Category: Natural Remedies

Home Made Hawthorn Remedies For Blood Pressure and Heart

Natural Herbal Remedies

‘Hawthorne for the Heart’s Woes’, methinks.  Hawthorn is considered by many herbalists to be ‘the traditional organ remedy for the heart’, whether the problem be of a physical or emotional origin.

As my Uncle Ivor used to say, ‘It’s very good for what’s wrong with you’.

Botanical names for Hawthorn: Crataegus Oxyacantha. Crataegus Monogyna.

The common Hawthorn is also known as the ‘Mayflower’, because it flowers in May, in Britain, from whence it originates.  The famous pilgrim ship to America was named ‘The Mayflower’ after the English Hawthorn bush.

Hawthorn is a wonderful remedy which has been known since ancient Roman times.  For strengthening the heart, for circulation problems, and stabilizing the  blood pressure, there is no other herb that can beat Hawthorn for its safe and tonic effect.

It was known as a gout medicine around 1695, according to Robert Barnett.  He also says that Hawthorn is used in Chinese medicine for what they call ‘food stagnation’ of the gut and intestines.

Homeopathic Crataegus   Homeopaths often use Hawthorn (Crataegus) combined with Arnica, which  is considered to be a mild heart tonic.

General Tonic For The Blood: Hawthorn Berries and the leaves are rich in antioxidant flavanoids.  These chemicals, plus its abundant Vitamin C and B content, and trace elements such as iron, make the Hawthorn a great blood cleanser and general tonic.

Insomnia and Nervous Depression:  Hawthorn can be helpful as a tonic for the relief of these aforesaid conditions, since Hawthorn has a mildly sedative effect on the nervous system.  The homeopathic combination of Crataegus and Arnica would be an efficacious remedy for treating nervous conditions and insomnia:  The Arnica would enhance the sedative and calming effect of Hawthorn.

High Blood Pressure: People suffering hypertension, or high blood pressure, would do well to begin drinking  Hawthorn tea, simply made with the Hawthorn leaves  and mixed with some peppermint or spearmint herb for flavour. Below is a recipe to make palatable Hawthorn tea.

Note:  Do not begin using Hawthorn tea, or using the tincture, if you are already on prescription medicine of some sort.  Doubling up on a remedy which affects blood pressure may not be helpful.  The cardiac glycoside drugs such as Digitalis or Digoxin should not be mixed with herbal medicines which will do the same thing. Ask your doctor or naturopath about using Hawthorn if you are taking medication.

Low Blood Pressure:  Hawthorn Tea is equally good for treating low blood pressure, according to Louise Tenney and other herbalists.

Hypoglycaemia: Whilst Hawthorn can be helpful for normalizing either low or high blood pressure, it can  also have a stabilizing effect on the blood sugar levels.  It is a useful herb for treating hypoglycaemia, when the blood sugar levels plummet from high to low, leaving the person feeling lifeless and depressed.

Tasty Hawthorn Tea Combination

Crumble  1/4 cup  of dried Hawthorn leaves into the teapot. You can use your fermented leaves if you have them – see the previous post on making fermented Hawthorn tea leaves.

Add 1/4 cup of fresh or dried Peppermint or Spearmint leaves.

Pour over 4 cups of boiling water.

Leave to infuse for 5 minutes, then add the juice of one lemon and a tablespoonful of honey.

Drink one cup of this tea three or four times a day as a general tonic.

Hawthorne Tea To Help Lower Blood Pressure

Pour 250 mls of boiling water over either dried leaves, flowers or berries of Hawthorn, or a mixture of these.

Infuse for 20 minutes, then strain off the tea.  Drink two or three cups of cold tea per day over a period of around two months or so to help reduce high blood pressure. (see ‘Your Complete Guide To Natural Health’)

Hawthorn Tea To Help Angina and Arrhythmias

Use two teaspoons of Hawthorn berries.  Pour over 250 mls of boiling water and leave to infuse for twenty minutes.

