The Complete Herbal Guide: A Natural Approach to Healing the Body - Heal Your Body Naturally and Maintain Optimal Health Using Alternative Medicine, Herbals, Vitamins, Fruits and Vegetables (90 page)

Skull Cap has been given to alcoholics who are suffering from withdrawal symptoms and delirium tremens.  It is believed to be helpful in treating barbiturate, tranquilizer, and drug withdrawal symptoms.

Skull Cap is thought to be a powerful antioxidant that appears to protect red blood cells from free radical damage more effectively than Vitamin E, and it also shows some promise in preventing the oxidation of blood fats.

Skull Cap is said to strengthen the heart muscle, improve circulation, and be helpful for treating cardiovascular disease.

Skull Cap has been used to treat snakebites and the bites of poisonous insects.

Dosages:
Take two (2) capsules, one (1) to two (2) times each day with water at mealtimes.

Precautions:

Pregnant and nursing women should not use Skull Cap. Large doses (many times the recommended amount) may cause giddiness, confusion, twitching and stupor, but the herb works well when taken consistently over a period of time. Skull Cap should not be given to children.

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Did you know…?

As its name implies, this lubricating and nutritious herb coats irritated areas, allowing the body to heal itself. Its high level of mucilage helps to soothe a sore throat, ease indigestion and lubricate the bowel, which has made Slippery Elm Bark useful for easing Crohn's disease, colitis and irritable bowel disease.

Plant Description:

Slippery Elm is a large, deciduous tree that is native to North America and grows in the moist, well-drained (but not waterlogged) woods of the eastern half of Canada and the United States. The tree may reach a height of sixty feet and may now also be found planted along streets, as well as in the forests throughout North America. Native American Indians were the first to discover the healing powers of the Slippery Elm and found that when the tree's inner bark comes in contact with water, the gummy substance (or mucilage) swells and produces a soothing, softening ointment. Native Americans applied it to heal wounds, and when it dried, it became a natural bandage, and they also wrapped Slippery Elm Bark around meat to prevent spoilage.

History:
The English settlers soon noticed its widespread use by Native Americans and included it into their medicinal applications for wounds, cold sores and boils. The colonists also used the bark to treat coughs, sore throats and urinary tract infections. Slippery Elm Bark was used during the American Revolution to treat gunshot wounds and in Valley Forge as a survival food. 

Mixed with water, Slippery Elm Bark makes a highly nutritious and soothing gruel for children and for sick people of any age, and the herb was once listed in the
United States Pharmacopoeia
.Slippery Elm bark has a soothing and healing effect on any part of the body with which it comes into contact. The bark's high mucilage content is composed of easily digested, nontoxic, complex carbohydrates, and Slippery Elm Bark also contains beta-sitosterol, campesterol, tannin, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, zinc, beta-carotene and Vitamins B-1, B-2, B-3 and C.

Medical Uses:

The Principal use of Slippery Elm Bark is to soothe sore throats. The high level of mucilage makes it extremely soothing for the inflamed mucous membranes of the throat and esophagus. Herbalists use it in cough medicines for scratchy, raw, sore throats and mouth irritations, and it is also an effective ingredient in throat lozenges.

Slippery Elm Bark reduces inflammation of the intestinal tract.
  It soothes the inflamed mucous membranes of the bowel and neutralizes excess acids in the intestines, which make it beneficial for Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticulosis, diverticulitis and irritable bowel syndrome. It has also been used to ease both constipation and chronic diarrhea.

One of Slippery Elm Bark's oldest uses has been as a digestive tonic. Again, its high mucilage content soothes the inflamed mucous membranes of the stomach and neutralizes excess stomach acids, making it an excellent remedy for the entire digestive system. It is said to soothe stomach irritation and the sore feeling that often follows vomiting.
  Old time herbalists use it as a remedy for ulcers and gastritis.

Slippery Elm Bark generally reduces inflammation and is useful for soothing the mucous membranes of the urinary tract and easing the inflammation of aching joints.

Midwives used Slippery Elm Bark to lubricate and ease childbirth.

Slippery Elm Bark is a highly nutritious food product. It is good for babies as a nutritive and also benefits those babies who are unable to digest milk products. Because it is so soothing and easily digested, it is one of the few foods that will stay in a cancerous or ulcerated stomach when nothing else will and is also beneficial for invalids and those recovering from illness or who have wasting diseases.
  In times of famine or food shortage, a gruel made from Slippery Elm bark was highly valued for its nutritive qualities.

Slippery Elm Bark works with the body to draw out impurities and toxins and has been a longtime treatment for cuts, bruises, wounds, burns, and also to relieve inflamed or itchy skin.

Dosages:
For Botanical Powder:
Take one (1) to two (2) capsule, three (3) times each day with water at mealtimes.

For Botanical Extract:
Take two (2) capsules, one (1) to two (2) times each day with water at mealtimes.

Precautions:
People with known allergies to elm bark should avoid Slippery Elm Bark. Other medications should be taken at a different time, because the herb's high mucilage content may interfere with their absorption.

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Spearmint
has been used for thousands of years as a pleasant way to support the gastrointestinal system, with particular emphasis on the lower bowel.  The herb is said to relieve flatulence, indigestion, colic, irritable bowel syndrome, nausea, heartburn, as well as stomach, abdominal and bowel pains. This is one old home remedy that no one should be without.

Plant Description:

Spearmint is a hardy, herbaceous perennial that is native to the Mediterranean region but also grows wild and is cultivated in temperate climates over most of the world. Plants of the mint family are a complex group, involving hybridization in both the wild and in cultivation, and are so numerous that it is sometimes difficult to identify the individual plants within the species.

