Tinctures

I've long been a lover of herbal medicine and have incorporated herbs into my health and healing protocol for longer than I can remember. In recent years I've become more interested in concocting my own medicines and herbal products and have been learning about both cultivated and wild grown plants. I've experimented with tisanes, decoctions, salves, syrups, herbal vinegar extractions and encapsulation as a way to extract and take herbs for a variety of acute and chronic ailments. Tinctures have been on my mind for some time and I have only once made a tincture before now when in my pregnancy/ breastfeeding days of no drinking I decided to throw some elderberries into a lonely looking bottle of gin. For the most part I've tended to prefer other extraction methods but I'm keen to experiment and find out if there are some tinctures that will be invaluable to my personal apothecary.

With the cooler weather setting in, the wild chickweed has started to run rampant in my pot plants and garden beds and as this little gem of a plant only grows in the cooler months I've been keen to capture and store the healing benefits for use in the months when it lies dormant. Chickweed is rich in a variety of minerals and is soothing and healing for skin conditions like eczema. I stuffed a jar about 2/3 full with freshly picked chickweed then filled the jar with organic vodka. I needed to weigh the chickweed down to keep it under the liquid so I used the first thing I could think of- a couple of chunks of amethyst.

I've been working through the ups and downs of having hypochlorhydria (low stomach acid) for a few years and I'm prone to developing protein deficiency due to the my body struggling to digest it, my acquired aversion to high protein meals, and the number of food allergies I have as a result of vaccine injury. Hypochlorhydria has been a hard one to kick due to the self perpetuating nature of it.  Although I have come a long way in my healing and for the most part I can function normally these days in regards to feeling like a normal human, I'm not there yet and I'm always searching for remedies that will heal my allergies and fix my digestive issues. So this is where this tincture comes in. I rarely get around to making decoctions at the moment so I was thinking a digestive bitters tincture might be the way to go.  I half filled the jar with burdock root, dandelion root, ginger and fennel seeds and then filled to the top with organic vodka. I just used what I had on hand in the cupboards so I'm looking forward to trying this one in a few weeks time.

Tooth Powder

So, I know there are about a million recipes for toothpaste alternatives out there these days but this is one that I came up with that my kids (8yrs and 2yrs) love, and it made the switch from toothpaste an easy one. After researching ingredients and testing a few things I came up with a recipe that is easy to make, has a minty toothpastey taste and cleans my teeth so well that I don't get any tartar build up like I used to (which means less dentist visits!). At first I thought it would be hard to get used to not having a foamy paste but after I had been using my tooth powder for a while and then went back to toothpaste when I had run out and forgotten to make more, I found the mouth full of foam a really bizarre and kind of gross feeling; so I guess that means I'm well and truly converted.

The recipe includes diatomaceous earth for it's high silica content which is important in the formation of strong enamel and has the added benefit of being gently abrasive to polish teeth and remove plaque and tartar build up. The green clay binds to impurities and toxins in your mouth and also has anti-inflammatory properties as well as containing a variety of important trace minerals. Ground stevia leaf (not to be confused with the chemical filled white 'stevia' you can find in supermarkets) helps to inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria in the mouth that contribute to tooth decay, it also gives a flavor that in my opinion is similar to toothpaste. Lastly, the peppermint essential oil has antiseptic properties and gives the tooth powder that minty toothpastey taste.


1/4 cup diatomaceous earth
1/4 cup green clay (bentonite clay will give similar benefits)
1 tsp ground stevia leaf
20 drops peppermint essential oil

Mix ingredients together thoroughly and store in an airtight container. To use, simply wet the toothbrush and dip it in the powder.


Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, I share this information as it has been beneficial to my own and my family's health. I encourage you to do your own research and if in doubt consult your doctor.

Healing My Teeth

After having a piece of my tooth break while eating I was hurled into a fear for loosing all my teeth. Unfortunately I have been blessed with poor teeth and knowing that my mother had lots of problems (and breastfeeding five children probably didn't help) I was quite scared I was headed down the same road.

