Lungwort: Breathe easy, free from toxic pollution

Finding lungwort growing wild in my yard is a special treat and as close as Mother Earth gets to praising organic urban homesteading. Lungwort only grows in places that are particularly lacking in toxic pollution.

Creative Commons image by Prof. D. Richards of Flickr.com

Often it's found in idyllic forest glades for just this reason. But for the past twelve years, it has grown by some stone steps my husband and I built by hand. The pretty little plants appear to avoid the east side of our house where coal smoke from the town sometimes rolls up just below our front door. 

Lungwort was identified centuries ago as a plant that could be beneficial for those with respiratory ailments. Some scholars today ascribe this to the medieval "doctrine of signatures," which held that plants vaguely resembling a part or attribute of the human body could help in that reflected area. The leaves of lungwort are vaguely lung-shaped and have spots on them that some people think might mirror what a diseased lung would look like. 

Remedies developed based on the "doctrine of signatures" have been widely discredited by empirical trials. Mostly it appears plants simply don't resemble human body parts all that much and any accidental similarity is just a fluke. (Yet another blow to the conceit that the universe revolves around us.)

However, it is worth noting that most theories get started somewhere. And lungwort, being a particularly ancient European herb, could have been among the reasons some healer long ago developed the doctrine. In a world ruled by religion, like Europe in the Middle Ages, it would be tempting to believe that an all-knowing God would put clues to healing in the appearance of plants and lungwort has a handy shape.

Creative Commons image by Normanack of Flickr.com

But the connection is likely reversed from what most believe. Lungwort has been proven in studies, including those by the University of North Carolina, to be helpful in soothing lung irritation caused by pollution or allergens. It is also used to treat asthma, bronchitis, tuberculosis and coughs accompanying viral infections. Medieval healers may have known of these properties and used the plant's resemblance to a lung to come up with the "doctrine of signatures."

Lungwort is sometimes available in capsules of freeze-dried, ground leaves or in tincture, but not enough study has been done on these processes and there is anecdotal evidence from herbalists to suggest that lungwort is not very effective unless used in its unprocessed form as fresh or air-dried leaves and flowers. The mucilage (a slimy substance) in the leaves as well as antioxidant compounds appear to account for its benefits to the respiratory system.

Creative Commons image by  Andrii Zymohliad

Lungwort is relatively easy to spot because it is one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring, with violet and pink blossoms as well as lush, slightly hairy dark-green leaves with their distinctive shape and pale spots.

Lungwort leaves are also used in fresh salads. That is the best way to get the full antioxidant effects, which are good for the skin and general health. But they do have a bit of a bitter bite like some other dark greens.

Lungwort is also used to aid the treatment of urinary tract infections, heavy menstrual bleeding, thyroid problems and digestive bloating. Medical research with lungwort is particularly scarce, possibly because of its association with the "doctrine of signatures," so there is less data available about its other benefits than for its use with lung ailments, but experience bears it out.

There's nothing like a pot of beans

A warm, sweetish musky smell fills the house and steam obscures the kitchen window. The soft rolling sound of a bubbling pot keeps time with the washing machine. And gray light falls on the floor from the winter sky outside.

Winter is no longer fun, my kids say. The snow has turned into slush and patches of deceptive ice. And to me that makes this the perfect time for a big pot of beans.

Creative Commons image by James Saunders

I never thought of myself as being part of the "slow food" movement, but there are few things that are as slow as a pot of pinto beans. And there are few foods as versatile and handy at the end of a tired winter week.

Beans, particularly dark-colored beans, have protein, fiber and a lot of nutrients that the modern diet tends to be deficient in. They are the staple I'd grab if I had to choose just one. And cooking them is surprisingly easy. 

Rule number one: Don't add salt until they're soft. I thought everyone knew this, but recently I've been told that isn't the case. 

Rule number two: Soak if you can but don't panic if you didn't. It just takes longer to cook them.

