NATURE’S CREATION – Knowledge & Guidance through Healing Plants – Book & Cards
A wonderful book and card set for those who are passionate about medicinal plants. Use the book and cards to learn about over 40 medicinal plants, their history, myths and, most importantly, their healing properties. Discover how to utilise the plants’ medicinal qualities through a variety of herbal preparations. Tinctures, decoctions, flower essences, essential oils and herbal teas can be powerful tools in healing on all levels…physical, mental and emotional.
Each card has also been designed to provide insight and to aid in recognising an issue and facilitating its release or simply in using a particular plant for personal support. Choose a card daily or whenever you need guidance and support. Browse the corresponding chapter to get a feeling for the plant and what it’s offering you and to reflect on the gentle lesson it teaches.
Many of the insights in the book embrace spiritual practices for personal growth and balance. Yoga, meditation, fire ceremony and other modalities can be used to strengthen the plants’ healing abilities and assist in transforming, aligning and bringing balance.
Check out the book/cards set. The perfect Christmas gift!
This recipe was given to Renee Caisse from the Ojibwa / Ojibwa Tribe (North American Indian tribe from Canada). Essiac is Caisse spelt backwards. Renee Caisse set up a clinic in Canada to help cancer patients. This remedy originally consisted of 4 original herbs. Later…4 more herbs were added.
This powerful mixture of 8 medicinal herbs has the potential ability to assist in the healing of people with a variety illnesses including, Chronic Fatigue, Diabetes, chronic inflammation, supports the immune system, promotes detoxification.
I became interested in Essiac Tea as a treatment for arthritis, but after some research I found the combination of herbs is known to help various other ailments with (word of mouth) good results. I only just purchased the tea…and as yet…I have to test it for myself so I cannot give testimony of its healing abilities, as yet. I will post results as I experience them.
The 8-Herbs:
Blessed Thistle: Widely used to treat liver and gallbladder diseases. Aids in digestive problems and has anti-inflammatory characteristics.
Burdock Root: Blood purifier, nutritive liver tonic, and mild diuretic. Burdock Root is one of those rare herbs that stimulate lymphatic drainage and detoxification.
Kelp: An amazing marine plant and a concentrated source of minerals, including: iodine, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and iron. Kelp is a nutrient dense source of iodine which is crucial in the production of thyroid hormones.
Red Clover: A source of many important nutrients, including: calcium, chromium, magnesium, niacin, phosphorus, potassium, thiamine, and vitamin C…but first and formost a blood purifier. It is also one of the richest sources of isoflavones…water-soluble chemicals that act like estrogens.
Sheep Sorrel: Sheep Sorrel’s action is diuretic, refrigerant and diaphoretic, and the juice extracted from the fresh plant is of use in urinary and kidney diseases. Sheep Sorrel contains a rich source of oxalic acid, sodium, potassium, iron, manganese, phosphorous, beta carotene, and vitamin C. Be aware: oxalic acid can be harmful in large doses.
Slippery Elm Bark: Contains nutrients such as calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, zinc and vitamins B1, B2, B3 and C. It regulates the colon, easing both constipation and diarrhea and has a soothing action on the digestive lining. It is also effective as a cough remedy…soothing sore throats and coughs due to upper respiratory ailments.
Turkish Rhubarb Root: This a detoxifying herb…famous for its healing abilities. Rhubarb root purges the body of bile, parasites, and stagnating food in the digestive tract by stimulating the gall duct to expel toxic waste matter. It has proven effective in alleviating chronic liver problems due to its liver cleansing properties.
Watercress: A nutrient rich plant growing in slow moving water. It contains more Vitamin C than an orange, more calcium than milk, more iron than spinach and more folate than bananas. It also contains Vitamin A, B6, B12, magnesium and phosphorus. Its high antioxidant content may lower the risk of chronic diseases.
Consumers who are not battling illness might use the tea as a detoxifying elixir in less potent doses.
