I haven't been a tea drinker for many years, due primarily to an unfortunate kidney stone several years ago, but I have recently started back. I am still getting my daily dose of water... 1/2 ounce per pound of body weight, but we won't discuss amounts here, so I'm not too worried about getting another at this point.
I have recently discovered green tea and its many benefits. I have actually been looking more for the negative on it as there are so many studies available that have showed its positives. While there are some negatives, they are few and far outweighed by the positives in my opinion.
Green tea is the same tea leaf as oolong or black tea; they just differ in their processing. Green tea is unfermented and in the more natural state having only been dried. Oolong and black tea have been either partially (oolong) or completely (black) fermented or oxidized. The green tea contains the highest level of polyphenols of the three tea varieties. Polyphenols are chemicals with superior antioxidant properties more powerful than either vitamins C or E.
In multiple studies green tea has been shown to decrease incidences of atherosclerosis, specific to coronary artery disease, decrease cholesterol while increasing HDL, decrease stroke, cancer, and liver disorders. It can assist in regulating blood glucose levels in Type-1 Diabetes. Weight loss can be stimulated by green tea. It increases the metabolism and can aid in burning fat. Many associate these functions with the caffiene, theobromine, or theophylline that is also found in green tea, but the effects have been studied, and have been shown to be beyond what these chemicals can do. There are about 30mg of caffiene per cup of green tea.
Science aside, the recipe that I have been using to make the green tea formula that I use is based on one from the Bulk Herb Store. I drink this tea daily for energy and to rebuild my adrenal system that has been shot by several years on the night shift.
My recipe is:
1 cup of Jasmine green tea
2 tablespoons of St John's Wort
2 tablespoons of ginkgo leaf
2 tablespoons of Siberian ginseng
2 tablespoons of blackberry or red raspberry leaves
1/2 cup of licorice root
1/3 cup of peppermint leaves.
I steep these for 5 minutes, covered if possible. I then add a few drops of stevia or if you have stevia leaves you may mix them into the formula. I save the tea ball with my leaves and use them for another cup later on.
I like the Jasmine green tea as it is just so pretty to smell and to drink. It reminds me of fond memories of my youth, also.
I use blackberry leaves instead of red raspberry, but either should be fine. They are in the same family/genus and have many of the same properties. I just prefer to gather what is available locally instead of buying it if possible, and we don't have raspberries in Georgia as a rule, but we are eat up with blackberries.
I also use Siberian ginseng over other varieties as I feel that for me it has a better overall function and doesn't give the "rush" that other varieties can give. It is just milder. I did once read that ginseng should really be reserved for the elderly, and while I'm not there yet, I can understand this school of thought. It really does have a way of giving one energy.
I've been getting more into making up recipes for teas lately, and while I prefer green teas for daily use with some useful herbs added in... sometimes you just need something else.
The Princess has had a nagging, dry cough lately and these are the formulas that I have been using for her.
For cough and congestion, and safe enough for children... 2 parts Mullein, 1 part catnip, and 1 part chamomile.
I have also tried this formula for her cough with a bit more success... 2 parts Mullein, 2 parts Sage, and 1 part Licorice root and 1 part Echinacea purpura root.
You can mix up a quantity of these and scoop out 1-2 teaspoons per serving. I steep them in hot water for 5 minutes, strain/ take out tea ball, add honey or stevia, and enjoy!
I usually give a dose of this every 2 to 3 hours until the symptoms start to subside.
It's amazing how much I can get done when we don't have school!! It always seems to me that I have just one too many things to get done each day or week and something always has to give. I am slowly coming over to the side of learning through living versus formal schooling the longer we homeschool.
Yesterday, I made a salve that was a bit different for me. It was based on the recipe by John Keim from Comfort for the Burned and Wounded. I say based upon because anyone who knows me knows that I can't follow directions exactly and always have to tweak a recipe in some way to make it my own.
I would do some things different if I had to do it over again, and I'll share those at the end.
I started with making an herbal oil infusion. I decided to do a cold infusion this time as I usually use a warm infusion and wanted to try something different for a change. I also used wheat germ oil to infuse the herbs and it responds better to cold infusion rather than hot/warm infusing.
Anyway, I added comfrey, marshmallow root, white oak bark, wormwood and lobelia to a mason jar and covered it with the wheat germ oil. I then let it sit in a sunny place for 3 weeks, shaking it daily. These herbs are for healing, soothing, pain and tissue growth while the wheat germ oil is very high in Vitamin E.
After steeping for 3 weeks, I strained the herbs from the oil and put the oil in a glass bowl.