How long? There are charts online matching each type of bean to a number of hours, but they're pretty useless. It varies a lot depending on the size and type of bean. I've seen kidney beans that really will cook in two hours as the chart states, if they've been soaked overnight. And I've seen those that take a good six hours to soften. The main thing is to plan a bit ahead and figure that having the bubbling pot of beans on your stove all day is part of the experience.

Keep enough water in the pot, keep the heat medium, stir every hour or so and they shouldn't burn.

Once you've got them soft, there are a great many things you can do with your beans from tortillas, tacos, enchiladas and bean salads to a healthier side dish for almost any meal. 

Yes, do add salt--carefully--to taste once the beans are chew-able. As for herbs and spices, my family's most common combination is pinto beans with cayenne pepper, paprika, basil, cilantro and oregano, but there are many other good options:

Aduki beans generally take less time and go well with coriander, cumin and ginger.

Black beans are excellent spiced with chilly peppers, garlic, ginger, savory, thyme, oregano, cumin and/or parsley and they are especially delicious in Brazilian black bean soup which includes orange juice. I know it sounds strange but it's really good.

Black-eyed peas are spiced much like black beans but more often include turmeric. Chickpeas (Garbanzo beans) are a staple of many Mediterranean foods including humus and do well with cardamon, cilantro, cumin, fennel, garlic, ginger, mint, paprika and rosemary.

Fava beans and lima beans share a lot in common with chickpeas but they are also spiced with sage and thyme.

Kidney beans and navy beans use the basic cumin, oregano, parsley, sage and thyme. Mung beans look different but have a similar rich taste and often get ginger added. 

Lentils are legumes but usually not called beans and they come in various colors. They deserve separate consideration but perhaps in another post. For now, just remember that you cook them in the same way (no salt until they're soft) but for a lot less time (as little as 15 minutes for red lentils) and they do well with a lot more spices like cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, cumin, curry, ginger, mint, parsley, thyme and turmeric. 

This is slow food but actually incredibly easy, filling and nourishing. That is particularly important when you're burnt out and times are tough. The revolution will probably be powered by beans. 

Here's to keeping warm and well-fed wherever you are.

The healing draft - A poem on home herbalist medicine

I have trusted my life to doctors and surgeons and I have trusted my life to dusty herbalist tomes along and my own brain. I've done each in its time and with a lot of forethought. 

I have written these experiences about reclaiming my own health and I've debated in minute detail with proponents of the "medical model" approach. 

My family depends on our herb bed for 90 percent of our medicine and health care. We're lucky to have built up a good perennial supply and the skills to use it. We're also lucky to avoid most chronic illnesses requiring medications with unpredictable interactions.

Still we've seen time and time again that herbs grown and used at home are far superior in action to pills and drugs bought from the pharmacy. We are as careful about the pharmacy as we are about the herbs (and we have a good friend who is a pharmacist to advise us when we do go that route). 

Even with this experience, the drumbeat of advertising and skepticism about herbal medicines is so constant that we have the same discussion every year--just me and my husband as well as with our extended family. We've seen herbs work again and again. And yet there is a resistance to believing that something so simple could be so powerful or that if it is so powerful that it could ever be used safely. 

After a recent skiing trip--during which my husband was too apathetic to put herbal salve on his sore muscles or take echinacea tincture to stave off an encroaching cough, while I breezed through both with the help of these simple medicines--I am tired of the endless argument. I am tired of citing studies and debating with a behemoth industry with my relatives as surrogates. 

This is the season of inspiration and intuition, the days just before Imbolc, and so instead of another detailed treatise, I put it into a poem:

Every day an anecdote,
Sickness, headache, injury or pain
Washed away as if through clear water.
You've got two wore legs-
One rubbed with salve,
The other left to rest and ache.
One is new again in the morning,
one is stiff and swollen.
But it is not a study.
It isn't clinical and you are not blind.

