Abigails Herbs

Aloe vera gel or juice has been scientifically proven to improve the efficiency of the human digestive track. A recent controlled trial study done in normal human subjects, demonstrated that aloe vera supplementation increases the ability of our body to absorb vitamin C and E, plus it increases the time these vital vitamins stay in our plasma.

These vitamins are closely associated with recovery and healing, and this finding lends further understanding to the way in which aloe supports overall wellness. Oral ingestion of aloe has been shown to have a powerful anti-inflammatory effect on the digestive track. A recent clinical trial demonstrated its potential use as an effective treatment for irritable bowel disease, wherein it was shown that oral administration of aloe vera gel promoted  clinical remission in 30%, improvement in 37% and response in 47% of the patients as compared with 7%, 7% and 14% in  the placebo group respectively. This difference was found to be statisticallly significant.

The two bibliographic references for the two studies mentioned in this article are as follows:

1. Vinson JA, Al Kharrat H, Andreoli L.  Effect of Aloe Vera preparations on the human bioavailability of vitamins C and E.  Phytomedicine. 2005 Nov; 12(10):760-5.
2. Bland, Jeffrey.  Effect of Orally consumed Aloe Vera Juice on Gastrointestinal Function in Normal Humans.  Preventative Medicine.  March/April 1985.

Right now, I am relaxing in my living room, watching the Olympics. I decided to drink a warm cup of chamomile tea as I had a long day. I had to drive in a 50-mile per hour snow storm to get home from work and I am thankful just to be able to sit down and safely drink my herbal tea. Chamomile tea calms my nerves and it relaxes me totally.

Yesterday, at work, one of the women in our administrative offices came to the floor where I was working. I had not seen her in over a year and the last time I saw her she was out on medical leave. She was suffering from back pain and severe arthritis in her hand and arm. She actually looked good and she had lost some weight. She needed to drop some pounds. She smiled and told me that she was feeling better and more functional because she stopped taking prescription meds and she stopped taking pain killers.

She was actually smiling – something she had not been able to do in months. She reported that she had experienced so many side effects from her prescription meds without seeing long-term progress. Instead, she exclaimed that she stopped eating processed foods and sugar. She switched her diet to fresh herbs and raw and organic fruit and vegetables. She was consuming more cold water fish, nuts and seeds. She stated, “I am a living testimony to the power of healthy eating. I am what I eat.”  When I asked her what prompted her to start consuming  fresh , organic foods, she commented that she had watched a program on BBC TV entitled, “You Are What You Eat.”

My friend commented that she drinks herbal teas at night and during the day on a regular, ongoing basis. So, as I sit and enjoy my soothing chamomile tea,I am thinking of my friend and smiling with her.

Ayurveda, a 5000 year old  medical system from India, treats illnesses and other conditions by working to create balance among three life forces. These life forces are known in Ayurveda as 1) Vata dosha, made up of air and ether, governs bodily praocesses; 2) fiery pitta dosha rules digestion and transformation; and 3) earthy kapha governs stability and matter.

Insomnia (inability to sleep) is predominantly seen as a vata imbalance (although pitta also often plays a role). Vata governs all movement in the body, including the nervous system. Because, by nature, it is light, cool,mobile, rough and unbounded – like the wind- vata is the most easily unbalanced dosha. This is explained by Claudia Welch, D.O.M., a fculty member of the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico and the Kripalu Center for Yaga and Health in Stockbridge, Mass.

Overworking, multi-tasking, surfing the Web day in and day out and watching disturbing news can upset vata, which, in turn, upsets both body and mind. The best way to rebalance vata is to introduce the opposite qualities, heaviness, stability, warmth, oiliness and structure. For instance, drinking  warm, whole, nonhomogenized milk with a pinch of nutmeg can have a claming effect, according to Welch.

One classic Ayurvedic herb good for calming vata is ashwagandha. It is a great choice when ou are overworked, or you feel stressed out, if your body is tired and your mind is fatigued. Taking 500 milligrams of ashwagandha daily can help you balance your vata dosha. It will revitalize and give you some good energy. You can also combine taking ashwagandha with other stress-reducing herbs such as valerian, passionflower, chamomile, nutmeg and bhringara. Taking ashwagandha with these other sedative herbs will cure any kind of  insomnia.

I just had some green tea that was naturally sweetened with Rebaudian stevia leaf. This green tea also contained astragalus root, wild cane tea, pueraria root and ophiopogon herb. It tastes delicious and it feels good not to depend on sugar to sweeten my tea. I usually drink my green tea without any sweetener, however, I wanted to mix it with stevia leaf to get a sense of how stevia works as a sweetener.  It has a mild, sweet taste, unlike sugar or honey, which both taste heavy and very sweet. I was delighted to find out that stevia has some very amazing and important health benefits:

1. It has no carbohydrates and no calories. Therefore, it will not put on additional weight like sugar and other sweeteners.
2. Stevia lowers blood pressure, naturally. (Be careful take not to take too much of it if you have naturally low blood sugar because it may lower your metabolism even more).
3. It lowers blood sugar, so diabetics can use it without worrying about raising their blood sugar levels.
4. Stevia has  anti-bacterial properties, so it can be used to clean teeth, preventing cavities, gingivitis and other gum diseases.
5. Lastly, stevia is instrumental in calcium formation, meaning children who take stevia will have stronger, healthier bones and teeth. Research studies in which stevia extract has been given to chickens has  shown that the eggs these chickens have produced have harder and stronger protective shells.