I knew I had some holes for quite some time but I never got around to addressing the problem but when my tooth broke I knew it was time to look at what I could do naturally to strengthen and hopefully heal my teeth. I had dabbled in oil pulling after being introduced to it in my yoga teacher training so i knew the benefits and I wanted to make a real effort to do it and see if I could get some good results before I booked in to the dentist and drained our bank account in the process.

So here is my journey through healing my teeth, at this point I have no idea if it will be successful but I plan on seeing what I can do over the next 6 months before I return to the dentist for another check up and clean.

Day 1- I struggled through the 20 minutes and felt like gagging but I did it!

Day 4- I've never looked in my mouth as much as I have in the past few days. There is one hole in my wisdom tooth (that looks like a small piece chipped away) and I've been using that to gauge how things are going. After oil pulling today I was surprised and excited to see that the little hole was no longer black! I couldn't believe it so I was looking in my mouth all day. At some point the hole began to turn black again but the fact that it had changed at all seems very promising.

1 Month- So it's been a month since I started and I've been successfully oil pulling every morning for 20 mins as well as through the day if I'm home and get the chance. The hole in my wisdom too is still black most of the time but it does change after oil pulling.
I've just got India onto oil pulling after her first trip to the dentist revealed the beginnings of a cavity. I'm hoping we can heal it before it turns into a cavity. She also has some pitting in her molars which the dentist thinks is probably because her Celiacs was undiagnosed until she was 3 years which made her 6-year-old molars not quite form properly due to lack of nutrients when they were growing before they broke through the skin. The dentist wanted to fill the dents because they can get food caught in them and easily become cavities but I would rather teach her to take good care of her teeth than get some work done that will inevitably need to be redone again as she grows as fillings don't last forever. She does oil pulling while she's watching a cartoon or playing a computer game and she seems to enjoy it.

2 Months- Oil pulling has been going well, I'm looking in my mouth less often but the hole is white quite often and when it is black it does seem to look a little smaller than it did originally. I've been reading a bunch of stuff on Weston A Price and his recommendations for healing tooth decay. I've started taking high vitamin butter oil for the past couple of weeks and I'm eating less grains but I haven't cut them out completely.

3 Months- Oil pulling is still going well, there have been a few mornings where I've been in a rush so could only do it for a few minutes but anything is better than nothing. I decided to add a cod liver oil supplement to take with my high vitamin butter oil. Weston A Price recommends taking these together for healing tooth decay, I was reluctant to have cod liver oil as I've been a vegetarian my whole life and I believe strongly in the health benefits and ethics behind it but with my health already compromised due to low stomach acid as a result of Celiacs I felt that using an animal product as a medicine would help build my body back to perfect health.
I'm pleased to say that the hole in my wisdom tooth is always white or slightly grey so it looks like things are really working which is great to see now that I'm half way to 6 months. There is still quite sizable dent in my tooth where it looks like the bit of tooth originally chipped off. The tooth in front of it has a tiny hole that is still black so I still have a way to go before my teeth show perfect results.
India has continued to do oil pulling with me in the mornings and with my good results I'm keen to see how her teeth will be when I take her back for a check up in a few months.

4 Months- I've been oil pulling daily (but some days it has only been short as we've been in a rush). The hole in my wisdom tooth is about the same as it was last month- white or greyish. On the whole my teeth are looking pretty good but I still have a long way to go before they are fully healed.

