Your herbal teas: 21 herbs with cautions + 9 specific advices

 

It would be advisable, before preparing a decoction, an infusion or whatever, to check out the contraindications related to each plant.

 

A few examples: 

1. Garlic: is contraindicated for those who have low 

blood pressure
2. Sorrel: those suffering from gout and gallstones should avoid
3. Altea: should never be cooked in iron pots
4. Arnica: it should not be used by those suffering from kidney disease 

5. Absinthe: it must be used only for short periods
6. Asparagus root: is to be avoided when suffering from disorders of the urinary bladder
7. Hawthorn and shepherd's purse: are contraindicated for people suffering from low blood pressure
8. Chamomile, parsley, rosemary, rue, sage, juniper, fennel: pregnant women should not use them
9. Holy thistle: who is suffering of the stomach and kidneys should not use it
10. Centaury: can irritate the digestive system if taken in excessive doses
11. Coriander: people suffering from gastroenteritis and kidney disease should avoid
12. Onion: those who suffer from poor digestion and stomach problems should not use it
13. Bittersweet, ivy, horsetail, fern, gentian and genepi: are to be used in strict accordance with the doses and avoiding alcohol intake
14. Hyssop: is contraindicated for those suffering from nerve diseases
15. Lichen Iceland: contraindicated for those suffering from ulcer
16. Pine: contraindicated for those suffering from kidney disease
17. Meadowsweet: you must avoid to boil it
18. Saponaria: doses must be respected and used immediately when prepared
19. Senna: contraindicated for pregnant women and breast-feeding, but also for suffering from hemorrhoids, enteritis, intestinal cramps
20. Valerian: subjects with low blood pressure should not take it
21. Mistletoe: it must be used carefully and never used in decoctions


Nine general and specific advices: 

 


1. Do not use tea bags ...
because you drink an infusion of paper (even if it is defined as " for food" .... but paper is for you equal to a food?); in each case the paper is made ​​with chemical glues and aggregating products that are going to be in contact with the boiling water, into which will melt the harmful substances

 

2. Do not use herbs that are not guaranteed or certified organic or wild ....
because could arrive from other countries (such as China or Africa) where there are no quality controls; therefore most of those herbs (many also of those found in herbal or pharmacy stores) are grown with pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers; you'll drink a condensation of harmful substances instead of the healing substances that you would like to have

3. Do not take herbal teas because you would like to drink something different of water .....
because in each herb there are active substances that stimulate certain features of the body; might stimulate the features that in the long run you do not feel good for your health

 4. Do not drink always herbal teas ....
because the body becomes accustomed to being stimulated by some active substances in the way to be able to perform the functions that should be natural, ie physiological functions related to or connected with the immune system; the body and mind become lazy in making choices for self-healing 

 

5. Do not wait that your herbs could become old ....
because they lose properties gradually

 

6. Try to buy the herbs as if they had been picked ...
because if you choose for example the ground herbs, have already suffered a great loss of properties 

 
7. Remember the general rules on their preparation ....
because not all herbs are to be prepared in the same way;
--- The leaves and flowers should be placed only in infusion (ie, pour over the hot water and let rest from a few minutes to maximum 10 minutes);
--- Roots and seeds should be prepared in decoction (ie, boil for a few minutes to maximum ten minutes and then left again to infuse off the heat);
--- Do not buy herbs mixed together because there may be some mix of both types, and in the preparation you would lose a lot of qualities

8. Avoid taking herbal tablets .... are made mostly by excipients; you pay so much more for the work done and you have little amount of the useful herb

9. Whenever you want to pick you herbs ... be careful because many herbs are really similar; do good experience with someone who knows them well first and then go looking for them you alone; learn which are the ideal times to collect them and what are the methods of drying and storage; in any case, fresh herbs and wild ones, harvested in the right moment, are the most powerful

Enjoy your herbal tea and have a good health result!

My next Post is: “Body shave and haircut”; it is really interesting to know what happens when you do it and relations to your health....

Using fermented foods, recipes and how to prepare them

Sometimes it is not common to know that certain foods are also the products derived from a fermentation process. Here's a short list:

DRINKS: kefir, beer, cider, wine, vinegar, mead, elderflower sparkling wine, rejuvelac, coffee, tea, cocoa, kvass, boza

 

FOOD: bread, capers, olives, cheeses, yogurt, sour milk, sauerkraut, pickles vegetables (ie, salted vegetables such as onions, beets, carrots, cauliflower, radishes, etc.), vegetables in wine, vegetables under vinegar (small onions and cucumber) fruit or vegetables under bran (as apples), kiesel, tarhana, tzatziki, dosa, idli, almonds' cheese

 


DRESSINGS ... AND SOME MORE: soy sauce, tamari, miso, tempeh, amasake, sour cream, mustard, pickled ginger

FOUR IMPORTANT REASONS TO EAT FERMENTED FOOD:

1. Restores the balance of intestinal flora
2. Useful and beneficial in food processing
3. Are more digestible
4. Change flavor and texture of food

1. Restores the balance of intestinal flora
Do you like sweets? You do not want to give up packaged snacks? Do you eat chocolate? Do you use sugar-sweetened beverages? 

