Keep calm and make tea!

If you've read all my blogs then you know that I am NOT a fan of doctors or medication. I talked, in this post, about my experience with the flu a couple of weeks back and how I'd managed to beat it using alternative remedies which included things like food, tissue salts and herbs. I'd like to go into a bit more detail about those herbs, today.

Herbs are nothing new under the sun. Long before there was synthetic medication, people were using herbs to cure various ailments. They were used for centuries, in their natural form. These days you find a lot of those herbs, in synthetic form, in medications, beauty products and household cleaners. Companies have tried to harness the healing power of herbs, in a form that can make them some money. My question is, why would you buy the synthetic version for R100 or more, when you can buy a box of the actual herb for about R20, that lasts you several months and is far better for you, and that works? I'm not an expert, as I've said, but I have had great success with my herbal teas over the years and I'd like to share what I've learnt, with you.

Anyone who knows me knows how crazy I am about my teas! I have been drinking herbal teas for years and there is never a shortage of every type and flavour of tea when we have visitors over. Actually, that's not entirely accurate! The one tea that is often missing from my cupboard is your garden variety black tea. I often forget to buy it because it is the ONE tea I don't drink. One or two friends have actually arrived with their own tea because they KNOW I forget to buy normal tea;) Most people assume that, if you are going to have a hot drink, it'll either be normal tea or coffee. You definitely get "tea" people and "coffee" people and the "tea" people will mostly drink normal tea. The lack of variety drives me nuts. I find normal tea so boring since I discovered the world of "all different types of teas" and so I never buy it, or drink it.

Of course, you also get the rooibos drinkers, but, considering rooibos tea is distinctly South African, there are actually very few rooibos drinkers, compared to normal tea drinkers, in South Africa. My gran used to call it "camel's pee" ;) That was my gran, a real character! But a lot of people seem to dislike the taste of it. I started drinking rooibos because the caffeine in normal tea dried out my throat and, as a singer, I found that, drinking rooibos with honey and lemon was very soothing for my throat. It was especially helpful to sip on during a particularly long show on a cold winter's night. I always arrived at a gig with a bottle of water and my tea flask! I wasn't a fan of the taste to start with, either, but it grew on me.

Fortunately, over the years, manufacturers have gotten more experimental with teas and, more and more flavoured teas have started appearing on shelves. I bought every new one to try as I discovered them. I eventually bought myself one of those teabag trays you find in hotels and at catered functions, because I had so many different teas and it was easier than keeping them in separate boxes which took up loads of cupboard space! That's how tea crazy I was;)

Given my obsession with health and my aversion to medication, it was a natural progression to start exploring teas for their medicinal benefits. I was delighted to discover Dischem's HUGE selection of herbal teas. I began to see the benefits of tea leaves, instead of tea bags. I started my teapot collection (with built in tea strainer!) and my tea collection grew steadily. Over the years I have discovered which teas work for what, and I am STILL learning, because there are so many of them!

SOME of the teas in my cupboard;)

So why loose tea leaves instead of tea bags? Well, have you ever torn open a teabag and seen the quality of the tea leaves inside? Unless it says "whole-leaf teabags" you are pretty much getting dust, and what they call, fannings. It's the dregs of the pile of tea leaves after the good leaves have been scooped up and packed into boxes. The smaller the leaves, the less quality and flavour your tea will have. Tea leaves contain essential oils and, when the leaves are broken up, some of those oils will evaporate which will leave you with a tasteless, nutrition-less tea. If the leaves are larger pieces, they will still contain all the necessary goodness and flavour that you are drinking it for. A teabag is also limited, space-wise, which means that the leaves will not be able to absorb water and swell the way they are supposed to. You won't find any of the medicinal herbal teas in a teabag. That's because they won't actually do what they are meant to do, which is heal you, if they are squashed in a tea bag, made up of dust and fannings, and very little goodness. Long story short, stick to tea leaves if you are drinking tea for health purposes or if you are really fussy about flavour! And needless to say, organic is the way to go because herbs can also contain pesticides and less goodness due to bad quality soil.

