Ginger, Oh Snap!

Ten years ago, I went to the doctor for something. I forgot what.

Now, I must first tell you that the regard I held for doctors then was above that of car mechanics and lawyers…but not much. I couldn't help but wonder how often they prescribed sugar pills that fool our pill poppin’ society into thinking that it’s getting a miracle cure.

Meanwhile the body heals itself, like it does every day we are “healthy”.

Now while I was there I mentioned that I was starting to come down with a cold, but just the very beginning of it. 

You know the feeling; when your nose is breathing air that is just a little too dry. Then there is that small patch in the back of your throat that you want to cough to get rid of, but coughing makes it grow and spread. And the slight headache that you can ignore today, but you know will be there stronger tomorrow along with achy muscles. 

I mentioned this to the doctor asking if I could get something to chase this away so I could continue with my busy life.

He looked at me and said I had to wait for it to get worse before they could give me any medicine.

I was so annoyed. It took a week to get fully sick, return to the doctor, get something,  and a whole month to get fully well. Meanwhile, life did not slow for me and my dribbly nose, red eyed self.

Funny how our thoughts change.

I am happy to say that in 2010 I had a similar experience at the same clinic. 

This time the PA looked at me and said “Hmm, just let it run it’s course”. And I was ecstatic. She wasn’t giving me any drugs because she knew that my body could handle it. And it did! After about two weeks. And no, the world didn't stop for me and the Kleenex box attached to my hip that time either. 

They said similar things, yet it held two completely different meanings, whether they meant it to or not. The first I interpreted as not caring and being unable to do anything until the illness was as bad as it could be.

The second I interpreted it as her knowing my body was innately intelligent enough to kick it on its own. So she didn’t interfere.

Ironic that how we say something can mean as much as what we say. 

Last summer I got sick again.

I felt the ucky feeling descend upon me. But this time instead of a doctor staring down my throat, I was lucky and my friend make me ginger tea. I trust friends waaaaay more than lawyers and car mechanics. 

(RECIPIE WARNING)

He sliced and diced the ginger root into little chunks, cooked it over a low boil for about 10-15 minutes, and served it to me while I was sitting in bed, staking out the battlegrounds between me and this virus. I think he may have put a nip of honey in it too.

The next day I felt better, totally fine actually. And very happy!

This was my first introduction to the herb of ginger. I was intrigued.

I learned that two thousand years ago the Chinese claimed that it was an herb that “warmed the stomach and dispelled chills”

“Dang!” I thought, “that’s exactly what it did for me.”

I learned that ginger tea is good for colds, coughs, sinus congestion, chills, phlemy colds (especially when a pinch of cinnamon is added to the tea)

It stimulates the circulatory system, which in turn gets nutrients, oxygen, and blood moving easier to the places it needs to go.

It can be used for queasy stomachs caused by anything from motion sickness (take that Dramamine!) to nausea from chemotherapy. I had a great friend who used it during his radiation. He said that it helped calm his stomach and keep food down.

The slacker way to make ginger tea is like what I did this winter. I got into the habit of slicing up some disks of the root, chopping them into chucks as I heat my morning tea water, dumping them in, and letting them steep on my commute to work.Then I'd fish them out, or usually just drink it with them floating in the water, like little life preservers. 

The most important thing about that healing ginger tea wasn’t the smell, although the scent of fresh ginger is tangy and full, and just generally wonderful.

It wasn’t how warm and comforting hot tea was, although it is able to encircle you in a hug of warmth just by being cupped in between your two hands.

It wasn’t that the ginger was fresh or that the water was purified or not.

To me, it was that someone else made it. The kind, simple gesture. That’s where most of my healing came from.

We poor grown-ups are supposed to be responsible, self-sufficient, and capable people, even if we don’t want to sometimes.

And because of that, it’s a bit of a relief when someone else does a kind turn in our lives by making us a nice cup of tea.

So while you go about your day.

Make an extra sandwich and give it to your spouse…or the hobo you pass on your way to work. Who knows, if you do that long enough they may just become your spouse!

Smile at a stranger, for no reason what so ever.

Smile at yourself in the mirror, wink and say “Hey Stranger!”

