Platycodon grandiflorus Through the Eyes of the Authors of the De Pei Bencao (得配本草) Introduction In today’s blog I will explore Platycodon grandiflorus L., known in the nursery trade as balloon flower and in Chinese medicine as jiegeng (桔梗). This plant was part of some of the earliest collections going from Asia to European gardens.…
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Introduction Putting aside theory for a moment, the backbone of Chinese medicine is herbs – which are primarily produced in China. Most herbs came from the wild until the middle of the 20th century when, after recognizing the growing scarcity of wild resources, a government sponsored movement to domesticate herbs was started. Some herbs, such…
DetailsMotherwort For my first blog as the new owner and executive director of the East West Herb School, which is now part of our family-owned business, Herb Whisperer, that we (my wife and I) started more than 10 years ago I wanted to bring into focus a plant, one of many, that is near and…
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Krista Edwards is a Clinical Herbalist based in Southwest Missouri, but practicing all over the country via Zoom or phone. She owns and operates Sunny Day Herbs specializing in custom formulas, tinctures, auricular therapy, detox footbaths, and cupping. Contact info- 417-619-6135 Sunnydayfarm@hotmail.com www.sunnydayherbs.net
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I’ve always been a little bit of a dabbler in plants – making skin and body care items as a teen, tending a small garden of culinary herbs, drinking simple herbal teas to for mild health complaints, and using natural remedies to treat the various ouchies, owwies, and illnesses my children would pick up. Then…
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I live in Bend, Oregon on a small farm with my family. Since 2016, I have had a practice of Energy Medicine and Holistic Nutrition. I grew up in the Cascade Mountain range in Washington state near Mount Rainier. I spent many hours in the outdoors and I fell in love with the beautiful plants…
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In a previous blog, I described ragweed as one of the most notorious herbs known for causing severe allergies and, at the same time, taken internally to relieve allergy symptoms. I have since discovered that ragweed can be one of the most effective treatments for coughs caused by post nasal drip. Especially, the coughs that…
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Well, I’m finally doing what I love; plants, nature, herbs, healing and learning. I’ve been involved in East West for a couple years. My original goal was to heal myself of a debilitating autoimmune disease that kept perplexing medical doctors. While they remained perplexed, I became more sick. My journey started with a wonderful…
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Like many other herbalists, I like to drink herbal tea with or after my meals. However, it’s not always easy to find. Generally most restaurants offer chamomile and/or mint teas, but few other choices. So you can imagine how happy I was to discover that in South Africa I found rooibos tea everywhere plus available…
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I came from a big family of many siblings, and was born in Lithuania Klaipeda (former Prussia`s Memel, by the shore of the Baltic Sea) while it was part of the Soviet Union. When Soviet Union collapsed, every one in my family took advantage of traveling opportunities and as a result, was spread in the…
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My name is Kareem Charlton, and I am from the sunny shores of The Bahamas. I worked many years as a certified lifeguard instructor, helping hundreds of persons from all walks of life and various countries. I always had a love for helping people, plants and nature. As a young boy I witnessed my grandmother…
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The winter holiday season is fast approaching with all foods we all look forward each year. As an herbalist, I like to create new delectables that are not only delicious but super healthy as well. Recently a neighbor dropped by a half pound of fresh organic cranberries along with a sample of his homemade cranberry…
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I love discussing my favorite herbs as they tend to have many diverse, not to mention effective, uses. The topic of this article, reishi, or ling zhi, definitely has those traits but it also has quite interesting lore. For thousands of years, reishi was considered to be worth its weight in gold because it was…
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I was born in Lithuania while it was part of the Soviet Union. We were a self sustaining family, living and surviving on the labor of our farm. My father’s work as a forester connected me with nature and I developed a great respect of earth’s bounties. Growing up, we used many of nature’s plants…
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Since a young child I’ve been a traveler, and one of my favorite places to visit are gardens. There are many incredible gardens that people flock to from around the world including the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, near London in the United Kingdom; Buchart Gardens in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada, located near Victoria on…
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The African continent is a treasure trove of medicinal herbs. Recently Lesley and I visited South Africa first as tourists, to experience the vast Kruger National Game Reserve where we had an opportunity to go on several safaris to see the abundance of wild animals including “the big five”: lions, elephants, rhinoceroses, leopards, and the…
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I always loved plants, as a little girl I craved to taste the sweetness of honeysuckle and play along with the soft sleeping grass. I first began my pathway to herbalism by working at Hawaiian Moons Natural Foods, assisting customers in the supplements department. This was my first exposure to herbal medicine and I was…
