Sunday, November 19, 2023

Show 160: Chicory, Cornbread, Dressing and Stuffing

Listen to "Show 160: Chickory, Cornbread, Dressing and Stuffing" on Spreaker.


 

In this episode, I discuss the medicinal properties of Chicory, the history of stuffing and dressing, how to make both fried and baked cornbread and I share some old family recipes.




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Read about my new books:

Medicinal Weeds and Grasses of the American Southeast, an Herbalist's Guide
https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/medicinal-weeds-and-grasses-of-american.html

Available in paperback on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47LHTTH

and

Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith
https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/confirmation-autobiography-of-faith.html

Available in paperback on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNK


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Read about my new other books:

Medicinal Ferns and Fern Allies, an Herbalist's Guide https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/11/medicinal-ferns-and-fern-allies.html

Available for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMSZSJPS

The Omnivore’s Guide to Home Cooking for Preppers, Homesteaders, Permaculture People and Everyone Else: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-omnivores-guide-to-home-cooking-for.html

Available for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGKX37Q2

Medicinal Shrubs and Woody Vines of The American Southeast an Herbalist's Guide
https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/06/medicinal-shrubs-and-woody-vines-of.html

Available for purchase on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2T4Y5L6

and

Growing Your Survival Herb Garden for Preppers, Homesteaders and Everyone Else
https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/04/growing-your-survival-herb-garden-for.html

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X4LYV9R


The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Bitter Herbs: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-encyclopedia-of-bitter-medicina.html

Available for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5MYJ35R

and

Christian Medicine, History and Practice: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/01/christian-herbal-medicine-history-and.html

Available for purchase on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09P7RNCTB


Herbal Medicine for Preppers, Homesteaders and Permaculture People: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2021/10/herbal-medicine-for-preppers.html

Also available on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09HMWXL25

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Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Medicinal Shrubs and Woody Vines: Kalmia, Laurel


 

Three varieties of Kalmia have documented use in Herbal Medicine: Kalmia angustifolia - Sheep Laurel Family, Kalmia latifolia - Mountain Laurel, Kalmia polifolia - Swamp Laurel 


Native to my region are: Kalmia angustifolia (Sheep Laurel), Kalmia carolina (Carolina Laurel, Southern Sheepkill), Kalmia cuneata (White Wicky)


While the Kalmia’s have been used in Herbal and Folk Medicine, they are very dangerous and toxic plants.


Mrs. Grieve tells us:


A beautiful evergreen shrub from 4 to 20 feet. When in full flower it forms dense thickets, the stems are always crooked, the bark rough. It was called Kalmia by Linnaeus in honour of Peter Kalm, a Swedish professor. The hard wood is used in the manufacture of various useful articles. Leaves ovate, lanceolate, acute on each end, on petioles 2 to 3 inches long. Flowers numerous, delicately tinted a lovely shade of pink; these are very showy, clammy, interminal, viscid, pubescent, simple or compound heads, branches opposite, flowering in June and July. The flowers yield a honey said to be deleterious. The leaves, shoots and berries are dangerous to cattle, and when eaten by Canadian pheasants communicate the poison to those who feed on the birds. The fruit is a dry capsule, seeds minute and numerous.


Constituents---Leaves possess narcotic poisoning properties and contain tannic acid, gum, fatty matter, chlorophyll, a substance resembling mannite, wax extractive, albumen, an acrid principle, Aglucosidearbutin, yellow calcium iron.


Medicinal Action and Uses---Indians are said to use the expressed juice of the leaves or a strong decoction of them to commit suicide. The leaves are the official part; powdered leaves are used as a local remedy in some forms of skin diseases, and are a most efficient agent in syphilis, fevers, jaundice, neuralgia and inflammation, but great care should be exercised in their use. Whisky is the best antidote to poisoning from this plant. An ointment for skin diseases is made by stewing the leaves in pure lard in an earthenware vessel in a hot oven. Taken internally it is a sedative and astringent in active haemorrhages, diarrhoea and flux. It has a splendid effect and will be found useful in overcoming obstinate chronic irritation of the mucous surface. In the lower animals an injection produces great salivation, lachrymation, emesis, convulsions and later paralysis of the extremities and laboured respiration. It is supposed, but not proved, that the poisonous principle of this plant is Andromedotoxin.


Preparations and Dosages---A saturated tincture of the leaves taken when plant is in flower, is the best form of administration, given in doses of 10 to 20 drops every two or three hours. Decoction, 1/2 to 1 fluid ounce of powdered leaves from 10 to 30 grains. Salve made from juice of the plant is an efficient local application for rheumatism.


Other Species---

Kalmia augusfifolia (Sheep's Laurel or Lambkill, or Narrow-leaved Laurel, so called because it poisons sheep, which feed on its leaves), this species is said to be the best for medicinal use. A decoction of its leaves, 1 OZ. to 1 quart of water reduced to a pint, is used by the negroes as a wash for ulcerations between the toes. A poisonous glucoside is found in the leaves of this species called asebotoxin, and also in K. latifolia.


K. Glauca, or Swamp Laurel, has similar properties.


The Cherokee used Mountain Laurel:


An ingredient in the medicine… “For muscle soreness.”  An ingredient in the medicine… “For shifting pains.”  A leaf decoction including the leaves of mountain laurel, Rhododendron maximum, and Leucothoe editorum is applied to rheumatic areas for relief.  Take all possible laurels and some other plants and steep.  Rub this tea on for rheumatism, after scratching first with a scratcher.  Peel and boil the stick; rub on this tea for rheumatism.  In old times a leaf ooze was rubbed into the scratched skin of ballplayers to prevent cramps.


The Lumbee used Lambkill:


A decoction of the top part of the plant and rhizomes was made from three to four pieces no more than two inches long.  “Wicky” was boiled in two pints of water for a few hours.  This decoction was poured into a tub of bath water to treat the “mad itch” or scabies.


Towards and American Materia Medica tells us:


Kalmia Latifolia. I have now employed the powder of the leaves of this plant, exhibited internally, in some cases of tinea capitis. In this very troublesome disease, the Kalmia is, certainly, a medicine entitled to attention. I have also employed the powder of the leaves, made into an ointment with lard, and externally applied to a disagreeable herpetic affection of the skin. In this case, also, I have found it extremely useful. Even in confirmed siphylis, it has seemed to do good. In South- Carolina, this species of Kalmia is called Callico-tree. 


