Snow and flu'

Hi there everyone.  How are you all?  Well at least five of you any way….. lol.

Round here it is getting colder and we have all been advised that the weather is to deteriorate dramatically over the next few weeks, some even saying it may be coldest winter for 20 years, others saying coldest for over 100 years….. Whoever is right, it appears it is going to be cold.

Well, all I hope is that we will have broken up from college by then.  I hate snow.  !!!!!

By the way. That is an understatement. 

I have always heard with surprise people saying how beautiful it looks when freshly fallen.  How magical etc.  Well I grant you it is white when fresh, but let’s face it, it doesn’t stay like that long in this country.  It just goes grey and slushy, and it’s cold, wet and creates problems all round.  Even when predicted it appears to catch those in charge of clearing it by surprise.  I hate driving in the stuff, and even when the police are saying “Don’t go out unless you have to” it feels as if ones bosses are still expecting one in……. let’s not go there. 

Anyway, my natural inclination is to batten down the hatches, go to my lovely full store cupboard and stay in; warm, cuddled up and reading a good book.  I am sure, by evolutionary development that is what are disposed to do anyway.  The darkest days are coming, the coldest part of winter ALWAYS seems to be after solstice and we try to carry on as if the season doesn’t affect us.  Then we get colds etc. as our immune system’s struggle to maintain bodies that should perhaps be resting during the trying time of the year.

Lots of my colleagues have got vicious colds… almost flu like in their ability to knock you off your spot.  Though it is not flu’ thank goodness, it still needs support and care.

If you are one of the unfortunate, as I have been the last few days, here are some tips and hints on how to support yourself without resorting to over the counter remedies, which, in my opinion can actually make your symptoms last longer.

If you have a fever, and your very bones and joints ache…. Take to your bed and don’t eat and don’t take paracetamol.  Yes, the paracetamol will stop the aches and pains and reduce the temperature of your fever, but your fever and high temperature are your body’s way to kill the virus that is making you ill.

Your body does a thermostatic reset, allowing your temperature to rise above normal so that the virus is killed off, and that triggers off a response in your immune system to release proteins to help fight the virus as well.  That is what causes the joint pains.  If you try to work against your body by trying to soldier on, and continue to eat, the body ends up destroying the very protein cells it is releasing to kill the virus and consequently the illness takes longer to get over.

The best thing to do is go to bed or your sofa or easy chair, wrap up and promote that high temperature and drink loads of fluids.  That way you don’t dehydrate and you don’t prolong anything. 

Where children are concerned, it is very unusual for a high temperature to cause fitting, a thing all parents are concerned about.  If this happens it is usually very young children, and not necessarily a permanent feature for the rest of their life.  Of course one has to be aware of the possibility of fits, but where possible allow the body to do what it knows how to do.  Try to stay away from the liquid paracetamol or other similar over the counter remedies. 

If you are concerned about high temperatures and children do look at this very informative and scientifically correct info here.

http://naimh.com/Influenza-Acute-Febrile-Disease.pdf  It’s really VERY good.

or find out more about treating colds and flu here at my earlier blog, (which I just remembered I did….Oh I am so daft sometimes….)

http://tynansoakwise.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/everybody-at-work-has-been-afflicted.html

Anyway, now you can look at my previous blog about it all and that is full of remedies. 

Another good remedy is blackcurrant tea with cats claw and ginger.  Yumm… And no… not REAL cats claws!  That’s NOT why we have so many cats…. It is a herb from South America and I have found it really useful in the past.  For some it works better than Echinacea or even elderberry, which is my personal favourite.  Get the tincture if you can, it is better, in my opinion than the tablets, which loose some of the herbal benefits in the heat of the grinding process.  Get the tablets if there is no choice.  Grate fresh ginger (about as long as the end joint of your thumb) and make a blackcurrant juice tea, with the fresh ginger and a few drops of the cats claw… lovely taste and it does you good.  You can make the blackcurrant tea with a brand name bottle cordial… I bet you can guess which I mean, but!!!!! Don’t get the sugar free one.  Sweeteners in general and aspartame particularly is BAD, BAD, BAD in my opinion…… look at this and other web sites for further information.

http://www.sweetpoison.com/aspartame-side-effects.html

Don’t make it too weak you want that blackcurrant to help ‘cut’ the thick mucus.