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Guest blog by Anne de Courtenay It finally happened. After 45 years of being spared, they got me. It was Tuesday, midday. I had just emerged from a Target in downtown Evanston where I’d stopped to pick up some very important foodstuffs: taco shells and Junior Mints. I was in my head, which is where…
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The root of he shou wu (Polygonum multiflorum), also known as “fleece flower,” has been popularly in use for centuries as a rejuvenative longevity tonic as well as for lowering cholesterol, swollen glands, abscesses, non-healing sores, ulcerations, malaria, and constipation. In recent months, however, there have been a number of reports, mostly coming out of…
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The shift from summer to fall is perhaps the most difficult adjustment for most folks healthwise; colds, flu and viruses start to arise now. Loquat leaf is a fabulous fall herb since it’s great for all sorts of coughs that are common at this time of year. It is especially effective when there is abundant…
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It wasn’t part of my plan to find myself with the plants. Early in my twenties, after a rapid succession of trying times including an intense era of schooling and the unexpected death of my father, my health began to unspool into a collection of unsolved puzzles. As the days got more difficult, I left…
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“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” — Thich Nhat Hanh “Take a breather,” or “Slow down and take a deep breath” are common things we say when someone is in an acute state of anger, fear, frustration, or anxiety. In fact, there is solid physiological science…
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When I was recently (and accidentally) bitten by a cat, I immediately reached for my echinacea tincture. Does that choice surprise you? The advent of popularizing herbs means commercialization emphasizes only one major use for simplicity’s sake. Echinacea has become known as a cold and flu herb, so much so that over time, its many…
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Plants and nature bring me great joy. Sometimes along the way all this delightful stuff I’ve learned helps brighten others’ days too, and to me that is worth all the while. Herbalism was not a word or concept to me until my 20’s. The conceptualization that the wilderness around me was intelligent, symbiotic, full of ever-giving…
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Many of you may already know about the traditional dandelion and chicory “coffee” combination, but are you aware of rosemary “coffee”? While dandelion and chicory clear the liver instead of congesting it and draining the adrenals, as coffee does, rosemary courses energy through the liver, giving very similar effects as coffee without its negative…
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Loquat leaf (Eriobotrya japonica et spp.), is named pi pa ye in the traditional Chinese materia medica. The name of the loquat fruit, pi pa, references its resemblance to a miniature Chinese lute by the same name. The Latin Eriobotrya is less poetic and means “bunches” referring to the fruits growing in clusters. Even less…
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My name is Gabriel and I am from Andalucia, Spain. Since I was a little child I felt a deep love for nature that took me to study Biology in the University. After completing my studies, I felt the urge to know life in a deeper way than science could give me. I became interested…
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Guest blog by Anne de Courtenay I have a confession to make: One of my favorite movies is “Godspell.” Not the play, but the film from 1973, starring Victor Garber, who was once described by a friend of mine as “Never being really bad or really good in anything he’s been in.” Well, I thought…
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There really is such a thing as “plant blindness,” and this is a product of so many of us humans becoming increasingly disconnected from our planet and most especially its inhabitants who do not operate a smartphone. This is a story about a plant that bucks that trend. Guest blog by Anne de Courtenay …
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There are so many reasons that otherwise great botanicals are overlooked for their therapeutic uses. One example is echinacea, arguably one of the most popular medicinal herbs in the Western world. As a treatment for bacterial infections, arthritis, neuralgia, and rattlesnake bites, echinacea arrived on the market as Meyers Blood Purifier around 1890 and was…
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“When I lie flat on the ground with my heart against Mother Earth, I can feel her breathe.” As a young child growing up in rural North Dakota, I began noticing the beautiful wildflowers and prairie grasses, I was drawn to the Earth and what it has to give us. I loved being in the…
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Magnolia bark (Magnolia officinalis, hou po) is a bit of a magical herb because it not only comes from a beautiful tree but it also does so many seemingly impossible things, such as both dispelling Phlegm and regulating energy. Now what do I mean by that — “dispelling phlegm and regulating energy”? Before I…
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I have always felt an immense love for the plant kingdom. In 1988 I moved to Hawaii and took a job at a plant nursery. In 1990 I moved to India to live with my spiritual teacher. At that time, I was introduced to Ayurveda and had an immediate affinity and appreciation. During that year,…
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I know spring is here to stay when our honeysuckle blooms. I remember in my early childhood plucking the flowers and sucking out their yummy nectar. Little did I know then that this lovely flower has many medicinal uses, too. First of all, honeysuckle is effective for colds, flu, and viruses with fever, headaches, and…
