Health from the earth: do you know what herbs and plants can do for your body?

I have been on a journey which has taken me into an interesting place.  I have found there are plants, herbs and spices which have a farther reach than just being food or seasoning on what we eat.  Let me explain.

A couple of months ago, I came across an article which took me back.  It was regarding the yellow wild flower many of us poison in our yards, dandelion.  In this article, the writer was talking about some of the food and health benefits of the pesky flower.   

Did you know there are healing properties to dandelions?  Did you know that dandelion greens are in many salad mixes?  Neither did I.  This put me on a discovery mission to find out what I didn't know but evidently someone else did.

Dandelion is a natural diuretic and helps remove excess water and toxins from the body.  Yet unlike chemical diuretics, it doesn't strip the body of potassium.  

It is regarded, by herbalists, as of the best  herbs for building the blood, relieving anemic conditions and helping to maintain normal blood sugar levels.

It is regarded as on of the better herbs to treat kidney ailments such as kidney stones.

As I read through different lists of the benefits of this plant, I gained a love for this weed.  As I read further, I found the health benefits could be extracted in a process called tincturing.  There are several different methods including glycerin, vinegar and alcohol.  I chose the use of grain alcohol as the tinctures have an incredible shelf life.  

I went to harvest a bunch from my yard, about 5 lbs which filled a 4 gallon bucket.  My wife and I washed them and chose the best of the bunch chopped them up and put them in a glass 1/2 gallon jar. We they put in 80 proof grain alcohol in covering the plant material to about 2-3" above the material. I daily shook the contents to make sure the contents were well mixed and the extraction of the good stuff from the plants could best take place.  

So that is how I have started on this road.  I have since tinctured over 26 different items from Orange peel to hibiscus flowers.  Each has incredible health benefits.  Make no mistake, this endeavor is based on coming up with natural products which will help the body heal and function correctly without the side effects of pharmaceuticals, and you know every manufactured pill has a list of potential side effects associated with them.  

I have been taking my own tinctures for over a month now.  I have noticed I am sleeping well.  I don't have joint pain which I attribute partially to the turmeric and ginger and the "pepper juice".  I haven't had indigestion with eating spicy food over the last couple of days.  One of the herbs works for headaches.  And my Saw Palmetto tincture works better than the Saw Palmetto supplements I had been taking.  

So all in all, I am pretty pleased.  

The other thing which started my search had to do with cancer.  My wife and I have watched family members being reduced to mere skeletons just prior to dying through the use of chemo drugs and radiation.  I know cancer can emaciate a person as well but these precious family members spent their final days sick and unable for much of the time to enjoy family and friends.  We have determined we will not let that happen to us and will not go through the those treatments.  We don't want that to be the last memory our kids and grand kids have of us.

Did you know there are several herbs which have tremendous cancer fighting qualities?  You might ask why they aren't being used in fighting cancer today?  I am not a conspiracy theorist by any shape of the imagination but the truth is Big Pharmacy.  Those companies that produce those chemicals are making tons of money on them.  Doctors are caught in the trap of using what has been tested and tried over what is politicized as some wizard over a cauldron.  Listen, I have several friends who are doctors and I appreciate all they do, so I don't want any of you to think I am against them or down on them. 

I found for a very long time, these herbs were used in treating and healing people.  From sickness to wounds, these herbs were there and available.  Just Google "herbs that fight cancer" and you will find there is a bunch of information available.  One sight in particular has a list of 20 herbs which have cancer fighting and killing qualities.  One in particular works along side of iron.  Cancer leeches iron from a persons system.  When iron is introduced with this herb the cancer opens for the iron and the herb gets into the cancer cells and kills them.  Not wound them, weaken them but kills them dead!  

Things as simple as the seeds in peach and apricot pits have devastating effects on cancer and tumors. 

Blood root, which is poisonous if ingested, is an incredible topical for lesions on the skin.  It only attacks the cancerous cells but does no harm to health skin and tissue.  I have used this before.  When it gets on a cancerous lesion, it burns like hell but only in the area where the cancer is.  The skin all around the area which is healthy is unaffected.

So my friends, I am on a journey.  I will share some more of my discoveries with you here in my blog over the next little while.  I will also share additional information regarding where I get my herbs from etc.  There is a lot of information to share and I don't want this to be like reading a novel.

Lastly, let me say, I am not a medical doctor nor do I claim to be one.  I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination.  There are some sages out there who have far more knowledge than me.  I hope to be a conduit to flow that information to you and will work to do so.

Blessings my friends.

Michael