HELP! FLU SEASON is HERE!

Lysine aka l-Lysine A natural ingredient found in food but also found in capsule form. How ever you decide to get your lysine.. getting it, is important especially if you are a vegetarian because most Lysine is found in yogurt, cheeses, butter, cows milk, fish, chicken, beef, egg but it is also found in Avocado. Lysine isn't readily available from grain cereals or peanuts. One should take aprox. 750 to 1,000 mg a day. Deficiency of lysine may contribute to reduce immunity. Taking Lysine during time of stress are important, not only does it help with Flu prevention but also with absorbtion of calcium and formation of bone growth and collagen! I use it in times of stress, flu season and if I feel like my shingles are about to act up and I swear by it. If I can catch the shingles before a complete flare up then it will disapear, if I wait until it has already began to blister than the flare up time is shortened. Lysine is also great to take if you have herpes simplex infections,particularly herpes type 1. Also taking 1-2 grams of lysine daily may have some effect on reduceing outbreaks and symptoms of herpes type 2. ("Elson Haas, M.D.) Taking Lysine isn't a substitute for a healthy living style. With your supplement intake it is important to continue to reduce stress, reducing acid-forming foods and to practice over all good nutrition. So this flu season: * take some deep slow breaths *eat whole foods *take your Lysine and vitamin C! *drink plenty of clean water * wash your hands often Here are some other links about L-Lysine: I always recommend many sources. http://www.livestrong.com/l-lysine/ http://www.traditionaloven.com/tutorials/l-lysine_rich_foods.html

Diabetes and Cinnamon

I am pre diabetic, my naturopathic doc from SCNM put me on 500 grams of metformin and since I am an herbalist, i hated the idea but took my metformin 6 months past and my numbers were still high and so she doubled my dose to 1000 g per day....6 more months past and still...my numbers didnt change. I began ( unbeknownst to her) supplementing with a tblspoon of cinnamon per day in divided doses 3 times a day and after 2 months, my Ha1c dropped so low she feared that I may too low! She lowered my dose of the pharmaceutical and told me that my pre diabetes was reversing FROM the cinnamon! OH HOW I LOVE HERBS!!!!!! A TRUE TESTIMONIAL FROM CARRIE GRAY!

Good enough to eat "Facial Food" !

Hello! Guess what I made?

FACIAL FOOD The easy ingredients are: ~VITAMIN C ~SUGAR ~VITAMIN E ~VITAMIN C ~CHIA SEEDS I ground the Chia seeds and the Vitamin c or you can used powdered Vitamin C. I mixed to the consistancy that felt right for me, aprox. a 1/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 of ground Chia, 2 capsules of Vitamin E, about a Tbl spoon of Vitamins C and milk to form a consistancy of a thick paste. These ingredients are awesome on the inside (omitting sugar) why not try them on the outside too? the proteins of the milk, the scrub of the sugar, the healing properties of the Vitamin E and the anti oxidants of the chia seeds! What a great combo and it feels so great on the face during and after! Have Fun!

Another YUMMY oil

Pumpkin Seed Oil For Health and Skin!

■Great for maintaining smooth skin.
■Increase energy.
■Lower high cholesterol levels.
■Help alleviate prostrate problems.
■Miner depression.
■Improve sexual health.
■Help stop kidney stones from forming.
■Prevent arteries from hardening.
■Learning disabilities.
■Can help increase milk production for lactating mothers.
■Help with bladder problems.
It can make a healthy salad dressing, adding a nice nutty flavour, yet it is no good for cooking as the heat destroys the essential fatty acids.

It makes a good massage oil, for helping to relieve headaches and muscle aches and pains.

When buying pumpkin seed oil, check to make sure it does not contain too much sunflower oil. A lot of manufacturers will add more sunflower oil to cut costs. And always buy cold pressed.

Like flaxseed oil, keep your pumpkin seed oil in the fridge.