The powdered leaves of this vegetable have been used, with much success, in some cases of intermittents. A saturated tincture, prepared from the leaves with a proof spirit, is an active medicine, and perhaps worthy of a place in the shops. For some interesting information concerning the powers of this species of Kalmia, and also those of Kalmia angustifolia, or Narrow-leaved Kalmia, commonly called Lambkill, &c, I beg leave to refer the reader to Dr. George G. Thomas's Inaugural Dissertation concerning these plants, published at Philadelphia, in 1802. 


Resources of The Southern Fields and Forests tells us:


CALICO  BUSH ;  IVY  BUSH,  {Kalmia  latifolia,  L.)  Grows along  rivers  in  upper  districts;  S.  and  N.  C. ;  Richland,  Gibbes; at  Sister's  Ferry;  Savannah  River;  Aiken,  S.C.     Fl.  July, 


Drayton's  View  of  South  Carolina,  69 ;  Ell.  Bot.  i,  481 ;  U. S.  Disp.  1269 ;  Big.  Am.  Med.  Bot.  i,  133  ;  Kalm's  Travels,  i, 335;  Barton's  Coll.  i,  18,  48;  and  ii,  26;  Tbacher's  Disp.  247; Thomas'  Inaug.  Diss.,  Raf.  ii,  16;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  528.  


The leaves  are  poisonous  and  narcotic,  and  animals  have  been  poisoned by  eating  them.  It  is  said  that  death  has  been  occasioned by  eating  the  t!esh  of  partridges  and  pheasants  that  had  fed  on them.  Dr.  Shoemaker  publishes  two  cases,  (see  N.  Am.  Med. and  Surg.  Journal,  see  U.  S.  Disp.,)  which  resulted  from  eating a  pheasant,  in  the  craw  of  which  laurel  leaves  were  found.  The symptoms  are  nausea,  temporary  blindness,  pain  in  the  head, dyspnoea,  cold  extremities  and  a  very  feeble  pulse,  which  in  one case  was  for  some  time  absent  at  the  wrist;  in  the  other,  beat only  forty  strokes  in  the  minute.  In  both  cases  relief  was afforded  by  vomiting  produced  by  a  tablespoonful  of  flour  of mustard  mixed  with  warm  water.  A  case  of  similar  poisoning is  related  in  the  Edinburgh  Med.  J.,  May,  1856,  in  which  epigastric tension  and  uneasiness,  glowing  heat  of  the  bead,  loss of  sight,  coldness  of  the  extremities,  general  prostration  and twitchings  of  the  muscles  were  the  prominent  symptoms,  followed by  nausea  and  full  vomiting,  which  afforded  some  relief  but  feelings  of  formication  and  weakness  of  the  limbs,  with great  prostration  of  the  circulation,  remained  for  several  hours requiring  the  use  of  stimulants.  See  U.  S.  Disp.,  12th  Ed. 'Thomas,  in  Inaug.  Diss.  Phil.  1802,  reports  cases  of  obstinate diarrhea  cured  by  a  decoction,  thirty  drops  being  taken  four times  a  day.  The  leaves  have  been  advantageously  used  in syphilis,  and  extensively  api)lied  in  tinea,  psora  and  cutaneous affections.  Dr.  Barton  states  that  nervous  symptoms  have  resulted from  the  external  use  of  the  strong  decoction,  thirty drops  taken  internally  six  times  a  day  producing  vertigo.  Dr. Bigelow  detected  in  the  leaves  taimin,  a  resinous  matter  and gum.  Besides  these,  Dr.  Stabler  finds  a  volatile  oil  of  a  narcotic odor  and  nauseous  smell,  supposed  to  be  the  active  principle: see  Am.  Journal  of  Pharm.  x,  241 ;  Griffith,  Med.  Bot.  428.   From  these  experiments  of  Dr.  S.  he  determines  it  to  be  a  direct arterial  sedative,  without  any  acrid  or  narcotic  property;  hence he  supposes  it  suitable  to  cases  of  hypertrophy  of  heart  and other  diseases,  When  it  is  necessary  to  decrease  the  action  of that  organ;  and  from  the  tannin  present  that  it  is  peculiarly fitted  for  cases  of  hemorrhage,  dysentery,  etc.  He  proposes that  two  ounces  of  the  leaves  be  macerated  in  a  pint  of  alcohol for  a  week  and  then  strained,  the  dose  of  which  for  an  adult is  thirty  drops  every  two  or  three  hours.     If  these  observations are  confirmed  it  will  give  the  plant  a  high  reputation  as  a  scda tive,  and  attention  is  invited  to  it.  The  wood  is  much  used  for mechanical  purposes,  being  hard  and  dense. 


Kalmia  hirsuta,  Walt.  Grows  in  wet  pine  barrens;  vicinity of  Charleston.     Fl.  July. 


Ell.  Bot.  Med.  Notes,  i,  48..  


The  leaves  are  used  by  negroes, and  the  poor  white  people,  as  a  cure  for  itch,  and  lor  the  mange in  dogs.  A  strong  decoction  is  applied  warm  to  the  eruptions, which  occasions  much  smarting;  and  it  seldom  requires  more than  one  application  to  effect  a  cure. 


Sheep Kill  Laurel,  (Kalmia  angustifolia,  L.)  Barren  hills; upper  districts  N.  and  S.C.     Chapman. 


The  leaves  of  the  Kalmia  (angustifolia)  exude  a  sweet,  honey-like juice,  which  is  said  when  swallowed  to  bring  on  a  mental intoxication  both  formidable  in  its  symptoms  and  long  in  its duration,  (Torrey.)  In  this  it  appears  closely  to  resemble  the Armenian  azalea,  (Johnston's  Chemistry  of  Common  Life,  vol.  ii, p.  157.)  About  Long  Island  the  K.  angustifolia  is  believed  to kill  sheep,  and  is  known  by  the  name  of  sheep  poison.  Tho  Azalea  pontica,  a  kindred  shrub,  is  said  to  be  the  source  of  the narcotic  quality  for  which  the  Trebizond  honey  is  famous. 