So what tea helps what ailment? Here is a list of the teas I favour, and why:

• Rooibos: This little leaf has MANY health benefits if you drink enough of it! It's caffeine free for those with a caffeine sensitivity. It is loaded with antioxidants which bind with free radicals, preventing them from damaging cells and causing cancer or from oxidising with cholesterol to clog blood vessels. Rooibos also protects the liver from disease, boosts the immune system, relieves allergies and helps digestive disorders. You need to drink about 6 cups a day to really feel the benefits and it doesn't matter how you drink it really, as long as you drink it!
• Peppermint: Personally I have found peppermint teabags to taste awful no matter what the quality so I really recommend tea leaves! I drink mint tea on a daily basis because it is GREAT for IBS. It is incredibly soothing for sore, bloated colons, stomach cramps and diarrhea. It promotes good digestion and eases heartburn. It also helps to ease a headache, PMS cramps and sinus problems. If you steam with it, it is a great decongestant and just the smell of it makes you more alert and focused so it's a good thing to have if you're studying.
• Milk thistle: This herb has become more and more popular of late for those who are preparing for a big party night where lots of alcohol is going to be imbibed! It is often used as a treatment for liver problems. It is a natural antioxidant. Silymarin (the active substance in milk thistle) appears to have anti-cancer effects and is currently being studied as a possible cancer preventative. A use you probably would never have guessed is that it can be used as an antidote for deathcap mushroom poisoning. Milk thistle counteracts toxins in the mushroom, as long as it's taken within 10 minutes of ingestion. However, even if it's given within 24 hours of mushroom poisoning, it significantly reduces the risk of liver damage and even death. Milk thistle is also recommended as a natural remedy for morning sickness and nausea.
• Echinacea: You've all heard of this one. It's well known for boosting the immune system and preventing, or lessening the impact of, colds and flu. You get it in many different forms, but, because I love teas so much, I drink it! It is a great preventative herb to drink just as winter is starting and everyone is getting sick. If you are too late, it will shorten the amount of time that you are sick. It can also be applied to skin to heal eczema, sunburn and slow-healing wounds. It's not a good idea to drink it for longer than 8 consecutive weeks though because it can inhibit the production of T-cells eventually.
• Lemon Balm: This herb has many benefits! It's great for insomnia, it eases digestion and stomach ailments, much like peppermint tea, it can be used to treat herpes lesions and cold sores if applied externally, it can also help treat the symptoms of alzheimer's disease, it is good for bronchial inflammation, earache, fever, headaches, high blood pressure, influenza, mood disorders, palpitations, toothache and vomiting. It also soothes menstrual cramps and helps relieve PMS. I have used it for many of the above reasons and it works.
• Stinging Nettle: And you thought all it did was irritate you;) It has such a wide range of uses though! It's good for allergies, relieves hair loss, treats celiac disease, bladder infections, acid reflux, excess gas, sore throats, hemorrhoids, nose bleeds, mouth sores, skin irritations, neurological disorders, arthritis, gout, rheumatism, and soft tissue conditions such as fibromyalgia and tendonitis. Patients with Lupus and other auto-immune disorders, suffering from joint pain, experience relief from drinking a cup of nettle tea a day. It removes metabolic wastes and is both gentle and stimulating on the lymph system. It is used to help treat alzheimer's, it helps with night time bed wetting in children and supports the endocrine system. 
  
• Chasteberry herb: This is known as the "Women's herb" because it's all about women! It's used for menstrual cycle irregularities, PMS, a more severe form of PMS called premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), and symptoms of menopause. It is also used for treating “lumpy” (fibrocystic) breasts, female infertility, preventing miscarriage in women with low levels of a hormone called progesterone, controlling bleeding and helping the body force out the placenta after childbirth, and increasing breast milk. I find it works really well for PMS and that's good enough reason for me to drink it!
• Green tea: You all know about this but I bet most of you don't drink it because of it's bitter taste? Well that's just because you aren't buying tea leaves AND you aren't preparing it correctly;) Did you know that green tea is just a younger version of normal, black tea? It is a GREAT cancer fighter and preventer, it prevents heart disease and strokes by lowering cholesterol. Even AFTER a heart attack it prevents cell deaths and speeds recovery. It's anti-aging and promotes longevity and  it also promotes weight-loss and speeds up your metabolism.
• White tea: If normal black tea is the grandmother, green tea is the mom and white tea is the child! They are all the same plant, picked at different times of it's life. White tea has all the benefits of green tea but you can multiply them a hundred fold because it is the least processed of the teas and therefore the best quality. It's exceptionally good for all the same reasons that green tea is good, but it's even better. It's the tea of all teas when it comes to goodness:)
• Marshmallow Root: I drank this by the bucket load when I had bronchial pneumonia and it really helped my voice come back! It's great for sore throats, laryngitis, whooping cough, bronchitis, digestive disorders like IBS, ulcers, hernias and mouth ulcers. It is good for treating cuts and skin irritations like eczema externally. It also helps soothe teething babies!