Pick up trash on the ground.

Or think of some other kind thing to help be a source of healing to the people and the world around you.

What would you appreciate?

So while you add the knowledge that Ginger tea can help an ailing tummy (and it tastes kinda like ginger snaps without the sugar!). Also know that the healing properties of some pill, or plant is only one part of it. The other is the intention, the caring, the community.

It is just as much how you do it, as what you do.

May you take care of yourself happily.

To have a garden

(thank you http://pinterest.com/breezyink/how-does-your-garden-grow/)

It is spring, and even the best of us get a little bit of that spring fever. We can’t help but look at the daffodils and lilys that have mysteriously sprouted, fully grown, in our grocery stores, hardware stores, and as we get closer to Mother’s day, right on the edge of busy intersections in the backs of trucks!

It’s easy to look at them, previously tended carefully by a experienced and qualified gardener and think to yourself “Pshaw! I could so do that!”

Then you buy it up, put it in your window that you think gets enough sunlight, water it ever week or so, and proceed on with your life as normal.

Now if you are anything like me, after some time passes *cough days *cough.  You look over at your plant and are startled to find it dead…as a doornail.

Reason # 23 I like herbs… they are hard to kill.

First, you must understand that I was not blessed with a green thumb. 

Ironic, since I love plants. But plants I try to grow don’t so much live with me as they remain in a state of shock and semi neglect until they can get into the ground, or the hands of someone who actually knows when watering, fertilizing, and other care should happen.

Some people would say this is common sense, I say this is high maintenance. 

I mean, come on, certain plants need acidic soil, and other plants need alkaline soil!

Some starlet wilting flowers can’t possibly survive in anything less than full sun!

Yet other dowdy wall flowers are scorched even by partial sun! 

These demands seem too much for my skills and patience.  If I don’t require that much effort to keep myself alive, I am not inclined to work that hard for a plant.

So, instead of banging my head against a brick wall trying to grow tomatoes (which I can’t) corn (which I can’t) and peppers (which I don’t like). Why not try something I can actually grow?

Something that’s hardy, and tough to kill. I am the Lilo of planting and I need my sturdy Stitch! Something that can get run over by a semi trailer and still be able to squeeze out of a rocket, shoot out of a volcano, and save me from a giant blur alien.…something like herbs!

Herbs are different from most plants. They are like the neglected red-headed stepchildren of the productive plant world. They are scrappy and survive almost anywhere, including cracks in sidewalks, front yards, and not to mention that big gangly dandelion in the middle of your neighbor’s award winning rose bushes.

Indeed, many herbs are so hardy that even mowing doesn’t stop them. I’ve identified plantain, yarrow, horsetail (who can date its lineage back to when Dinosaurs roamed the earth, and who we have to thank for our current supply of coal), as well as everyone’s favorite, dandelions, and others growing in front lawns.

These are herbs that can kick a cough or cold in the teeth before it gets a foothold in you (yarrow tea). Herbs that can get rid of that annoying itchiness from mosquito ‘kisses’ (mashed plantain leaves), and even herbs that can put important minerals back into your crooked old bones (horsetail).

This unyielding hardiness was how I decided on first trying out an herb garden. I bought a pot with three kinds on herbs. Stuck it into my Father’s backyard, and voila! I had my very own herb garden!

I learned a lot with that humble beginning. One of the biggest things was if you want to grow mint, you must keep it in a container, otherwise the roots spread until your garden is no longer an herb garden than a whole backyard of mint. I told you these guys were scrappy!

Another one of my early attractions to herbs was just how good they smelled. Even now, I can’t help but rub my hands over rosemary, thyme, lemon balm, mint, or any other aromatic plant. If I could roll around in them like my dog, or little cousin used to, I’d do that too.

So if I may humbly suggest an herb, or two (or seven) to add to your garden, or put in a pot by your kitchen window, I would humbly suggest;

To have a garden.

Chives- which I personally tried to kill over the course of about three years and was unsuccessful.

Why- To give you that onion-y taste in your foods like baked potatoes, not to mention to experience the scandal of picking a spear right off the plant and immediately crunching it between your teeth. Do it! It’s an exhilarating feeling after being brainwashed into believing all food comes from a refrigerator or a store.