The best advantage to stevia  is that it has a pleasant taste!  I love it.

Tilapia is a delicious fish from southeast Asia. It is a light, white fish; very mild to taste. I love it! Tilapia is a good source of protein and it is quite inexpensive. It is very affordable compared to other kinds of fish. If you like healthy fish with heart healthy sesame oil, try this yummy recipe. It is very easy to make.

Bon appetite!  Enjoy!

Essential Oils Can Boost Your Brain Power by as Much As 28% ! How is this possible? Essential oils increase the amount of oxygen in the body by bringing more oxygen to the blood and thus more oxygen to every cell in the body. According to one study (Dr. Asawa of Japan and Dr. Richardson of England), the inhalation of unadulterated essential oils can increase blood flow to the brain by 15 percent and increase brain blood oxygen levels by 25 percent… Some of the essential oils with high levels of sesquiterpenes include cedarwood, clove, frankincense, melissa, myrrh, patchouli, sandalwood, and vetiver. Clove oil (Syzygium aromaticum), (90% phenylpropanoids), is one of the most antiseptic essential oils. Eugenol, its principal constituent, is used synthetically in the dental industry for the numbing of gums. Most powerful of the antioxidants and a wonderful aid to the immune system. Also repels ants.

Caution: many oils are very potent. When working with oils, most are not applied “neat” (meaning “straight” or undiluted), except to skin that is tough (palms of hands, bottoms of the feet). Always apply with care. If an oil starts to sting or burn, rub a carrier oil (olive, almond, sesame seed, jojoba, etc) over it and the burning will stop. Some oils are way too potent for the average person to use, and must be used with caution. Please read everything you can about an oil before using it. We don’t want anyone getting hurt.

Cloves have powerful medicinal properties. They are stimulating and have antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antiseptic properties. They are also a natural anesthetic (due to the eugenol oil), which is why they were often used for dental procedures in centuries past and are still used in some cultures as a toothache remedy. It is the oil that is derived from the cloves that is so powerful, and this is often used for medicines both topically and internally. This oil contains compound that helps with blood circulation and can stimulate the skin when applied directly to it.

Cloves are a great spice to heal ailments of the digestive system. They are well known for relieving flatulence and can actually help promote good digestion as well as metabolism. They may also help relieve vomiting and diarrhea as well as a host of other digestive disorders.

Cloves have been well known as an all around healing herb and it’s not just digestive problems that cloves are reputed to help with. In fact, they are used in tropical Asia to treat conditions such as scabies, cholera, malaria and tuberculosis. As an antispasmodic it can be applied topically to relieve muscle spasms or in a tea to ease coughing. It can also treat skin problems like styes and sores when applied as an ointment. It is said a paste of milk, salt crystals, and cloves can be a great headache remedy.

Cloves are believed to have other health benefits that aren’t necessarily connected with an immediate illness. For instance, they can make a great mosquito repellant, as well as a moth repellent. Clove studded oranges are often used to repel many kinds of insects in tropical climates. Sucking on cloves may even reduce the craving for alcohol. I love the smell and the taste of fresh cloves.

My poor boyfriend! He was in pain. Now, understand this; when he is in pain, nobody knows it because he is very stoic and does not complain. He does not limp or make faces, so nobody, (not even me) knows that he is in pain. He definitely suffers in silence! I just love him. He is so unpredictable; especially when he tries to hide his emotions.

Well, he needed to rest and recuperate from his accident. He was on a cross-town bus; (good old public transportation), when the bus hit a huge pot hole in the street (Philadelphia’s streets need alot of work). The people in the section of the bus where he was sitting had sprung up and several of the passengers (including him) went flying up and out of their seats, (about one to two feet high). When my boyfriend bounced back into his seat, his backbone (or spine) unfortunately hit the metal frame in which the seat fits.

I know that hurts. It has happened to me on speed boats when we have flown over the wake made by other boats. I was slammed down against the side of the boat a couple years ago and I was driven to tears. The sudden jolt can do some serious damage to your spine.Anyway, I instructed him to lay down on his stomach while I rubbed some great massage oil onto his back. I gave him two “hands on” back massages. He seemed to think that the massage oil helped to stimulate healing. The massage oil deepened his experience. It smelled fantastic and it was more soothing and helped him to relax his mind as well as his body while I massaged the muscles along each side of his injured spine. The massage oil also made it easier for me to slide and glide my hands and fingers across his skin and to get deeper into his musculature. He reported that he felt alot better. Success!

I did not eat any chocolate candy for Valentine’s Day. It just wasn’t given to me. Instead, I went out to eat yesterday and I devoured some decadent chocolate cake with luscious syrup and cream. I usually do not eat chocolate cake, but I figured, “It’s Valentine’s Day;  live a little.” As a gift, I received a four-ounce bottle of this organic chocolate massage oil made by Esutras. 

I rubbed some of the oil on my arms and it actually felt smooth and not oily. So I applied more oil to my legs. Plus, it smelled really good. It was relaxing but it had such a wonderful fragrance that it smelled almost edible. I usually do not use massage oils because I hate that greasy, gooey feeling on my skin. However, this chocolate oil felt actually clean. It softened my rough, winter skin and made it softer. Breathing in the fragrance filled my senses with the desire to ask for more and more of this sensual massage oil.

The best thing about this chocolate massage oil is that it contains no unhealthy additives or dangerous chemicals. It is purely organic. I  plan to feed my thirsty skin with this oil every morning and night. I just love this stuff. It is really unique!