I think that list is enough for now but it really is an endless list. I'll revisit it sometime again. The teas I drink depend largely on what is ailing me at the time. I don't drink all of them, all the time. Remember that herbs are powerful. They may be natural but they are, in a lot of cases, more powerful than synthetic medication because they are in their most natural form. You wouldn't take medication constantly and so you shouldn't drink certain teas constantly except for rooibos and green tea of course. All the other teas I've listed here are remedies for certain things and should be treated as such.

The way to make them all is easy. Place a teaspoon of tea leaves in a teapot and fill the pot with boiled water. Leave to steep for about 10 minutes and then drink. Green tea is slightly different. It's loaded with caffeine and it can get too strong and very bitter in a short space of time. Green tea should actually have a sweet taste if you buy the tea leaves. The bags will taste horrible and bitter and, of course, won't be nearly as good for you. I only steep green tea for about 5 minutes and that's it. Any longer and it tastes horrible. White tea can go for 3 minutes and that will be enough. It can also tend towards the strong, bitter side if it's left too long. 

Most herbal teas don't taste great on their own. I never suffer through a bad pot of tea anymore. I have learnt that the key to getting all the nutrients into my body, is to make it as easy to drink as possible. So I buy a few different flavoured rooibos teabags and I add them to whatever herb I need to drink and they mask the flavour of the bitter herbs. I also add a small spoon of raw honey to my tea and a drop of lemon juice and it makes it really tasty. You'll find most herbal teas taste awful with milk and I wouldn't recommend it!

Our morning teapot consists of 4 different rooibos teabags, some flavoured, some plain (to get as much goodness as possible out of them), a spoon of green tea and then whatever herbal tea we may need. If we had a glass of wine the night before then I add milk thistle. If I have a stomach ache, I add mint, if I feel fluey, I add echinacea. I make a big pot and drink it throughout the day when I'm home. You can never get enough tea in you as far as I'm concerned so, the more, the merrier. And winter is the best time to be experimenting with teas! It's not only warming, but it's also so good for you!

In the words of Mrs Tiggywinkle from Beatrix Potter: "When the troubles of the day are over, there is nothing that comforts me like a real, hot, strong cup of tea!"

Until tomorrow!

Can you fight The Flu, naturally?

Last Friday morning I woke up feeling like I was swallowing razor blades. I haven't been sick for a year so I was pretty upset! I live a very healthy lifestyle, as you will know if you've read all my posts, and I thought I'd be immune! I guess I shouldn't be ungrateful. A year is pretty good going. I used to get sick a minimum of 4 times a year and ALWAYS with something like tonsillitis or bronchitis or bronchial pneumonia. It was never just a cold and it always lasted at least 3 weeks, often more.

Getting sick is pretty much to expected for anyone. You can't avoid the bugs forever. HOW sick you get will have a lot to do with the strength of your immune system. The fact that I got sick a lot, and badly had a lot to do with my IBS because it does lower your immune system. Stress plays a big roll but it also has to do with the lack of good bacteria in your intestines. I was pretty loaded with stress most of the time. I was living out of a suitcase almost permanently because I was at home probably 4 days out of a month. Travelling like that makes it really difficult to eat properly and 80% of my shows included shows at schools up to Grade 7. It's common knowledge that kids are great little carriers of all manner of bugs so there wasn't much of an escape for me. At the time I was pretty ignorant about health so I would go on a course of antibiotics every time I got sick, nuking what was left of the good bacteria in my intestines and I setting myself up for the next bug again and again.

A year ago, when I decided to go organic, I did it all cold turkey, all at once. I cut out all chemicals and went free range, organic and chemical free within a matter of days. Once I had decided to do it, I just couldn't bring myself to compromise. I'm like that. I'm a virgo. There are NO half measures for me;) I felt a little yucky the first few days, and then I felt wonderful for a few days... and then I got sick. Not just any kind of sick. Oooooh noooo, I got bronchial pneumonia sick.