To date, there are no known pumpkin seed oil side effects, apart from maybe a slight stomach upset. It has also been found not to interfere with any medication. So enjoy the pumpkin seed oil benefits.
RESOURCE http://www.foreverlookingood.com/pumpkin-seed-oil-benefits

~Herban Chica~: Toxic Free Fly traps

~Herban Chica~: Toxic Free Fly traps

Toxic Free Fly traps

The house fly ICK!
I can't stand flies and flies seem to love our yard and seem to lie in wait at our screen door, each time we open it.. 2 or 3 buzz right in.
I did some searching, wondering why flies seem so bad these last couple of years. I have had a dog for the last 11 years and never had a problem before so I didn't think it was because of that however, if you don't pick up the poop.. it is inevitable that you will attract flies.
The last couple of years I have had a garden, and from what I have learned from www.getridofthings.com , this may be the cause of the abundance of flies that I have. flies love moisture and this will attract them..

I don't like using pesticides or anything that is potentially hazardous to my family or my pets and on www.getridofthings.com I found a few recipes for fly homemade fly traps.

I have yet to try them, and will get back to you with the results! but I have cut and pasted from the website and there list is below.
Previously I have tried vinegar in a glass, wrapped in plastic and a few small holes punched in the plastic.. it was not worth my expensive Braggs applecider vinegar- it caught only a few itty bitty flies and that was it.
HERE IS LIST FROM WWW.getridofthings.com

Homemade Flytraps and Repellents
Homemade fly strips. Making your own fly strip is simple. First, mix up a quarter cup of corn syrup with about a quarter cup of granulated sugar. Next, cut strips from a paper bag that are about 2 inches wide and about 18 inches long. Poke a small hole in the top of the paper strip and run the strip through your sugary concoction or simply smear some of it on the paper. Put a string through the hole, and hang it up. Just remember to keep a bowl or something underneath it to catch any drips.

Homemade flytrap. This one's even easier. Grab a mason jar, and put some syrup, sugar, soda, or any combination of sweet stuff that you can think of in it. Put the lid on and poke some holes in it that are just large enough for the particular flies you are dealing with to get in, and place it in the area with the greatest fly concentration. If you want some ideas for some homemade fruit flytraps, click here.

Plastic bag trick. This one is pretty odd but supposedly works well. All you gotta do is fill a plastic, 1-gallon zipper bag about halfway with water and hang it outside above your door. There are a couple different theories for why this works:1) The light reflections from the water look like spider webs, so the flies avoid the area. 2) The light reflecting off the water simply disorients the flies and they go elsewhere.

Natural fly control. I know these aren't really homemade . . . but whatcha gonna do about it? Anyway, marigolds, mint, and basil are all natural fly deterrents that can be planted outside. Inside, you can hang pine boughs, scatter orange peel, or scatter cloves.

Need some more Fly Control info?

Making "GREEN" cleaning products

Please Visit my new website and join me in a class on how to make your own
"green" cleaning products at home!

www.earthwisdomsite.com

EarthWisdom

I am excited to announce that I have gotten together with a friend and we have created EarthWisdom, an outdoor education website that includes Medicinal Plant Walks and all sort of classes. Our next endeaver will be to incorporate a non profit group for children!
Please stay posted!
Check out our website at:

earthwisdomsite.com

Medicinal Plant Walks and More

Please visit my other website below:
www.earthwisdomsite.com
to learn more about medicinal plants of the Sonoran Desert and plant medicine making!

Healthier Laundry Detergent

Just finished my first batch of homemade liquid laundry detergent! It was fast and easy and I suggest it to anyone. My friends kids make it, that is how easy it is and the money you will save is AMAZING! especially with teenagers. I think it works out to less than .50 cents a load, I haven't calculated that price yet but my friend has, she makes it by the 5 gallon bucket and her recipe is a little different but here is my recipe.

Ingredients:
Fels Naptha Bar
Washing Soda
Borax laundry booster

I grated a half bar of Fels Naptha and added that to about 8 cups of boiling water.
When that was melted I poured in a half cup of the Washing Soda and half cup of the Borax laundry booster and kept that on the stove but not on a boil. I kept stirring periodically until melted completely. This mixture will be thick, remove from stove and set aside.

I used plastic milk/water like jugs and and filled each with 11 cups of warm water and then poured the liquid laundry mixture into them, leaving room enough at the top of the jugs so that I can mix them or shake them periodically for the next 24 hours.