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The secret to successfully treating the common cold and cough is to differentiate the type based on Traditional Chinese diagnostics (TCM) principles. Chinese medicine differentiates between three main types of colds and coughs: Wind-Cold, Wind-Heat and deficient wind- cold with many subdivisions. We all know what a cold is and it may not necessarily be…
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I am an Ayurvedic Wellness Practitioner living in Weston, MA. I have a master’s degree in Electronics from India and Bachelor’s in Science and Math. My journey to alternative healing began when my daughter was born with multiple food allergies and eczema. After meeting countless doctors for solutions, I was not able to find much…
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Are you ready to hear about a medicinal named after a supreme god? Because of its rejuvenative healing properties Mahanarayana tailam (oil) is honored with the name of the revered Hindu deity Narayana, another name for Vishnu, the god of preservation. The Sanskrit prefix “maha” (meaning “great”) denotes the highest respect for the Ayurvedic oil…
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The other day I saw a woman with complaints of burping and belching all day long that was worse when eating, especially after drinking water. While these symptoms can indicate more than one possible cause, I knew in her case it was what Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) calls Food Stagnation. This is because right now…
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My journey with plants began in grade school after learning about the importance of trees. As a result I planted a tree annually on Arbor Day. By the time I left home in my early 20’s, to move to Boston, we had a small orchard on our suburban plot in northern Ohio. I started college…
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How do you know if you’re taking enough of your herbs or herbal formula? Or what if you’re taking the right formula/herb but not getting the results as expected? This can lead to you wondering if you’re taking the right herbs or formula. Even worse, taking an insufficient dose can lead you to believe that…
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Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a degenerative condition affecting the central part of the retina (the macula). It is the leading cause of loss of vision in people over the age of 60, affecting 11 million people in the United States with the number expected to double to 22 million by 2050. Worldwide, the estimated…
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Growing up in England, I have always loved trees, plants and nature walks. I studied Optimum Nutrition in London and that gave me a good background in getting the most out your food. My first interest in Herbalism was when, I was given a Nicholas Culpeper – The Complete Herbal book, I fell in love…
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In this discussion, TCM organs describe functions that do not perfectly correspond to what we know regarding the Western anatomical organs. In traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Qi means “life energy.” Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang (Ginseng and Astragalus Combination) is the most effective and commonly used Qi tonic formula for treating low energy caused by…
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At 50, I’m at a time of reflection with our only son having headed off to college this Fall and my husband and I starting a new life in sunny St. Petersburg, FL. Growing up, I used to travel with my mom from Louisville, KY to Boston, MA so she could get acupuncture and herbs…
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Shenqu, called by various names “massa fermentata,” “Chinese yogurt,” and mysterious ferment,” was first recorded in the Yaoxing Bencao (ca. 600 ACE.). It is one of the best botanical aids for digestion and is commonly used as a single or included in Chinese a large number of digestion formulas. It evolved from a process of…
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In addition to the usual herbal gifts of herbal wreaths, vinegars, soaps, candles, spices, potted plants, flowers, beauty products and more, there are two other to consider this holiday season. Teasel Teasel is such a fabulous herb to learn about, I’ve devoted a complete blog to it alone. As a gift, this herb is the…
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Teasel is a beautiful herb with a tall bristly head that grows in many places around the world. I once saw multitudes of dried teasel heads in a wool combing machine in Scotland in the 1990s. However, this herb is widely available throughout the world and except for the Chinese who commonly use this herb,…
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I grew up in a small town in New England. My soul was at home in the hardwood forests and in the arts, singing, dancing, playing music, sewing, drawing and painting. I moved to Chicago and trained in the visual arts at an amazing museum/school and for years had a tandem career as an exhibiting…
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Turmeric has become increasingly popular over the last decade, first for blood purification and then for joint pain. As it’s hit the mainstream, its uses have narrowed at the same time. While turmeric is a fabulous herb with many beneficial applications, it’s also quite powerful and can strongly imbalance the body if over-used or misused.…
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Of the hundreds of herbs Ayurveda has to offer, guggul is one of the most important ones to add to your toolkit. Guggul and guggul-based formulas are among the most effective remedies you can use for chronic pain including back pain, joint pain, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Let’s get familiar with the benefits of guggul.…
