Saturday, October 31, 2009

quoting from dandelion revolutions dot com

Milk thistle seeds, Silybum marianum, are known as a supreme herbal tonic for the liver. It is traditionally used for supporting the liver and gallbladder as it increases the production of bile, and has hepatic, demulcent, choloagogue, antihepatoxic, and galactagogue actions. From David Winston, “It is indicated for cirrhosis of the liver as well as nephrotoxity, psoriasis and Hepatitis A, B, and C. It combines well with Burdock seed for dry, scaly skin conditions (87)”.

Silymarin was isolated by German researchers as the most important active ingredient of milk thistle seeds. Later on it was discovered that silymarin is actually a group of chemicals, flavanolignans, not just one single chemical constituent (Wikipedia). From Matthew Wood, “laboratory and clinical research has demonstrated that silymarin prevented the destruction of liver cells, increased the production of new liver cells, and increased the level of glutathione, an amino acid which helps to detoxify poisons and process hormones” (448).

Wood states that “milk thistle is an excellent liver and abdominal medicine in serious cases” (449), like death cap mushroom poising. It is not perhaps the first herb to reach for in everyday liver support like burdock, dandelion or yellow dock. But for those who are in need of more specific and stronger liver support in cases of liver complications or to conteract hepatotoxic pharmacueticals, David Hoffmann states that the theraputic dose from Commission E is 12 to 15 grams of the seeds or 200 to 400 miligrams per day of standardized silymarin.

Milk thistle condiment - This tasty and easy-to-make condiment is a wonderful way to get the liver rejuvenating effects of milk thistle in your daily diet. Sprinkle on eggs, rice dishes, soups and stews, practically any kinds of ethnic foods, and stir into mayo and mustard to eat on sandwiches and dips. I partically love it with seafood, like on Spanish paella.

• 1/2 cup milk thistle seeds

• 1 T ginger powder

• 1 T garlic powder

• 1 t paprika

• Grind seeds well in a coffee grinder. Mix with the other herbs, put in a shaker and use daily.

This article is not mine... I got it from a wonderful website called "dandelion revolution"


http://dandelionrevolution.com

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

hiking with friends in the superstition

It is October and we didn't have much of our monsoon weather this year. Seems to be dryer and dryer each season, however, the beauty in the Sonoran desert still welcomes me and the views are still breathtaking.
I can hardly wait for January, I will be giving several walk abouts to teach medicinal plants of our beautiful desert and I hope to see the blooms that the desert is lacking on this latest hike. I missed seeing the fairy dusters, brittlebush and desert marigolds.





Monday, October 5, 2009

a beautiful tea


I had some left over tea blend, dandelion leaf, gotu kola, cleavers, and mint. I added a handful of rosemary, nettles, handful of calendula flowers and pink rose buds. I then steeped it for about an hour. It was wonderful, I loved the rosemary and rose flavor together. I was drinking this superb tea while extracting the juice from the tunas of the prickly pears that we collected the day before and decided to add some of the juice to the tea and was pleasantly surprised. What a wonderful combination and a wonderful pink color. Earlier in the week I had made some rose bud infused honey and sweetened this tea, it was perfect. Delicious, nutritious and refreshing. There is one problem, I didn't write down the amounts, I know better than that! I hope that I can duplicate this tea again sometime, I know next time that no matter what.. measure and write down the ingredients!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Juicing Tuna






After the Gleaning Party... I decided to try my hand at juicing the tunas for some yummy treats at a later date. There were several different ways to juice them but I seem to find that a combination of them worked best for me. Freezing and thawing them into a bowl was one way, they kind of partially juiced themselves, then squeezing them through cheese cloth, but before that I took an old meat tenderizer.. and poked holes in them, put them in the cheese cloth and squeezed the rest of the juice out, straining them one last time into a bowl and then finally into freezer bags and putting them into the freezer to use at a later date. viola!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

grateful













The more I learn about the plants and this earth, the more passionate I become. I am new at all this... I don't even know how to use some of the "green" terms correctly. But I am learning and loving it.
I find that I get emotional when talking about the plants.. I feel wierd about it but then again I feel blessed about it too.
We can learn so much from the desert.. from the earth in general. It isn't hard, it just takes a want to learn it and then the earth, the universe, will supply the opportunities. I feel so grateful. I love all that I am learning and want to share it with the world.
On a prickly pear gleaning party gathering, I overheard a woman who was walking her dog stop and ask one of the gleaning participants what we were doing. When he told her that we were collecting the prickly pear for juicing, making jam, margaritas or what not... she was suprised. She has lived here since .. well, forever and had no idea that this cactus bore fruit that was not only edible but DELICIOUS. How much more do I not know? How much more do you not know? And what might the our lives be like if we knew more?

Friday, October 2, 2009

skin cancer returning


So if you have been following you can see that the skin cancer that we have been treating with creosote oil aka chaparral; practically disappeared. It seemed to have come back with a vengeance though, We did continually put the medicated oil on the spot but did slow down that number of times and may have skipped a few days in total. So when it came back we applied the oil again and were diligent but it didn't seem to help, I switched to red clover tincture both topically and a little internally and it seemed to start looking better. We also added one of my salves as a topical that has calendula, creosote,olive oil and vitamin E. The skin cancer looks better but it is still there, actually there are two spots again rather than just one.
We think that the creosote worked. We think that it cured the skin cancer on the surface layer of the epidermis but the cancer that was deeper in the skin layer remained and therefore grew back to the surface. Mike and I have decided to have the skin cancer looked at by his dermatologist and determine how to take care of it after his consultation. This is a reminder to me that allopathic and natrapathic medicine should and can be integrated. When I decided to go natural I told myself that I wouldn't totally give up on modern day medical and this is why. I believe in herbs, I love herbs and natrapathic medicine and I will always try to do things the natural way first and foremost but we who chose the natural path may also want to remember that both types of medicine can go hand in hand and work together. I will remain to keep you posted on the skin cancer. =)