I’ve been hearing about Borax recently and the connection between Borax and a treatment for arthritis. I’ve always regarded Borax as an additive to washing powder…not as a medicinal product for arthritis. I began to dig more deeply and do some research and I read the article below by Dawn Gifford (creator of Small Footprint Family). Her article answered all my questions and I found it informative. When I wrote my book, Nature’s Creation – Knowledge & Guidance through Healing Plants, I was adamant about advising my readers to always check with their doctor or Naturopath before self-treating. If you are considering taking Boron internally I feel this advice is important.
Article by Dawn Gifford
Many people are concerned about whether borax is a safe chemical. There are many sites on the internet claiming it is toxic. I disagree with these sites and believe that borax is as safe for household use as table salt or washing soda—in other words, the dose makes the poison. Here’s why…
History of Borax
Humans have mined and used borax (also known as sodium tetraborate) since its discovery in Persia more than 4,000 years ago. Borax is a naturally occurring mineral found in concentration in dried salt lake beds, and consists of water, sodium, boron and oxygen. That’s it. The main areas where borax is mined today are in Turkey and California.
Boron is an essential trace mineral nutrient required for many functions in the body, like rebuilding bone and teeth, hormone regulation, absorption and metabolism of calcium, magnesium and phosphorus, and maintaining communication between your cells.
In fact, boron is as essential for the parathyroid gland as iodine is for the thyroid.
Boron is ubiquitous in soil and water, and is required for plant growth. Diets with a fair amount of fruit and vegetables provide about 2 to 5 mg of boron per day, but this also depends on the region where the food was grown and how it was grown.
The Evidence on Borax
All of the studies that showed evidence of possible hormone disruption in animals either used ridiculously high doses of borax (many grams delivered intravenously), or they conflated borax with boric acid, which is NOT the same stuff.
Borax (sodium tetraborate) is used in the process of making boric acid, but there is a tremendous chemical difference between the two. Many of the studies used to demonstrate the alleged danger of borax often used boric acid instead, or were ambiguous about which was used.
Boric acid is toxic at far lower doses than borax, so any study that isn’t clear about which of the two is used for the data should not be considered credible. (This includes the EWG data.)
Borax can be toxic at the high doses used in animal studies. It has this effect at high doses is because it is essentially an overdose of the element boron. Iron, zinc and calcium are required by the body too, but an overdose of any of these will also send you to the hospital, or even kill you!
However, adults would never ingest anything even close to the amount of borax required to do harm—unless they worked unprotected for years in a borax mine or packaging factory. However, you will want to keep your small children and pets out of the borax, just as you would keep them away from the chewable vitamins. An overdose of boron can be as dangerous as an overdose of zinc or iron, especially for small bodies.
Borax is officially classified as non-carcinogenic and a mild skin irritant. The high alkalinity of borax (pH 9.5) is what causes skin irritation, which is the same reason that washing soda and even baking soda cause skin irritation, too. The alkaline pH of borax, washing soda and baking soda is what softens the water, and makes it possible for them to clean your clothes.
There are also several studies in the ToxNet database that show borax is only a very mild lung irritant and causes no lasting damage. If ingested, it is quickly excreted in the urine. In addition, it does not really penetrate the skin well, and is not bio-accumulative.
Finally, the Material Safety Data Sheet lists borax as a health hazard of 1—the same as baking soda and salt. In other words, borax is toxic in the same way that salt is toxic (Actually ounce for ounce, salt is more toxic): A small amount can do great things; a huge amount will kill you and other living things.
You wouldn’t want to ingest large amounts of salt or baking soda, inhale them, or rub them in your eyes. Borax is no different.
Uses for Borax
Borax is used in laundry detergents, hair potions and skin lotions. Like diatomaceous earth, it also can help kill fleas and dust mites in your carpet by dehydrating them. It is also used as a safer ant and cockroach killer.
Borax is also naturally anti-fungal and anti-viral (but not anti-bacterial), and—here’s the neat part—through a chemical reaction with water, borax produces hydrogen peroxide (the main ingredient in OxyClean) to brighten and sanitize your clothes.