6 Months- The past couple of months life has got in the way and I haven't really done any oil pulling but I have been eating foods and taking food supplements high in fat soluble vitamins- in particular vitamin A and D and trying to keep a low intake of grains. I've really been working hard on healing my gut and eating clean and have been making lots of fermented foods. My teeth still have holes in them but they are smaller than they were and with breastfeeding so much and working on other things I need to heal (mostly to do with my gut and low stomach acid) I'm surprised that I have made any progress at all. Originally I wanted to give myself 6 months to attempt to heal my teeth and if by then I hadn't succeeded I would get the work done on my teeth at the dentist. However, I feel that I need some more time to work on it before I head back to the dentist and with breastfeeding being high on the agenda at the moment, progress with healing is obviously going to be slower than I if wasn't supporting the life of another little being. I will be posting updates as I progress, I am positive that my body can heal and that I just need to feed it nourishing food and give it time. My body has made some amazing progress with healing so I'm happy to take things slow and see how they go in the coming months. To be continued...

The Link Between the Hips and Jaw

A recent trip to the dentist re-sparked my interest in the relationship between the hips and the jaw. I first explored this link in my yoga teacher training and looked at how un-clenching the jaw and making sounds during labour helps to open up the muscles in the pelvis and aids in a smoother more relaxed delivery. The link exists because of how the embryo develops in utero. The embryo forms two bulges, one goes on to develop into the skull and jaw, while the other develops into the pelvis. The spine grows between, linking these two parts. The hips and the jaw never lose their connection, it's often said that hips hold emotion and I'm sure everyone has felt tension in our jaws as we hold back anger or bite our tongue . If we are holding tension in either of these areas you can be sure that the other will be tight too.
So, back to my trip to the dentist... Needing some work done that I couldn't put off I found a holistic dentist in Melbourne CBD. As I am currently breastfeeding I needed to find a practitioner that understood the need to avoid any of the dangers often associated with dentistry and pregnancy/ breastfeeding and I was lucky enough to find one that took all the precautions to avoid anything entering my bloodstream that shouldn't. When the dentist had finished his work I stood up to discover my hips were aching, at the time I thought nothing of it, assuming it was just from lying in the chair for one-and-a-half hours. It wasn't until I woke up from a nap that afternoon that the realisation of the connection between the pelvis and jaw hit me. It's surprising how much a bit of dental work takes out of you and after the anesthetic wore off I spent the afternoon feeling like I had been hit in the head with a rock and my hips were aching.
Yoga, being my first port of call for everything, was what I knew I needed. I lay down to do some hip work to loosen my pelvis and essentially de-stress my jaw. Feeling like I needed the calm of Yin yoga to release energy I relaxed into happy baby and noticed straight away a sharp pain stemming from inside my right pelvic area and extending from my butt down my thigh. As it had been only 24 hours since last holding this pose I noticed the distinct change instantly and linked the cause to my dental work a few hours earlier. Being a busy mumma I didn't have time to hold poses for extended periods as you generally do in Yin yoga but I did my best and by the time the little ones were asleep and I was able to focus on some hip work again my hips were no longer aching and my jaw was nearly back to normal.
Using this understanding of the connection between the jaw and the hips enables us to work through a range of issues that come up in our lives. We can use yoga for the hips to treat headaches or releasing the jaw along with sound work to open the pelvis in labour or to shift energy from the lower chakras in meditation. We can use yoga for the hips to treat a jaw injury and we can use jaw, neck and shoulder work to aid in treating a pelvis injury. Our bodies function as a unit and paying attention to how it feels can lead us to a greater understanding of how to work through and overcome many short and long term issues.

Happy baby pose.

      

A Night In

The perfect recipe for a quiet night in...

Saurkraut

My very first batch of saurkraut is ready to eat! I'm quite excited about making my own fermented foods, I can't wait to try other fermented vegetables and get loads of healthy bacteria into our bodies.

Next on my list in Kimchi, but for now I have purple saurkraut.