Strain the tea.  Drink cold.

‘Your Complete Guide To Natural Health’ recommends drinking two or three cupsful of this tea each day, one cup at a time, of course,  for around two months or so, for the effect of helping the conditions of angina and arrhythmias.

Home Made Hawthorn Tincture – Heart Remedy

See the previous post for another method of making Hawthorn tincture.  This simple recipe here below is adapted  from one found in ‘Your Complete Guide To Natural Health’. International Masters Publishers, Auckland, NZ.  No date.

Take a clean jar with a screw top lid.

Put in 20 gms of dried Hawthorn, leaves and flowers. Crumble the herbs a little.

Cover the herbs with vodka.

Screw on the lid.

Shake every day for 10 days.

Strain into a clean, dry bottle.

To strengthen the heart, take between 20 to 40 drops in a little water three times a day.

My new book is available on Amazon:

 

 

Hawthorne Wine Or Beer Recipe For Hypertension

Natural Remedy For High Blood Pressure

The Hawthorne has been proven as an effective remedy for hypertension – high blood pressure.

John Heinerman says in his book, ‘Miracle Healing Herbs’ that a Scottish doctor in 1939 ran some tests with a hawthorne remedy on 10 patients who had high blood pressure.  This doctor was Dr. James Graham of Glasgow University.

Dr Graham’s experiment with his home made remedy was successful in improving the health of all 10 patients in his study.

Here is my version of the recipe which Dr Graham is said to have used:

Recipe For Hawthorne Wine Or Beer:

Take 4 tablespoonsful of dried hawthorne berries.

Crush the berries well.

Add these to one pint of either dark honey mead, or a dark, rich beer.

Alternatively, you could use a sweet sherry, which will keep well.

You could also use vodka to make your remedy.  I use vodka to make up homeopathic remedies.  It keeps well, is inexpensive, and the flavour is so mild as to not impair any remedies.

Put the mixture in a bottle with the cap loosely screwed on, so as to let any gasses out as the mixture works.

Leave your hawthorne preparation for 15 days, shaking well each day.

After 15 days, strain the mixture into another clean, dry bottle and cork or screw down the lid.

Dr Graham’s reported dosage for each patient was 25 drops taken for one dose, twice a day.  The drops were put under the tongue, which aids in quick absorption of the remedy.

After only one week, apparently, all his patients had fully recovered.

My latest book is now available on Amazon:

Blackberry Tea Recipes For Flu, Rheumatics, Diarrhoea

Natural Remedies:  Rubus Villosus Rubus Fruticosus, Bramble, or Common Blackberry

‘In bramble, out cough,

Here I leave the whooping cough’.

Thus goes an old English rhyme which Josephine Addison quotes in her book, ‘The Illustrated Plant Lore’.  Apparently, she writes, in some countries, this rhyme was said as the patient passed seven times through an arch.  Presumably the bramble or blackberry was taken as a restorative tea, with this rhyme and wee dance added to improve the spirits of the whooping cough patient.

 

Using Blackberry as a fermented tea:

Fermenting herbal teas increases the nutritive effect of the herbs used.  The fermenting process releases the active ingredients, such as tannins, iron, manganese, potassium, flavanoids and other antioxidant agents, such as Vitamins C,and Vitamin B.  Vitamin B levels are increased with the fermentation of the herb.

Black Ceylon Tea is put through a fermentation process to improve the flavour:  The tannin and other antioxidants are released from ceylon tea when it is fermented.

To Make Fermented Tea:

Simply wrap up the clean fresh leaves of the herb you wish to make into tea.  Wrap the herbs lightly in a clean, damp tea-towel.  Put them into a warm place for a couple of days.  The warmth helps the fermentation process, which will increase the availability of antioxidants from your herbal tea.

After two or three days, take out the leaves from the tea-towel.  Spread out over a tray and dry carefully in a warm, airy place.