King’s Medical Dispensatory of 1898 states:


Sheep laurel, or more properly Mountain laurel, inhabits most parts of the United States, on rocky bills and elevated grounds, and in damp soil, sometimes forming a dense thicket, with a profusion of beautiful rose-colored flowers which appear in June and July, forming a contrast with its dark, glossy, green leaves. The leaves are reputed to be poisonous to sheep and several other animals, killing them; while others again, as deer, goats, and partridges, feed upon them without any unpleasant consequences. When partridges, which have eaten the laurel leaves, have themselves been cooked and eaten, they are said to have occasioned sickness at stomach, headache, impaired vision, difficult breathing, coldness of the surface and extremities, and other symptoms similar to those caused when putrid meats are eaten. An emetic of mustard with warm water has relieved some of the above symptoms by removing the poison from the stomach. It is very doubtful, however, whether these symptoms were caused by the poisoned flesh of the birds, as numerous persons eat partridges that have fed on these leaves, without the least inconvenience. The Indians are said to have used the expressed juice of the leaves, or a strong decoction, for the purpose of committing suicide. They also made spoons of the wood, hence the name spoonwood. The leaves, which are astringent and bitter (described above), are the medicinal parts, and yield their virtues to alcohol or water.


Chemical Composition.—The leaves contain, according to Mr. C. Bullock, fatty matter, resin, tannic acid, gum, a body somewhat like mannit, chlorophyll, wax, albumen, an acrid substance, extractive, yellow coloring matter, and various salts (Amer. Jour. Pharm., Vol. XX, p. 264). Mr. G. W. Kennedy (1875) isolated arbutin in small quantity. The poisonous principle is andromedotoxin (C31H51O10), a neutral body, found by Prof. Plugge in several poisonous, ericaceous plants (see also investigation by A. J. M. Lasché, Pharm. Rundschau, 1889, p. 208). It is soluble in water (1 in 35), chloroform (1 in 400), alcohol (1 in 9), and almost insoluble in ether (1 in 1400). The diluted mineral acids, when warm, impart to it a beautiful red color. Miss De Graffe (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1896, p. 321), found tannin resembling oak-tannin in the stems and leaves of mountain laurel. Mr. Harry Matusow (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1897, p. 341) analyzed the root of Kalmia latifolia, which contained 11.4 per cent of starch, 1.24 per cent of ash, tannin resembling oak-tannin, etc. The ether extract contained a substance which gave reactions for andromedotoxin.


Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—In immoderate doses, sheep laurel is a poisonous narcotic, producing the symptoms above named, with diminished circulation. In medicinal doses, it is antisyphilitic, sedative to the heart, and somewhat astringent. Internally, either in powder, decoction, or tincture, it is an efficient remedy in primary or secondary syphilis, and will likewise be found invaluable in febrile and inflammatory diseases and hypertrophy of the heart, allaying all febrile and inflammatory action, and lessening the action of the heart. In active hemorrhages, diarrhoea, and flux, it has been employed with excellent effect, and will be found useful in overcoming obstinate chronic irritation of mucous surfaces. I have extensively used this agent, and regard it as one of our most efficient agents in syphilis; and have likewise found it very valuable in inflammatory fevers, jaundice, and ophthalmic neuralgia and inflammation. The remedy must always be used with prudence; and should any of the above mentioned symptoms appear, the dose must be diminished, or its use suspended for a few days. In cases of poisoning by this article, stimulants, as brandy, whiskey, etc., must be given, with counter-irritation to the spine and extremities. Sheep poisoned by eating the leaves, have been saved by administering 1 or 2 gills of whiskey to them (King). Scudder (Spec. Med.), states that he has employed it with marked advantage in secondary syphilis and atonic chronic inflammations. For the treatment of aching pains in the muscles of the face, muscular rheumatism with shifting pains, and in the early stage of rheumatism of the heart, success has been claimed for this drug, the specific medicine being used in from 1 to 5-drop doses. Bright's disease (?) is asserted to have been benefited by its use. Pain in the back during the menstrual period, and pain upon moving the eyes are said to be relieved by kalmia. Externally, the fresh leaves stewed in lard, or the dried leaves in powder mixed with lard to form an ointment, are said to be beneficial in tinea capitis, psora, and other cutaneous affections. "Some time since I treated a case of syphilis of five weeks' standing, which had not received any kind of treatment during that period. The patient, at the time I first saw him, had several chancres, the surface of the body and head was covered with small red pimples, elevated above a jaundiced skin, and he was in a very debilitated condition. I administered a saturated tincture of the leaves of kalmia, and touched the chancres with a tincture of chloride of iron, and effected a cure in 4 weeks, removing the jaundice at the same time" (King). The saturated tincture of the leaves or specific kalmia, are the best forms of administration; they may be given in doses of from 10 to 20 drops every 2 or 3 hours; the decoction may be given in doses of from ½ to 1 fluid ounce; and of the powdered leaves, from 10 to 30 grains. For acute disorders, particularly affections of the heart, from 5 to 20 drops of specific kalmia may be added to 4 fluid ounces of water, and the dilution administered in teaspoonful doses every hour. A salve made of the juice of the plant, forms an efficient local application for rheumatism. This remedy was a great favorite with Prof. King, especially for troubles depending primarily upon syphilitic infection.


Specific Indications and Uses.—Syphilis with excitation of the heart and circulation; rheumatism with shifting pains; cardiac excitation; cardiac palpitation excited reflexly from gastro-intestinal irritation; pain upon movement of the eyes.


Photo: Kalmia angustifolia 2.Related Species and Derivative.—There are other species of Kalmia, as Kalmia glauca, Aiton, or Swamp or Pale laurel, and Kalmia angustifolia, Linné, or Narrow-leaved laurel, which possess similar properties. The K. angustifolia is supposed by some to be the best of the species for medicinal use. Lasché, in 1889, found andromedotoxin in the leaves and twigs of the latter plant, as well as the berries of Kalmia latifolia. This plant is used by the Cree Indians as a tonic and remedy for intestinal irregularities.


LAUROTETANINE.—M. Greshoff has found in a number of Laurel species a crystalline, toxic alkaloid (laurotetanine), soluble in an excess of alkali. It closely resembles strychnine in its action upon the spinal cord (Pharm. Jour. Trans., 1891, Vol. XXI, p. 662).


