FEBRUARY 9, 2012 HERBS FOR THE SKIN

"Lift up thine eyes and look from the place where you are." Genesis 13:14, 15

People ask what is my belief and how does G.O.D fit into my beliefs. This is a personal question, but I will tell you this. Prayer and meditation are wonderful and have enlightened my life a hundred times. I do not pray for material things. I pray for peace, serenity, health and happiness. I am not a victim. I am a survivor. I try to the best of my ability to keep myself in good company. I do not want to be surrounded by negative energy. I want to remain positive every day to the best of my ability. I am rich in spirits. I do not care about the words rich or poor. I am rich in life. Are you rich in life?

I recently saw a patient with eczema. I started by asking the patient about her dietary lifestyle. In most individuals a skin problem like eczema is allergy related. Most of the time it is an environmental allergen like detergent, certain clothes, and body sprays. I jump right in and start to ask about their breakfast, lunch and dinner menus as well as their snacks.

Are your snacks high in sugar? Do you 'pick' between meals? Do you eat a lot of carbohydrates like pasta, crackers and bread?

I would suggest an Ig G Food test for delayed hypersensitivity. This may be paid for by your insurance and even if not, I would suggest getting the test. Many laboratories do this test, especially Neuroscience and Metametrix. It is difficult to stop eating these foods if it is not seen in writing that the patient may be allergic or sensitive to the food. Once the allergens are stopped you will be surprised how the eczema lessens.

I also try some herbs which I consider traditional for skin ailments as burdock, calendula, yellow dock, sarsaparilla and dandelion. All except calendula are also liver detoxifiers. I also rely on dermatologists to help me find the exact skin condition. Is it psoriasis, eczema, or dermatitis ? I do know that a change in dietary lifestyle will alleviate any of those conditions. The problem is most other doctros would give a steroid for a skin condition. I do not !

You can buy 2 ounces of a skin salve. You can get it from Flower Power on East 9th in NYC or on any of the great herbal sites like http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/ or http://www.gaiaherbs.com/

Now add the following to the salve:

1. 1/2 teaspoon of these herbal tinctures:

Pau d' arco

Goldenseal

Barberry

2. 8 drops of the following essential oils

Chamomille

Tea Tree Oil

Stir all together into the salve. It will be semi-liquid and apply throughout the day.

Until tomorrow...

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010 Healing Properties of Dandelion

"For many people, change is seen as the destroyer of what is familiar and comfortable RATHER than the creator of what is new and exciting."

We always seem to discuss change. The reason change is seen by so many as a destroyer of what is familiar and comfortable is the fact that change creates FEAR. You get comfortable in your life. You are coasting along the highway of life. You see no reason to change. About five years ago, Rick and I met many new friends on Fire Island. Reflecting back, there always was one particular person complaining about other people in this way. Well, he/she did this-- he/she made me angry-- or targeted 'character assasination' (gossip) about other people. Did this person ever look at himself/herself and their role ? Absolutely not. This person does not want to admit their character defects. Who does!

Do you want to admit your character flaws? No, and I do not blame you. However there comes a time in one's life to look at oneself and see if you have to change. This change creates fear. Moving away or not talking to people does not alter the fact. This change could create something new and exiting. I feel people are so quick to blame others. Look within. What is your role in the drama? I always look at my role in a situation first. I try to correct it at my end. If it is not at my end, then I pray for the other person.

I encourage change. I want change. Change challenges me. A new design of a canvas, a new plant to write about or a new adventure. All CHANGE is GOOD, just not at the beginning or until you get used to it.

So, should I change the topic. I'd rather not. The liver is an important organ for detoxification. For the past three days we have discussed the cholangogues or the bile stimulants. Let's move into another herb property (See April 20-26 Blogs). I have discussed licorice, goldenseal, and others. Green tea has been discussed as has milk thistle in the past blogs. Green tea is used in liver disease. I have discussed green tea in relation to heart disease (See May 11,12). I do not think I have discussed the healing liver properties of Dandelion.

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) possesses liver-healing properties. Dandelion is also considered to help the flow of bile from gallbladder and liver. Dandelion has an extremely high vitamin-A content, higher than that of carrots. High levels of vitamin A can lead to serious liver damage. I have a patient who consumes many carrots per day and has an orange skin hue. It almost looks like an artificial self tanner. Vitamin A in high doses is toxic. Some herbalists say not to take any preparation with dandelion. I do not know if I agree with this. Dandelion may contain iron and should, therefore, be avoided by people with iron overload diseases. However, actual studies involving dandelion are difficult to locate.

Have you ever eaten dandelion leaves? They are common weeds and taste delicious in a salad. When you see the yellow heads in the garden you pull them out as weeds. NO do not. A dandelion flower head composed of hundreds of smaller florets (top photograph) and seed head (middle). Remember pulling the seed head and making a wish? The seed heads float in the air. Reminds me of Forest Gump and the floating feather. Taraxacum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. They are native to Eurasia and North America, and two species, T. officinale and T. erythrospermum, are found as weeds worldwide. Both species are edible in their entirety.

The common name dandelion (from French dent-de-lion, meaning lion's tooth) is given to members of the genus, and like other members of the Asteraceae family, they have very small flowers collected together into a composite flower head. Each single flower in a head is called a floret.