Add your ginger and cats claw, sit down and enjoy.  It is almost magical how quickly the action of the blackcurrant takes effect.

Any way darlings… I’m off to watch Merlin with my blackcurrant and ginger tea… I know it is a bit silly, but sometimes one doesn’t want to think too hard.

Food for free... Cleavers bounty

I have just been for a little walk down the garden.  What a surprise.  There is cleavers everywhere. (aka, Latin name: Galium aparine beggar lice, clithe, cliver, cliders, goose grass, goosebill, hariff, gripgrass, catchweed ) If you have never come across it before, or the name/s don’t ring a bell, well it sticks like crazy to everything, and the seed pods get all tangled up in the cat’s fur and chickens feathers and my legs!  

Any way, there it is! It has gone wild, and, I don’t know about you, but when I see such an exuberance of supply, I think about what I can use it for, and, why it’s there.  Well the why is partly because I obviously didn’t weed efficiently, but also it is a very good lymphatic cleaner, and after the cold I have just had I can do with some of that.  I find nature always provides what we need.  

It is a very good diuretic, and soothing in conditions such as cystitis and other uti’s. Care has to be taken if there is an existing health condition such as with the heart or diabetes, where it could affect sugars. 

It is a fantastic topical herb, which means it can be used to great effect on the skin.  I make a macerated oil with it, and then use it for dry psoriasis and eczema.   It is also good made as you would a tea, then used in the last rinse if you suffer with dandruff.  If your scalp can have a tendency to soreness, it is very kind and reduces the inflammation and heals the cause.  There is some research being undertaken now to see if its alleged positive effects on cancer can be replicated, but nothing is out yet.  I do know it is very good on skin ulcers though from personal experience.

Animals can and do eat it and you can also eat it.  Now some people say you can eat it raw, but I would suggest that those people might also like to try Velcro.  It is rough!  But, when you cook it in a little water the rough hooks go and it becomes a tasty spinach substitute.  I like it lightly cooked with a little parmesan cheese on top, great as a nutritional addition to a bolognaise? Yes, it can form one of the ingredients for a home-made pesto.  It is very nutritious, especially if you pick the tasty, young tips.  You can use it like spinach or, add it to soups and stews, with onions and garlic and other tasty vegetables for its nutritional value.  Its taste is rather bland, so will take up other flavours well and not scare the kids away too easily.  Good for the tummy and the budget, it is free after all.  However, don’t try to eat it from midsummer on as it is just like straw, sticky straw at that! 

Mrs Grieve mentions cleavers in one of her recipes for a herbal beer. I have tried it and it is lovely and refreshing.  Here it is.

Take 2 gallons of cold water and a good pailful of washed young Nettle tops, add 3 or 4 large handsful of Dandelion, the same of Clivers (Cleavers) and 2 oz. Of bruised, whole ginger. Boil gently for 40 minutes, then strain and stir in 2 teacupsful of brown sugar. When lukewarm place on the top a slice of toasted bread, spread with 1 oz. of compressed yeast, stirred till liquid with a teaspoonful of sugar. Keep it fairly warm for 6 or 7 hours, then remove the scum and stir in a tablespoonful of cream of tartar. Bottle and tie the corks securely. The result is a specially wholesome sort of ginger beer. The juice Of 2 lemons may be substituted for the Dandelion and Clivers. Other herbs are often added to Nettles in the making of Herb Beer, such as Burdock, Meadowsweet, Avens Horehound, the combination making a refreshing summer drink.  http://rosenlake.net/er/Grieves_HerbBeers.html

If you want to take the time, collect and dry the seeds, grind them and use them as a substitute for coffee….  Well I don’t have that amount of time…. But you never know when that bit of information may come in useful. 