The purple flowering heads of chives are also good in salads (or flower arrangements!)

Sage- if for no other reason than to run you hands through it and smell that full savory almost regal scent. Also use them fresh in cooking steaks, stews, or other dishes that you want to taste like that smell. Native Americans burned a form of sage as a spiritual purifier for self and home.

To make a tea when you feel a sore throat coming on. Or take it to fend off those menopause ups and downs.

Or better yet, explain to your wife/girlfriend/woman-in-your-life-that-is-trying-to-get-you-to-eat-rabbit-food, that Sage is a tonic and liver stimulant, and the steak (that you are eating) is just a transferring device to get it to your mouth.

Just like a french fry is a transfer device for catsup for many young children (and college students).

Lemon Balm- to uplift the spirits, sending away depression, nervous exhaustion, indigestion, nausea, and early colds. Best consumed as a tea of fresh leaves.

Who doesn’t perk up to a happy lemony smell?

Strawberries- to give you a reason to go down on your hands and knees.  Smell the rich sun warmed earth, and hunt for little red treasures, before the bunny rabbits get them. See the world from a different point of view.

Also, so we can see how tiny natural strawberries are meant to be. How packed with flavor they actually are. And maybe make you wonder what they did to the gargantuan red monsters that are for sale in grocery stores. (Pesticides, and growth chemicals- yum, yum, ugh!)

Chamomile- For the tiny little daisies that smile so sweetly. For the apple-like scent, for their calming nature that can sooth a baby's colic, a hard day, or help you drift off to sleep. For their simple, happy, unobtrusive way that they give peace and a sense of contentment.

Marigolds- to dry them, take a thick needle and string them up like giant beads. They will look like a Mexican fiesta hanging on your walls! Not to mention as a salve they help old scars to heal.

Garlic- because it might some day be what doctors prescribe instead of antibiotics. And just in case there may happen to be any vampires about! You can never be too careful!

And Yarrow- because the ancient Celts believed that this plant was so powerful the stems were used as magic wands. Because they amplify the effect of any other herb they are paired with, and as a tea they can give the common cold a run for its money...  And the crushed leaves smell great.

I hope some time this spring you get your hands dirty, smell the richness of the dirt, feel the warmth of the sun on your back, and marvel that somehow, miraculously, between sun, dirt, and rain we get lettuce, roses, apricots, pumpkins, berries, wheat, and all that we eat.

Yes, carnivores you heard me. I say this because even that meat that you are eating once ate something that came from a plant, which in turn came from that loamy dark earth currently underneath your feet as well as that bright sun that miraculously rises each morning, whether we choose to appreciate it or not.

Isn’t it amazing how we are all interconnected?

 

May you take care of yourself happily. 

-Thank you Google images for the plant pictures. 

-No red-headed stepchildren were injured in the making of this blog.

Shake your Groove Thang!

So, remember learning about the circulation system in school? recall that happy little loop with the heart on one side and the little spider web called capillaries on the other side, half blue half red.

The heart pumps the blood into the arteries, arteries carry them to the capillaries, and capillaries feed the cells with water, food, and oxygen.

Before it rushes away from the cells, it grabs the trash, like carbon dioxide, and other waste products. This, of course, turns them into veins, since they are not carrying oxygen anymore. With its new load it travels happily back to the heart to get pumped all over again!

Nice, simple, uncomplicated. Right?

Mmmm, Not quite.

It’s a tad more involved than that. But also exponentially cooler when you realize how the body works together to accomplish what it needs to do!

It’s regarding the capillaries. Those little spider web guys don’t step right onto your cell’s front porch like an old time milk man dropping off your daily dairy needs, then picking up your empties with a chipper whistle as the glasses clink happily in the bright sunshine.

I hate to break it to you, but there are no milkmen inside our bodies. Not a one.

The way the blood in the capillaries gets to the cells are by a highly complicated and convoluted method called…are you ready for this…oozing.

Yup, oozing.

Now before you start getting ideas of ten-year old boys running around in Halloween costumes flinging green jello at anyone and anything including their older sister’s hair and kitchen windows, I have another mental image for you.