Botany in A Day gives us very good advice:


Swamp Laurel contains a substance called andromedotoxin, used in small doses as a sedative for neuralgia.  Native Americans drank a tea of the leaves to commit suicide.  In other words, don’t mess with it!


Plants for A Future states:


Medicinal use of Sheep Laurel: Sheep laurel is a very poisonous narcotic plant the leaves of which were at one time used by some native North American Indian tribes in order to commit suicide. It is little, if at all, used in modern herbalism. The leaves are usually used externally as a poultice and wash in herbal medicine and are a good remedy for many skin diseases, sprains and inflammation. They can also be applied as a poultice to the head to treat headaches. The singed, crushed leaves can be used as a snuff in the treatment of colds. Used internally, the leaves are analgesic, astringent and sedative and have a splendid effect in the treatment of active haemorrhages, headaches, diarrhoea and flux. This species is said to be the best for medicinal use in the genus. The plant should be used with great caution however.


Medicinal use of Mountain Laurel: Mountain laurel is a very poisonous narcotic plant the leaves of which were at one time used by some native North American Indian tribes in order to commit suicide. Because of its toxicity, it is a remedy that is seldom used in modern herbalism, but the leaves have been used externally in herbal medicine and are a good remedy for many skin diseases and inflammation. The leaves are analgesic, astringent, disinfectant, narcotic, salve and sedative. An infusion of the leaves is used as a disinfectant wash and liniment to treat pain, scratches, rheumatism, inflammations and to get rid of body parasites. Used internally, the leaves have a splendid effect in the treatment of active haemorrhages, diarrhoea and flux. They are also used in the treatment of syphilis, inflammatory fevers, neuralgia, paralytic conditions, tinnitus and angina. The leaves should be used with great caution however, and only under the guidance of a qualified practitioner. Excess doses cause vertigo, headache, loss of sight, salivation, thirst, nausea, palpitations, slow pulse and difficulty in breathing. 


Medicinal use of Swamp Laurel: Swamp laurel is a very poisonous narcotic plant the leaves of which were at one time used by some native North American Indian tribes in order to commit suicide. It is little, it at all, used in modern herbalism though the leaves are a good external treatment for many skin diseases and inflammation. The leaves are astringent and sedative. They are used externally to make a poultice or a wash in the treatment of many skin diseases, open sores, wounds that will not heal and inflammation. Used internally, the leaves have a splendid effect in the treatment of active haemorrhages, diarrhoea and flux. They should be used with great caution however, and only under the supervision of a qualified practitioner. 


Peterson Field Guides Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants tells us:


Sheep Laurel: American Indians used minute amounts of flower, leaf and twig tea for bowel ailments.  Tiny amounts of leaf tea used for colds, backaches, stomach ailments, externally, for swelling, pain and sprains.  Warning: Highly toxic.  Do not ingest.


Mountain Laurel: American Indians used leaf tea as an external wash for pain, rheumatism, in liniments for vermin.  Historically, herbalists used minute doses to treat syphilis, fever, jaundice, heart conditions, neuralgia, and inflammation.  Warning: Plant is highly toxic; even honey from the flowers is reportedly toxic.  Avoid use.



PS. New in my Woodcraft Shop:

Wild Cherry Cooking Set #2 - Judson Carroll Woodcraft (substack.com)


This article is an excerpt from 

Medicinal Shrubs and Woody Vines of The American Southeast An Herbalist's Guide

Read about Medicinal Shrubs and Woody Vines of The American Southeast An Herbalist's Guide: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/06/medicinal-shrubs-and-woody-vines-of.html

Available for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2T4Y5L6: by Judson Carroll

His New book is:



Read About:  The Medicinal Weeds and Grasses of the American Southeast

https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/medicinal-weeds-and-grasses-of-american.html

 Available in paperback on Amazon: 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47LHTTH


His new cookbook is:



Read About The Omnivore’s Guide to Home Cooking for Preppers, Homesteaders, Permaculture People and Everyone Else"

https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-omnivores-guide-to-home-cooking-for.html


Available for purchase on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGKX37Q2


His other works include:

Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith

Read about Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith

Available in paperback on Amazon: 


Ferns and Fern Allies, an Herbalist's Guide 

Read About Ferns and Fern Allies, an Herbalist's Guide 

https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/11/medicinal-ferns-and-fern-allies.html

Available for purchase on Amazon:


Growing Your Survival Herb Garden for Preppers, Homesteaders and Everyone Else

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Available for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X4LYV9R


The Encyclopedia of Bitter Medicinal Herbs:

southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-encyclopedia-of-bitter-medicina.html

Available for purchase on Amazon: 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5MYJ35R


Christian Medicine, History and Practice:

https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/01/christian-herbal-medicine-history-and.html

Available for purchase on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09P7RNCTB


Herbal Medicine for Preppers, Homesteaders and Permaculture People

southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2021/10/herbal-medicine-for-preppers.html

Also available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HMWXL25


Look Up: The Medicinal Trees of the American South, An Herbalist's Guide

http:///www.amazon.com/dp/1005082936


The Herbs and Weeds of Fr. Johannes Künzle:

https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2021/05/announcing-new-book-herbs-and-weeds-of.html


Author: Judson Carroll. Judson Carroll is an Herbalist from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

His weekly articles may be read at judsoncarroll.com

His weekly podcast may be heard at: www.spreaker.com/show/southern-appalachian-herbs

He offers free, weekly herb classes: https://rumble.com/c/c-618325


Disclaimer

The information on this site is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition. Nothing on this site has been evaluated or approved by the FDA. I am not a doctor. The US government does not recognize the practice of herbal medicine and their is no governing body regulating herbalists. Therefore, I'm just a guy who studies herbs. I am not offering any advice. I won't even claim that anything I write is accurate or true! I can tell you what herbs have "traditionally been used for." I can tell you my own experience and if I believe an herb helped me. I cannot, nor would I tell you to do the same. If you use any herb I, or anyone else, mentions you are treating yourself. You take full responsibility for your health. Humans are individuals and no two are identical. What works for me may not work for you. You may have an allergy, sensitivity or underlying condition that no one else shares and you don't even know about. Be careful with your health. By continuing to read my blog you agree to be responsible for yourself, do your own research, make your own choices and not to blame me for anything, ever.