I felt like death. My first instinct was to turn to every kind of pill, spray and syrup I could find. But I didn't. I couldn't. I'd made a decision and I was sticking to it dammit. I stocked up on herbal teas and a few other homeopathic remedies and waited it out... and waited... and waited. I didn't know I had bronchial pneumonia until I went to a doctor who was actually a specialist. I went for a completely different reason. It's one of those appointments that you book several months in advance and then forget about until you get a call the day before to confirm your appointment. So I paid R900 to find out that I had bronchial pneumonia! I told him I refused to take antibiotics and that I was trying very hard to remain chemical free. He looked at me like I was nuts but he went along with it and prescribed a pump, telling me to rinse my mouth immediately after using it to avoid too much absorption and he gave me some codeine syrup to help me sleep because I was struggling with that due to all the coughing. He also prescribed painkillers but I just told the chemist to give me the pump and the codeine and went home to try and recover again. 3 days later I finally started to feel human again!

It was a tough 4 weeks I can't lie. But I came out at the end of it feeling pretty good about myself. For the first time ever, I didn't take ONE antibiotic. I took panado when I had fevers and then the codeine towards the end and the pump but I stopped taking everything the minute I felt like I was beating it and my tiny little immune system finally kicked in. It just needed a little help this time around, but it finally pulled me through.

My homeopath made a very important point. My body was going through one hell of a healing crisis. The thing with going completely "clean" is that your body starts to go through withdrawals. Have you ever tried to cut coffee, or sugar, or soft drinks out of your life? Your body goes through 3 weeks of hell while it tries to adjust to the lack of stimulants. Headaches, stomach cramps, nausea etc. It feels like you're actually sick. It's not different to an addict going through drug withdrawals. The same happens when you cut chemicals, caffeine, sugar, all processed foods and alcohol out of your life, all at once. My body went into shock I guess. And while it was busy coping with the withdrawal, my immune system was left even more defenseless, and the bug caught me off guard.

So, back to last Friday! I was terrified that the same thing was going to happen to me. I know what happens when I get sick. It's long and drawn out and just awful. And every time I think my body will fight it off alone, it just can't. I was so hopeful that the sore throat would just go away but, the next day, the fevers started and, by Saturday afternoon I felt HORRIBLE. You all know that feeling; achy joints and muscles, splitting headache, feeling weak and dizzy, hot and cold at the same time. I thought my head was going to explode but, I didn't give in and have any conventional medication this time, not even panado (taking that was my mistake last time I was sick but more on that shortly). My fabulous GLM went out and got me some Septoguard, which is a herbal, natural antiobiotic, and I drank herbal teas, did oil-pulling (more on this later!), gargled with salt and used tissue salts. (and this too!) I ate healthy, nutritious meals and got as much rest as possible. Saturday night was just awful. I had a fever all night and was so tempted to take medication just to break it so my head would feel better and I could sleep. In my opinion, there are few things worse than having a fever. They really nuke your body!

I didn't give in and take the pill and here's why: I'm not sure if many people are aware of this, but a fever is actually a good thing. It''s the body's natural way of fighting a bacterial infection. Breaking the fever can actually do more harm than good to you. (unless it goes above 41 degrees then get to a doctor). Anything below 41, but above 37 is very uncomfortable, but good for you, nonetheless. Bugs can survive for a long time in a body with a normal temperature, but not for so long in a body with a raised temperature. The fact that your temperature is raised, means that your immune system is doing what it is meant to do, to fight off the bug. If you can see it through, you stand a much better chance of getting better, sooner. The same applies when you have an inflamed muscle, or a cut that gets really hot and infected. The heat and swelling are good things! Taking a pill, or putting antiseptic cream on, halts the natural healing process.

