Herbal Lesson 09

How Picky Should I Be In Preparing Remedies?
Daniel Blankley – ·Thursday, November 30, 2017

This short essay is prompted by a question directed to me by group member Jeanne Porter who noticed her own departure from a medicine making recipe. YOU GO GIRL !

Herbalism and Cooking are closely intertwined and always have been. This was the great advantage to the first herbals like Culpepper’s The English Physician, which described medicine in layman's terms that uneducated Britons (mostly housewives) could do if they could read. Most people in 1500s England could read and do arithmetic the church saw to that. So let’s look at Herbalism from a cooking perspective, and like Hippocrates see Herbs as Food as well as Medicine.

Suppose ‘ol Dan here throws a stew together and cooks it, and forgets and lets it boil down too much and burns it on to the pot, is it still nutritious? YES.. although the edible factor may be open to dispute. I have eaten things I have overcooked like that, and it had the nasty burned on taste, but I could not afford to throw the meat and all out. So I ate it.

Every food, whether raw or cooked to prepare it, contains nourishment and health benefits and the body is a wonderful thing. It uses whatever you put into it, unless it is so bad it revolts and you throw it up. “That was so revolting” is a comment you may have heard before. Great Great Grandma’s ancestor several times removed in medieval Europe cooked up her herbals any old way and gave the victim whatever they could get down, and MOST TIMES it really worked! THAT IS THE BEAUTY OF HERBAL MEDICINE.

You have already noticed that coffee and tea come out differently whoever makes them. Sometimes strong and sometimes weak. Our local church always makes comments when I make the coffee  :D One lady remarked “This coffee will put hair on your chest, but I don’t want a hairy chest!” and gave me a very evil look and in church too! Okay, Maybe you have bought Vanilla Extract and noticed OH WOW  That is really weak vanilla! Vanilla extract from Mexico is famous for its potent strength and flavor.

People eventually discovered they could make remedies work better and more consistently if they were “More Picky” in the preparation; to measure, and prepare, and apply, and serve doses, the exact same way each time. But the remedies will work regardless because herbals and foods overlap and work the same way in the body. While this holds true in Western Herbalism which was also called “SIMPLING”, because it was simple to do and a single herb was usually used for a single complaint, it is NOT TRUE for other forms of alternative medicine especially Homeopathy.

Later in the Homeopathic part of the course I will tell you some ways, and even how to use a simple colorimeter to measure your tinctures and teas to .01% accuracy, thus assuring you each Mother Tincture will start at nearly the same strength. This will also be useful if you make collations of silver or other metallic substances as healing medicinals, tho this is outside the scope of Herbalism..

In the lessons I present, and stuff I glean from books and online sources to share with you, along with my own experience, I try to emphasize accuracy and careful preparation and application. But you will do no worse in Herbalism than Culpeper’s fans in the 1500’s, who revolutionized social medicine back then, and your Great Great Grandma would be proud.

Most Western Herbals only list the ingredients and not amounts. This confused me at first, until I learned it only mattered that one used the same measure. Some Classic Herbal formularies list as many as a dozen herbs which also confused me at first, until I realized western Herbalism was still ‘simpling’ and they were giving a CHOICE of herbs so one could pick from what was close by them or that they had on hand.

Cookbooks prior to “Fanny Farmer” in 1896 had few or no measurements. Most cooks used same measures unless stated otherwise. A Pound Cake refers to a type of cake traditionally made with a pound of each of four ingredients: a pound of Flour, a pound of Butter, a pound of Eggs, and a pound of Sugar. However, any cake made with a 1:1:1:1 ratio, by weight, of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar may also be called a pound cake, as it yields the same results. Later recipes added “a dash of salt” and “a spoon of Vanilla”. That brings us to the next part...

NOW REGARDING THE IMPORTANCE OF ACCURACY

NOTE: In Great Great Grandma’s day people usually did not weigh ingredients and many did not have a kitchen scale. It was ASSUMED that volume equaled weight, and that one pint equaled a Pound. After all, The Old Farmer’s Almanac said  “A Pint is a Pound The World Around”, which is true but only referring to ‘fresh water’. You still see this in old Herbals when preparing remedies from old sources.