It means nothing, they say.
A child crying in pain,
Blisters raised on the skin.
A six-year-old sister goes to pick the leaves,
to brew the tea, to place the cool cloth
against the flaming skin.
And the child smiles,
the blisters disappear
in ten minutes by the phone clock.
But it is not a study.
It isn't clinical and you are not blind.

How many times must you see it?
I ask my brother, my friend, my doctor, my dear one
How many times makes a study?
How many people sick with a lasting cough,
How many who drink the garden draft,
who get up and tend those who took pills instead?
How many times before you understand
that medicine is not in an ad?
It isn't Big Pharma or Big Natura.
It is in the hands, the care, the knowledge.
It is not a study.
It isn't clinical and you are not blind. 

The questions fall heavy and predictable
like the drum beats of a campaign.
What if you make a mistake?
What if it doesn't help? 
What about the things you cannot fix or cure?
What about all the studies with freeze-dried herbs?
Who are you to say?
You have no double blind or placebo.
You have only whispers
gathered over a thousand years.
You have only the bright faces of your family.
You have only this little plot of growing things.
You have only your own health taken back.
It is not a study.
It isn't clinical and you are not blind.

This is my wish to all in this season--health, healing and inspiration. May your home be snug and your well of strength brim full.

4 herbs to soothe side effects of drugs and chemo: Home medicine cycle 39

I rarely visit my local doctor. I treat myself, my family and sometimes my friends primarily with simple herbs that I grow myself. I’ve successfully dealt with a lot of cuts, bruises, sprains, rashes, allergies, ear aches, stomach trouble, strep throat, anxiety. depression, parasites, viral infections, chronic coughs, flu, fungal infections, nerve and muscle cramps, immunological problems, ADHD, chronic eczema and more. 

But there a few things I can’t handle. First on that list is surgery. When it comes to surgery I have to put on a paper nightie and surrender all control to the medical establishment. And that is definitely not my favorite thing.

Creative Commons image by Jacqueline of flickr.com

This past month I had to undergo high-risk eye surgeries on each eye with a two-week break in between. I was born with a congenital eye condition and I’ve always been legally blind. Now at 40, it finally caught up with me and it was a choice between losing what vision I have or undergoing surgery. The surgeon admitted my case was very difficult and he felt like he was setting out to “discover the North Pole.” 

This meant that there was no room for experimentation or error. For the first time, my herbalist knowledge seemed completely useless.

From experiences when I was younger, I already knew I don’t react well to anesthesia but the surgeon said it would be necessary. In fact, the first surgery entailed about an hour and a half of anesthesia, much longer than I’ve ever undergone before. It took me about two hours more to even become fully awake again. And then I was sorry I was. 

My operated eye barely hurt at all, but I was sick to my stomach and all around miserable from the toxins in the anesthesia for five days. Even ten days after the surgery, I still wobbly and easily tired, as if I was recovering from a serious illness. 

During the first two days all I could really stomach was salt crackers and ginger tea. In my groggy state, I was not very good at treating my own discomfort, but I did manage to remember and ask for ginger. The ginger helped and soon I could eat a bit, if I first drank a cup of very strong ginger tea.

When my brain started working again, I remembered my herbalist research and specifically some studies that mentioned that ginger is used to reduce nausea and mitigate the effects of toxins in chemotherapy, surgery and radiation treatments. I wondered if ginger could help with the toxins in the anesthesia and topical antibiotics I was dealing with. However, the results of the research appeared to indicate that high doses of ginger right BEFORE toxic exposure may have much greater beneficial effects than merely consuming ginger after the fact.

So, for three days before my second surgery, I consumed about eight ounces of fresh ginger per day in tea and food. And after that second surgery, the grogginess of the anesthesia was gone within an hour. I barely felt nauseated at all. I continued to drink ginger tea and be gentle to my stomach. But my energy and strength returned much more quickly, resulting in a recovery less than half as long as the first.

The surgeries were successful. My world-class surgeon Petr Novak did an excellent job in a complex situation. My family and friends provided much needed physical and emotional support. In all this, And I learned a bit about how herbs can help work together with modern medicine, rather than separate from it.

