Tag: herbal medicine

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My Favorite Herbal Allies for All Stages of a Woman’s Life

Herbs are a beautiful complement to help women gracefully move through life’s different stages. These plant medicines are highly effective and, in almost all cases, come with a higher degree of safety and fewer side effects than conventional medications. Along with food and mindfulness, herbs can be a powerful force in solving many health issues.

The herbs discussed here support women’s health through the challenges that may come at different times of the month, the year, and throughout a woman’s life. While herbs can be highly beneficial for pregnant and nursing mothers, that’s not the focus of this post, and not all herbs discussed here are appropriate for mothers or mothers to-be. Please do your own research.

The following are some of the most powerful herbal allies to support a woman’s health over the course of her lifetime.

herbs

Vitex (Vitex agnus-castus)

One of the most effective herbs at regulating women’s hormones is Vitex, or Chaste berry. It supports the production of progesterone and luteinizing hormone, both of which are necessary for ovulation and regulating menstruation cycles. Vitex can help reduce PMS symptoms including depression and irritability, bloating, breast tenderness, cravings and acne. It can help with irregular cycles. Vitex may also support women struggling with PCOS and infertility.

Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa)

Wild Yam has a long history of use in supporting women with reproductive health. Contrary to common belief, wild yam does not contain estrogen or progesterone, and it cannot be biologically converted to active hormones in the body. However, Wild Yam does contain the steroidal saponin aglycone diosin which may be converted to diosgenin in the body. Diosgenin then may act on estrogen receptor sites, which may aid in estrogen balance. It’s important to note that this conversion requires healthy gut flora.

Crampbark (Viburnum opulus) & Black Haw (Viburnum prunifolium)

Two herbs which are helpful for women during menses are Crampbark and Black Haw. These herbs have similar actions in the body and are used to soothe the occasional discomfort associated with menstrual cycles. Cramp bark also has a history of use for endometriosis and miscarriage.

Black Cohsoh (Cimicifuga racemosa)

Black Cohosh supports a healthy endocrine system and hormonal cycles throughout a woman’s life. It has a long history of use with menopausal women for relief from hot flashes, sweats, and the effects of declining estrogen. It is also used in the treatment of arthritis and muscle pain.

Additional Allies

Additionally, there are other herbs which can support healthy hormones and moods in women. For liver support and proper elimination of hormones, Burdock root (Arctium lappa) and Dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale) are great considerations. For emotional support, particularly during menstruation, beneficial herbs include Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata), Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca), Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), and St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum). Finally, adaptogens, such as Eleuthero root (Eleutherococcus senticosus) and Licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra), can be be used as tonics to support healthy mood, hormones, sleep, and immune function.

No matter the life stage, herbs can be highly effective in supporting women’s optimal health and vitality.

Dialing in your diet is an excellent complement to using herbs to support a healthy lifestyle. To find YOUR triggering foods and get to the root of your imbalances, click here to download a FREE 12-page guide that leads you step by step through a 28 day process. Come out the other side with balanced hormones, better energy, and improved digestion.

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Improve Your Digestion Today with 7 Simple Tips

veggies

“All disease begins in the gut.” This oft-cited quote from Hippocrates still holds quite true, especially in modern times when so many factors are impacting our microbiome, our digestion, and our overall gut health.

Improving and maintaining strong digestion is essential for robust health. Healthy digestion is responsible for optimal nutrient absorption, proper energy production and metabolism, and elimination of toxins and other waste products. A diverse microbiome protects us from infection and supports a healthy mind and mood, among many other things.

Employ the following tips to optimize your gut health and improve digestion immediately.

relax digestion

Relax

Healthy digestion begins in the mind, before food even enters the mouth. Sit down to eat. Take a few deep breaths to relax and feel gratitude for your meal. The sight and smell of food allow the salivary glands to begin to produce the enzymes necessary to initiate the breakdown of food. Eliminate distractions, such as watching television or reading, so you can actually taste your food and sense when you’re full. Slow down and eat mindfully. This allows the nervous system to shift into parasympathetic, aka ‘rest and digest’, mode.

Chew More

The teeth break down food into smaller pieces which make it easier for the digestive system to process. Proper chewing also produces more saliva which contains enzymes that further break down food for increased nutrient absorption.

sauerkraut digestion

Feed the Gut

Creating a healthy microbiome involves nurturing a wide variety of microbes and feeding those microbes what they need to thrive. Inoculate the gut with probiotics through fermented foods, such as sauerkraut and kimchi, and consider high quality supplements with a variety of strains. Nurture healthy gut microbes by eating a diverse range of foods, focusing on whole unprocessed foods, and consuming a lot of fiber. Legumes, whole grains, fruit, and vegetables are all great choices.

For a list of foods I enjoy on trail to maintain a healthy microbiome, download a copy of my healthy hiker grocery guide for FREE here.