In the old days, a cup was really an 8 ounce cup.. not a 6 ounce coffee cup or a 12 ounce mug. Table flatware was accurately what they were called. A teaspoon or tablespoon measured exactly that, but today it is not the case and it varies, so use a measuring spoon if you need an accurate measured amount. Otherwise your measure can be anything, in Western Herbalism, even a jar lid or a tin can. I have two favorite ones.. the small tomato sauce can is exactly 8 ounces, and the cap from most mouthwash bottles is a “Jigger” or 2 ounces originally, as used in bar-tending. But any measure is okay as long as you use the same measure through the whole formula.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND, as we continue, that most alternative medical practices, including 19th century Western Herbalism and Before, are based on a belief in “Vitalism”, the belief that "living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element ( like a soul, spirit, or spark of life, or Chi, or Prana), or are governed by different principles than are inanimate things". For this reason modern groups label all alternative medicine as pseudo-scientific. Herbalism of this period was largely interwoven with Astrology still prevalent in ”The Old Farmers Almanac”, tho the type of Astrology was not predicting the future outcome, but more like “Reading the Signs”. Think of it like this, “the stars do not determine what your child will be like, but you can know what your child is like by reading the stars”. Early Christians had no problem with this view because it contained no practice of divination, and the Bible clearly mentioned it was beneficial to read signs.

Many modern Herbal programs do not include Astrology or Vitalism and confine their definitions to comply with modern chemistry and scientific method. Some prefer to use the term Phytochemistry or Pharmacognosy rather than Herbalism, tho that is still the preferred label by the American Herbalist Guild.

TRADITIONAL HERBALISTS generally follow the practice of 19th century herbalism and simply reject any newer scientific opinion or evidence. This has given Alternative Medicine in general a “Bad Rep”. Some adherents to traditional herbalism reject all modern medicine and science and treat themselves with 19th century home remedies and more than one has died from simple things like appendicitis or needing a unit of blood. At one time certain religions prohibited blood transfusions, but now someone refusing blood to their child in America will be overruled by a court order to save the child’s life, and that parent will have to deal with ‘child protective services’.

Since I would get dozens of messages asking where I stand, I can honestly say I am Eclectic as are many Naturopathic Doctors (ND). However Traditional Naturopaths are of a different opinion and most of them oppose all pharmaceuticals and all vaccinations and other treatments. An eclectic realizes the value in conventional medicine and believes natural medicine is complementary. He simply does not believe in “Unnecessary Treatments, Unnecessary Surgeries or Unnecessary Pharmaceuticals.” If you are a diabetic it is nonsense to give up insulin and try to survive on herbs alone. Unless you are taken to the ER, it is wise to try the least invasive things first. Herbal remedies are often as effective as expensive Over the Counter ‘non-prescription’ cold medicines, and remedies for common complaints.

If you treat yourself for any condition and get no better in 3 days or get worse, PLEASE DO SEE A HEALTH PROFESSIONAL  No one can diagnose or prescribe for your condition on Facebook or anywhere else online or simply from some publication.

PAUSE FOR IMPORTANT NOTICE...

THERE ARE NO TRUE HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR ANY DISEASE, because the remedy is to trigger the body of the host to heal itself of an underlying condition, rather than cure symptoms. The saying in Homeopathy is “Treat The Host Not The Disease”. Each host (patient) may require a different remedy even tho they may have the same or similar symptoms.