Disclaimer:  This information is not to replace a visit to your G.P or alternative health practitioner if you have a health concern.

Coughs, colds and flu

Everybody at work has been afflicted with a really nasty cold virus.  Perhaps it is because the weather here is currently alternating between hot, cold and humid.  Whatever, I now have it!

So what does one do?  Of course, everyone at home will likely go down with it. Well, all that is except Michael, who never seems to catch anything.

So we gird up our loins and get the remedies out.  There are many herbs for colds and a quick search of the web will be most helpful, but I will stick to those I have used successfully with my friends, family and other suffering souls.

If you think colds are around you could take Yarrow (Achillea millefolium).  It is a wonderful, powerful herb and can sometimes stop a cold in its tracks. Among many other things it promotes sweating which helps your body get rid of the virus.  If you suspect you are brewing a cold, or it is important not to allow one to develop for yourself or a family member make a tea of Yarrow and have half a cup full every hour.  It can be a bit strong for some, so combine it with ginger and a little honey* to make it more palatable.  (*1tsp per pint not cupful. Sugar has been shown to compromise the immune system.  Some remedies are made more palatable with a touch of honey, so, if you need it, make sure it is the good stuff.)

Cat’s claw (Uncaria tomentosa) is also a wonderful herb and I have used it most successfully.  It is thought to be anti-microbial and antiviral and has been used for hundreds of years by the people of the Amazonian rain forests.    However, I have had a growing awareness of its potential for over harvesting and have stopped using it for colds.  (I still use it for other things though.)  However, if you have some use it. 

If you have the blighter though, go for something like my first choice of preference, elderberry, (Sambucus Nigra). Home-made elderberry syrup, in a little warm water with ginger, thyme and honey; you can’t beat it.  My old Gran used to call it a gift from the Elder Mother*  or the old Hag.  It tastes so good that to have it also help a cold is truly a bonus. I once found Mimz in the fridge helping herself to some syrup prepared for her brother, she didn’t think it was fair that he got to have it and she didn’t, as he was the one with the cold!  

(*There are many tales associated with the Elder Mother.  I will try to find some for you.)

So, how does it work?  Well, the ginger is warming and helps clean and clear the lymph glands, so that the body is able to act more efficiently under attack.  It also contains almost a dozen antiviral compounds and can be slightly sedative so it helps you to rest nature’s way.

The elderberry is high in vitamin c , and also contains vitamins a and b.  It helps shorten length of duration of the cold and helps in reducing the symptoms also, because elderberry helps in the production of cytokines, the immune function of the body under attack. Thyme (thymus) is so powerful an anti-septic that it was regularly used along with garlic in World War I.  It also helps the body expectorate or get rid of excess mucous. Therefore it is a herb considered to be a decongestant.

It is strong though. If you find it too strong to drink as a tea, you can make a hot, fragrant bath and your skin will absorb it.  If you make a tea with thyme you just need a few sprigs and pour hot water over it.  Put a saucer on the top to reduce the escape of the oils and when it has infused or steeped for about 5 minutes strain then sip slowly and feel that remedy work through your body.

I make a syrup with elderberries.  I take a good handful of dried berries or three of fresh, which have been stripped off their stalks as best you can.  A fork may be helpful with this. Pop them into a pan with about 2 tea cups of water, enough to cover the berries. Raise the heat slowly, and crush with a potato masher as the berries start to warm up.   Simmer gently for about 30minutes. The water turns a deep purple which does stain, so an apron is good if you are anything like me and mucky!  Strain the berries in a sieve, or muslin jelly bag, put the liquid back in the pan. Add one pound of good, organic LOCAL honey. Let it simmer a little.   That is your syrup.  Bottle it and when cool put it in the fridge.

Make a ginger tea by taking a piece of fresh ginger, grating it and pouring hot water over it in a cup, you could add your thyme at this point and put a saucer or small plate on top of the cup.  When it has steeped/brewed for about 5-10 minutes strain the herbs and then add 2 tablespoons of your syrup.  You will not believe how good it tastes and how good you feel when taking it.  You will develop a sweat, but that is productive and helpful.  You will feel relief quite quickly, and may even sleep for a while.  This remedy is good for children, but omit the thyme if giving to a pregnant lady, it can stimulate the uterus.