Detoxifying herbs

I have read a lot about detox treatments and natural medicinals for those undergoing chemotherapy or taking pharmaceuticals with potentially harmful side effects. Many posts and books on the subject list less than organic compounds and almost all push certain products and brand names. Some list things like colloidal silver, which while possibly a useful natural antibiotic is still a heavy metal and more likely to be part of the problem than part of the solution in this case. These are red flags for me. My approach to home medicine is based on the use of simple herbs that can be grown or found near your home. 

Creative Commons image by Alex Graves

While these herbs are not without risks and I carefully note warnings or potential problems in my posts, they are herbs that have been used medicinally for thousands of years and have been proved in the ultimate test of time across many different cultures. They are also herbs that I have tried myself or seen in action.

While I encourage all herbalists, whether professionals or home herbalists, to keep up on the ongoing research on herbal medicinals, there is nothing like personal experience to give a deep understanding of what an herb can do. Before I used large doses of ginger to protect myself from a known reaction to pharmaceutical toxins, I had read the optimistic-sounding research but I had little understanding of how it would actually work. 

I have four herbs to list that I use for detox and protection from toxins. These are all considered low-risk herbs which are consumed by many people as foods. Certainly, each individual is different and you should exercise caution with any herbal medicine and consult with your doctor, particularly if you take any regular medications. However, these herbs are among those that are usually safe and protective in action. Unlike many herbs and other detox treatments, these four can often be consumed by pregnant women and those with fragile health.

Ginger

Ginger acts in the body as a gentle stimulant and protector. It protects the integrity of cells and helps to flush out toxins, particularly many of those connected with pharmaceuticals.

Several studies have shown that women who underwent chemotherapy for the treatment of breast cancer used ginger aromatherapy effectively to curb resulting nausea. In other chemotherapy studies ginger extracts have been found to significantly reduce post-chemo nausea. Many herbalists say holding a piece of ginger in your mouth while undergoing chemotherapy markedly reduces nausea.

Another study has found similarly beneficial effects for patients experiencing nausea after surgery involving anesthesia. Radiation therapies also entail similar cell damage and exposure to toxins. Several studies have shown treatment with ginger extracts before exposure to radiation helped reduce the risks to animals (including severe radiation sickness and death) of the exposure. 

My own experience bears out these results. And even more exciting to me is the fact that I was able to achieve these results without having to depend on a processed ginger extract or essential oil. I was able to eat pleasant ginger curry and drink three or four cups of strong ginger tea per day (brewed by grating fresh ginger into hot water and letting it steep without boiling). The use of ginger as a simple was sufficient to significantly improve my recovery after my second surgery. 

Ginger has a vast array of other medicinal uses beyond detoxification and protection. Further studies and recipes for everything from coughs and migraines to cancer and Alzheimer's can be found in my home medicine post on ginger here. 

Red Clover

Red clover is a humble, almost ubiquitous plant with some surprising properties. Some studies claim it fights breast. prostate and skin cancer. Other research shows its effectiveness in mitigating the side effects of chemotherapy as well as toxic inflammation associated with cardiovascular disease. It has also been used for women's health during menopause.

My only personal experience with red clover is in preventative skin care. I am at an age where it is a good idea to monitor one’s skin for strange new moles or bumps that grow instead of going away. Some years ago, I had such a mystery bump on my leg and I was considering going in for testing. 

But then I read about the efficacy of fresh red clover in preventing skin cancer. I thought I’d just try it out while I waited for my dermatology appointment. But when I mashed up a fresh red clover bloom and stuck it on the bump with a band aid, the effect was dramatic. This bump which had grown and itched and bugged me for months despite all the other herbal sales I tried, subsided and nearly disappeared within three days. And it stayed gone. I occasionally put another red clover bloom on it for prevention, but it has never troubled me since, though it has returned to the normal-sized mole it used to be. 