Spearmint is a leafy plant with square stems that bear short, uneven, serrate leaves topped by slender, terminal spikes and pale purple or mauve flowers that bloom from July to September.
  The plant may be found in rich, moist, alkaline soils in sun or partial shade and grows to a height of about two feet.

History:

The genus,
mentha
, is derived from the name of a nymph, Minthe, who was seduced by Pluto and whom the jealous Persephone turned into a seedling (mint). There is evidence that mint was cultivated by the Egyptians, and the Romans revered it so much that they are said to have introduced it from southern Europe to other parts of Europe.

Medicinal interest in mint dates from the first century A.D., when its use was recorded by the Roman naturalist, Pliny. The use of mint as a medicine is mentioned in the
Icelandic Pharmacopoeias
of the thirteenth century, and in Elizabethan times, more than forty ailments were reported to be remedied by mint.

It is interesting to note that a seventeenth-century visitor to New England included mint on a list of plants that had been taken to the New World. However, the herb only appears to have arrived into the popular medicine of Western Europe by the eighteenth century. Cultivation of Spearmint takes place worldwide as a very important commercial crop that is used for flavoring candy, ice cream, gum, liqueurs, tobacco and medicines; for its fragrance in perfumes, potpourris, lotions and pomanders; for its efficacy in repelling insects; and finally, for its all-important medicinal applications. Spearmint shares many of the uses of peppermint, in slightly weaker proportions, but will precipitate all the same actions, which are simultaneously warming and cooling. The primary use of Spearmint in herbal medicine has been for digestive complaints, but the almost countless lists of applications also includes pain relief (including headache and joint pain), cold and flu relief, and skin problem treatments, among
many
others.  Some of the ingredients in Spearmint include an important essential oil, which contains the simple terpene derivative, corvine (its major active principle), choline, tannin, acids, minerals, vitamins, alpha- and beta-carotenes, azulenes and a bitter principle.

A ninth-century monk, writing about the plants, said he'd rather count the sparks in a furnace than count the different varieties of mint.
  Nonetheless, mints have been known and appreciated since antiquity for their fragrance and taste and their important use in herbal medicines.

Medical Uses:

Spearmint is an aromatic herb that is primarily known to stimulate and act mainly on the digestive and gastrointestinal system (it is even an ingredient in some antacid medications). The bitter principle has been highly esteemed for thousands of years to relieve nausea, indigestion, heartburn, colic, irritable bowel syndrome, dyspepsia, gastric ulcers, gastroenteritis and stomach, abdominal and bowel pains (especially the lower bowel).  Spearmint is particularly known for its ability to help expel stomach and intestinal gas and otherwise remedy the deleterious effects of too much food or an improper diet.

Also considered an antispasmodic, Spearmint is frequently given to relieve cramping (including menstrual and abdominal cramps), bowel pain and spasms (including further support for irritable bowel syndrome).

Spearmint is a diuretic that promotes urine flow and is often given for suppressed or painful urination (particularly scalding urine).  This property is useful for dropsy (or edema) and helps rid the body of excess water.  In addition, it is also thought to help flush gravel from the bladder.  Moreover, the herb is also said to promote perspiration, which not only helps to cool the body and lower fever, but it also helps to rid the body of toxins through the skin.  This diaphoretic quality is very helpful in cases of flu and colds (particularly accompanied by fever).

As an analgesic and calmative, Spearmint is used as a pain reliever and nerve tonic and is believed to quiet the nerves, ease tension and relieve headaches (including migraines) and vomiting, especially when related to nervous causes.

Spearmint is considered an effective expectorant that helps to expel excess mucus (good for sinusitis) and bring relief to the upper respiratory tract (easing coughs and asthma).

As a flavoring, Spearmint is sometimes combined with other less palatable medicines to make them more agreeable in taste or to allay their tendencies of producing nausea or griping (the grumbling pains in the bowel or intestines).
  It is frequently used in this manner in cough medicines, in addition to augmenting their expectorant applications.

Used externally, Spearmint is thought to be mildly anesthetic and anti-inflammatory and has been used for hemorrhoids and joint pain. It is also included in mouthwashes (good for sore throats) and in toothpastes. Other external uses for Spearmint include its addition to fragrant potpourris, pomanders, toiletries, perfumes, cigarettes and pesticides.

Related News

From MSNBC's >Technology & Science > Science Section - 08/25/06
"The doctors of ancient Greece and China had it right when they applied cool and mint salves to soothe aches and pains, a new study suggests. A synthetic treatment with the same properties as mint oil is an effective painkiller when applied directly to the skin. The new cooling compounds could be especially beneficial to millions suffering with the chronic pain of arthritis and diseases affecting nerve endings, scientists say."

Dosage:
Take two (2) capsules, one (1) to two (2) times each day with water at mealtimes.

Precautions:
None

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St. John's Plant
is a bitter digestive that
relieves stomach acidity, dyspepsia, indigestion, travel sickness and acute bowel and stomach pain
. It also
soothes the nerves, reduces tension and insomnia
. St. John's Plant is beneficial for female complaints,
easing menstrual cramps and painful menopausal symptoms
, and it also
improves liver and gallbladder function
.

Plant Description:

St. John's Plant is a native of temperate Europe and Asia and was introduced to the Americas, where it grows on roadsides, riverbanks and in vacant lots and waste places, thriving in well-drained, neutral-to-slightly-alkaline soil in sun and growing to a height of six feet.

It is an aromatic, multi-branched shrubby perennial with red-brown stems, bearing deeply cut, dark-green leaves (that are downy white underneath) and clusters of yellow-to-red-brown flower heads that bloom from July to September.