Just some added thoughts.

That terrible bunged up feeling one gets is from the mucous which the body produces.  This mucous is seen as BAD by many people, and so many attempts are made to unblock the nose with sprays etc,  and get rid of it or suppress it.  But!  Mucous is actually the good guy.  It is there as an emergency response of the body to flush the virus out of the body and it contains many anti-viral properties.  The trick is to keep it flowing, which is irritating but necessary.  Clear mucus is good but mucous that can’t move will become infected and turn colour.  Generally, dark yellow and green mucus 

can be signs of sinus infection, and light yellow mucus may be an indication that the air is too dry and causing an imbalance in the delicate membranes of the nose.  

If you are really bunged up use a netti pot or nasal spray bottle with a salt and water mix and snort it up.  Sounds gross but it works so well that it is now being marketed for the use of young babies.  Excess will quickly drain out of the nose without harm.  (A good pinch of real salt crystals in about a ¼ cup of water is about right.) Use freely with no side effects.   Or, you could use a traditional menthol and eucalyptus steam inhalation.

To keep the mucous running, drink lots of fluids.  Your body uses lots when fighting infections and you need to replace the water loss and keep mucus thin. Reduce dairy and gluten they are known to increase mucal secretion, which, let’s face it, when you have a cold enough is enough!

However tempting, try not to use over the counter products to suppress symptoms.  If you have a fever that is good!  Fever is there to kill the virus.   Generally, lowering fevers with aspirin or parcetamol increases the severity of symptoms and duration of infection.  It can also reduce your body’s ability to deal with further infections at a later date. 

You may have heard the old saying “Feed a cold and starve a fever”. 

If you have a fever don’t eat  

Your body is producing proteins which are fighting the virus, these are released by a mechanism triggered by the fever.  If you eat, you will also digest these valuable proteins.  Anyway, quite often, unless you have been trained to ignore your body, you will actually lose your appetite.  Your body will try to slow you down, making you sleepy and lethargic and you will feel like that until a drop in temperature signals to the body that you need to eat!

I had the great privilege of learning from Paul Bergner’s Vitalist Treatment of Acute Symptoms C.Ds.  See http://naimh.com/dl-acutes.htm and this is what I learned…

99⁰: Influenza can no longer replicate

104⁰: Gonococcus is negatively affected

104⁰: polio virus is reduced

106⁰: pneumonia dies (hydration is extremely important) 

106⁰: spirochetes die (syphilis and lyme’s)  

In the normal person a fever has to get extremely high before it will cause injury. Human cells start dying at 110^o. The risk becomes worrisome when there is dehydration, leading to electrolyte imbalance and fever in those who are very young, very old or immunologically compromised.

I was taught as a young mum as many of you may have been, to give baby paracetamol syrup, to avert febrile fits.  As the years went by, I learned that febrile convulsions  are actually not that common, and good old elderberry syrup can help reset the fever  coping mechanism of the body in children who may be prone to temperature fits.  Here is what Paul Bergner says again…

Paul Bergner:

Febrile seizures in children are not correlated with the severity of the fever. The cause is generally unknown, and they affect 3-5% of children in the U.S. and about 15% in some countries. Giving antipyretic drugs* does not reduce the incidence of future seizures in children. Most disappear by age five. Most do not indicate a serious cerebral disease 

                                   *drugs which reduce fever.

Net Doctor UK says…… http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/febrileconvulsion.htm

Febrile convulsions occur in young children when there is a rapid increase in their body temperature. It affects up to 1 in 20 children between the ages of one and four but can affect children between six months and about five years old.

Children who are at risk may naturally have a lower resistance to febrile convulsion than others.  Children may inherit the tendency to suffer febrile convulsion from their parents.

·          If either parent suffered a febrile convulsion as a child, the risk of the child getting it rises 10 to 20 per cent.