I can’t generalize from such a one-off personal experience. I definitely suggest you take any suspicious moles and bumps to be tested. Skin cancer is nothing to play around with. The red clover treatment also works far better in the summer when red clover is fresh and in bloom, but it’s something to keep in mind.

Nettle

Nettles are often considered a noxious weed and a mere annoyance. However, they have some powerful beneficial effects and are delicious steamed and seasoned with butter and lemon.

Image by Arie Farnam

Stinging nettles lose their sting when cooked, steeped or dried. The chemical compounds which cause a localized allergic reaction in many but not all people (the sting) break down when exposed to heat or UV rays. What is left is beneficial in many ways and strongly anti-allergenic.

I use nettles in my home primarily as anti-allergy medicine, often with dramatic results. See my post on nettles and allergy rashes here.

But there are other uses for nettles. Many herbalists use them for spring detox protocols. The usual recommendation is a cup or two of nettle tea every day for three weeks, no longer. This will flush an amazing amount of heavy metals from the body and often leave the patient feeling significantly more energetic.

However, there is an important warning to go along with this. The compounds in the nettles that help to rid the body of toxins make no distinction about iron. Iron is a heavy metal and toxic in larger amounts. Nettles flush it out. If you do have too much iron in your body, this could be helpful. But some people have an iron deficiency, leading to anemia.

The only time I have tried a nettle detox, it exacerbated my preexisting anemia and I was chronically tired and had to take iron supplements for weeks afterward. I don’t recommend longer nettle detoxes for anyone who struggles with anemia. I would recommend it if you are concerned that you may have been exposed short-term to toxic heavy metals and want to ensure that they don’t accumulate in your body. 

The action of nettle tea and nettle greens used as food to flush put heavy metals is well documented and unquestionable. It’s just a good idea to take it seriously and exercise caution. They are delicious but they are also real medicine.

Dandelion

Dandelion has been considered a "detoxifying" or "tonic" herb for centuries. Many herbalists recommend a "spring tonic" which consists of drinking dandelion root tea (sometimes combined with nettle leaves or burdock root) for a couple of weeks in the spring to cleanse the body of the chemical residues of winter smog and mold. This can be very helpful and result in a burst of energy.

The chemical reactions that make this tonic work, lead to even more startling uses. 

A study has found that dandelion and other herbs protect DNA against damaging toxins. Dandelion is particularly valuable in protecting the liver from toxins, including alcohol poisoning. This is why dandelion is used in drug and alcohol detox and rehabilitation.

Dandelion root has also been found to combat the formation of cancerous tumors in mice and to assist in the treatment of prostate and breast cancer. Even more exciting is a study that shows dandelion to be potent in treating chemo-resistant melanoma, one of the most dangerous cancers for younger people. It may also protect against chemically induced lung injuries.

In short, science is just beginning to make use of the wonderful ability of dandelion root to mitigate the harmful effects of the toxins that have proliferated in our modern environment. How fortunate that dandelions are as prolific as the dangers.

Dandelion also acts as an anti-viral, anti-microbial, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory agent. It can help in the treatment and prevention of a list of digestive problems including intestinal infections and chemical-induced pancreatitis. Further details about dandelions can be found in my home medicine post on the herb here.

Calm, rest and sleep - the gifts of Valerian: Home Medicine Cycle 38

My five-year-old daughter raced off the school bus bouncing with delight. 

"Mama! Mama! We had green jello!" she gasped in excitement.

My joyful grin froze in place. I tried not show my trepidation. We had begun to suspect that our daughter has a particular sensitivity to artificial food dyes and I'm told green and red are the worst. 

Still I could hope...

I did get her into the house at least. But when her three-year-old brother touched her she flew into a rage and hit him, then bit him. I pulled her away, but now they were both screaming. I comforted my startled and hurt son, while holding my daughter firmly on the other side. She fought and kicked, squirmed and screamed. And she tried to bite me.

