How Herbs Are Administered

As I said the other day in the article Herbs as Medicine, herbal medicine is one of the oldest forms of medicine on the planet.

Because the art of herbal medicine is a lost art in many countries, most people don’t know how to prepare and administer herbs. The only way most people take herbs these days is by taking them in pill or capsule form, courtesy of a supplement they bought at a health food or drug store.

But the potency of an herb in pill or capsule form is not strong. To get the true healing benefits of an herb, it’s best to start with the herb in whole form and make a preparation from that.

There are many forms in which herbs can be administered. Here is a list of some of the most common ways:

Tinctures – Alcoholic extracts of herbs such as echinacea extract. Usually obtained by combining 100% pure ethanol (or a mixture of 100% ethanol with water) with the herb. A completed tincture has a ethanol percentage of at least 40-60% (sometimes up to 90%).

Herbal wine and elixirs – These are alcoholic extract of herbs; usually with an ethanol percentage of 12-38%. Herbal wine is a maceration of herbs in wine, while an elixir is a maceration of herbs in spirits (e.g., vodka, grappa, etc.)

Tisanes – Hot water extracts of herb, such as chamomile.

Decoctions – Long-term boiled extract of usually roots or bark.

Macerates – Cold infusion of plants with high mucilage-content as sage, thyme, etc. Plants are chopped and added to cold water. They are then left to stand for 7 to 12 hours (depending on herb used). For most macerates 10 hours is used.

Vinegars – Prepared at the same way as tinctures, except using a solution of acetic acid as the solvent.

Topicals:

1) Essential oils – Application of essential oil extracts, usually diluted
in a carrier oil (many essential oils can burn the skin or are simply
too high dose used straight – diluting in olive oil or another food
grade oil can allow these to be used safely as a topical).

2) Salves, oils, balms, creams and lotions – Most topical applications are oil extractions of herbs.       Taking a food grade oil and soaking herbs in it for anywhere from weeks to months allows certain phytochemicals to be extracted into the oil. This oil can then be
made into salves, creams, lotions, or simply used as an oil for
topical application. Any massage oils, antibacterial salves and
wound healing compounds are made this way.

3) Poultices and compresses – One can also make a poultice or compress using whole herb (or the appropriate part of the plant) usually crushed or dried and re-hydrated with a small amount of
water and then applied directly in a bandage, cloth or just as is.

Whole herb consumption – This can occur in either dried form (herbal powder), or fresh juice, (fresh leaves and other plant parts). Just as Hippocrates said “Let food be thy medicine”, it has become clear that eating vegetables also easily fits within this category of getting health through consumables (besides medicinal herbs). All of the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants are phytochemicals that we are accessing through our diet.

There are clearly some whole herbs consumed that are more powerful than others. Shiitake mushrooms boost the immune system and are also tasty so they are enjoyed in soups or other food preparations for the cold and flu season. Alfalfa is also considered a health food. Garlic lowers cholesterol, improves blood flow, fights bacteria, viruses and yeast.

Syrups – Extracts of herbs made with syrup or honey. Sixty five parts of sugar are mixed with 35 parts of

water and herb. The whole is then boiled and macerated for three weeks.

Extracts – Include liquid extracts, dry extracts and nebulisates. Liquid extracts are liquids with a lower ethanol percentage than tinctures. They can (and are usually) made by vacuum distilling tinctures. Dry extracts are extracts of plant material which are evaporated into a dry mass. They can then be further refined to a capsule or tablet. A nebulisate is a dry extract created by freeze-drying.

Inhalation as in aromatherapy can be used as a mood changing treatment to fight a sinus infection or cough, or to cleanse the skin on a deeper level (steam rather than direct inhalation here).

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The 10 Greenest Cities in the U.S.

In honor of Earth Day, I’ve been writing a series on the environment and its relationship to a Low Density Lifestyle.  My point has been that living a Low Density Lifestyle is not just about your own personal health and wellness and ability to experience healthy living, but the health and wellness of the planet.

Because if a Low Density Lifestyle is about feeling lighter of body, mind and spirit, then it should also mean that you tread lighter on the earth.

I’ve been talking a lot about sustainable, local and organic foods, but now I want to shift the focus to green living, energy and the enviroment.

Today I want to tell you about the 10 greenest cities in the U.S., based on a compilation from the website TreeHugger and the magazine Popular Science. Here goes – the results for some of the cities might surprise you, and perhaps you will have a different point of view:

10. Boston

Boston doesn’t get a whole lot of green love from the environmental movement, but it should—it’s quietly made its way to the top of greenest city lists with good public transit, an eye on energy efficiency, mandated green building standards, and even a bike share on the way.