This is so easy and quick to make, and fun! I would love for your feed back if trying this recipe.

All ingredients can be bought at an Ace hardware store.

Our Desert Pharmacy

Medicinal Plant Walk includes book
March 27th
Usery Park, Levee Trail Head
For more information contact
carrie at EARTHWISDOM@cox.net

Riparian Preserve

LINKS:
Riparian Preserve MAP
RIPARIAN INSTITUTE.org


Today I was grateful to be able to walk with a couple of my Herbalism students at the Riparian Reserve as they held a Medicinal Plant Walk. They did such a wonderful job!

I have decided to hold some classes there for next years students, it will be a perfect spot leading to their goal of Outdoor Education. Today there were a wide variety of plants taught about from my favorite the Creosote to Globe Mallow and even Bursage, unfortunatly some of the specimens were in their dormant stage and not pretty to look at however the props that the students brought provided a better idea.

If you are interested in media that can help you learn and understand the Medicines of the plant world in The great Sonoran Desert I will provide a reading list below:
Herbal Medicine of the American Southwest by Charles Kane
Herbal Medicine trends and traditions by Charles Kane
and any books from Michael Moore the Herbalist.
However Charles Kane is local and also provides medicinal plant walks in the Tucson area.

Next month I will be at the nature center supervising two other herbalism students, looking forward to their presentations as well.

Rosemary Wine

by Patricia Halovanic, University Heights, Ohio

3 cups any white wine
3 tablespoons lemon juice
6 tablespoons honey or more to taste
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves

Bruise fresh rosemary leaves
bring all to a simmer for 5 minutes
strain rosemary and serve warm or chilled.
Great for colds or coughs, soothing for night time drink.

Medicinal Wine by James Green, Herbalist

Port, Madeira, Claret, sparkling wines, Apple Cider or Mead can be used.

Medicated wines are low alcohol, dosage can be a tablespoonful to a wine glass full 3times a day.

Best made in small quantities, without heat and well capped in a cool dark place.

Using dried herbs, reduced to a fine powder combined with wine of choice, macerate 14 days, visit and shake mixture daily for two weeks, pour into a sterilized bottle, cap and store in cool location.

WHY Rosemary?
This is a great time of year to use Rosemary medicinally. Rosmarinus officinale has many healing properties as it is an antioxidant, circulatory stimulant, spasmolytic and carminative. It is anti bacterial, warming and drying.
It is great for mental fogginess or fatigue, headaches, hypotention, flatulent indigestion, digestive fullness, joint inflammation,hypothyroidism but is contraindicated in pregnancy.
Rosemary is also very tasty! Fresh Rosemary Tea is quite yummy too, I like strong enough to taste but not overwhelming!

Morning Sickness

Morning sickness may be common for some expecting mothers, while others may not have a single nauseous moment. Thankfully, there are many natural plant/herbs and excersizes that can alleviate morning sickness without the harsh allopathic medicines containing antihistamines.

Susan Weed, Herbalist and author suggests to simply "Walk a mile a day" to prevent morning sickness as moving will also move the chemical by products of the increased hormonal activity of pregnancy through your body, easing the uncomfortable and sometimes overwhelming feeling of nausea.

Here is a list of some of her other suggestions to PREVENT morning sickness:

Increasing (under doctors supervision) iron and vitamin B complex
Eating unsalted crackers or matzo before getting out f bed.
Avoid spicy and greasy foods.
Get out of bed slowly in the morning, ease into your day rather than sudden movement.
Drink a cup of Anixe or Fennel seed tea when you wake up.
Drink a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in 8 oz of warm water first thing in the morning.

REMEDIES for morning sickness by Susan Weed:

Drink a cup or two of Raspberry leaf tea each day
Homeopathic remedie: Ipecac 30x, Nux vomica 6z, Cannabis 30x
Drinking a tea made from dried peach tree leaves to help control morning sickness distress.
Sip peppermint or speramint infusion first thing in the morning.
Take tablespoonful doses of ginger root tea anytime nausea occurs.