My Healing Journey

For over three years now I have been struggling with stomach aches when I eat various foods- mostly nuts, seeds and soy but also other things like large amounts of dairy and cammomile tea. I consider myself very in tune with my body and was able to narrow it down to a few specific things and for the most part I managed to avoid eating them. After being diagnosed with Celiacs disease a few years ago I developed fructose malabsorption because my gut was really damaged. I went to a doctor that helped diagnose it straight away but it wasn't until I saw a naturopath several months later that I was able to begin healing it. It turned out I needed more protein in my diet and I was having trouble getting it because I couldn't eat nuts and seeds. A month or so on a high quality protein powder healed my gut and things became much easier again but I was still having problems with nuts, seeds and soy.
My liver then became over burdened with a digestive system that wasn't functioning and it caused problems with my pancreas. I endured a lot of pain with an inflamed liver and pancreas. I took a milk thistle supplement every day without fail for a year and my skin cleared and the pains in my liver and pancreas disappeared.
As the months turned to years I did amazingly at avoiding foods that gave me stomach aches but it began to wear thin and I was frustrated and felt like I'd tried everything. Now that I'm breastfeeding it started to become really difficult as a vegetarian to eat enough protein without eating nuts and seeds so I decided it was time to see a doctor. I'd seen a couple of doctors and tried alternative therapies through natropathy and traditional Chinese medicine but they all seemed to say similar things and not listen when I tried to tell them that it really wasn't just about healing my gut and rebalancing the good bacteria so I was reluctant to have someone say the same thing but I did my research and found a doctor that looked promising and made the decision that now was the time to really figure this out and fix it. Initially my doctor said the same thing as all the others but I protested and she referred me to get an ultrasound and some blood tests. A couple of months later, more tests and a waiting list to have doctors in the hospital probe me and we still were just as stumped as before. The blood tests had shown up a couple of deficiencies which were corrected very quickly after taking supplements for a couple of months.
While waiting for test results and my appointment with the hospital I came across an article on the internet one day about low stomach acid. The article talked about how if beetroot causes changes in your poo and wee you could have low stomach acid. This information sparked an interest and I decided to explore it further. I did a bicarb soda test which involves drinking some water with bicarb soda and timing how long it takes to burp. The normal range is between 2-3 minutes. By 5 minutes I still had not burped and I really felt like I was onto something.
I started taking betaine hydrochloride supplements and thought some digestive enzymes might help too. It took a few weeks for me to figure out dosage but I think I've figured it out now. After years of very carefully avoiding nuts I am now able to eat them again without being buckled over in pain. I'm a little nervous about trying sunflower seeds as last time I had some I was in so much pain I threw up, and I'm going to avoid soy for the time being but I am so pleased that I seem to have figured it out.
I estimate that I will need to be taking betaine hydrochloride for a year and maybe even up to two years in order for my body to correct the problem and begin making enough stomach acid on it's own again.
The reason I developed this problem is clearly because I had gone 25 years with undiagnosed Celiacs disease. My digestive system had taken a beating and was clearly not absorbing the nutrients it needed for my body to function properly. Despite living a healthy lifestyle and eating almost exclusively a wholefoods plant based diet my body couldn't overcome the problem because my food was not being digested properly and it became a self perpetuating vicious cycle. I'm a big believer in the body's innate ability to heal itself, if you provide your body with the things that it needs you can over come anything. So here I am on the road to recovery, in these last few years I have learned a lot about food, health and my body and I'm happy that now I can enjoy food again and share my story.

Mumma Tea

I've recently discovered a winning combination for a herbal tea blend. This blend can help with your quantity and quality of milk for your baby so it's great even if you haven't had any supply issues.

I mixed 2 table spoons each of fennel seed, caraway seed and fenugreek with  3-4 tablespoons of lemon verbena. Combine ingredients in an airtight container. Place a teaspoon in a cup with boiling water and brew for 5-10 minutes. Tastes great warm or cold.

Healing With Whole Foods

For a few years now I have had problems with stomach aches and a variety of food intolerances. Partly due to doctors not listening to me I've avoided looking into it fully, instead choosing to avoid the foods I have trouble with and eat a healthy diet filled with a variety of whole foods.