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When I was a little girl I was interested in many things but could not nail down what I really wanted to do with my life. When I came to the US from Hungary, I started studying Health Sciences at a community college. I was interested in health but I was not aware that schools…
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In the West we tend to think of heat as inflammation; yet, it can take many other forms as we’ve learned through parts I-V of this blog series. In TCM, heat can exist without inflammation but have other signs of heat. The key to differentiating which type of heat is present is through determining its…
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Research has shown that regularly taking Bacopa monnieri for eight to twelve weeks can improve your memory. “Nootropic” is a pharmaceutical term first used in 1972 to describe a pharmaceutical drug, Piracetam, which was being researched for its memory-enhancing properties. It was soon adopted as a term to refer to memory-enhancing plants in herbal medicine. The most…
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My name is Bianca Cuellar Arteaga. Born in Bolivia, I came to Indiana with my mother when I was a toddler to pursue a more opportunistic life. Although beautiful, our lives were faced with many hardships and traumatic experiences throughout the years. From a young age, I realized the impact that the mind-body-soul connection has…
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Triphala consists of three phytonutrient-rich fruits Emblica officinalis (Amla, or Amalaki) also known as Phyllanthus emblica; Terminalia bellerica (Vibhitaki); and Terminalia chebula (Haritaki). Each of these eliminates all types of excess from the body. Amla clears the liver, Vibhitaki the excess of mucus, lymph, fluids, including excess cholesterol, and Haritaki treats the nervous system. All three fruits…
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September is the time of year that “Summer Heat” often arises because it’s either extra hot this time of year or else the accumulation of heat throughout the summer months creates imbalances now. Fortunately, many herbs that clear Summer Heat are especially available in our gardens or stores now as well, such as cucumbers and…
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I was born and raised in Toronto Ontario, Canada. After completing a BSc and DDS at the University of Toronto, I moved west to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where I practised dentistry for several years. I then returned to school at the University of Saskatchewan and completed an MD and residency after which I became a full…
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Continuing our discussion about herbs that clear heat, the next category is a very commonly seen one: herbs that clear damp heat. What is damp heat? Damp heat is heat that is accompanied by dampness indicated by thick, greasy yellow secretions. It is often caused by congested bile but can also accompany inflammation and infections.…
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I live in Perth, Western Australia with a loving husband, son and daughter-in-law, two labradors, two rabbits, two ducks and many visiting birds. Our wonderful daughter also lives in Perth. Keisha and Noxy, our beautiful labradors, are mother and daughter. Noxy is due to give birth next month. I am a registered home breeder and…
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It seems that each year it is getting increasingly more difficult to depend on my garden to produce enough to barely pay the water-shortage-in-Northern-California water bill. And yet, I take pleasure in harvesting my food and herbs, especially lamb’s quarters. Lamb’s Quarters (Chenopodium giganteum) The beautiful magenta lamb’s quarters is also known as magenta…
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The herbal category, Herbs that Cool the Blood, is not known in Western herbalism but is one of the five main categories in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for clearing Heat. This category of herbs treats many different conditions, for when Heat enters the Blood level it can push the Blood out of its pathways…
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My herbal journey began after the birth of my fourth child and a long episode of overlooked and undiagnosed postpartum depression. A homeschooling mama of four children, I desperately began seeking alternative health treatment so I could just make it through the day. At the time, the essential oil business was booming. I looked into…
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“It is quite important to know what kind of a patient the disease has got as to know what kind of disease the patient has got.” – Walter Moxon, attributed to William Osler, the father of modern medicine and many others who may have held the same opinion, including Hippocrates With over 40 years of…
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After graduating in 2002 with a degree in Physical Education and a certification through the American Council on Exercise, I set out with the ambition to try to make the world a healthier place as a personal trainer. It did not take me long to see that diet and exercise were not the silver bullet…
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This blog series that began last month considers how Western herbalism treats heat as inflammation with little differentiation in herbal treatment. Yet, heat is not the same as inflammation; rather, inflammation is a kind of heat confined to a specific area of the body. Heat can also include such signs and symptoms as red eyes…
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Like Western medicine, Western herbalism today considers heat as inflammation with little differentiation in herbal treatment. Yet, heat is not the same as inflammation; rather, inflammation is a kind of heat confined to a specific area. Just treating inflammation with herbs will clear up any acute manifestation but not the underlying condition. Thus, there can…