Simple Blackberry Tea

For Diarrhoea, Colds or Flu, Skin Problems

Take one heaped teaspoon of dried herb, preferably fermented as explained above. Pour over one pint of boiling water and let the tea infuse for 20 minutes.  Let cool.  Drink up to two cupsful of the cold tea each day.

This infusion can be applied warm to skin eczema.  It is soothing and has healing qualities which help the skin.

Blackberry Tea Combination (for similar use as above)

Take equal quantities of dried lime flowers, blackberry leaves, and elderflowers. You can use your dried fermented blackberry leaves.

Crumble up all the herbs, mix  well, and put in an air-tight jar.

Take a heaped teaspoon of the dried herbs and pour over a cup of boiling water.  Let steep for 10 minutes, then strain and drink. Take the tea three times a day as a prophylactic for flu, or to treat it.

Also very good for colds.

 

Blackberry For Sore Gums Or Mouth Ulcers:

These ideas for using blackberry as a healer for tender gums, and other things, are recommended by Dr Vogel in his book ‘The Nature Doctor’.  This doctor surely believed in the power of herbs, rather than drugs, in helping to heal certain ailments of the body.

John Heinerman, Ph.D., also recommends blackberry in his book ‘Miracle Healing Herbs’, published by Heinerman,1998, where he praises its use, especially in cases of diarrhoea.  Mr Heinerman also considers blackberry tea to be useful for such conditions as skin sores, mouth sores, impaired liver function, and sick blood.

Chew Fresh Blackberry Leaves to help heal bleeding gums (often a sign of Vitamin C deficiency).  You could use some of your fresh fermented blackberry leaves for this purpose.  Chewing the leaves releases the healing Vitamin C and tannins, both of which help to stem bleeding and heal the tissues.

According to old English herbals, the young shoots of blackberry were sometimes used as salad greens. Eating the young leaves in this way ‘would fasten teeth which were loose’. (see Josephine Addison p.28-29)

The healing action on the gums and teeth would be attributable to the plentiful Vitamin C and rutin within the blackberry leaves.

Many years ago, whilst expecting my first  child, I healed loose teeth and bleeding gums with the use of citrus fruit, eaten every day until cured. Grapefruit or lemons were recommended to me by an unknown healer.  He also said to eat some of the white pith under the skin each day, as this is where the Vitamin C content is richest.  Within a week, my gums were healed and the teeth strong again.

The hospital doctors had told me not to worry about the bleeding gums because ‘90% of all pregnant women coming here have bleeding gums,’ they said.  I guess most of these women were suffereing simple Vitamin C deficiency.

Drinking fermented blackberry tea three times a day for a week will also help the problem of sore gums and mouth ulcers.

My new book is available now on Amazon:

 

Ebola Disease Possible Homeopathic Remedies And Vitamin C

Natural Remedies Which Could Work For Ebola Virus

So far, I do not know anyone who has had the Ebola Virus. But we do know that  Ebola is a haemorrhagic disease with disastrous consequences for 50% of people who have contracted the disease.

So checking out the haemorrhagic homeopathic remedies listed below might be useful, for a start.

Ebola takes hold in people whose  immune function is at a low ebb – this assumption can be drawn because of the fact that 50% of people who have contracted Ebola have overcome it without the help of drugs.

Poor living conditions, unclean drinking water, malnutrition, stress, and maybe exposure to harmful chemicals are some of the possible reasons which could lead to a weakening of the immune system, paving the way for a virulent infection such as Ebola.

 Vitamin C Megadoses For Ebola: It is possible that intravenous Vitamin C could cure Ebola, given in doses similar to the dose given to successfully treat people with Swine Flu.

Vitamin C kills virus cells as well as bacteria and fungus cells.Vitamin C is also an anti-haemorrhagic agent. So it should be an excellent treatment for Ebola.

A couple of years ago an outbreak of Swine Flu caused some people to die of the disease, because no drug was known to cure it.  Vitamin C, unfortunately, was not allowed to be used in Australian and NZ hospitals, which was an unfortunate state of affairs. But some people did survive, due to the wise and timely administering of megadoses of Vitamin C by unorthodox health care workers.