I didn't have any morning sickness in my pregnancy and I feel very blessed for this as I do not handle nausea well.
I haven't tried any of these remedies but I think that trying them wouldn't hurt, if nausea was an issue that needed to be dealt with.

http://www.healingwiseforum.com/

Tea With Susan Weed

Information from "Wise Woman Herbal for the childbearing years" by Susan Weed.
FIND HER ON FACEBOOK!

Susans Poetry Contest

Psoriasis, not just skin deep

What is psoriasis?
Psoriasis is a skin disease and can be a serious ailment that can effect your skin, nails, joints and even heart. The most common type of Psoriasis can be easily identified by raised red patches on the skin that are covered with a silvery buildup of dead skin cells referred to as "scale". These patches are most commonly seen on elbows, scalp, knees and torso. The skin cells replicate too rapidly, as much as 1,000 times more rapidly than than normal skin.

Psoriasis is linked to an immune system break down but no one really knows for sure what it is caused from however a number of factors appear to contribute to psoriasis including poor digestion, bowel toxemia, impaired liver function, alcohol consumption, too many animal fats in your diet and an excess of stress in your life.

In my Holistic Healthcare schooling I have learned that skin diseases are linked to the liver, and with knowing this then we can rely on the fact that foods or avoidance of foods can help alleviate most skin conditions.

Foods that are healing for Psoriasis are foods high in antioxidants such as carrots, tomatoes(however, in some people may worsen flare ups), fresh fruits and dark leafy greens.

Foods that are high in fiber, this will help eliminate foods that trigger the flare ups that may be in your intestines.

Topically using Capsaicin, aka cayenne or other peppers, however some burning feeling may be felt and too uncomfortable for some, otherwise after a few days of using an over the counter cream with capsaicin, the burning feeling will subside.
Also topical ointments or salves containing glycyrrhetinic acid from licorice, and chamomile.

Consider taking a good source of omega 3's, such as flaxseeds or flaxseed oil or eating purslane ( you can find purslane in some natural grocery stores produce dept. and Food City Markets)

A natural home rememdy made of equal parts honey, bees wax and olive oil to apply to the skin.
The NATIONAL PSORIASIS FOUNDATIONS suggest oatmeal baths, see there website for ingredients and direction.

Tumeric in foods but also topically however this can be messy and may stain clothing.

Raw Apple Cider Vinegar-1 cup to one gallon of water and either bath in it or make compresses to apply to inflammed skin. You can also add baking soda to this mixture.

Beet/carrot juice with lemon wedge.

Herbs used for Psoriasis:
The list is long and depends on the type of psoriasis that you have but out of the 18herbs that I know used for this disorder I will list 6.
(not in any specific order)
Red Clover
Oregon Grape
Burdock
Sarsaparilla
Tumeric
Dandelion

Foods to avoid:
SUGAR, Gluten, Alcohol, fried or fatty foods,high-protein foods and of course drinking grapefruit juice if you are taking medication for psoriasis.

resources:
Healing foods by Michael Murray N.D.
Green Pharmacy Healing Foods by James A. Duke, PhD
300 Herbs by Matthew Alfs

Summer Heat

The weather is getting hotter, 113 just the other day. I am so glad to have my teas! Iced and making it fresh all day keeps me cool!
My new favorite. Not so theraputic but delicious non the less. I take a pitcher of ice, crammed to it's brim.
5-6 tea bags of Blueberry superfruit by STASH and in a seperate 12 oz cup 3\4 full of boiled water, steep for 15 minutes covered.
This will make a very concentrated tea. LIke I have said before, I have a thing for sweet so I take 10-20 drops of Stevia Clear and add that to the ice before I pour the hot tea over the ice. Add cool water if needed to fill pitcher.

My whole family loves this tea.

This particular blend has hibiscus in it which is a natural coolant. This blend also has some other favorites... orange peel, lemongrass, rosehips, chicory root, bluberry flavor and powder, acai and licorice powder and blaccurrant powder! YUMMY!!

a new blog on supplements

You are invited to check out my new blog on supplements, it is a class project that I am required to post weekly. Could be interesting, maybe.

click below and see:

Supplements...WHY?