Because borax is made of just sodium, oxygen, hydrogen and boron, many people even ingest small amounts of borax mixed in water to self-treat various health conditions that supplemental boron can really help, like arthritis, fluoride detoxification, osteoporosis, prostate cancer, menopausal symptoms, psoriasis, and candida.
I do not recommend supplementing with borax because it’s very hard to regulate the dose, and you don’t want to overdo it. Use a high-quality boron supplement instead.
For external use, you should use the same precautions (gloves, dust mask or bandana) with borax that they would use around any dusty substance, like washing soda, bentonite clay, diatomaceous earth, or powdered soap. (Heck, even flour or powdered sugar would be irritating if inhaled!)
So, Is Borax Toxic?
In sum, borax is wholly natural and has no inherently toxic ingredients. It doesn’t cause cancer, accumulate in the body or in nature, or absorb through the skin.
Because the dose makes the poison, borax is not harmful to the body or the environment with normal, external usage any more than salt or baking soda is. In fact, the largest borax (borate) mine in the world—found in Boron, California—is considered to be one of the most ecologically sound and environmentally sustainable mines in the United States.
I consider borax a safe, effective cleaner, and I will continue to use it in my household green cleaning and safer pest control.
Often we aren’t aware that we are stressed as we go about our daily life. All those niggly things like, getting to work or an appointment on time, financial stress, a pileup of emails to answer, picking up children from school on time and trying to fit everything on your list into one day. Stress response is a normal function for our bodies and we definitely do need it in certain circumstances, however, being constantly stressed is not healthy and it’s making us sick.
Physical, chemical or emotional stress can unbalance the brain and the body and activate the Sympathetic Nervous System…our fight and flight system that enables us to manage our external environment and perceived threats. If our Sympathetic Nervous System is continually activated the shut-down button gets stuck on fast forward and our immune system becomes weakened. When the immune system is compromised we become susceptible to disease, infection and cancer. According to Bruce Lipton (an internationally recognized leader in bridging science and spirit), “Over 90% of disease and illness today is based on lifestyle and stress, not genetics,”
According to Dr. Josh Axe (doctor of chiropractic, certified doctor of natural medicine and clinical nutritionist)…there are three ways our bodies can be stressed.
PHYSICAL: this can be a trauma, injury, accident or fall
CHEMICAL: this includes flu, bacterial infection, hangovers and unbalanced blood sugar levels
EMOTIONAL: this is the fear-inducing situations, perceived pressure at work or financially, family tragedies.
Stress influences all the organs in the body and directly affects the gut. Changing our diet is important, however, learning how to manage stress and our emotions is critical.
The brain and the gut are closely connected and communicate with each other. When you experience chronic stress, your brain goes into fight or flight mode, causing your digestion and blood flow in the gut to slow down, the muscles that push along waste and bacteria to freeze up, and the secretions for digestion to decrease. All of these stress responses equal a poorly functioning gut! Take care of your gut health by coping with stress through breath work, yoga, meditation, therapy, time in the outdoors and the countless other stress reduction techniques available to you.
A member of the rose family with over 1,000 species worldwide, identification of Hawthorn confuses even some of the most experienced botanists. This is partly due to the fact that the different species hybridize (cross-pollinate) very easily. However…the chemical profiles of Hawthorn found in all areas worldwide appear to be identical.
Hawthorn acts on the body by lowering the blood pressure and having a positive effect on the functioning of the heart. The effectiveness of Hawthorn in the treatment of chronic heart conditions has been confirmed in a number of clinical trials…most noteworthy was a 1994 trial in Germany. The ability of Hawthorn to improve heart rate and lower blood pressure was clearly documented in patients.
Drawing the Hawthorn Insight card (the lesson that the plant teaches) that accompanies the Nature’s Creation book is an indication that the heart is involved in some way. This could mean an obstacle or difficulty arising in the affairs of the heart or it may relate to an imbalance or block in the heart energy.
The yogic practice of Pranayama (breath work) is wonderful for clearing an imbalance in heart energy and bringing balance and clarity to the body on all levels. Practices suggested: Nadi Shodhana Pranayama (energy network purification) and Bhramari Pranayama (humming bee breath). These practices are detailed in the book under the Information and Reference Guide and can be done daily.