I've never had the guts to try this, largely because I never KNEW about the above, but also because I hate having a temperature! This time around I was determined to do it. I think GLM thought I was a little nuts. I was in serious pain. My head was unbelievably sore, not to mention the glands, the aches everywhere, the chills. I was miserable. I hardly slept while my body did battle. By Sunday afternoon I was nearing the end of my tether when, all of a sudden, the fever broke all on its own! I started sweating and it was the most welcome feeling ever! The chills disappeared, I could stand without wanting to fall over and my joints stopped aching. From then on, I started to feel like I was healing. It still involved a few days in bed. Don't get me wrong. My sinuses were a mess and then it moved down to my chest BUT, where, usually, this would all happen over the space of a few weeks, it happened over the course of 6 days!! 6 days later I am sitting at my desk feeling a little blocked up, with a bit of a irritating cough, but I am 95% healthy again. It is almost unheard of, for me. I feel stupidly chuffed with myself:)

I think back to things that people have said to me when they've been sick. "Every time I think I'm better, something else starts!" or "I'm on my 2nd course of antibiotics and still can't fight this off!" or "I've been to the doctor 3 times. I don't know what else to do!" I used to say all of those things myself but I have a better understanding of WHY all of those things happen now. Antibiotics are at the root of it all, followed closely by all other flu medications and OTC (over the counter) remedies.

It's a HUGE business, self-treatment. In fact, pharmaceutical companies RELY on the fact that you are going to try and cure yourself first, without the cost of a visit to the doctor, so that they can make lots and lots of money off of you. There are SO many flu remedies on the shelves and one can get pretty confused about which one to take but, at the end of the day, it is really about the one with the best advertising. Let's face it, you've tried pretty much all of them, haven't you? You end up either going for the one you always use, or the one whose advert you just saw most recently, or the one your friend told you was brilliant and they all do pretty much the same thing which is NOT MUCH. I can almost hear some of you saying, "Not true! It works for me!" But here is the thing. How long to do you take that stuff for? A week? 2 weeks? You usually end up finishing the whole bottle or box, don't you? And bottle or box lasts about a week... and flu lasts about a week... Or, it's supposed to. But I bet you are still sick after a week, aren't you?

That stuff is good for suppressing your symptoms and making you feel more human, but it's not going to actually cure you. YOU are going to cure you, over time. But, while you are taking that medication, your body is struggling to raise your temperature so that it can fight the bug and you are telling it, "No way buddy, I am taking pills! I will fight this WITHOUT your help!" And after 2 weeks, when you realise you AREN'T fighting it off with self-doctoring, you finally visit the doctor, who prescribes MORE remedies to suppress symptoms and, my WORST nightmare, antibiotics!

I cannot express how bad these things are for you! Your gut is supposed to have bacteria in it. How else are you going to have any kind of immune system? But antibiotics kill EVERYTHING in your gut; good and bad. They aren't picky. And the crazy thing is, NO antibiotic is going to kill a virus because NOTHING KILLS A VIRUS. If they had invented something that killed a virus, we'd have a cure for HIV/AIDS, but we don't. Antibiotics only kill bacterial infections and flu is a virus, not a bacterial infection so those antibiotics are doing NOTHING. (except for annihilating all your poor, defenceless good bacteria) Excuse all the caps but I can't stress this enough. All you are doing is setting yourself up for another bug later in the year, AND creating superbugs.

Never heard of those? Well, here's the thing about those. Doctors and patients got so excited about antibiotics, that they started handing them out left, right and centre for decades, for any old thing. The little bugs decided to fight back, and now we have bugs on STEROIDS. They have built up an immunity to the antibiotics we currently have and are making them more or less obsolete.

A good way to start reversing that problem is to stop asking your doctor for antibiotics, and stop allowing them to simply give it to you, without a blood test to ensure that it is, in fact, a bacterial infection. The problem with health today is that it HAS become big business. Doctors have to have their patients in and out in about 15 minutes because they have a quota to reach. They aren't going to sit and chat to you about what might be wrong. (I am generalising and I am sure there are doctors out there who take the time, but they are few and far between.) If you go to a medi-centre of some kind, they will go through all the motions and then send you packing with a script and wishy-washy instructions to eat well and drink lots of fluids. I never understood that. The most important instruction is an add-on at the end of the appointment and it really doesn't tell a person anything.

What does "eating well" really mean? And what fluids are the good fluids? Well, you can refer to this post if you want an idea of how to eat healthy, but if you read all my posts from the beginning you'll have a much better understanding of food as a remedy. As far as fluids go, I am such a big believer in the power of tea. But I don't mean just any old tea. I mean organic, herbal teas. There is a herb for every ailment and I take full advantage!

That is an entire post on it's own so I am going to leave you there for now. Remember, tomorrow is The Real Food Friday Feast and you'll want to catch this one! It's the perfect winter warmer-upper and it's great for colds and flu;)