After having Mio it seems that my body has had enough and everything I eat makes me feel terrible (except for carrot juice!). I decided that now is the time to look into this further because it is beginning to really worry me. I've begun what will probably will be a long series of tests to get to the bottom of this, I found a doctor that acknowledges alternative therapies as a legitimate process in healing and I'm ready for the journey.

Whatever the diagnosis I know that nutrition and whole foods are going to be an important part in the process of healing. At the moment I'm reading a fantastic book called Healing With Whole Foods by Paul Pitchford, it's a fantastic book full of amazing information. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in nutrition and healing, it is full of information but is still easy to read for the lay person- I learn something new on every page!

Olive Leaf Extract

I've known about the wonders of olive leaf extract for quite some time now but I was just reminded again how amazing it really is.

We had been out of olive leaf extract for some time and my 6-year-old had a snotty nose that wouldn't clear up for about three weeks. She had also developed for the first time in her life a little spot of eczema near her mouth, it didn't seem to bother her and I was reluctant to get any chemicals from the pharmacy so I just made sure she kept it clean and hoped it would clear up. Finally, frustrated with telling her to blow her nose all the time I went to get some olive leaf extract again, and she started taking it once or twice a day. By the 3rd day I noticed that I hadn't really asked her to blow her nose at all and the spot of eczema near her mouth had completely healed. It seems that for whatever reason her immune system needed a boost and lots of fruit and veg and whole foods just wasn't doing the trick. Her body just needed something extra, something with amazing healing capabilities.

I've always believed that eczema is a symptom of something larger and this proved to me the importance of nutrition and boosting the immune system in order to overcome any health problems.

Juicing

I'm a huge fan of fresh juices but I must admit that I do go through phases when I don't make juices because I forget or don't feel like washing the juicer afterwards! So now I'm coming back into a phase of making juices nearly everyday. Juices are perfect when you need some real food but you are too busy with a baby to prepare a meal. Breastfeeding can be a drain on your vitamin and mineral stores but having a fresh juice everyday can help to ensure that you and bub are getting everything you need to stay well.

My new favorite juice is beetroot, carrot, orange and ginger. These ingredients are all pretty cheap and keep well so you can buy them in bulk and use them through the week.

1/2 beetroot
2 carrots
1 orange
1 small piece of ginger

Yoga Cleansing Practices: Tongue Scraping

Yoga is more than just a physical practice that you do on a mat in a class full of students, it's a holistic practice that involves the mind, body and spirit, and involves cleansing practices designed to rid the body of ama (toxins). Tongue scraping, is my favorite cleansing practice, it's been a daily habit since I discovered it and is an amazing way to start the day. On those days when I really don't want to get out of bed I have found that after tongue scraping I feel like my head is clear and I have energy to start the day, and even when I wake up feeling great I notice an extra energy kick after tongue scraping.
Tongue scrapers can be found in health food shops for around $10- $15 or if you are lucky enough to have an Indian grocer nearby like me you can grab one for $2.50. You can also just use a spoon to scrape your tongue but I think a tongue scraper works better.

Raspberry Leaf

Raspberry leaf tea is a well know prenatal tonic. It tones your uterus as well as provides vitamins and minerals including calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and vitamins A, E and the B complex that are easily assimilated.

Some people advise not to take raspberry leaf until the last 3 months of pregnancy but others say it is safe during the whole pregnancy. It has been suggested that during the first trimester one cup daily (or at least 5 times per week) is the ideal dose, two cups daily for the second trimester and three cups daily for the third trimester. I have been having raspberry leaf tea daily since a few months before conception.

A hot cup of tea might be the last thing you want in the middle of summer but I have discovered that iced raspberry leaf tea with nettle and peppermint is amazingly refreshing (and also helps to keep your fluids up on those hot days). You can make up a pot of tea the night before and put it in the fridge so you have super cold tea all day.