A sponge.

Yup, just a plain old kitchen sponge. Pink, yellow, any color, it doesn’t matter. Imagine your cell is that sponge. It gets water, oxygen, vitamins, minerals (for repair) fats, carbohydrates, proteins (for energy) all dissolved in this liquid. But what happens when a sponge fills up with too much liquid stuff?

It oozes.

Now in a sink it’s oozing is controlled by the force of gravity down to the drain. Which is hopefully the lowest part of your sink. Otherwise you have puddles!

But where is the lowest spots in our bodies? Do we have drains for our excess water to ooze into?

         

After a thorough investigation of both of my feet, I have yet to find a drain. I didn’t find a single thing resembling a kitchen drain, a shower drain, even a storm drain on the side of the street. Nada.

So what happens to this oozed liquid?

Ladies and Gentlemen, I now present to you, Swelling! 

(wait for applause)

Ever wonder why your feet swell after a plane ride, or a long car trip? Swollen ankles after sitting at your desk for too long, or any other kind of lower body water retention can potentially be attributed to this. Of course there are other reasons for special cases, but this is the most straightforward one.

Now before you start blaming the circulatory system for slacking, understand most of the water does end up in those veins and continue to circulate like we need it to do. But some of that ooze needs a little help to get back on track (don’t we all sometimes?)

Enter the Lymphatic system!

Now this is an interesting, although often misunderstood system of the body because of its unusual nature…

It’s ductless

-Huh?

Ductless

-What??

It means it doesn’t have any veins, arteries, tubes, pipes, electrical wires, or even an air shaft ventilation system enclosing it. Nothing seperating and creating nice clean lines of separation between it and other systems.

This isn’t putting your grass clippings in a bag for pick up. It’s raking your leaves in an autumn wind to pile them on the curb.

If the wind is at your back, it’s great!

If the wind is facing you it’s gonna be hard.

The lymphatic system actually uses other systems of the body to help it do its job. In the case of swelling, it’s the muscular system.

Tighten a muscle, right now, any one. You flexed your butt, didn’t you? When you do that the muscle clamps tight and forces out any oozy fluid that was in there. Now that fluid has to go somewhere. Gravity was pushing it down. But your muscles are stronger than gravity and instead pushes it up. Up, UP!

It works it's way up and eventually back into the circulatory system, where it belongs! Here it can get oxygen from the lungs, drop off waste, carry around platelets to bandage cuts and scrapes, as well as haul around white blood cells. Those are the biggest, baddest bullies in town! They don’t just push germs and virus around. They Eat Them! That’s right, gobble them right up!

So what is one good way to prevent swelling, help out both the lymphatic and circulatory system, you ask?

Shake that Groove Thang!

Walk, run, climb stairs, bike, laugh, chew gum, climb on a playground, go rock climbing, go spelunking, jump rope, hopscotch on a sidewalk, swim, garden, play basketball, volleyball, football, street hockey, ice hockey (eh!), lacrosse, horseshoes, ping pong, wiggle your toes, do gymnastics, yoga, Pilates, kayak, stretch, carry your groceries, rearrange furniture, walk to the mailbox, race your friend, jump on a trampoline, give a massage, Get a massage, do a cartwheel, walk your dog, walk your cat, walk your husband/child/wife!

It doesn’t really matter what you call it, the more physically active you are, the more you are helping out your lymphatic system, and getting that stagnant oozed liquid back to where it needs to go.

         

Pick one of these (or two!) to do today. Write what you do on your calendar at home. You know, the one you buy every year, maybe write people’s birthdays on, then forget to look at most the time. You will be proud of yourself every time you glance at it. Which is good for you too!

I’m going to start by jumping rope, or maybe wiggling my toes…or maybe biking.

While you are at it, take some time to appreciate yourself.

Hey! Stop rolling your eyes!

I mean it, it’s often the simplest things that we take for granted, that are actually the most amazing.

Picture yourself taking a step.

Simple, right?

It should be. You’ve been doing it since you were roughly one or two.

But step inside the body and contemplate what needs to happen for that step to occur.