Sunday, November 12, 2023

Show 159: Lambs quarters and Pasta e Fagioli

 

Listen to "Show 159: Lambs quarters and Pasta e Fagioli" on Spreaker.

In this episode, I discuss the medicinal properties of Chenopodium, which is basically a wild spinach around here, but is cousin to epazote. We also discuss how to make Pasta e Fagioli, which is a delicious but simple and inexpensive bean and pasta soup... and I explain why I have often been called "that funky white boy."






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Read about my new books:

Medicinal Weeds and Grasses of the American Southeast, an Herbalist's Guide
https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/medicinal-weeds-and-grasses-of-american.html

Available in paperback on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47LHTTH

and

Confirmation, an Autobiography of Faith
https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/confirmation-autobiography-of-faith.html

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Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Medicinal Shrubs and Woody Vines: Juniperus, Juniper


Juniperus, Juniper Twenty-two varieties of Juniper have been noted for their medicinal value: Juniperus ashei - Ashe Juniper, Juniperus californica - Californian Juniper, Juniperus communis, Juniperus communis nana, Juniperus conferta - Shore Juniper, Juniperus deppeana - Aligator Juniper, Juniperus drupacea - Syrian Juniper, Juniperus excelsa - Grecian Juniper, Juniperus horizontalis - Creeping Juniper, Juniperus chinensis - Chinese Juniper, Juniperus monosperma - One-Seed Juniper, Juniperus occidentalis - Western Juniper, Juniperus osteosperma - Desert Juniper, Juniperus oxycedrus - Prickly Juniper, Juniperus recurva - Himalayan Juniper, Juniperus rigida - Temple Juniper, Juniperus sabina – Savine, Juniperus scopulorum - Rocky Mountain Juniper, Juniperus silicicola - Southern Redcedar, Juniperus squamata - Flaky Juniper, Juniperus tetragona, Juniperus virginiana - Pencil Cedar 


Only three Junipers are native to my region, and both tree are virginiana: Juniperus virginiana var. virginiana (Eastern Redcedar), Juniperus virginiana var. silicicola (Southern Redcedar). These are generally referred to simply as cedar, although they are junipers. One is shrub-form, Juniperus communis var. depressa (Common Juniper, Ground Juniper, Mountain Juniper).


 Juniper has a long history as a medicinal herb. Galen stated that Juniper berries, “cleanse the liver and kidneys, and they evidently thin and thick and viscous juices, and for this reason they are mixed in health medicines.” 


Dioscorides wrote in de Materia Medica: 


Some juniper is bigger, some smaller. Either of the junipers [the bigger and the smaller] are sharp, diuretic and warming, and when burned the fumes drive away snakes. One type of the fruit (called the juniperberry) is the size of a hazelnut, the other equal to a bean— both round and fragrant, sweet, and a little bitter to chew. It is mildly warming and astringent, good for the stomach, good taken in drink for infirmities of the chest, coughs, gaseousness, griping, and the poisons of venomous creatures. It is also diuretic; as a result it is good for convulsions and hernia, and those who have congested or blocked wombs. It has sharp leaves, as a result applied as a plaster and taken as a drink (or the juice taken with wine) they are good for those bitten by vipers. The bark (burned and rubbed on with water) removes leprosy, but the scraping dust of the wood (swallowed down) kills. There is a great juniper too, which some call cypressus sylvestris, some mnesitheus, some acatera, and the Romans juniperus, and it is known to most like cypress growing for the most part in rough places and near the sea. It has the same properties as the former. The lesser juniper some call archeuthis, some, mnesitheus, others, acatalis, the Africans zuorinsipet, the Egyptians libium, the Romans juniperus, and the Gauls jupicellusum. 


Dioscorides also wrote of a Juniper wine: 


Cedar, juniper, cypress, bay, pine or fir wines are made the same way. Separate the newly cut wood when it gives out fruit, lay it in a bath in the sun or near the fire so that it may sweat, and then mix one pound of this to four and a half litres of wine. Mix it and leave it alone for two months. Then put it in another jar, and having placed in the sun for a while, put it in smaller jars. 


We must fill up the jars of wines made like this, for if we do not they grow sour. Nevertheless these medicinal wines are unfit for the healthy. They are all warming, urinary, and somewhat astringent. That of bay is the most warming. 


A wine is also made from the fruit of the bigger cedars. Mix half a pound of bruised cedar berries to four and a half litres of must and keep it in the sun for four days, and after all this strain it and pour it into another jar. Wine is also made from the berries of juniper trees, as well as from the fruit of the cedar, which has the same effects. 


A Juniper beer was very popular in Scandinavian countries before hops came into common use, and is still enjoyed by some craft brewers. 


Saint Hildegard von Bingen wrote: 


The juniper is more hot than cold, and signifies excess. Take its fruit, cook it in water, strain this water through a cloth. To this add honey and a bit of vinegar and licorice, and less ginger than licorice. Cook it again, and place it in a little bag, and make a spiced wine. Drink it often, whether fasting, or having eaten. It diminishes and mitigates pain in the chest, lungs or liver. Also, take the green twigs and cook them in water. Make a sauna bath with that water. Often bathe in it, and it diminishes the bad fevers in you. 


Juniper has also been widely used among British herbalists. Gerard state: 


Juniper is hot and dry, and that in the third degree, as Galen teacheth; the berries are also hot but not altogether so dry: the gum is hot and dry in the first degree, as the Arabians write. 


The Virtues. 


A. The fruit of the Juniper tree doth cleanse the liver and kidneys, as Galen testifieth: it also maketh thin clammy and gross humours: it is used in counterpoisons and other wholesome medicines: being over-largely taken it causeth gripings and gnawings in the stomach, and maketh the head hot: it neither bindeth nor looseth the belly: it provoketh urine. 


B. Dioscorides reporteth, that this being drunk is a remedy against the infirmity of the chest, coughs, windiness, gripings and poisons, and that the same is good for those that be troubled with cramps, burstings, and with the disease called the mother. 