Because Homeopathic Doctors are discouraged from practicing in America (unless they are doctors of something else), and because Homeopathic remedies are declared foods not medicinals by the FDA, this does a disservice. It encourages non-homeopaths to create money making remedies which do nothing except give homeopathy a bad name. There is NO homeopathic headache remedy, or colds remedy or as some have blatantly stated a “Cancer or Aids Cure”. Any bottle in the vitamin aisle which says for whatever on the label is a false claim by a non-homeopath. Homeopathy is practiced with great success throughout the eastern hemisphere and even supported by some countries national health programs. It is non-invasive and generally inexpensive, and results are usually noticeable in a short time, so that more invasive treatment like surgery can be taken if necessary without risk. There are many reasons why people say Homeopathy does not work.. and blatant mislabeling of ‘so-called remedies’ is foremost on the list; followed by people treating themselves with homeopathic remedies, by the wording on the label of a promised cure, in an ‘allopathic manner’ thats an oxymoron for you. In the Part 2 of Homeopathy I will address all the ways it does or reportedly does not work.

OKAY LETS CONTINUE...

Homeopathic remedies begin with a “Mother Tincture” which may be made from either Animal, Mineral, or Vegetable material, and must be made as exact as is possible in strength and efficaciousness. Then the Mother Tincture is diluted, and that dilution is again diluted, as many times as necessary, to get the proper strength. Between each dilution the mixture is subjected to “SUCCUSSION”.. the molecules are vibrated violently to activate the remedy. Such a remedy labeled 30C has undergone this process thirty times! Each time the molecules of the original tincture become fewer and any aberrations in the Mother Tincture become exaggerated so that the resulting remedy may be ineffective or even completely useless. INDEED many so-called Homeopathic Over The Counter remedies are useless. They do not have to meet any medicinal standards since the FDA says they are simply food substances; so most are NOT PREPARED the homeopathic way through serial dilution and succussion, but simply diluted. ONLY trust Homeopathic remedies from Homeopathic sources and the cost will be no more and often cost less.

BREAKING NEWS:

Recent discoveries have given some credibility that water can retain magnetic properties or receive imprinting, realigning molecules similar to crystalline substances. Magnetic Water or Structured Water is water with a memory. Water memory is the purported ability of water to retain a memory of substances previously dissolved in it even after an arbitrary number of serial dilutions. It has been past claimed to be a mechanism by which homeopathic remedies work, even though they are diluted to the point that no esstimated single molecule of the original substance remains. Presently, water is being experimentally imprinted by powerful magnets and frequencies of electromagnetic radiation, and many video clips are shown on YouTube showing curious results that previously were never monitored. You can make a simple device to make your own structured water from pure un-chlorinated water, and experiment with it and decide for yourself. Anyone wanting to experiment I can give them some of the info I have found how to make your own devices at very low cost. Documentary: Water Memory (Documentary of 2014 about Nobel Prize laureate Luc Montagnier)

In Chinese Herbalism, “Simpling” does not exist. Every remedy is prepared with a combination of Herbs and substances, usually 5 of them, corresponding to the 5 elements. Each substance is also in a different amount rather than all being the same as it is in Western Herbalism. The method depends and relies on “SYNERGY”, the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual parts, elements, contributions, etc. It is the process of synergism. The remedy is made more potent by several herbs working together to amplify the effect.

In Ayurveda, the herbal medicine of India, “Simpling” does not really exist either. Here rather than elements, the treatment affects one or more of the 7 chakras of the body and remedies are also usually prepared in combinations. Measurement and preparation must be very exact to work properly.

The 7 main chakras are:
 * 1) Coronochakra (or crown chakra)
 * 2) Frontochakra (or third eye)
 * 3) Laryngochakra (or throat chakra)
 * 4) Cardiochakra (or heart chakra)
 * 5) Splenochakra (or spleen chakra)
 * 6) Umbilicochakra (or solar plexus)
 * 7) Sexochakra (or root chakra)

So do your best in Herbal medicine remembering WESTERN HERBALISM is the “LEAST PICKY” regarding measurement and preparation. BE VERY EXACT when preparing substances for later Homeopathic or other Alternative Medicine use.

I cracked this funny to Jeanne... Remember the making teas from loose herbs lesson 05 and practical. It is common to call them all TEA.. everyone does it.. Just be aware that while coffee can really be called a tea, TEA cannot be called a coffee !

© Copyright 2018 by Daniel Blankley. All rights reserved.