Hydrate

Maintaining a steady intake of non-caffeinated beverages throughout the day is important to ensure healthy elimination and avoid constipation. Water is the ideal choice. There are many opinions on how much, but the old 8×8 rule, or eight eight-ounce glasses, is a good place to start. Increase this amount in hot climates or with heavy exercise.

Drop Unhealthy Habits

Eliminate the following activities which have been shown to disrupt digestion and a healthy microbiome: consuming artificial sweeteners and other food additives, drinking alcohol, smoking, over-consuming caffeine, being overly stressed, late night eating, and taking unnecessary pharmaceuticals.

exercise digestion

Exercise

Movement helps food pass through the digestive system. Even a short 15-20 minute walk can improve digestion. Gastrointestinal motility is important not only for physical comfort, but because it helps maintain a healthy bacterial population in the small intestine.

Consume Herbs to Enhance Digestion

Incorporate the following herbs to support liver and gallbladder health, stimulate digestion, and repair the digestive tract: Ginger root, Dandelion root, Peppermint leaf, Milk Thistle seed, and Slippery Elm bark. Use an infusion or decoction to prepare these herbs, depending on the part of the plant with which you’re working.

Incorporate any or all of the above tips to ensure robust digestion and all the benefits that go along with that!

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Five Natural Sunburn Remedies

sunburn

Ahh, summertime–cookouts, swimming, long days spent outside, and as is often the case, sunburn.

As much as we try to avoid it, most of us are familiar with the red, painful skin of a sunburn. Use the following natural remedies for quick relief!

A limited amount of time in the sun supports vitamin D production and regulates our circadian rhythm. However, too much exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays damages the skin, creating a painful sunburn.

Sunburn symptoms may not appear until up to 24 hours after you’ve been in the sun, so you don’t always know when a burn is happening. While it’s wise to keep the following remedies on hand, it’s even more important to avoid burns in the first place. Sunburns not only lead to pain, inflammation, peeling, and blisters, but they also increase the risk of skin cancer.

To avoid the sun’s harshest, most intense rays, avoid direct exposure between 10am and 4pm. When you are in the sun, cover your skin with light, breathable clothing, and wear a wide-brimmed hat. Consider using a sun umbrella, and apply sunscreen to exposed areas.

When you do your best to avoid a burn, but the sun gets the best of you anyway, use the following remedies for fast relief.

essential oil

Apple Cider Vinegar

ACV soothes burns and speeds healing. The acetic acid in ACV eases itching and inflammation. Add 1-2 cups to tepid bath water and soak for 30 minutes. Alternatively, combine 1 part ACV to 7 parts water and use this mixture for a compress. Apply to burns several times daily. To speed recovery, infuse the vinegar with one of the soothing herbs listed below.

aloe vera

Aloe Vera

The gel of this plant soothes, moisturizes, and heals burned skin. Harvest your own aloe gel from a plant at home or find commercial aloe at any drugstore. Look for one that has only the gel and no additives. Apply several times daily to unbroken skin, allowing it to air dry.

peppermint

Essential Oils

Peppermint essential oil is cooling and analgesic, making it a great choice for painful, burned skin. Lavender essential oil is anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial, and can speed healing. Consider other anti-inflammatory oils such as rose geranium, helichrysum, and chamomile.

Dilute oils prior to application. Consider using aloe gel or creating a spritz by combining 20-40 drops of essential oil with 1 tablespoon ACV and 5 ounces of water in a spray bottle.

bees

Herbs

Soothe sunburn with herbs that are anti-inflammatory, high in tannins, and promote wound healing. Consider green and black tea, plantain, comfrey, calendula, St. John’s wort, witch hazel, chamomile, and lavender. Use these herbs in compresses, sprays, salves, and infused in vinegar.

baths

Baths

Baths with common household ingredients can also alleviate redness and burning. Try an oatmeal bath by placing 1-2 cups finely ground oatmeal into an old sock, tying it off, and soaking with it in tepid bath water for 15-30 minutes. Baking soda is another option. Pour 1-2 cups baking soda into a tepid bath and soak for 30 minutes.

These methods work well alone and in combination. Cold compresses and baths are helpful in the early stages for immediate relief. Once the burn has cooled, salves and lotions can be great for healing skin.

To support healing from the inside out, ease the stress of the burn with adaptogen herbs, such as eleuthero root. Eat plenty of foods high in the antioxidant Vitamin C, such as fruits and veggies, to combat free radical damage. Finally, stay hydrated to replenish lost moisture and support recovery.

