time this week, so this post will be expanded upon later.

On the Yahoo home page today was an article about juices such as grapefruit, apple and orange.

It does state in this article that for the last 20 years it has been known that grapefruit juice can increase the potency of some drugs, leading to risk of overdose. The reason for this being that grapefruit juice can override the intestinal enzyme that inhibits absorption.

This enzyme belongs to a family of enzymes called the cytochrome P-450 system. A particular enzyme in this familly CYP 3A4 can increase the potency of a drug by letting more of the drug become absorbed into the bloodstream. Whereas naringin, ( which gives grapefruit it’s bitter taste ) appears to block the way the body moves the drug from the small intestine into the blood stream.

I Know plenty of people who generally only buy fruit juice if they are already feeling unwell, rushing out to get a carton of orange juice, pineapple, apple e.t.c

These can make your stomach feel a bit acidic if drunk in large quantities especially if your body is not used to it. I can accross a fab juice drink recently that I buy from Lidl. It is an organic fruit juice manufactured by a company called Fresh Meadow.  A 500ml carton cost 59p and the ingredients list is great:

Tomato juice 56%, carrot juice 28%, beetroot juice 8%, celery juice 3%, saurkraut juice 3%, sea salt, leek, cress, parsley juice, lemon juice

At 94kcal per carton this is a great little carton of good for you juice!

How many times ( ladies ) have you gone to the doctors for anti-biotics and been told that ” if you are on the pill you will need to use an altenative form of contraception as anti-biotics can stop the effectiveness of taking the pill”. I have been told this on far fewer occasions than I have recieved a prescription for anti-biotics.  Also do the doctors tell that if you take medication to cure thrush it may well lead to cystisis.

I am lucky never to have suffered the discomfort of cystisis as I am am sure it is bloody uncomfortable but I know that thrush ( again lucky here, have rarely been bothered by it ) can be cured quickly & very effectively by natural yoghurt.

With the world wide web at our fingertips we can generally find natural alternatives to many common ailments.

I am, and have been for several years been against taking antibiotics, yes they were an increadible finding but massive overuse has rendered them at times useless and at the least lowered their effectiveness as humans in the western world have been building up a natural resistance to them after using anti-biotics for so many years. Now at the onset of a cold, sore throat or flu like symptoms I eat as much raw garlic as I can and generally by the time I wake the next day any nasty symptoms have subsided.  As garlic is such a strong natural anti-biotic I do have garlic prepared in my fridge for such occasions. Once a year I will buy several garlic bulbs and spend a while skinning all the cloves and then putting them into olive oil, this can be flavoured with what ever you like, just add any favorite herbs or use a flavoured oil.  After about 2 -3 weeks in the frige the garlic is less hard and it sweetens  making it a lot more palateable. If onset of a nasty cold seems imminant I will usually consume 6 - 10 garlic cloves sipping a warm drink containing honey & fresh ginger inbetween. I have not had ” a bad lingering cold for years “.

So now back to the point of fruit juices & presciption drugs:

On the Yahoo article today it mentioned a case where volunteers took anti- histamine with a glass of grapefruit juice. Now the majority of meds that I am aware of, if not all recomend that the medication is taken with a glass of water, thefore allowing the meds to get into the bloodstream.

I think the important things to remember if taking medication is to read the label, take as directed, and avoid taking prescription medication unnessesarily.  Look for herbal or alternative options & use them if possible and if you have a good balanced diet containing enough fresh fruit and vegetables daily, you are likely to be able to steer clear of problems with your heart, ( if you don’t smoke of course ) high cholesterol, diabetes, cancer e.t.c