C. It is most certain that the decotion of these berries is singular good against an old cough, and against that with which children are now and then extremely troubled, called the chin cough, in which they use to rise up raw, tough and clammy humours, that have many times blood mixed with them. 106 


D. Divers in Bohemia do take instead of other drink, the water wherein those berries have been steeped, who live in wonderful good health. 


E. This is also drunk against poisons and pestilent fevers, and it is not unpleasant in the drinking: when the first water is almost spent, the vessel is again filled up with fresh. 


F. The smoke of the leaves and wood driveth away serpents, and all infection and corruption of the air, which bring the plague, or such like contagious diseases: the juice of the leaves is laid on with wine, and also drunk against the bitings of the viper. 


G. The ashes of the burned bark, being applied with water, take away scurf and filth of the skin. 


H. The powder of the wood being inwardly taken, is pernicious and deadly, as Dioscorides' vulgar copies do affirm; but the true copies utterly deny it, neither do any of the old writers affirm it. 


I. The fume and smoke of the gum doth stay phlegmatic humours that distil out of the head, and stoppeth the rheum: the gum doth stay raw and phlegmatic humours that stick in the stomach and guts, if it be inwardly taken, and also drunk. 


J. It killeth all manner of worms in the belly, it stayeth the menses, and hæmorrhoids: it is commended also against spitting of blood; it dryeth hollow ulcers, and filleth them with flesh, if it be cast thereon: being mixed with oil of roses, it healeth chops in the hands and feet. 


K. There is made of this and of oil of Linseed, mixed together, a liquor called varnish, which is used to beautify pictures and painted tables with, and to make iron glister, and to defend it from the rust. 


Culpepper wrote: 


This admirable solar shrub is scarce to be paralleled for its virtues. The berries are hot in the third degree, and dry but in the first, being a most admirable counter-poison, and as great a resister of the pestilence, as any growing: they are excellent good against the biting of venomous beasts, they provoke urine exceedingly, and therefore are very available to dysuries and stranguaries. It is so powerful a remedy against the dropsy, that the very lye made of the ashes of the herb being drank, cures the disease. It provokes the terms, helps the fits of the mother, strengthens the stomach exceedingly, and expels the wind. Indeed there is scarce a better remedy for wind in any part of the body, or the cholic, than the chymical oil drawn from the berries; such country people as know not how to draw the chymical oil, may content themselves by eating ten or a dozen of the ripe berries every morning fasting. They are admirably good for a cough, shortness of breath, and consumption, pains in the belly, ruptures, cramps, and convulsions. They give safe and speedy delivery to women with child, they strengthen the brain exceedingly, help the memory, and fortify the sight by strengthening the optic nerves; are excellently good in all sorts of agues; help the gout and sciatica, and strengthen the limbs of the body. The ashes of the wood is a speedy remedy to such as have the scurvy, to rub their gums with. The berries stay all fluxes, help the hæmorrhoids or piles, and kill worms in children. A lye made of the ashes of the wood, and the body bathed with it, cures the itch, scabs and leprosy. The berries break the stone, procure appetite when it is lost, and are excellently good for all palsies, and falling-sickness.  


An Irish Herbal states: 


The berries provoke urine and cure old coughs, flatulence and cholic pains. The gum of the tree expels worms from the body and stops excessive menstrual flow. 


Juniper is also an excellent herb to stimulate appetite and to help the liver. It is a natural bitter, and just thoroughly chewing and eating a few berries before a meal can be among the best helps in digestion for elderly and chronically ill people. Care should be taken not to overuse them though, as in large amounts they can irritate the kidneys. Juniper is also good for the immune system and cleaning the blood – a good spring tonic. 


Fr. Kneipp wrote of Juniper: 


Juniper. (Juniperus communis L.) 


Who does not know the Juniper-berry?


Juniper, when used for fumigation, spreads an agreeable odour through the rooms and passages, and improves the air. I am no friend of the so-called "fumigation" with sugar, vinegar, etc. for I do not see how one can speak of fresh air there. But if it is a question of disinfecting a room in which a patient with an infectious disease, or a corpse has been lying, or at the time of infections illnesses to purify the air by fumigating, then I al- ways like such juniper vapour. It thoroughly destroys all fungi, and whatever the volatile infection and disease- bringer may be called. Juniper works with similar effects upon the interior of the human organism. The berries fumigate, as it were, the mouth and stomach, and ward off contagion. 


Those who are nursing patients with serious illnesses, as scarlet fever, smallpox, typhus, cholera, etc, and are exposed to contagion by raising, carrying, or serving the patient, or by speaking with him, should always chew a few juniper-berries (six to ten in a day). They give a pleasant taste in the mouth, and are of good ser- vice to the digestion. They burn up, as it were , the harmful miasms, exhalations, etc. when these seek to enter through the mouth or nostrils. Those who are suffering from a weak stomach, may try the following little course with juniperberries. 


The first day they should begin with 4 berries, the second day take 5 berries, the third day 6, the fourth 7, and so increase by one berry every day until the twelfth, on which they will take 15 berries ; then they may continue for five days longer taking each day one berry less. 


I know many whose stomach, filled with gases and thereby weakened , has been purified and strengthened by this simple berry-cure. Juniper berries have been noted since olden times as a remedy for stone and gravel, and for complaints of the kidneys and liver ; also in all cases where foul gases, foul, watery and slimy matter are to be removed from the body. Not only the berries, but also the young shoots of the juniper bush are made use of for tea, in the first stages of dropsy, and also as purifying medicine. 108 The oil is best bought from the chemist. The tincture can be made at home with wine, brandy, or spirit.


I would not praise the father or mother of a family, who were certainly very careful and diligent in preserving their meat and vegetables with berries from the juniper bush, and were punctual and careful in fumigating their dwelling with the same, but who allow ed their body, the dwelling of their soul, to lie in dust and dirt. They ought to apply such a fumigator for this much more important dwelling, at least a few times in the year. 


Brother Aloysius wrote of Juniper: 


The berries and young twigs are used medicinally. The berries principally have diuretic, diaphoretic, warming and wind-breaking properties and promote digestion. They are especially used for ascites, gastric weakness accompanied by wind, accumulation of mucus, etc. They are also recommended as a protection from intermittent fever, rheumatism and gout pain. The young twigs, mixed with woodruff and wild strawberry leaves, make a delicious and healthy drink, which can take the place of Indian tea, and is certainly much healthier; milk and sugar can be added according to taste. 


