April Discussion: Herbology

[U4ea]

****Please note, nothing in the following thread is meant to diagnose or treat anything! As always, use your best judgement AND CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR before you do anything crazy!****

 

Also please note, this isn't a place to voice your opinions about using herbs. This is a discussion of possibilities and a sharing of resources. If it's not for you, please keep that to yourself and DO NOT POST IN THIS THREAD. (I've asked nicely.)

 

That being said, I have a fascination with old fashioned remedies that dates back as long as I can remember. Most of these remedies involve herbs! So, what better month than our celebration of Spring to discuss them!?! We'll be talking about companion planting herbs over the in Companion Planting thread but here, let's chat about using them for stuff! 

 

 

 

[U4ea]

Ok, so I thought I'd start this off by chatting about some things I've learned in my lifetime, before I touched an herbal book. 

 

~For urinary issues- cranberries! It'll clean out your system beautifully. If the issue is too far gone, it won't do much for the pain, but this is a great place to start when you start noticing a problem. 

 

~For sore throat- warm up 4 ounces of apple juice. The sugars in the juice will coat your throat and soothe the pain. 

 

~For sinus pain- take a hot shower with a stick of eucalyptus hanging from the shower head. The scent will clear your sinus passages and the steam will relieve the pain of congestion.

 

~For smelly garbage disposers- Drop two lemons' worth of peels into the disposer and turn it on to chop it up. The acid in the lemon will clean the blades and smell lemon fresh!  

[michellem]

I can vouch for the cranberries. I used to get UTI on a regular basis a few years back. Went through at least a liter of cranberry juice each day (together with orange juice and lots of water; you wanna keep the kidney enviroment acidic and give your body lots of fluids to work with, the last you want when having an UTI is to get dehydrated).

 

Oats are amazing for dry skin, psoriasis and eczema (sincerely, psoriasis-patient). It's soothing and relieves itching. I make my own oat milk for foot baths (my feet are some of my worst areas). Boil oats for at least a couple of hours, blitz them with a blender, then strain (optional, if you don't mind it being a bit messy, you don't have to strain it). For foot baths, I let it cool slightly until nice and warm, but not scalding. You can also put it in the fridge for extra cooling power. Can be used on sunburnt skin, too.

[NeverTame]

My knowledge of herbs and their uses is limited to some things that taste good as tea, but I'm very interested in learning more. :D

[Ryrin]

Me too. I don't know much.

[Ryrin]

Actually I've used an Aloe Vera plant for sun burn.

[NeverTame]

Wait, yes, me too! Or not for sunburn but just... burn.

[michellem]

Aloe vera is great on all kinds of skin problems, especially burns.

[Ryrin]

I think it's good on wounds too.  I need to plant one of those.

 

 

Ginger helps with anti-nausea.

[Ryrin]

Laundry: To brighten whites, add 1/2 cup lemon juice to the rinse cycle for a normal-size load.

[U4ea]

Vinegar will get the sour smell out of your clothes if they stay wet to long! Add a cup into the washer when you wash them.

[Ryrin]

[F Horn of Valere]

I can vouch for the lemons in the disposal!

 

Also for sore throat, honey works really well. It works like apple juice, but is thicker (so stays longer), and as the only food that can't decompose, it is like covering your throughout with a sterile sticky salve.

 

If you ever have tendonitis (I have it bad in my wrist), but don't own a heat pad and washcloths lose their heat too quickly, a warm shower is really soothing as well.

[U4ea]

Frenchie!!!

[michellem]

Vinegar can be used to replace fabric softener completly actually; I never use fabric softener, but I use vinegar instead. It gets rid of all foul smells in clothes, and since we smoke inside, that's pretty important

 

For a sore throat:

 

2-3 slices of lemons

2 cloves of garlic

A piece of ginger

Some honey

 

Boil everything for about 5 minutes, then drink. Yes, it tastes horrible. But it works wonders!

[Ryrin]

Chamomile.

 

People also use German chamomile to treat irritation from chest colds, slow-healing wounds, abscesses, gum inflammation, and skin conditions such as psoriasis, eczema, chickenpox, and diaper rash. For these conditions, you use chamomile in an infusion or bath, or as a tincture, which is a concentrated extract mixed with alcohol. People use Roman chamomile as a tea to treat an upset stomach, sleeping problems, or menstrual pain.

[U4ea]

I found wormwood at Home Depot a few weeks ago!

 

Check out its uses!!

https://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/w/wormwo37.html

 

Love this site, BTW...

[Ryrin]

Garlic:  Helps fight infection, detoxifies the body, enhances immunity, lowers blood fats, assists yeast infections, helps asthma, cancer, sinusitis, circulatory problems and heart conditions.

 

 

http://are.diabetesjournals.org/content/26/12/3215.long

"The results of this study demonstrate that intake of 1, 3, or 6 g of cinnamon per day reduces serum glucose, triglyceride, LDL cholesterol, and total cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes and suggest that the inclusion of cinnamon in the diet of people with type 2 diabetes will reduce risk factors associated with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases."

[U4ea]

It is also a natural bug repellant, if you take supplements. Be ready for your sweat to smell weird, though!