Megadoses of Vitamin C helps to rejuvenate the immune system and get rid of unwanted poisonous chemicals within the body cells.

Vitamin A Megadose For Ebola:  Vitamin A will most surely be helpful in treating the Ebola virus.  Quite recently WHO dished out Vitamin A for treating a measles outbreak.  Let’s hope they have the wisdom to do the same in those countries where Ebola is rampant.

Homeopathic Remedies To Research For Treating Ebola;

Remember that, in the 19th century, an outbreak of Cholera in Europe was successfully stemmed with the use of homeopathic remedies. This success quietened the adversaries of homeopathy and gave homeopathy much good publicity and credit.  The same thing will happen again, I am sure, with Ebola.  Many of these so-called ‘untreatable’ diseases will be cured with the help of homeopathy and Vitamin C and Vitamin A. (See my post on how Vitamin A has been prescribed by WHO – World Health Orgnization – for measles outbreak)

Hamamelis Virginicus is an excellent anti-haemorrhage remedy. I would ma ke sure that this remedy was in my Ebola Homeopathic First Aid Kit. Dr John H. Clarke, M.D. recommends Hamamelis for haemorrhaging of the bowels with dark-coloured blood.  See page 211 of his book ‘The Prescriber’.

Ipecacuana is recommended by Dr Clarke for haemorrhaging with light coloured blood.

Cactus for ‘copious, passive, painless’ condition, according to Dr Clarke.

Sanguis for when the blood is watery and does not coagulate.

Arnica helps to stem bleeding, and is a valuable remedy for patients in shock.  Dr Margerie B. Blackie writes of a surgeon who used to give his patients 2 tablets of Arnica just prior to an operation, and two more after the operation, to help stop the bleeding,

Homeopathy For Haemorrhages Recommended By W.A. Dewey

There are many listed in his book, ‘Practical Homeopathic Therapeutics’.  The high-lighted remedies are:

Aconite

Bovista

Cinchona

Hamamelis

Ipecacuana

Sabina

Secale Trillium

Carbo Veg, whilst it is not high-lighted in Dr Dewey’s book, is an important one to consider for Ebola.  Carbo Veg suits patients with continuous passive haemorrhage.  The patient seems near death with nosebleed,  a rapid and thin  pulse, blue coloured skin, and often burning pains across the lower spine.

Arsen Alb could also be useful for the first stages of the Ebola disease.  Arsen Alb works fantastically as a flu preventative and cure for most people.  I have the feeling that this remedy could very well alleviate the worst of the Ebola symptoms.

My new book is out on Amazon.  Price $4.93

http://www.amazon.com/Cancer-And-Good-Health-Notebook-ebook/dp/B01DHMH6DG/ref=zg_bsnr_157202011_15

 

Home Made Lavender Lotion Insecticide

Lavender Natural Flea Repellant, Head Lice Repellant, Hair Conditioner.

Grow some lovely lavender.  It has many uses, apart from being a valuable natural insecticide.

Lavender is beneficial for the bees and for the health of your garden.  It will help to discourage pests, whilst attracting the bees.

Attracting bees into your garden will benefit the pollination of your other plants.

Lavender is good for the hair, making it shine and encouraging new growth.

Purple lavender is beautiful to behold, and its sight will have a calming influence on all who visit you and your garden.

Making Home Made Lavender Lotion is a very satisfying process.  Nothing like getting into your garden, picking a few handfuls of fresh lavender blossoms, and setting them down to ferment into something so lovely and as useful as your own brew of lavender lotion.

Home Made Lavender Lotion or Essence can be used neat, or as an addition to shampoos for the purpose of lice and flea prevention, and as a natural conditioner for the hair.

How To Make Homeopathic Lavender Solution: Lavender solution can also be used homeopathically as an insect repellant spray, for fleas or ants or vermin.  To use the lavender lotion homeopathically in this way,you use just one part of the home made lavender lotion to nine parts of water.  Then you succuss the mixture by shaking it vigorously around 100 times.  Sounds a lot, but really, it isn’t.  It takes just a minute or two of shaking, and – voila – you have a very potent but harmless insecticide spray.