“Heart intuition or intelligence brings the freedom and power to accomplish what the mind, even with all the disciplines or affirmations in the world, cannot do if it’s out of sync with the heart” –Doc Childre and Howard Martin–
Nature’s Creation – Knowledge & Guidance through Healing Plants
Do we all have the power within us to totally let go of all the old “programs” and “belief systems” that control our lives? Are our bodies simply able to heal themselves…physically, mentally and emotionally once we drop those old belief systems and old stories?
My friend Vicki and I lived in New Zealand in a small town at the top of the south island. We spent a great deal of time together studying medicinal herbs with an amazing teacher. As an offshoot of our herbal studies, we discovered the world of Nature Intelligence…working co-creatively with Nature in our gardens and everyday life…out of which evolved my book, Nature’s Creation – Knowledge & Guidance through Healing Plants. But, that’s another story.
We both moved back to Australia over a decade ago and although we didn’t see each other often, we stayed in touch from a distance. Vicki decided to throw caution to the wind, pack up and leave her home south of Sydney. She put a post on Facebook letting friends know she was open to housesitting. Synchronicity came into both our lives. I noticed her post immediately and booked her in for 5 weeks in June/July when I head to Europe (Scotland, Norway & Iceland)…but that too is another story.
It turns out that I was invited to go to Sydney recently for my cousin’s 70th birthday party and Vicki was on her way up north to Queensland…so stopping in Byron Bay for 4 days worked perfectly for her to come and housesit.
I have a small but lovable dog, however, Vicki has never had much involvement with dogs but she was willing to babysit Kashi (or maybe it was the other way around). Let me put the record straight. Kashi has always followed me everywhere and is always right by my feet or close by. He sleeps in my room on his bed every night and literally is my shadow.
Three weeks ago Vicki arrived. Instantly, Kashi deserted me and began to follow Vicki everywhere. Now, let me tell you, I was dumbfounded. I’ve had this dog for 5+ years and he has never instantly deserted me for another person, especially one who virtually ignored him, other than a pat or two to say hello.
That night we went out for dinner and Vicki was telling me about how she had changed her life. I’m not sure I can fully explain what she told me as I’m still attempting to understand the concept and incorporate it into my life. I’m a beginner but here is a brief synopsis. Believe me, there is way more to it than I can explain at this time as this has been part of Vicki’s life for several years now and has transformed her in every way.
It is all about knowing the body has the innate ability to heal itself in every way. It is about letting go of all the old programs & belief systems around what we’ve been told all our lives and believe as true…those programs that are ingrained in our minds and belief systems. It’s about knowing that many of these old programs don’t serve us and knowing/believing that we are able to change this… totally letting go of these old programs. It’s about coming to a place of health, peace, happiness, balance and without stress.
I don’t proclaim to know very much about this process…yet! But…I do know that Vicki’s energy has changed and her life now flows. She is content and happy and not affected by negative things going on around her or old belief systems. However…what made me a believer is my trusty dog, Kashi. He literally deserted me to be right by Vicki and her balanced, peaceful energy. She didn’t do anything to encourage him. It was his choice. Animals will choose to be around pure, balanced energy and this was a light bulb moment for me.
Part of the synchronicity of what I’ve discovered is that I’m being led down this path almost on a daily basis in myriad ways…either via Facebook or through word of mouth. I continue to have “Ah Ha” moments. Recently, I discovered a preview of a new doco on my Facebook page. The doco is called, HEAL. It just happens to be showing at the Pighouse Flicks in Byron Bay…so I went to see it last week. The documentary revolves around the question, “Can the human body heal itself by changing one’s perspective?”
By the way…Vicki had not heard about the Heal doco until I emailed her the link just a few days ago.
Here is the link to Heal preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffp-4tityDE
I’m beginning to gather my annual and perennial medicinal herbs to plant out in my garden and/or in pots. In the photo above (left) I have comfrey, viola, calendula, mint varieties, Herb Robert, yacon, and nasturtiums ready to plant. In the pots, I have strawberries and lavender. Below are pictures of my herb garden, comfrey, and Herb Robert.