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Natural Remedies for Bug Bites & Stings

mosquito

Summer is just around the corner, which for many of us means more time spent outside. As any gardener or outdoor enthusiast knows, it’s likely just a matter of time until you have an unpleasant encounter with an  insect that bites or stings. The effect can range from slight annoyance to infections and even disease. Some of the most common biting or stinging bugs are mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, bees, chiggers, black flies, horse flies, and deer flies.

bees

Natural remedies can be a great alternative to bug sprays which contain chemicals such as DEET (N, N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide) and permethrin. DEET has been linked to many harmful effects, including impaired cell function in the brain, memory loss, tremors, shortness of breath, headache, and joint pain. Excessive exposure to permethrin can cause nausea, headache, muscle weakness, excessive salivation, shortness of breath, and seizures.

‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’ as the saying goes, and when it comes to bug bites, this is no less true. Several plant essential oils are useful for their insect-repellent properties. A few of the most common ones include pennyroyal, cedarwood, citronella, eucalyptus, cinnamon leaf oil, and catnip oil. These can be added to water to create a bug spray. Note, pennyroyal should be avoided by pregnant women. Alternatively, citronella candles are commonly available. When purchasing essential oils, look for high quality therapeutic grade oils. Here’s where I get mine.

If you do your best to keep bugs at bay, but still end up with a bite or sting, the primary goals become soothing inflammation, reducing pain, and healing the skin in order to prevent infection. The following herbs can be helpful in this instance.

mint

Peppermint (Mentha piperita)

Peppermint oil or crushed leaves are cooling and can provide temporary relief from itchy or inflamed bites.

Plantain (Plantago Major)

Fresh plantain leaf can be used to provide immediate pain relief for insect bites and stings. To make a poultice, fresh plantain leaf can be mixed with bentonite clay and water to form a paste. Alternatively, a leaf can be chewed and placed directly over the inflamed area.

calendula

Calendula (Calendula officinalis)

Calendula oil or fresh leaves can soothe irritated, itchy skin, and can aid in healing bites and stings. A simple salve can be created with calendula, beeswax, and antiseptic essential oils, such as tea tree, rosemary, and lavender.

salve

Comfrey (Symphytum officinale)

Comfrey infused oil or fresh juice from leaves can be used topically to treat many skin conditions, including rashes, scrapes, and wounds. For bites and stings, it can reduce inflammation and relieve itching.

tincture

Witch Hazel (Hamamelis)

Witch hazel distillate is commonly available at pharmacies and is approved by the FDA as an over-the-counter remedy for relieving minor skin irritations. Create an itch-relieving poultice by mixing 3 parts baking soda with 1.5 parts witch hazel.

These remedies are made with easily found herbs and ingredients. It’s wise to keep a few (or all) on hand, especially in the summer months, when those bites, stings, scrapes, and scratches inevitably occur.

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Herbs & Lifestyle Strategies for Managing Stress

stress relief

Nearly everyone I know faces unprecedented demands on their time. We all have several roles we play, each with a different set of expectations, whether that’s at work, with our families, in our social lives, or elsewhere. It can be all too easy to over-commit, and when that happens, stress can quietly (or not so quietly) sneak up on us. However, keeping stress at bay is essential to be our most productive, creative selves and perform at our highest level.

As we navigate a world of ever-increasing demands, it’s essential to build a personal toolbox of strategies which support us in reliably managing stress. You may already have a toolbox without consciously knowing it. Test out the following ideas, see what works for you, and build a set of practices you can utilize anytime you feel stress creeping in.

herbs

Take Adaptogens

Adaptogens are a class of herbs which help the body adapt to stress and promote homeostasis, or stability, within the body. Some common examples include Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus),  Schizandra (Schisandra chinensis), Licorice (Glycrrhiza glabra), and Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea). Adaptogens can be taken as a tincture, capsule, tea, or powder added to foods. Use the single herbs or take an adaptogen formula with several different herbs. Adaptogens are a key resource in your toolbox which can be used daily to keep your mind and body resilient.

 

exercise

Exercise

Incorporating movement into your day is crucial to keeping stress at bay. Exercise reduces stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, while also boosting endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers. Whether you choose cardio or weight lifting or something else, find an activity you enjoy and create an exercise habit if you don’t already have one.

 

nature time

Spend Time in Nature

Studies have shown that wilderness-based stress management tools, such as time in nature and gardening are effective at reducing burnout and other stress-related symptoms. Whether it’s a walk in the park, a weekend backpacking trip, or an afternoon in the garden, make space for more time in nature.

 

time

Learn to Say No

Perhaps more important than any strategy to mitigate stress is learning to avoid it in the first place. A key tool to prevent stress is to steer clear of taking on too many commitments in the first place. Most of us like to say yes when something is asked of us, but learning to discern the important few from the trivial many is crucial for stress management. For more ideas, check out books like Essentialism, and The One Thing.

 

toolbox

Other Tools

A few other stress management strategies to consider include: social time with friends and family, journaling, meditation, taking a hot bath, dancing to music you love, cuddling a pet, making art, and doing something kind for another person.

Test different strategies, find what works for you, and build a toolbox to alleviate stress when it comes creeping in, as it inevitably will.

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