This mixture needs to be used up within three days, or kept in the fridge, or, alternatively, use third vodka, two thirds water as your base solution.

Remember not to spray the homeopathic mixture  onto any blossoms which bees might visit, as it could harm the bees.

How To Make Home Made Lavender Lotion

Now is a good time to start your lotion. Pick the blooms in the spring,around September October in New Zealand,  when the blooms have begun to open out. It is best to pick your blooms early in the morning,  before the sun has dried off the aromatic oils on the flowers.

Fill a jar with the flowers. Any size jar can be used, depending on the quantity you wish to make. A jam jar with a screw-top lid is a good size to use for a start.

Once you have your jar filled with lavender blooms, squeeze the juice of one lemon over the lavender.

Add one tablespoon of brown sugar or honey to your jar of lavender blooms.

Top up with warm water to within an inch of the top, to allow for expansion with the fermentation process.

Loosely put on the lid.

Leave in a sunny spot such as a window-sill, but away from working areas and bedrooms. This is because it has a potent effect, even while it is fermenting, and you may not want to be dosing yourself with its energy all through the night or day.

Shake every day for 14 days. Remember to screw down the lid tightly before you shake the jar.  Then release the pressure on the cap again after the shaking.

After 14 days drain off the liquid and discard the flower material.  Pick some fresh blossoms, fill your jar again, and pour over the liquid which you have saved from the previous ferment.

You may need to top up the jar with a little more water.

Repeat the process, shaking each day for 14 days.

Repeat the procedure one more time after the 14 days are up, using  fresh flowers. Again let the mixture ferment for 14 days.

By the third time of fermentation, your lotion will have taken on a rich purple colour from the lavender blossoms.

All you have to do now is to drain the liquid lavender off and bottle it safely in a clean, dry jar or bottle.  Use a vessel which has a tightly fitting lid.  Keep your home made lavender lotion out of the sun in a cool place such as a bathroom cabinet or a dark cupboard, and high up on a shelf so that children cannot get hold of it.

Lavender lotion is highly concentrated, and would be very toxic if it were ingested, so it must be kept safe in a high place, well away from youngsters.

This lotion keeps indefinitely, so long as the storage is done as described.

Treatment Or Prevention of Fleas and Head Lice:

To help discourage fleas in your dog’s kennel, or to prevent head lice, use one part lavender lotion to 9 parts water and shake vigorously.  Spray a few squirts of the resulting homeopathic dilution onto the hair. You do not need to use very much, and repeat the application of a few squirts each day for about three days.  You do not have to cover the whole head, or spray over the whole area in a kennel.  Just a few squirts in one or two areas in a kennel should be enough to make a difference.

If necessary, repeat the application after a week, of just two or three squirts each day for another three days or so.

Repeat as described until the fleas or lice have gone.

Note:  The effect of homeopathic lavender solution is quite long-lasting.  So don’t use for long periods at a time, as this could have a weakening effect on the immune system.

Another Option For Treating Pets:   Alternatively, add the lavender lotion to your shampoo, using roughly one  lavender lotion to nine parts shampoo.

Shampoo which has been fortified with your home made lavender lotion will work as a flea and lice preventative, and it also works as a conditioner for the hair which is also helpful in maintaining good hair growth.

A bought conditioner, or hand or body lotion,  can be spiced up in the same way for use as a flea preventor. This can be a simple method of applying the lavender insecticide to your pets.

Simply add a portion of your home made lavender lotion to a portion of your good quality body lotion and shake it into the mixture.  Just make sure that you are using a GOOD commercial product to start with – one which does not contain parabens or any other harmful petro-chemicals or other bad stuff.

You need use just a smear or two under the chin and belly to repel those fleas from your pet.

My new book is out on Amazon.  Price is $4.93