·          If both parents and their child have at some point suffered a febrile convulsion, the risk of another child getting it rises 20 to 30 per cent.

Nevertheless, the child's susceptibility also depends on whether the child frequently gets infections. About 4 out of 10 children who have had febrile convulsions will get them again at some stage, although the risk differs greatly from child to child. The child's risk of febrile convulsion rises if:

·        they are genetically predisposed to it

·        they suffer frequent illnesses, which include high temperatures

·        the first attack of febrile convulsion was accompanied by a relatively low body temperature - below 39ºC.

·        The attack often begins with the child losing consciousness, and shortly afterwards the body, legs and arms go stiff.

·        The head is thrown backwards and the legs and arms begins to jerk.

·        The skin goes pale and may even turn blue briefly.

·        The attack ends after a few minutes and the shaking stops. The child goes limp, and then normal colour and consciousness slowly return.

·        Some children regain consciousness faster than others.

Do not intervene while the attack is taking place except in the circumstance outlined below.

Carefully turn the child's head to one side to prevent choking. In the past, it was common to place a stick in the child's mouth to prevent bites to the tongue or lips. This should never be attempted, as it may result in lasting damage to the teeth.

When the fit subsides, keep the child in the recovery position, ie lying on its side. If fits are prolonged or follow each other rapidly, call an ambulance.

The first time a child suffers febrile convulsions they should be admitted to hospital. If the child has suffered attacks on earlier occasions, hospitalisation is not always necessary. However, it is always important, for example, to determine whether the convulsions are only due to a harmless viral infection. For this reason, a doctor should always be consulted following an attack.

If anyone suffers a fit or seizure which lasts longer than 5 minutes call 999.   This does not happen too often thankfully but, don’t misunderstand, fevers can be serious for some and if there is ANY doubt at all call your G.P/Dr or 999.

So dear ones…. Last points.

Rest, relax all you can to give a chance to the immune system to recharge itself.

Your body needs attention. 

Do you need to look at building you immune system?

Are you working too hard?

Stressing out too much?

Take your remedy of choice.

Drink lots of fluids.

Reduce dairy and wheat intake.

Eat lightly or not at all if suffering a fever.

As for me… I am now drinking my elder berry and ginger remedy given to me by Mimz.   Lovely…..

"Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food."  Hippocrates, 400 B.C.

Helping ourselves to keep well is not just about the remedies we take to make ourselves feel better.  We must also try to eat foods which nourish our bodies at the cellular level.  The temptation to eat the 'wrong foods' is often too much to ignore; especially if you have a family of fussy eaters as mine were. There is plenty we can do to make things better, and perhaps bit by bit the see saw of good food- bad food can re-balance itself.

One way which we can help ourselves is through nutritious salads.  Now if you are thinking a bit of iceberg lettuce with a tomato and perhaps a pickled onion, well, lets not go there.  A really tasty and healthy option is pea shoots mixed with young dandelion leaves and the delicate green fronds of fennel.  Mix these in your salad bowl and with a little dressing you have an amazing burst of flavour.  If you are not into growing your own peas all is not lost,as you can now get pea shoots in your local store quite easily.  They are crisp and so fresh you can feel goodness oozing out of them.  Delicious.  

Dandelion leaves are delightfully nutritious and are still commonly eaten on the continent, and of course they are free.  Collect them young, but not from the verge or roadside.  You don't want all those nasty exhaust chemicals.  If you are like me there are most likely plenty in the garden anyway! lol.

The nutritional value of pea shoots are Vitamins A, C and the mineral folate which helps us make good DNA and strong cells, including blood cells.

The nutritional value of dandelion leaves is vitamins A and C again,  vitamin K and B6, minerals such as magnesium, potassium,  iron and calcium. For more information on dandelion, just in case it hadn't been on the top of your salad list look at the link below.  

Fennel leaves contains folate, potassium and vitamin C.

http://www.home-remedies-for-you.com/articles/Health-benefits-of-Dandelion-juice.html

Happy eating :)