For most of the next three hours, I held her on my lap while she shuddered and cried. After the first hour or so, she simply whimpered, "I can't stop! I can't stop!"

That was two years ago, when my daughter spent a few days at an American kindergarten, where things like green Jello are all too common. 

Due to the specific circumstances of our family, I know something about sedatives and their effects. Both of my children were adopted from Eastern European orphanages and my son--the little brother--was drugged with sedatives from the age of two months until we adopted him when he was ten months old. This delayed his neurological development and he went off of the drugs cold at the time of the adoption, because we were not informed about them..

The following year and a half was a trial for all of us. He was often terrified and he flew into a panic if I moved more than ten feet from him, even within our own home. For a year, we couldn't have visitors, because he was so terrified of strangers.

Creative Commons image by S. Rae of Flickr.com

For that and other reasons, my trust in pharmaceuticals is not great, but the situation with my daughter was nearing the point where I thought she might need some sort of medication for what appeared to be hypersensitivity and some fairly extreme stress reactions. 

After several very difficult years, I discovered almost by accident, that dried valerian root may be the answer we've been looking for. I found online forums where parents of children with ADHD said valerian did more for their children than pharmaceutical medications. And it just so happened that a fellow herbalist had just sent me a bit of valerian root from across the ocean. 

I researched it and found that the best way to administer it is as dried powdered root, so I learned a new herbalist skill--making capsules. It isn't nearly as difficult as I would have thought. You simply buy empty jell capsules, grind the root in a mortar as well as possible and fill the capsules with the powder. 

I could even ensure that my daughter got a child's dose this way. And the effect was amazing. If I give my daughter a capsule of valerian when I expect there to be a situation that might trigger her hypersensitivity, she is much calmer. Even in the midst of a meltdown the effects are noticeable a half an hour to an hour after she has swallowed a capsule. Getting her to swallow them is another matter. It was relatively easy at first, but then became more difficult for her to swallow the capsules. If the powder is ground finely enough, she will eat it in honey, which is another option.

Using Valerian

It is interesting that doctors may prescribe valerian for people who are trying to break an addiction to sleeping pills. It helps them sleep as they lower the dose of their pills. However, in this modern age, few doctors will do the obvious thing and just prescribe valerian in the firt place. 

Valerian is a gentle, natural sedative without the addictive side-affects of many synthetic sedatives. It helps to calm anxiety, deepen sleep and settle nerves. It is also used for nervous asthma, menstrual cramps and stress-related migraines. 

Although there are few reports of adverse effects from taking valerian, it acts on the brain much like a synthetic sedative and one should not drive or operate machinery in the hours after taking a dose of valerian. The United States Food and Drug Administration rates valerian as "generally accepted as safe," but there has not been enough research to determine if it is safe for pregnant and nursing mothers. 

The part of the plant used is the root. Besides making capsules or hiding the powdered root in honey, you can tincture the root (see my recipe for tinctures here) or dry it and use it as a tea (see my tips for brewing the most potent herbal teas here). It makes a very bitter tea and powdered root may be more effective than tincture for some people.

Growing Valerian

To my great sorrow, valerian is not easy to grow, or more importantly, it is not easy to germinate. I have tried to grow valieran for four years now and I have never been able to raise a good-sized seedling.

Valerian seeds require stratification, which is a process that simulates the effects of a winter spent outdoors. The general directions for stratification are that you should place the seeds on a piece of wet gauze, enclose it in a plastic bag and freeze it for a week, then refrigerate it for a week and repeat this two more times. Then take the seeds out and plant them. 

I have tried this for four years now without success, but I know of one herbalist who got these directions from me and followed them and grew valerian. So, it may be more to do with the specific growing conditions of my garden than with the directions for stratification. Good luck to you, if you do try to grow it. I wish you much success, and please come back and tell me if it works. I would much rather grow my own herbs than buy them from unknown sources.

Please feel free to leave comments below about your experiences with herbs, home medicine and growing medicinals. I love hearing from you.