One of the preparations is juniper oil, which has excellent diuretic properties. The dose is 2 – 10 drops. You can use 10-15 berries for one cup of tea. …. Juniper berries strengthen the nerves, cleanse the blood and the stomach; are also used for kidney, lung and liver complaints, gravel, stones, bladder catarrh, diarrhea and migraines. The decoction of twigs and berries is ½ cup per 2 cups water. The decoction of young twigs and wood is 2/3 to 1 cup per 2 cups water, which can be taken for rheumatism, gout, syphilis, chronic cough and congestion in the chest. 


Or, use 3 tablespoons of berries, ground to a powder, and cooked with 2 tablespoons of lard as an excellent remedy for scurf in children; the head should be smeared with it twice a day. A remedy fo phlegm in the chest and coughs, 3 tablespoons juniper berries should be boiled in 2 cups barley water and reduced by half, add a little sugar candy and drink this quantity throughout the day. 


Fr. Johannes Kunzel wrote in Herbs and Weeds: 


The juniper or Reckolder (Juniperus) is a medicinal plant of the first rank; everything about it is medicinal: wood, needles, berries, bark. 


It has the power to warm up, relieve internal colds, cleans everything whatever it can reach, stomach, intestines, lungs, blood, and is therefore used in almost all herbal mixtures, except for hot diseases (such as fever etc.). 


Even stronger than the common Juniper is the kind found on the high Alps that creeps along the ground. 


Juniper baths are usually a good remedy for old rheumatisms; I have seen old people twisted by gout become straight and healthy again through continued use of such baths; and how people who stayed in bed stiff like a piece of wood for six months were healed by washings and later bathing in Juniper decoction. 


Of course, the green Juniper twigs have to be boiled for three hours; the patient is washed with this (warm) water ten times a day all over his body until he is able to take a bath. 


Because the bath is very sharp and aggressive, it is advisable to mix it with fir tree or green pine tree twigs’ decoction. The baths must be warm and last for half an hour; At the end the whole body has to be poured over with cold water; if you fail to do this, it is better not to take the bath, otherwise the rheumatism will come back even more severely. 


Jolanta Wittib writes: 


Whenever I see a juniper with berries/cones on my walk in the forest, I collect a few junipers ripe - black or dark blue ones and chew them while walking. 


I love them: they have a sweetish and a very aromatic taste and I know that they will strengthen my body and spirit. 


Fr. Sebastian Kneipp, who has already been mentioned more than once in this book, suggested juniper cone therapy after a long illness, exhaustion, after cancer treatment, etc, because Juniper cones clean the body, clean the blood, improve metabolism. They are good for rheumatism, arthritis, they have an antibacterial effect. Besides, they are tasty, disinfect one’s mouth and leave a nice flavor. 


Resources of the Southern Fields and Forests states: 


CEDAR, (Juniperus Virginiana, Linn.) Grows in upper and lower districts; Newbern. Fl. March. Big. Am. Med. Bot. iii, 49; Pe. Mat. Med. ii, 184; Fr. Elems. 195; U. S. Disp. 413; Mer. and de L. Diet, de M. Med. iii, 698;589 Mich. N. Am. Sylva, iii, 221; Am. Journal Pharm. xiv, 23; Thacher's Disp. 247; Lind. Nat. Syst. Bot. 316; Griffith Med. Bot. 607; Supplem. to the Diet, de M.Med. 1846, 406; Bull, de l'Acad. Eoy. de Med. vi, 478; S. Cubieres' Mem. on the Eed Cedar of Virginia, in French, Paris, 1805; Nicolet's Essai on the Physiol, and Chemistry of genus Juniperus; see Journal de Pharm. xxvii, 309, and Bonastie's note on a volatile oil from the Virginia cedar, in Journal de Pharm. xxi, 177, 1834. The bark is employed in Abyssinia, under the name of Bisenna. 


The expressed oil is very useful as an application to rheumatic pains and swellings of the joints. One bushel of the dried shavings, heated in an inverted iron vessel, will yield a half pint of oil. A decoction of the berries promotes diaphoresis, and is also beneficial in rheumatic pains, stiff joints, etc. The leaves act very much as shavings, being stimulant and emmenagogue, and are employed in catamenial obstructions. The cedar berry is used in a popular remedy for dropsy, which is claimed by some to be highly efficacious. We can readily understand the reason that it may prove useful when we remember its close alliance with the juniper berry. It is as follows: take one handful of the seed of the cedar, the same of mullein, the same of the root of dogwood; put into two quarts and a pint of water, boil down to one quart, and add one gill of whiskey. Dose, a wineglassful night and morning. A cerate is made for keeping up the irritation and discharge from blisters; this is quite serviceable, and is prepared by boiling the fresh leaves in twice their weight of lard, with the addition of a little wax. The fungoid excrescences on this tree are thought to be anthelmintic. The wood of the tree is well known. It is sometimes dug up in the mud of our swamps in a perfect state of preservation. It is aromatic, light, soft, bearing exposure to water and weather, and suitable for all kinds of cabinet work, in the construction of posts, staves, buckets, the inner work of houses, and particularly in the building of boats. Cedar boxes are not infested by insects, moths, etc., and are used for storing away woollens. The leaves also prevent the attacks of insects when spread over cloth. The roots make a beautiful purple dye. 


King's American Dispensatory, 1898 tells us: 


Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Both the berries and oil are stimulating, carminative, and diuretic. The oil is said to act like copaiba in arresting mucous discharges, especially from the urethra. It is contained in the spiritous liquor called Hollands, one of its best forms as a diuretic. Five minims of the oil, with 1 fluid drachm of nitrous ether, given 3 times a day in any common vehicle, produces diuresis in dropsy when other means fail. Combined with an equal part of watermelon seeds, and made into an infusion, I have cured several cases of ascites occurring in children, having them to make free use of it (King). The berries are employed principally as an adjunct to other diuretics, and have been found efficient in gonorrhoea, gleet, leucorrhoea, cystirrhoea, affections of the skin, scorbutic diseases, etc. Pyelitis, pyelo-nephritis, and cystitis when chronic, and particularly when in old people, are relieved by juniper. Uncomplicated renal hyperemia a is cured by it. The indications are a persistent weight or dragging in lumbar region. Dose of the berries, from 1 to 2 drachms; of the oil, from 4 to 20 minims. The infusion (berries, ℥i; aqua, Oj), may be given in wineglassful doses, a pint being taken in a day. It is very useful in the dropsy following scarlatina, and other infectious diseases, and may be combined with acetate or bitartrate of potassium if desired. OIL OF CADE has been successfully employed in parasitic skin diseases, moist eczema, and psoriasis. 