I then liquified some aloe vera. I did not peel the outer part, but put the whole thing in. I did, with a knife, take off some of the "pricklys". To do this I took several stalks off my plants and chopped them some and placed them in the blender at a high speed for a few minutes. I added this into the bowl with the oil.
Now it is time to heat. I rigged a double boiler by placing a pot of water on the stove top that the bowl of oil could sit in. This way the oil doesn't get too hot. I then added some honey (about 3/4 cup), olive oil and lanolin. These ingredients add to this ointment. The honey soothes and lubricates burns while being antibacterial and healing. The olive oil contains vitamins and is easily absorbed by the skin; this promotes the transport of the herbs into the system. Lanolin is a lubricant that helps to protect the healing tissues.
When all of these are melted and blended... be careful to not let it get too hot, it shouldn't boil... I add some beeswax. My wax is in a big chunk and has to be cut apart. It will take several minutes to melt.
While it is melting I put some grapefruit seed extract and tea tree oil into the containers that the salve will go into. I use about 7 or 8 drops for every 2 oz or so of salve.
You can gauge how firm a salve will be by adding your wax slowly and dipping in a cold metal spoon and placing it into the freezer. I personally like a creamier salve rather than a firm one as when placing it on a wound I would like for it to be mushier, for lack of a better word.
I then bottle them and let them sit until firmed.
What I would do differently the next time is I would infuse the olive oil, like I have usually done in the past with a heat method. I just think it works better. Then I would just add in the wheat germ oil, and essentially reverse the olive oil and wheat germ oil. I wouldn't add so much bees wax. I feel that I added more than I normally would and I just don't like the texture of a firm salve.
I think that this will be handy to have around, but it is very different from other salves that I have made. It smells harsh, like the wheat germ oil, and not pretty. I guess as long as it works...
Take 1C boiling water and add 1-2Tbs of catnip, 1-2 Tbs plantain, and 1-3 tsp of yarrow. Cover and steep for 15 minutes. Strain out herbs and add honey if needed. The dose for children would be 1/4 C 3-4 times a day.
I just wanted to tell everyone about a wonderful herb called
Plantain, or Plantago major. This is not to be confused with the
wonderful deep fried banana-like fruit seen in island cuisine.
Plantain is a weed probably growing in your yard right now, despite
treatments from Chem-lawn. It is a little dark green mass of leaves
arranged around a central core that can reach a height of 12-18
inches. There are pronounced ribs, or lines running from the stem of
the leaf to the tip of the leaf. Some plaintain is broad, or wide
leaved, while others are narrow.
This herb, used for hundreds of years, can be used internally for
stomach and other problems, but more importantly, it can be used
topically on the skin for stings, bug bites and cuts.
You can simply pick a leaf of it, chew it to crush the leaf and then
put the chewed mass onto a sting or cut. Even open wounds can be
treated with plantain. It can be picked and dried or tinctured
(another story) to be used in the future. This is a great herb to
use when you may not have access to medicines or are just out and
around and need something quickly.
The reason that I am writing this is because this afternoon I was at
the pool where I was stung by a wasp. I have an allergy to stings
and in the past when stung I would swell horribly, but not so bad
that I needed medical intervention. Today I was stung on my finger
and it immediately became twice its normal size and turned red. I
had some dried plantain in the pantry and mixed the crumbled up herb
together with some olive oil. This was about an hour after the
initial sting. I left the plantain on for about a 10 minutes ( I
would have left this on longer, but I had to help the kids with their
baths) and then washed the wound, covered it in a garlic oil ointment
(GOOT), and made another plantain poltice that I covered with gauze.
I left this on for about 90 minutes and it felt okay, so I took the
bandage off. The finger was completely back to normal except you can
see the hole where the stinger punctured me if you really look. In
the past it has taken about a week for stings, especially on
hands/fingers, to return to normal and they are normally painful and
throbbing the whole time.
I am sitting here 4 hours later typing this with no pain--I had even
forgotten about being stung!
If you don't feel good about foraging for herbs that's okay. You can
buy it dried online or at any bulk-herb type store.
This is an amazing herb that we have been given. Try looking for it
the next time you're out in your yard or on a nature walk!
Living day to day while seeking the truth in life. Finding wisdom through Christ in marriage and my children. Finding beauty in the world in which we live...
Now it is time to heat. I rigged a double boiler by placing a pot of water on the stove top that the bowl of oil could sit in. This way the oil doesn't get too hot. I then added some honey (about 3/4 cup), olive oil and lanolin. These ingredients add to this ointment. The honey soothes and lubricates burns while being antibacterial and healing. The olive oil contains vitamins and is easily absorbed by the skin; this promotes the transport of the herbs into the system. Lanolin is a lubricant that helps to protect the healing tissues.
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