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After traveling to places in Arabia where saffron and other herbs and spices were sold and used, I attended a webinar of a Traditional Chinese Medical doctor from Taiwan, Dr. Chien-Fu Liao. Dr. Liao claims to use thousands of dollars a year worth of saffron in his medical practice. Scientific research and traditional usage…
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I came to appreciate the power of herbs fairly late in life. After working as a postdoctoral researcher in cell biology for several years and then an institutional investor in private equity, venture capital and agriculture for nearly 2 decades, I found my calling as a healer. Through my Chinese medicine, acupressure and tui na…
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A selection of Chinese tonic herbs The Importance of Qi in the Body Qi means “life energy.” The source of Qi in the body is food, air and water. The process of transforming and assimilating food, air and water, into Qi is, according to TCM theory, governed by the TCM-Spleen. Because the source of…
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One of my earliest memories is of picking and eating raspberries in the backyard. My mother taught me to love plants. I come from a long line of gardeners, and my mom tells me that my great grandmother was an herbalist. Currently, I grow native herbs and plants and raise backyard chickens. I’ve pursued a…
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Unfortunately, too many people think about their teeth only in crisis stage. A common pre-crisis symptom is receding gums. This is a widespread condition when the gums pull away from the teeth, forming gaps and eventually exposing the bone structures that support the teeth. Over time, this will lead to the formation of pockets of…
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These methods are based on the Ancient Chinese energetic theory that holds that humans are complex energy bodies comprised of an intricate network of energy pathways or channels. There are twelve main organ pathways and eight extraordinary vessels and 360 points that are attributed to individual health functions and benefits.
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I come from Greece where the culture of herbs is a continuum of the ancient Greek tradition. Using folk remedies to treat common health conditions is a memory that I have had, which extends beyond the family environment. My foundation studies are Agriculture Science (BSc) and Environmental Politics & Management (MSc). Thus, for over a…
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When was the last time you visited a doctor and the first thing asked of you was to show your tongue? Western medical practice of tongue diagnosis as part of a routine clinical examination seems, like many Western clinical practices, to have become a relic of the not-too-distant past. Instead, it survives as a standard…
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To finish up the flavors for the year, we have one left – salty. Most herbs that are salty are subtly so. Yet salty can include herbs with mineral salts, such as nettles. Here I want to discuss a true salty herb: seaweed. Seaweed is not unknown as a medicinal herb. Irish moss and bladderwrack…
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This February, I am thrilled to finally say I am an East West Intermediate student with plans to be an Advanced student this June. At the age of 16, I stepped into my first health food store. I can still picture myself walking around that store in Chicago. I purchased three books: Rational Fasting, The Mucusless Diet, and Back…
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I was born (and still live) in Florence, Italy. Growing up in an old city, filled with art and history, birthplace of so many Renaissance geniuses, I naturally became fond of anything that had been created by human ingenuity. I was an extremely shy child, with very limited access to the wild Nature, and not…
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Every December we try to offer some possibilities for gifts you can make or buy to enhance your holidays. It’s our version of Oprah’s “favorite things.” This year I’m suggesting two things that may be a gift to yourself, your family or your friends: protection from all airborne pathogens and allergens, including the covid-19 virus.…
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I often receive letters from children about my Kids Herb Book expressing their joy in making things and learning about herbs. With so many places having people shelter at home this year, more and more folks are studying herbs for their family’s health, which includes kids, too! The East West Herb Course offers a free…
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Finally, we’re reaching the end of 2020! I can’t tell you how many people have yearned to see this year pass since it’s been so difficult for most. Indeed, 2020 brought big changes to our lives and the East West Herb Course, too. I have always loved to travel and have done so since a…
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I grew up in London and then moved to Chico, California in my late teens. I studied International Communications at Chico State. During my Chico time, I also began my yoga journey, did my massage certification and other explored other modalities such Shiatsu and Reiki. I also worked for the weekly college paper, writing and…
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I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area of California and majored in Business Administration at the University of Hawaii because I felt it was a good foundation. I worked as an accountant in the construction industry for about 20 years and then in the airline industry for about 17. Sometime in 2015, I…
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Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is described as a rasayana in Ayurvedic medicine. In Ayurveda, rasayanas are used as Traditional Chinese medicine uses tonic herbs, and they correspond to the herbal category of adaptogens, a term first used to describe a limited number of immune tonics by Russians used in Western herbal medicine. Tonics, adaptogens, and rasayanas…