Preparation of Juniper.—HOWE'S JUNIPER POMADE. This preparation is a compound of lard, oil of juniper and Fowler's solution, the proportions of which have been published in the Eclectic Medical Journal. Much pharmaceutical skill is required to blend the ingredients so as to prevent subsequent separation. Juniper pomade is useful in "all forms of eczema or tetter. It allays the itching and destroys the vesicles and scales. The unguent may be used upon all parts of the body, though sparingly upon mucous surfaces. It is employed in the nasal cavities with a camel's hair brush to mitigate the symptoms of catarrh, to arrest hay-fever, to heal nasal ulcers, to arrest ringing in the ears, and to improve states of deafness depending upon thickening of the linings of the Eustachian tubes. Juniper pomade softens the scaly patches oil the face which are often epitheliomatous. It has proved an excellent dressing for tetter of the edges of the eyelids, which leads to 'wild hairs', and induration of the tarsal borders. The pomade is reliable in the treatment of sore nipples in nursing women. and it will cure chapped hands" (Prof. A. J. Howe, M. D.). 


The Rodale Herb Book states: 


Juniper is considered one of the most useful medicinal plants. Stimulating for appetite and digestion, helpful in coughs and to eliminate mucus, it has a diuretic effect, stimulating the function of kidneys and bladder. A strong tea of the berries is considered an excellent wash for bites and poisonous insects, snake bites, dog bites and bee stings. 


Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs states: 


Rheumatism, arthritis, bruises, ulcers and wounds are said to be relieved by juniper poultices and rubs. Adding a handful of leaves to warm bathwater is said to sooth aching muscles. For poultices, berries can be simmered in olive oil or simply mashed and applied ot the sore area. American Indians simply tied bundles of the boughs to sore limbs. Juniper tincture has been used externally on painful swellings, bruises and sores. 


Sacred and Healing Herbal Beers tells us that Juniper was once widely used in beer brewing. After discussing the various folk medicine and spiritual beliefs traditionally associated with Juniper, as well as its documented medicinal uses, Mr. Buhner leaves us with this very reasonable statement: 


Generally, juniper is a marvelous herb to use in brewing, and the taste of juniper ale is good and very refreshing. Given the many benefits from the herb, as a preservative and a medicine, especially on nutrition and digestive health and as a potentially useful herb in the treatment of colds and flu, it seems and excellent herb to use in ales and beers. 


Peterson Field Guides Eastern and Central Medicinal Plants tells us: Eastern red cedar: 


American Indians used fruit tea for colds, worms, rheumatism, coughs, to induce sweating, Chewed fruit for canker sores. Leaf smoke or steam inhaled for colds, bronchitis, purification, rheumatism. Said to contain the anti-tumor compound podophyllotoxin, best known from mayapple.


Botany In a Day states: 


Cypress: A tea of the leaves is used internally or externally to stop bleeding and for colds. 


Juniper, red cedar: juniper berries can be eaten raw or used in tea. The bitter berries are the main ingredient in gin. Most people would consider them unpalatable, but I have acquired a taste for them. Juniper berries contain volatile oils and resins; they are eaten as a carminative to expel gas and the distilled oil is rubbed on painful joints. Additionally, juniper berries are diuretic, but may irritate the kidneys with prolonged use. They are not recommended for pregnant women. A boiled tea of the fruits and leaves as a treatment for coughs. You may be able to decrease the risk of catching a virus by keeping juniper berries in the mouth while around others who are infected. Also, try chewing the berries when drinking unclean water. Juniper needles can be added to bathwater for a stimulating effect on rheumatism. 


Cedar, Arbor vitae: cedar contains toxic volatile oils. It is used as a diaphoretic to promote sweating, emmenagogue to promote menstruation, and as an irritant poultice to stimulate healing for rheumatic pains. It should not be used without medical supervision. It is also expectorant.  


The Physicians Desk Reference for Herbal Medicine tells us: 


Juniper has been primarily noted for its anti-inflammatory, diuretic, and dyspeptic effects. Because of its ability to inhibit cyclooxygenase, it is useful in inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis. Juniper is used to treat chronic urinary tract, bladder and kidney infections as well as herpes and flu infections. The diuretic effect is probably primarily due to the volatile oil terpinene-4-ol. In addition to drug works to lower blood pressure and may regulate hyperglycemia. In animal experiments a hypertensive, an anti exudative effect was proved. In vitro, an antiviral effect was also demonstrated.



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This article is an excerpt from 

Medicinal Shrubs and Woody Vines of The American Southeast An Herbalist's Guide

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He offers free, weekly herb classes: https://rumble.com/c/c-618325


Disclaimer

The information on this site is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition. Nothing on this site has been evaluated or approved by the FDA. I am not a doctor. The US government does not recognize the practice of herbal medicine and their is no governing body regulating herbalists. Therefore, I'm just a guy who studies herbs. I am not offering any advice. I won't even claim that anything I write is accurate or true! I can tell you what herbs have "traditionally been used for." I can tell you my own experience and if I believe an herb helped me. I cannot, nor would I tell you to do the same. If you use any herb I, or anyone else, mentions you are treating yourself. You take full responsibility for your health. Humans are individuals and no two are identical. What works for me may not work for you. You may have an allergy, sensitivity or underlying condition that no one else shares and you don't even know about. Be careful with your health. By continuing to read my blog you agree to be responsible for yourself, do your own research, make your own choices and not to blame me for anything, ever.

From The Omnivore's Guide to Home Cooking: Omelets

There are two basic types of omelet.  The French style is made, essentially,  just as I described in the first half of how I make scrambled ...