If you use more than 2 tablespoons of sugar a day (a one-liter bottle of Coke contains about 10 tablespoons of sugar ....) you would have to integrate your diet with fermented foods. Sugar is one of the causes of the reduction in the so important intestinal flora. Same problem is given also by meat and fish.
If your intestinal flora is unbalanced, use these easy to prepare probiotics or.... sooner or later you will suffer problems throughout the rest of the body...

 

2. Useful and beneficial in food processing
In fermented leguminous plants are destroyed anti nutrients, such as the inhibitor of trypsin, which is present in the stomach and serves to digest proteins. They also decrease the oligosaccharides that cause swelling troubles. In whole grains is eliminated the effects of phytic acid, which produces, in a long time, the problems related to decalcify. It reduces allergic reactions in general, certain types of cancer are reduced, the gastrointestinal tract is more healthy.

3. Are more digestible
For example, milk: about 80% of adults have trouble digesting it, having lost, with age, the enzyme lactase. The undigested lactose is fermented in the large intestine by the bacterial flora with consequent production of gas. In the presence of lactobacilli, lactose is instead transformed into lactic acid, which does not produce gas and also lowers the intestinal pH, balancing the bacterial flora and easily absorbing the minerals. 

 

4. Change flavor and texture of food
Many apetizers are made from fermented products because they stimulate more the gastric juices; Bread is the food that most shows structural differences and taste after fermentation processes, with both the sourdough that with the yeast. 

RECIPES OF ENZYMES THAT YOU CAN SIMPLY PREPARE: 

 *** Yogurt:
1/2 liter of fresh whole milk, 1 tablespoon of plain yogurt
Bring the milk to 38 degrees; take 5 spoons and mix well with the yogurt until they amalgamate; pour the rest of the milk and put it in the oven at a temperature of almost 50 degrees for a few minutes; turn off the oven and wrap the pot with the lid in a blanket; leave everything still in the oven for 6-8 hours. Then release the blanket from the pot and put it in the refrigerator at 4-5 degrees. You will have a yummy yogurt!

 
*** Diluited yogurt:
if you want to enrich more your bacterial flora. diluite yogurt with equal quantity of water, mix well and drink quiite far from meals. Being diluted produces no digestion and ferments can pass intact into your intestine.

*** Slightly acid milk:
put the fresh milk in a plastic large container, so that the thickness of the milk is not high; leave covered with a light gauze in a a temperature between 25 and 30 degrees; depending on the temperature, after 8 - 12 hours iit will begin to thicken; you'll have the natural enzymes, which have developed in the milk; you can drink it as well. 

*** Sauerkraut:
the ones you buy in the store are mostly pasteurized, which means that the ferments were all killed and a lot of benefits lost; remains the only benefit of the transformation of the components. Better is to prepare by yourself. Slice cabbage very thin and put them in a container with layers of salt from 1.5 to 3%. Put on something that covers the entire surface and so theat less aircould pass, put a weight on top that can keep everything pressed. Leave at room temperature of about 20 ° - 22 ° C for 5-10 days. Check that the vegetables have produced a liquid, necessary to cover them completely; otherwise add warm water with salt 1.5 - 3% . Move them to a cool place to stop the fermentation process. They can be eaten after 4 weeks, separated from the liquid. If you eat them raw are useful for for good digestion and for your gastrointestinal health. Similarly, you can also prepare other vegetables such carrots, turnips or radishes, adding spices that you like more.

*** Fermented apples:
put 5 kg of apples (or pears) sliced ​​in a large bowl; pour 250 grams of wheat bran in 2.5 liters of hot water; when cooled, remove the bran and dissolve in 40 g. salt; add the liquid to the fruit to cover it; put a lid with a weight on top to keep it pressed; when the fermentation has begun, leave it in a cool place for three weeks and then start consuming. 

*** Tibetan Beer:
put 4 kg of cooked barley to cool on a tablecloth; mix it with two packets of yeast powder and leave to ferment for three days; put 2 liters of hot water; wait a little bit and after drain and squeeze out all the liquid from barley; your tibetan beer is ready! 

*** South Indian Dosa:
here is the simplified recipe of this naturally leavened bread; mix organic whole wheat flour with water until it becomes a soft fluid; keep it in a bowl, in a place not too cool for a few days; mix at least once everyday, until a foam will form on the surface and it will smell a little bit sour; pour a small glass of it in a hot pan, preferably non-sticky titanium, and spread in the form of a pancake; turn it on the other side for a moment, until it dries a bit.

These are some ideas; try them ...!

For any other information, you can contact me.
The next post will be: "Your herbal teas: 21 herbs with cautions + 9 specific advices". Be sure to read it!