Here's a great blog post on raspberry leaf if you want to read more.
http://journeytocrunchville.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/red-raspberry-leaf-tea-what-every-pregnant-woman-needs/

And don't forget, you don't have to be pregnant (or female!) to reap the benefits of raspberry leaf.

Buckwheat

Buckwheat has to be my favorite seed. Related to rhubarb, it is high in protein which makes it the perfect addition to a pregnant woman's diet. It is also high in iron, zinc, manganese, magnesium, B and selenium. There are also a number of other vitamins and minerals in lesser amounts. Buckwheat is gluten free which makes me very happy!

I use buckwheat everyday, some days I have it with every meal. I use buckwheat flour mixed with other flours in my pancakes. I mix raw buckwheat seeds with my yoghurt and fruit in the morning. Buckwheat is great raw or toasted and sprinkled onto salads (I love crunchy bits in salad). I put buckwheat in soups and stews. I grind it and make porridge, the possibilities are endless!

If I need to make something to eat fast or if I just don't feel like cooking I add buckwheat to whatever random food I have thrown together so that I know that at least I'm getting loads of good stuff into me. India loves buckwheat too, she always asks for seeds on top of her food and feels like she's missing out on a tasty treat if she doesn't get buckwheat, chia or linseeds on top.

Buckwheat is definitely one of my favorite pregnancy super foods. If you haven't tried it you should gets some and start experimenting!

Natural Remedies for Colds

I've got a cold at the moment so I'm feeling pretty run down and tired. I've read that it's not uncommon to get sick in the first weeks of pregnancy because your body suppresses its immune system so that it is less likely to reject the embryo as something foreign.

In keeping with my ideals of avoiding drugs at all costs during the preconception period, pregnancy and while breastfeeding (and as a general rule for my own health and well being) I choose not to have any pharmaceutical drugs (yes, this includes paracetamol, ibuprofen and the like) and stick to natural ways of boosting my immune response and getting over colds.

Here is a list of natural remedies to try when you are feeling under the weather, and these remedies are great whether you are pregnant or not so use these as your first point of call before you decide that you need to head to the doctor.

Ginger, lemon and honey tea

- 1 tsp grated ginger

- ½ - 1 lemon juiced

- 1 tsp honey (preferably raw honey)

- Enough boiling water to fill your favourite mug.

Put ginger, lemon and honey in a mug and top with boiling water. Go and sit down and put your feet up for 10mins to enjoy you hot drink.

Echinacea tea

- 1 tsp Echinacea leaves in 1 cup of boiling water. Leave for3-5mins before drinking.

Garlic

- Everyone knows that garlic is good for you but unless you are putting it into every meal you eat, it can be hard to get enough of it into you. My naturopath suggests swallowing garlic like a tablet. If you have around three cloves a day it shouldn’t give you garlic breath, but any more than that might.

Raspberry leaf tea

- Not only is raspberry leaf good for toning you uterus, it is also good for sore throats so a cup a day is a must! Here's a great blog entry I found on Raspberry leaf if you want to find out some more info. http://journeytocrunchville.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/red-raspberry-leaf-tea-what-every-pregnant-woman-needs/

- 1tsp raspberry leaf in 1 cup of boiling water. Let the tea steep for 3-5 mins before drinking.

Vitamin C

- Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and great when you feel a cold coming on. You can take around 2g daily to ward off colds and combat free radicals. Vitamin C usually comes in 500g tablets, your body can only process 500g of vitamin C a time so you need to spread out taking tablets throughout the day otherwise you just end up weeing out all the vitamin C that you body can’t process.

Liquorice root tea

Liquorice root boosts immune system and reduces inflammation; it is anti-allergenic (great for hay fever) and soothes headaches. Along with many other amazing beneficial properties, this is one to include in your diet.

- 1tsp dried liquorice root in 1 cup of boiling water. Leave for 3-5 mins before drinking