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Your Health is in Your Kitchen: Why Momma Made Chicken Soup

by Gwenyfar

64 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-0811; ISBN 1-4120-0442-X; US$12.50, C$14.00, EUR10.00, £7.00

Eliminates the mysticism of herbalism. No more intimidation! Designed for anyone with a kitchen and an interest in improving their health and that of their family.

Read more!

about the book      about the author      sample excerpts and Table of Contents      catalogue info

About the Book Eliminates the mysticism of herbalism. No more intimidation! Designed for anyone with a kitchen and an intrest in improving their health and that of their family members. It's simple and easy to use: if you can shop in a grocery store and have a kitchen, then you can use this book. Topics covered include: more than 30 herbs found in most homes (some you didn't even know you had!) how to prepare and use the plants valuable information on nutrition and diet LEARN HOW TO TREAT ALLERGIES, CHICKEN POX, THE FLU, SPRIANS,TOOTHACHES AND MUCH MORE! ALL IN YOUR KITCHEN!

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About the Author Gwenyfar (pronounced gwen-eee-far, the opposite of near), has been practicing and studying herbalism for over 13 years. At the age of nine, after many years of excruciating pain in her ears, her poor ear, nose and throat specialist suggested that she try putting warm sweet oil in the ear canal to soothe the pain. Magically it worked. After years of surgeries, prescriptions, squirts and sprays, Gwenyfar was entranced at the idea that something from your kitchen could have such a profound effect where prescription medication had failed. She immediately began reading everything she could get her hands on related to traditional and herbal healing. When she was seventeen she went to live on a commune. There she broadened her experience of traditional healing; much emphasis was placed on wild crafting food and medicine. Wild crafting is the process of harvesting medicinal and edible plants from their habitat in a manner that is not harmful to the ecosystem and does not deplete the species. Later she went to Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. She designed her own major through the Interdisciplinary Studies Dept. titled Global Healing Perspectives and started Queen Mab's Herbs, a company focused on ethical and environmental integrity that produced medicinal herbal tea and body care products. She began teaching and speaking on topics related to health and healing, and grants to study comparative medicine. Now she is teaching classes through UNCW and has correspondence packages available.

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Sample Excerpts and Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

How to use this book 9
How I became an Herbalist 11
The Herbal 15
Vitamins 31
The "How To" Instructions 33
Children, Pregnancy and Breastfeeding 36
Worksheets 37
Quotations and Proverbs 62

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

Herbalism does not have to be difficult. It is not about finding plants you have never heard of before with names you can*t pronounce and making foul smelling concoctions from them. Herbalism as we call it today evolved from folk remedies or folk medicine, so called because folks used it and it worked. People used what was available to them out of necessity.

This book is subtitled Why Momma Made Chicken Soup, because one aspect of *folk medicine* that most people encounter is momma making chicken soup when you are sick. But most people have long since forgotten why. Home made chicken soup not only has chicken stock, which is high in protein and easy to digest, but also garlic, onions and poultry seasoning containing thyme, sage, rosemary and parsley. All of these herbs are traditionally used for healing various ailments.

This book helps you and your family understand how to integrate the ingredients in your spice cabinet into your regular cooking schedule for the purposes of preventive maintenance for your health. Please remember that herbalism doesn*t cure you or change you overnight. But, herbalism can help your family make lifestyle decisions that will improve the quality of your health for the long run. Through this book you will see the results and changes that you want, but it will take consistent and concerted effort and time.

VITAMINS

Vitamins are necessary to maintain healthy function of the body. Below is a discussion of vitamins and their sources in the human diet and from herbs. A lot of people think that you have to take supplements, but many times I have found that, if I modify my diet to add more of a vitamin, I have a positive effect on helping to bring many aspects of health back into balance.

Vitamin A is important to maintain the health of the skin, eyes, liver, gastrointestinal system, bones and teeth. It is popular right now to slow signs of aging. Signs of a vitamin A deficiency include dry skin and/or hair, dry eyes and possible nightblindness. Insomnia, sinusitis, constant colds and respiratory illnesses, acne, skin problems (exema, rashes, etc.) and weightloss can be symptoms as well. Sources of vitamin A to be used in diet and cooking include: alfalfa, apricots, asparagus, broccoli, cantaloupe, carrots, collards, garlic, parsley, peaches, peppermint, pumpkin, red peppers, sage, spinach and yellow and green vegetables.

Vitamin C is essential to tissue repair, which is why it is popular in cosmetics right now. It aids in metabolism, the production of anti-stress hormones, cancer prevention, immune system enhancement, adrenal gland function, oral health and circulatory health. Vitamin C can be found in alfalfa, asparagus, avocados, broccoli, cantaloupe, collards, fennel, grapefruit, lemons, mangos, onions, oranges, peas, peppers, pineapple, radishes, spinach, strawberries and tomatoes.

THE "HOW-TO" INSTRUCTIONS

The most important part of making anything with herbs is to learn to label what you do‹even if you think you are going to use it immediately or you think you will remember. Put the date and the ingredients on the bottle, jar or bag. You will be surprised at how quickly you forget what ingredients you combined and things start to look alike.

How to:

Make a Tincture
Take a washed out mayonnaise or pickle jar (spaghetti sauce jars also work well), fill to the top once with dried herbs, and fill it again with vodka or brandy. Let sit for two months, strain out the herbs, and put a label on it. You can make a smaller batch, by buying herbs in a glass jar in the spices section and filling that jar with the alcohol or by using jelly or jam jars.

Make a Compress
A compress is merely a piece of cloth dipped in a tea or other herbal mixture (or milk or milk of magnesia) and placed on the skin. You can make a hot or cold compress. Just like with a plaster or poultice put a dry towel over the compress to protect your furniture and to insulate.

Make a Poultice
A poultice is basically a sandwich of cloth and herbs applied to the skin to treat a problem that can range from congestion to constipation to joint or muscle pain to frost bite. The list is as endless as your...

Worksheet 2

The following is a list of health concerns and the herbs that can help alleviate their symptoms. Circle the herbs that you want to add to your diet to refer to for the next work sheet.

High blood pressure-Garlic
Teenage acne-Alfalfa, Almonds, Aloe both internally and externally, Garlic, Parsley, Water and lots of it
Menstrual cramps-Cinnamon, Cloves, Ginger
Arthritis and other joint pain-Celery Seed
Halitosis-Green Tea, Peppermint
Constipation-Cinnamon, Clove tea, Cream of Tartar, Ginger, Mustard
Pink Eye-eat Garlic to kill the infection; then use Chamomile to make compresses
Earache or infection-Garlic to be eaten, Garlic oil (available in the spice section) put in the ear with a dropper; eat or drink Marjoram and Thyme to drain the fluid
Fatigue-Almond milk, Green Tea, Soups
Headaches-Cinnamon, Cloves, Ginger, Marjoram, Peppermint, Thyme,
Indigestion-Cinnamon, Ginger, Green Tea, Olive Oil
Joint pain-Celery Seed, Cloves
Urinary tract infections-Cranberries, Lemon
Yeast infections-Garlic, Yogurt
Sinus-Thyme, Marjoram
Chest congestion-Cloves, Garlic, Ginger, Marjoram, Rosemary, Sage, Thyme
Sore throat-Cinnamon, Cloves, Lemon, Marjoram, Sage
Mouth or canker sores- Cloves, Lemon, Sage
Tooth aches-Cloves, Sage

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Catalogue Information

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