I like to plant mint and comfrey in pots as both of these species can take over the garden very quickly if left to their own devices. Comfrey will re-grow from the most minuscule piece of root left under the earth. A trick I’ve used in the past is to plant them in good sized pots, dig a hole in my garden and put the whole pot, with the plant potted inside into the hole. This method prevents the roots from escaping and the plant taking over the garden. They then become part of the herb garden and stay within their boundaries.
My little herb garden has been fertilised, mulched and left over winter. It’s now ready to plant out. This garden gets lots of sun in the summer so I have another little garden space for shade-loving plants like Herb Robert (above). My climate is sub-tropical, therefore the herbs I’m planting grow well in this climate. It is best to do some planning and figure out which plants will be happy planted in your garden bed and which ones would prefer a pot outside or even inside on the kitchen windowsill. I planted my lavender in a pot so I can control how much water it gets. Lavender does not particularly like the humid, sub-tropical climate or wet feet. My strawberries are in pots on the edge of my garden bed as strawberries are another plant that spreads rapidly and takes over. I only have a small herb garden so I have to plan it out well. I like to have a low maintenance, easy to manage garden. Everything comes down to how much space is available in your garden and what you choose to plant. It is important not to overcrowd the garden and to leave space for each plant to stay healthy and to grow to its optimum size…especially if you are using the plant medicinally.
Companion planting is also something I like to do. I know that nasturtiums and calendula like kale so I will plant a few kale plants with them. I’ve learned that kale isn’t keen on strawberries so I will keep the strawberry pots well away from the kale. Mint is good around cabbage and tomatoes but not parsley or chamomile. Lemon balm is often called bee balm as it attracts bees that pollinate other plants in the garden. Check out companion planting as a diverse mix of plants that are compatible makes for a healthy and beautiful herb garden.
Nature’s Creation Book and Cards have lots of good information about many of the available herbs and how to use them medicinally. carolinew26.sg-host.com
Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) or Saint Robert’s Herb is a European woodland geranium with an extremely long history as a valuable medicinal herb. It had all but disappeared from medicinal herb gardens. However, with its amazing healing qualities, this little herb is making a well-deserved comeback.
Very little information is written on Herb Robert’s healing constituents but this special plant has repeated time and time again, that it has supreme therapeutic qualities. It has proven that it has the capabilities to enhance the immune system. Research has established that the source of germanium in Herb Robert is a beneficial element in the body…having the ability to make oxygen available to the cells. This ability gives the body the opportunity to fight disease enabling the cells to regenerate and heal quickly. Free radicals cause a lack of oxygen in the cells and disease such as cancer can manifest.
Germanium’s outstanding effects on the immune system have been well documented in medical journals. As an adaptogen herb, it increases the body’s resistance to stress, trauma, anxiety, and fatigue. Adaptogens generally work by strengthening the immune system, nervous system and/or glandular system…helping to boost, balance and normalise functions in the body. Herb Robert has earned a reputation as a cure for cancer with testimonials to back up the claims.
This is a herb that can be of great benefit and used daily. The plant provides vitamins A and C, as well as B. It is full of minerals such as iron, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, manganese, and calcium. Fresh leaves and flowers can be steeped to make a tea or dried and stored to use throughout the winter months as a tea or tossed into salads as a nutrient booster. The root can also be dried and used.
If we can do one thing to benefit our overall well-being we should focus on maintaining vigorous gut health. I ended up with fairly severe gut issues because I ignored the obvious signs of food intolerances and allergies. I continued eating gluten loaded food (because I love crispy French bread) and dairy until my gut said, “NO MORE!” I began to listen after I was tested for food intolerances and allergies and clearly explained the dire consequences of continuing to eat these foods. Most of us have an idea of what foods our gut likes and deep down we know which ones we are intolerant of. However, we tend to ignore the signs because we love our food and we really don’t want (or know how) to change anything. I was aware I had gut issues with certain foods but I didn’t realise how much damage I was creating by continuing to eat these foods. When I developed arthritis along with my gut issues, I decided it was time to get to the root cause and make whatever changes necessary.