1.     First off you need to have the muscles, bones, and neurons, not to mention brain formed in the correct way.

2.     Those muscles need to have the potassium and magnesium close at hand in the right quantities in order to contract.

3.     The nerves need to be embedded in the right place to get the message there right.

4.     The brain needs start the electrical message.

5.     It travels lightning fast through your body of a web of perfectly formed, yet not touching neurons.

6.     Your muscles contract, in the right way throughout your foot, calves, and thigh, and other parts of your body (Try walking without moving your arms).

7.     Those muscles pull on bones.

8.     Your balance maintains you staying upright, thanks to your ears.

9.     You take a step, shift your weight, and move forward.

10. Your muscles use the nerves to communicate to your brain.

11. Brain tells your muscles via nerves to stop.

And you thought it was just a step.

Another thing to try. Tonight as you lay down to bed, and wait for sleep. Contract the muscles in your feet, then let them relax. As you do thank your feet for all the places they carried you so ably today. Think of all the walking you’ve done, to the bathroom, store, work, to your friends house, to the kitchen, etc. Did they ever complain once amid all those steps?

Then contract your calves. Relax and thank them for all they do for you.

Contract your thighs, relax and thank them. They keep you upright and hold the weight of your body with rarely a complaint.

Your hips and butt. Relax and thank.

Your lower back. Relax and thank.

Your stomach, relax and thank. And not just the muscles. Thank the bones, the organs, the blood vessels, and yes, even the lymphatic system that is in that part of your body.

Your shoulders and upper back. Relax and thank.

Your chest.

Upper arms.

Lower arms.

Hands.

Neck.

Face.

Head.

Somewhere around the torso I realize how awesome, intricate, and able my body is. For all the seemingly simple things I expect it to do. And it does! Each and every day.

Post your activity that you want to do today!

May you take care of yourself, happily.

Well, Ain't that Dandy?

Don’t judge a book by its cover.

And don’t judge a plant by what the commercials tell you.

Especially they are lawn care commercials. Those ones are evil! I watched one that had two rather typical looking weeds planning a dastardly plot of taking over some poor, innocent, suburbanite’s lawn.

Until the spray bottle came to the rescue and scared them away, ironically into the neighbor’s lawn.

           

I don’t remember the name of the stuff they were trying to sell, and it didn’t matter. What had me hopping mad was what those two ‘evil’ plants actually were.

1. Plantain, which I haven’t talked about yet, but it is nature’s version of Neosporin. It even takes away mosquito bite itchies!

2. And Dandelions!

Now I’m sure you are taking a second here and thinking to yourself,

“Yeah, maybe the plantain is good, I’ll have to try it once mid-summer hits and all warm-blooded, shorts and suncreened people become a buffet for these little vampires. 

But Dandelions?!? I thought that was the horrible plant that people spend countless hours of lost sleep painstakingly combing their lawn on their hands and knees with a pair of tweezers to remove the seeds that blew onto their lawn from the lazy oaf neighbor's bright yellow weedy lawn.”

Oh how little we really know.

• It’s rumored the taxonomical name for dandelions came from two Greek words, meaning “Disorder Remedy”

• A thousand years ago, Arabic physicians were writing about the benefits of dandelions in books. Brits still use it heavily, especially with diabetic patients.

• Every single part is edible, and there are no known cautionary drug interactions.

• And if you think you’ve never consumed dandelion before, think again!

Dandelion is a major ingredient in over half all herbal supplements and blends, including those used in weight loss, PMS, detoxification, liver health, digestive, kidney, and even skin aliments. Woah!

Want to know more?

Let’s start at the top.

Flowers

Flowers can be used in making dandelion wine, which is a digestive bitter that stimulates the digestive system. Some people may now be glancing at their wider winter waistlines and wondering, why do I need to stimulate my digestive system? Or maybe that’s just me.

By stimulate, I mean it helps your stomach produce more stomach acid, so it breaks your food down better. The better it breaks it down, the better you can absorb the good stuff you need. It also helps your liver make more bile, which gets added to your food right after it leaves the stomach and starts the absorption process in the small intestines.

Ever watch oil and water? What does the oil eventually do? If you are raising you hand and saying “Glob Together!” then you get a gold star!