Summer Tea

Beautiful Peppermint and Hibiscus! Both coolants, both delicious.
During the heat of the summer I usually put peppermint spirits in my water or make iced peppermint hibiscus tea.

Freshly Dried Hibiscus can be found at Food City but I buy mine on line from MOUNTAIN ROSE HERBS.

Fresh peppermint works best in my opinion, I grow it and that is what I use but if you do not have access to fresh peppermint you can also use peppermint tea bags.
I also add 2-3 drops of therapeutic grade peppermint essential oil from YOUNG LIVING Essential Oils. If you are like me and like your tea sweet than you can add Peppermint Stevia. STEVIA is a natural sweetener made from leaves of the stevia plant. I recommend using the liquid drops and since it is 8000 times stronger than sugar, I only add 9 drops in the whole pitcher of tea. Just a touch of sweet.
My daughter loves it, I love it and the natural coolant of both hibiscus and peppermint keeps you refreshed and cool in the summer heat. For the younger kids who may not like drinking plain water, the pink from the hibiscus helps by giving it a fruit punch or juice look to it.
Another option is just the PEPPERMINT ESSENTIAL OIL and fresh peppermint or tea bags and one or two lemon slices, omitting the hibiscus is an option that I take if I do not have hibiscus readily available.

I take a handful of fresh peppermint and steep for 15-20 minutes in about 1/2 quart size jar covered with boiling water and a lid. Add Hibiscus here as well or do the same with the hibiscus in a different jar.
After 15-20 minutes strain and pour over ice in a large pitcher. Add 9 drops of peppermint stevia and 3 drops of YOUNG LIVING PEPPERMINT OIL. At this time you can add additional filtered water.
Pour over ice and garnish with fresh sprigs of peppermint and enjoy!

CAUTION: be careful with the peppermint oil. ingesting straight essential oil is not recommended and may cause skin irritation to some that come into contact with the oil. My suggestion is to only use up 3 drops per large pitcher of water.

Ordering up one dose of Propylene glycol !

Germs:
We all have busy lives, no time to do everything we can in the time that we have available to us.

So, we adapt. We take needed short cuts to get by; there isn’t anything wrong with this right?

What about simple hand washing. It is said that in order to adequately wash your hands that you should run your hands under warm water with a good soap and rub with friction for about 20 to 30 seconds.

So, I ask… “why don’t we have 20-30 seconds to wash our hands? Are we that much in a hurry”. Perhaps not, maybe we just want to make sure that we are germ free when there may not be a washroom around.

Our toddlers touching everything, putting there hands in their mouths after 30 other toddlers just did the same thing and what if the parents of the other toddlers don’t teach hygiene like we teach hygiene, perhaps the other toddler was ill or touched something disgusting? So, we do our best as parents to keep those nasty germs off of and out of our children. We carry our little gel instant sanitizers.

Purell put on the market a wonderfully magical INSTANT HAND SANITIZER with Moisturizers and Vitamin E.

They reinforced our FEARS about germs and then offered their miracle cure. Great idea in our germ phobic world, however they forgot to mention the dangers in there miracle germ cure.

I read the ingredients, but first had to search for them.
The only one listed on the back of the bottle was the active ingredient. Ethyl Alcohol 62%.....purpose Antimicrobial.

Reading the small print, I learned that I could peel away the back sticker and conveniently hiding under was the Drug Facts Continued list.

I couldn’t’ pronounce most of the other ingredients and certainly didn’t know what they were so I GOOGLE searched them. None were that good, and actually listed in MSDS sheets as pretty nasty stuff.


MSDS stands for Material Safety Data Sheets and these sheets are required on all chemical substances. The agency regulating these sheets is OSHA, the U.S. Government owned OSHA
The problem that I am having is that we aren’t really told these awful truths, we have to search them out. Fine, I can do that… my responsibility right…

So that is exactly what I did. I found a plethora of information but will chose just one ingredient to list, when choosing this single ingredient I randomly chose 3 and this one was the worst but there are plenty of other ones on there that you can check out for yourself.

Propylene glycol here is a link so you can read for yourself. I did cut out a few of what information only to shorten the lengthy list but if you want the whole shebang than by all means USE THE LINK.