Researchers have discovered that a lesser known nervous system in our guts (our “second brain”) communicates with the brain in our head. Together, “our two brains” play a key role in certain diseases in our bodies and overall health.
If you have been having gut issues for a while and none of the recommendations below help, I suggest you look into having food intolerance and allergy testing. I recommend going to a Naturopath or Integrative MD to find out your options. Also, look into having an analysis that will identify parasites, abnormal bacteria, yeasts and other gastrointestinal issues, which will help you create a supplement plan.
Excerpts from Kris Carr’s – 7 Ways to Improve Gut Health
Your gut holds trillions of bacteria that help process your food, produce nutrients, and fight disease. In fact, there are ten times more bacteria in your gut than cells in your entire body! Balanced gut bacteria is fundamental to overall health. Since what you eat, drink and think affects the environment in your gut. Your daily choices play a critical role in whether those trillion plus bacteria help or hinder your wellbeing.
But when the harmful bacteria stage a revolt, all hell breaks loose. They totally gum up the works and cause painful problems like inflammation and infection, which can then lead to health issues such as constipation, candida, allergies, arthritis, headaches, depression, autoimmune diseases and more.
Medications (especially antibiotics and antacids), environmental toxins and chemicals, stress and illness greatly affect the ratio of good to bad bacteria. When bacteria is wiped out indiscriminately, the good guys get mowed down, giving the bad guys a chance to increase their ranks. Hello, chronic health issues.
The food you eat also affects the ratio of good to bad bacteria. Everything you consume is processed and either absorbed into your body or eliminated via your gut. Your gut completes the amazing task of digesting your food and pulling the nutrients, vitamins and minerals out of the food so that they can be absorbed into your bloodstream.
Your gut is a major component of your immune system.
Did you know that about 60-70% of your immune system lives in your gut?
Meet your GALT, also know as gut-associated lymphoid tissue. Your GALT lies just below the mucosal lining of the gut wall. It’s very thin (only one cell thick!), and most importantly — it’s integral to your immune system. The GALT contains specialized immune structures called Peyer’s patches that are filled with immune cells, such as B cells and T cells, which are responsible for recognizing and neutralizing harmful bacteria. When pathogenic bacteria visits your gut via food or your environment, the Peyer’s patches trigger your immune response to prevent them from passing through the gut wall.
Another way your gut protects you from infection and disease is through an abundance of healthy bacteria.
To keep harmful bacteria from overthrowing your gut, healthy bacteria need to thrive and cover your gut wall — the only thing standing between everything inside your gut and your bloodstream. It helps to imagine that your gut wall is a parking lot. There are a limited number of “parking spots” along your gut wall. You want good bacteria parked in those spaces so bad bacteria is crowded out. Keep those spaces filled by adopting the following gut health.
Now that you know how important your gut health is to your overall wellbeing, how can you take care of your spectacular gut?
1. Take a probiotic supplement: A daily probiotic supplement will help boost the good bacteria in your gut, keeping the bad guys under control, boosting your immune system and easing digestive issues. This is especially helpful when you’re taking a medication, such as an antibiotic that has wiped out a large amount of gut bacteria. Any health food shop can recommend a probiotic.
2. Eat probiotic whole foods: You can also eat whole foods that are fermented and contain large amounts of good bacteria. Sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, microalgae and coconut kefir are fantastic plant-based probiotic-rich foods. When looking for probiotic-rich foods, avoid vinegar-based and/or pasteurized varieties, since these elements kill good bacteria. You want to pick up (or make!) lacto-fermented probiotic foods (FYI–this is a plant-friendly approach, no whey is necessary). If you’re interested in making your own probiotic foods, Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz is a popular book on the subject. Word to the wise: Get educated on fermenting at home before diving in–it can be risky if you don’t know what you’re doing!