After your stomach worked so hard to smash everything up into little bitty pieces, the last thing you want the fats (like oil) to do is glob together. So, the bile helps prevent them from globbing.

And no, globbing is not a scientific word, but it’s just fun to say, like splat. If you are reading this alone, say it out loud

                                                                     taste the word

                                                                                          isn’t it fun?

If you are reading this in a populated place, say this loudly, then look around, confused at who shouted “GLOBBING”

                                          He he he!

So dandelion wine helps your digestive system do its job better! Wine and health, hmm, good combo!

Leaves

The leaves are loaded with nutrients. It is said to be more nutritious than spinach! Spinach, you know that expensive stuff you buy, eat one salad, then it proceeds to slime overnight in your refrigerator.

And this stuff is right out in our backyard, Free! To those who know enough to take it.

What nutrients does one leaf contain? Well vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Zinc, Potassium, not to mention fiber, macronutrients, enzymes and … have I mentioned this is a great herb?

And to think, some people will wake up tomorrow thinking it’s just a weed.

This ‘weed’ has been used in;

-Treating anemia

-Filtering impurities from the blood

-Stimulating the liver

-Heart Problems

-Detoxification, including aliments like gallstones, jaundice, gout, and eczema

-Diabetes

-Diuretic (makes you go tinkle)

Diuretic? When I first read this, I thought “HEY! Not having to go potty is not a medical condition! In fact it’s a pretty good skill to have when on long airplane, bus, or family car ride.” Why would this be important?

So I looked into it.

The more you retain fluid, especially as you age, and age, and age the harder it is for your heart to work. Many current heart medications include a diuretic, because Doctors know that the less stagnant fluid you have (in your ankles and lower legs often) the easier time your heart has pumping that liquid around.

Some modern heart medicines are made from a garden plant called foxglove, or digitalis. It’s a very effective diuretic, but can easily become poisonous if you don’t know what you are doing.

I love learning about all the places these wonderful little plants called herbs are found!

Now when eating the leaves, young spring leaves are often eaten with salads. Pick them before they reach full size. Once they do, they are still edible, just more bitter. To combat this you can; blanch them, eat them with bread (I want to try this one), or wait until later in the summer/fall. The bitterness reduces naturally then.

Roots

Roots can be harvested in the fall, washed, dried, ground up and used as a coffee substitute. Really, I’m not kidding you. Dandelion root is a coffee substitute, much like Chickory, which I discovered last year grows near me. I’ll be harvesting them this summer!

Promotes detoxification in the body, it even helps with gallstones, jaundice, gout, and eczema.

The white sap can be used to get rid of warts

Awesome, huh? 

I can’t help but wonder, today we think of plants like dandelions as weeds and useless pests. A thousand years ago they knew it was a food and a medicine. What other wisdom did they have back then, that we misunderstand now?

Now, part of the reason I love herbs is because they have so few negative side effects naturally. Naturally. Naturally doesn’t cover the stuff we, as humans, may put on it. Like weed remover, exhaust from lawn mowers, cars, or engine powered ponies.

What I am trying to say, is that before you rush out to your backyard to grab fistfuls of leaves, flowers, and roots. Think about the chemicals the plant may been exposed to. If there is a better place, like an open field, not near an expressway, where the gathering might be purer, that more distant spot might be a better idea.

Or maybe your lazy neighbor who never mows his weedy lawn! Slip on over there, and grab a handful, or two. And next time you see in his bunny slippers and boxers heading out to the mail. Thank him, as you are munch your spring salad, and drink your coffee, or is it coffee? Mmmmm!

While it has no drug interactions, please use dandelions sparingly if you have stomach ulcers, too much acid (it makes more), diarrhea, or other painful digestive problems.

Also, wash the sticky white substance off the roots before cooking or consuming them.

Despite her best efforts to tell me it’s glue, I learned that the white sap isn’t actually what they put in the glue bottles, Namely, I proved this when she chased around the house, screaming because I tried to glue her hair to her pillow, which unfortunately was not attached to her head. Bummer.

It’s good to test things out for yourself. Then you truly know if it is what they say it is.

Thanks for reading!

Until next time, May you take care of yourself, happily!