PPE:
Splash goggles. Lab coat. Vapor respirator. Be sure to use an approved/certified respirator or equivalent. Gloves.

It may be absorbed through the skin and cause systemic
effects similar to those of ingestion.

It may affect behavior/central nervous system(CNS depression, general anesthetic, convulsions, seizures, somnolence, stupor, muscle contraction or spasticity, coma), brain (changes in surface EEG), metabolism, blood (intravascular hemolysis, white blood cells - decreased neutrophil function), respiration (respiratory stimulation, chronic pulmonary edema, cyanosis), cardiovascular system(hypotension, bradycardia, arrhythmias, cardiac arrest), endocrine system (hypoglycemia), urinary system (kidneys), and liver.

Ingestion: Prolonged or repeated ingestion may cause hyperglycemia and may affect behavior/CNS (symptoms similar to that of acute ingestion).

Inhalation: Prolonged or repeated inhalation may affect behavior/CNS (with symptoms similar to ingestion),
and spleen………..
WAIT… isn’t that enough? Well there is more, I encourage any who are interested to stop, read and educate what it is that we are doing to ourselves with these products that we think are safe to use, daily, and on our children. Disgusting.

So what is the solution?
My NIECE gave me the idea to take little flannel sheets or wash cloths, dampen with sterile water and add essential oils that are anti microbial.
Here are a few antimicrobial essential oils:
Lavender
Rosemary
Sage
Thieves which is a beautiful blend of Clove, lemon cinnamon, eucalyptus and rosemary.

Not only would this be a wonderful aromatherapy but also isn't harmful for our health, and we are also being GREEN, by not buying and throwing away all those empty bottles of hand sanitizers! Which opens up a whole other can of worms. I strongly encourage you to check out this WEBSITE on plastics.

sorcery?

Seriously....
How is it that the use of insect/animal/plant derived remedies from traditional culture is looked upon as voodoo or as disgusting and superstitious, but cellular poisons such as chemotherapy is accepted in our culture?

If we come from earth and return to earth in our life cycle than wouldn't it make sense to live from earth as well?

Does everyone know that pharmaceutical drugs are still derived from mineral,plant and animal sources For instance there are vaccines derived from blood and urine of various domestic and wild animals such as horses, monkeys and insects. Why is it that pharmaceuticals companies aren't playing SORCERY when they take these natural sources and then alter, taint and tweak them? Then they inject them into our bodies and our children's bodies.

We can learn from nature, eat of the land, stop creating poisons but take what mother earth and father sky has already provided for us in it's glorious natural state, from the plants as they already are and then eat ourselves well or eat well as a preventative... with our families. Yes! actually sitting down with your family at a table sharing with our loved ones thus healing our souls and hearts, healing our bodies with whole unprocessed foods. Herbs and Vegetables rather than boxed, canned or fake foods. IT CAN BE DONE, one step at a time.

Our culture is lacking in nutrition, sleep, community and self worth and we continue to cause damage by ignoring this.

I am not suggesting immediate drastic changes over night but only one food at a time and one meal at a time... even if it is once a week to start is effort.

I am not suggesting to stop your pharmaceuticals, throw out your processed foods, force members of your family to sit around a table at every meal.

I am only suggesting that you look inside at your true needs, begin to imagine what it would be like and maybe start slowly.

It's a choice. Your choice and mine. I am still learning and have a long way to go but slowly I have weeded out one thing at a time, eliminating processed foods one at a time.

It has been two years since I have started, it is a process... I still have processed foods in my house, there are canned goods and ingredients that I cannot pronounce, yet there is a whole lot less of that these days than two years ago. I think that I would have starved to death if I just tossed all processed foods out with out first learning how to replace them.

I am okay with my progress, it isn't perfect but I am okay with where I am and know that it is a process.. it isn't exactly easy, it takes a little time and a lot of effort but it can be done.

It can be expensive too, but there are ways to cut back and that you may not even be aware of. Just by not eating fast food,cutting back or eliminating starbucks, no buying bottle water, turning down your air conditioning by 2 degrees... it all ads up and if it is really important to you to change your unhealthy habits than you WILL find a way.