3. Eat prebiotic whole foods: Certain foods feed and support the growth of good bacteria. By eating more whole, plant-based, fibre-filled foods, you’re fuelling the bacteria that support your health. Raw onions, garlic, dandelion greens, artichokes, and bananas are some of the best prebiotic foods to add to your diet.
4. Eat regularly, but not constantly (eat your last meal of the day preferably before 6pm): To give your gut a chance to clean up and clear out bacteria and waste, it needs a rest from digestion. Every 90 minutes to two hours, the smooth muscle in your intestines move and groove to keep bacteria and waste truckin’ through your digestive tract. But this process is put on hold every time you eat. Can you see why snacking constantly slows down digestion and contributes to bacterial overgrowth? I’m not saying that you need to fast for long periods — eating regularly helps prevent constipation and bloating — but it’s best to take breaks between meals.
5. Stay hydrated: A good rule of thumb for staying hydrated is drinking half your body weight in ounces of water each day. For example, if you weigh 130 pounds, you should drink about 65 ounces of water. That’s about eight 8-ounce glasses of water. Your gut needs water to keep bacteria and waste moving through your digestive system, which will help prevent constipation and bloating. When you’re dehydrated, these issues can throw off the balance of bacteria in your gut and lead to inflammation. Give your gut a hand and drink more H2O!
6. Cut out refined sugar and processed foods: When you consume processed, sugar-laden, refined foods, you’re giving bad bacteria an all-you-can-eat buffet, which increases the likelihood of developing gut issues and associated illnesses.
7. Reduce stress: The brain and the gut are closely connected and communicate with each other. When you experience chronic stress, your brain goes into fight or flight mode, causing your digestion and blood flow in the gut to slow down, the muscles that push along waste and bacteria to freeze up and the secretions for digestion to decrease. All of these stress responses equal a poorly functioning gut! Take care of your gut health by coping with stress through breath work, yoga, meditation, therapy, time in the outdoors and the countless other stress reduction techniques available to you.
When British explorer, Captain Cook landed in Botany Bay, Australia in 1770 the Gwyeagal people inhabited the land around Botany Bay at that time. The Aboriginal people had a deep knowledge of native edible and medicinal plants passed down from generation to generation over thousands of years. They shared some of their secret knowledge with Captain Cook and his party, including botanist, Joseph Banks. The British spent a great deal of time studying and experimenting with the native botanicals. Melaleuca alternifolia and Melaleuca quinquenervia were amongst the plants studied and sketched by botanist, Joseph Banks.
Approximately 230 species of Melaleuca are indigenous to Australia and vary, depending on the species, from small shrubs to 30 metre tall trees. Melaleuca alternifolia is indigenous to northern New South Wales and Queensland and now most of the commercial Tea Tree comes from this region and this species. Melaleuca quinquenervia is indigenous to the East coast of New South Wales and Queensland usually along watercourses and swamps.
Tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) and Niaouli (Melaleuca quinquenervia) are members of the Myrtaceae plant family and are related to myrtle, clove, and eucalyptus. Although in the same family Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) should not be confused with Niaouli (Melaleuca quinquenervia). Tea Tree has needle-like leaves whilst Niaouli is commonly known as broadleaf paperbark. However, both varieties have strong medicinal qualities and similar chemical properties. Tea tree oil has highly effective antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral properties. It is great for acne, athlete’s foot, contact dermatitis or head lice.
The Aboriginal people of Australia had multiple uses for Melaleuca quinquenervia. The bark was peeled off in layers and is used for shelter, bedding, containers, storing and cooking food, fire tinder, watercraft, fish traps and wrapping the deceased. In traditional medicine, an infusion from leaves was drunk, inhaled or used for bathing to treat coughs, colds, congestion, headache, fever, and influenza. Today…Melaleuca quinquenervia is known for its strong antiseptic and stimulating qualities. It is still extensively used to clear infections such as bronchitis, catarrh, and sinus, as well as acne, boils, burns, ulcers and cuts. It is known for its analgesic, antiseptic, bactericide, insecticide, decongestant and ability to treat intestinal worms.