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The spicy flavor has many understandings and an interesting function. When most people think of “spicy,” they think of spicy food. However, that’s normally due to the presence of chili rather than regular spices that don’t necessarily have what is normally thought of as a spicy flavor. In the last five years or more, food…
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I reside in the remote city of Perth, Western Australia with a beautiful son, husband and dog named Alby. Coming from Croatian ancestry my mother and aunties often resorted to folk medicine from their home land for all sorts of ailments as a child. This was my early introduction to healing through plants. My love…
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I grew up in the small town of Yuba City, CA. I spent most of my childhood helping do the inventory of my local health food store’s vitamin department. It was one of my favorite things to do as I learned about herbal remedies and all the crazy big names. I used that knowledge as…
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Asava and arishta, meaning “distillate” in Sanskrit, are two naturally fermented alcoholic extracts used for making Ayurvedic wine medicines. Draksha in Sanskrit means “grape” and draksharista therefore means grape wine. This is not your regular merlot or pinot, but a very low alcohol herbally medicated wine. Draksha is one of the most effective botanical remedies…
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Sweet is the flavor of the Spleen time of year, including this month of August. In July, I discussed the herb, jujube date, which is sweet but not the sweet flavor most of us think of as in sugar or candy. So what about a true sweet-sweet herb such as a fruit? (Yes, fruits can…
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My name is Christina Q. Slotin and I live in Cocoa Beach Florida with my husband Michael and our two teenagers. As a child, my family moved from Mexico to a small farm working town in Florida named Immokalee. Plants have always played a role in my life, my childhood includes fond memories of grinding…
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Many years ago, while visiting Baton Rouge, Louisiana, I happened upon a local herb shop. While perusing jars of dry herbs, I noticed one that contained huckleberry leaves. In most parts of the country, bulk huckleberry leaves are hardly known well enough to claim any of the limited space in an average herb store. The…
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From July through about mid-September, we are in the “Earth time of year” with its organs, the Spleen and Stomach. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the Spleen is responsible for assimilation and transportation of nutrients throughout the body (metabolism) while the Stomach mechanically breaks down food and fluids. The flavor that improves both of these…
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I grew up with the wet land plants, white oaks, and hickories in Illinois. My love and connection with plants has been with me my whole life. I remember looking at a beautiful blossoming burdock as a young girl, the vibrant green purple pink of each flower and wondering who is this plant? My family…
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“Let your medicine be your food and your food, your medicine.” The sovereign dictum of Hippocrates is aptly epitomized by the use of Coix (Coix lacrymi-jobi, also known as Job’s tears and yi yi ren) as the most common treatment for cancer in China. Coix is a member of the Graminaceae family of which all…
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Since we are in the “season” of the Heart, we’ve been covering bitter herbs. The bitter flavor cleanses the blood among other things and thus, it is connected to the Heart in the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Five Phases system. So far, we have discussed dandelion and California poppy in this bitter flavor series. Our…
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I grew up in Colorado where my family was very focused on gardening. This sparked my love of plants and gardening and wherever I’ve lived, I’ve had a garden, large or small. At my current home here in Indianapolis I’ve transformed most of my suburban yard into a paradise of vegetables, herbs, and fruits. After…
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My acupuncture teacher, Dr. Miriam Lee, said she never studied herbs but she had a very busy practice in San Jose, treating up to 100 patients a day with acupuncture. In those days, acupuncture was not a legal profession. She was arrested for practicing medicine without a license. Through her heroic efforts and with the…
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According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), we are in the Heart “time of year,” early summer, meaning that the heart’s energy flourishes now. Herbs with a bitter flavor help the heart by clearing heat and toxins from the blood. In April I discussed the bitter flavor in herbs and gave several examples. Cool in energy…
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I am a retired JD (Doctor of Jurisprudence), living in Toronto, Canada. I came to herbs and nutrition from a personal health history of “over-reactivity”: i.e., allergies, hay fever, and the toll they take on vitality. I saw this pattern repeating in my children, associated with nervous effects such as anxiety, ADHD. Western medicine, though…
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The flavor of an herb is different than its taste. Taste is subjective while flavor is a major indicator of how an herb affects the body and thus, how it’s used. In other words, there is a direct correlation between flavor and physiological function. Basing an herb’s properties on its flavor was a way that…
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