9. Asheville

Home to some of the greenest communities in the country, Asheville is a cool green town nestled in mountainous, western North Carolina. It’s not nearly the size of most of the other cities on this list, but it edges its way in out of sheer greenness—in addition to those celebrated eco communities, Asheville was named “most vegetarian friendly” small city by PETA, and is surrounded by beautiful nature on all sides.

8. Chicago

The Windy City has leaned pretty green in recent years—with good public transit, a tax on bottled water, an ambitious bike plan, and an even more ambitious plan to curb carbon emissions by 75%, the city is making good green progress.

7. New York City

The biggest city in the US is also a front runner for the greenest—with arguably the best public transit system in the nation, centralized apartment-based living, easy access to farmer’s markets and CSAs, and a walking-friendly urban layout, New York is green without really even trying to be. So even though people think grey, not green, when they picture the Big Apple, it is a green city.

6. Oakland, CA

The local transit authority has put on the road zero emission buses – all hydrogen powered. For that and other reasons, Oakland makes the list.

5. Austin

Over the last few years, Austin has emerged as one of the indisputable leading green cities in the US. The city has seen a veritable revolution in biodiesel, plug-in hybrid infrastructure, and solar and wind power. Great farmers’ markets, organic restaurants, and bike-friendly streets cement Austin’s reputation as a green metropolis.

4. Seattle

Seattle is yet another fast-rising green destination–the mayor has booted out bottled water and taxes plastic bags, has great plans for biking paths, a controversially named trolley for public transit and even a biodiesel gas station. Suffice to say, there’s a strong green vibe emanating from Seattle.

3. Eugene, OR

Much of the wet Pacific Northwest draws its energy from hydroelectric dams, but Eugene, a very green-friendly city, draws an additional 9 percent of its municipal electricity from wind farms. It also buys back excess power from residents who install solar panels.

2. San Francisco

The city’s mayor Gavin Newsom got TreeHugger’s seal of green approval as the best local politician in 2009’s Best of Green awards. So it’s no surprise that his city is one of the most green places in the country. San Francisco has ratified the Kyoto Protocol, has been advancing solar power initiatives, ditching the plastic bag, and getting ready to promote electric cars.

1. Portland

Oregon’s biggest city is widely recognized as the greenest city in the US, and the most bike-friendly city in the country.

Stress and the Teenage Years

Are You Stressed?

So, are you stressed? Are you able to relax and experience stress relief? Do you have time to play? Do you sleep well? These are some essential questions, because if you’re overly stressed, not able to relax, not taking the time to play, and not managing stress well, you’re also most probably not sleeping well.

And if you’re stressed and not sleeping well, you know what that means? You’re living life in the fast lane, the lane in which you’re burning your candle at both ends and the candle is just about flamed out. You know what you call this: that’s right, that’s living the High Density Lifestyle, a lifestyle that is not conducive to healthy living and health and wellness.

So where do I start when talking about stress?

Teenagers and Stress

How about this? I’ll tell you that if you’re stressed out when you’re younger, you’re setting yourself up for a High Density Lifestyle adult life. Habits that we learn when we’re younger follow us into adulthood.

And getting stressed out when you’re younger is a nasty habit that if you don’t change, will affect you adversely when you’re an adult, because you’ll have a harder time managing stress and experiencing stress relief.

Teenage Stress and Heart Disease

A recent study found that teenage stress can lead to physical problems in adulthood and put adults at risk for cardiovascular disease. Researchers found that a greater frequency of stress in teens was associated with higher levels of an inflammatory marker called C-reactive protein, or CRP. CRP has been identified as an indicator for the later development of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

When you’re a teen, there are a lot of stressors that come at you, and most teens are ill-equipped to deal with them. And just think, if you’re ill-equipped to deal with them when you’re younger, then the adverse reactions your body has to stress will follow you all the way to when you’re grown-up.

Peter Panning It

Now you can take the Peter Pan approach to growing up, and basically refuse to grow up, but, and I hate to be the one to deliver the bad news, until science develops a cure for growing up, it ain’t gonna happen.

What researchers found was that daily interpersonal stress experienced during the high school years was associated with elevated levels of inflammation, as measured by higher levels of CRP, even among normal, healthy teens.

“Our findings are consistent with the emerging body of evidence that points to the link between stress and increased inflammation, which places individuals at risk for the later development of cardiovascular disease and could have a significant impact upon long-term physical health during adulthood,” was the summary of the research.

Develop Self-Awareness

So the bottom line is, getting immersed in living a High Density Lifestyle can start in your younger years and follow you along when you become an adult.

This is no way to live, so the best bet, if you’re not a teen anymore, is to develop the self-awareness of what stress is doing to you, so that you can be better at stress management and get yourself onto a Low Density Lifestyle.

And that’s when you really start living. The good news is that healthy living will be a beneficial byproduct of this.

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