Category: Herbs

Herbs for Handling Stress

15/10/2019

Forget asbestos, Roundup on our vegetables, and mercury fillings: by the year 2020 the most threatening health hazard known to humans is predicted to be stress. Already a major cause of disease, chronic stress sets off a cascade of long-term chemical changes that can spell disease and inflammation for your body, and disintegration of the spirit.

So what’s a human living in the 21st century to do? Aside from lifestyle interventions – such as healthy diet, regular movement, strong social support networks, mind-body practices, and adequate rest – there are certain herbs that can help us to manage the high levels of stress we inevitably face in this day and age.

Rather than indiscriminately throwing a bunch of herbal powders and potions down the hatch and hoping for the best, it is important to know about the three stages of stress adaptation your body experiences as different herbs are most effective at different stages.

Essential oil ingestion: Just DON'T Do It

6/10/2019

Got gut health issues? Down some OnGuard Softgels to sort out what-must-be candida.
Everyday detoxification? A few drops of lemon essential oil in your water everyday will have your liver squeaky clean in no time... all without having to eat an actual lemon!
Want to feel the spiritual benefits of frankincense oil extra swiftly? Chuck a few drops of that stuff down the hatch and feel your consciousness expand...

No, no, and dear God, NO.

In short, essential oil ingestion can incredibly be dangerous unless prescribed by a qualified herbalist, naturopath or aromatherapist. Not a distributor for an MLM essential oil giant who has no health qualifications or expertise besides what their team leader has passed on to them.

periods, fertility & eating disorders

21/5/2019

"I have my period. So I mustn't have an eating disorder."

For years I thought that if a woman was menstruating regularly, she was displaying one of the ultimate signs of health.

I thought that if a woman had a regular period she must be well nourished. That the moment her caloric intake dipped below her requirements, her body would stop ovulating and periods would disappear.

That Mother Nature never lets our bodies grow babies - a highly energy intensive endeavour that demands massive amounts of resources - in a perceived famine.

For years, I was wrong.

In my time as an eating disorder dietitian, student naturopath, and having lived through an (undiagnosed but still very harmful) eating disorder, I have learnt a thing or two about periods and under eating. Here I'll attempt to bust some common myths around periods, fertility and disordered eating.

Rose Petal, Pistachio & Cardamon Chocolate

3/2/2019

When I recently attended this year's Wise Women's Gathering I was gifted a bunch of lusciously scented organic rose petals. It wasn't until my family and I had arrived home from our 10-day road trip (of which three of those days were spent camping solo with the kids while Andreas attended the Wise Men's Gathering - it's hard but doable!) that I decided what I would do with these beautiful petals.

In preparation for my upcoming Valentines Day AcroYoga workshop this Saturday I plan to bring a batch of this chocolate to share.

The combination of partner yoga, flying therapeutics and Zenthai massage I have planned for the workshop could only be topped off by some truly delicious chocolate.

And here it is!

And in case any of you were wondering, yes it is vegan. And raw. And a little bit Persian, given the cardamon and pistachios. And high in magnesium and no doubt lots of other healthy nutrients. But most importantly, it's delicious and feeds the soul.

Read on for the recipe...

Unknown Superfoods Smoothie

13/8/2014

Try this delicious tangy and creamy smoothie, starring some amazing, cheaper, and lesser known superfoods!

A yummy anti-inflammatory smoothie with lesser known superfoods Cat's Claw and Schisandra berry. I like to eat it with a spoon, pudding style!

Cat's Claw (Uncaria tomentosa) is immune-enhancing and antioxidant, great if you're recovering from the flu that is going around, or for chronic fatigue.

Schisandra berry (Schisandra chinensis) is a super berry traditionally used in TCM, a fantastic antioxidant and adaptogen, and massive support for the liver to enhance phase I and II detoxification.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup organic blueberries
2 leaves kale
1 tablespoon ABC (almond, brazil nut, cashew) nut butter 2 2 teaspoons raw cacao powder
2 tablespoons organic coconut cream
1 teaspoon powdered Cat's claw
1 teaspoon powdered Schisandra berry
juice of 1 lime
stevia to taste
water to blend

PREPARATION

Blend all ingredients together in a high powered blender under smooth and creamy. Enjoy immediately!

Makes 2 small glasses or 1 large serve.

There are a great many so-called superfoods unknown to many people - they're called medicinal HERBS and they are cheaper and in many cases better than the stuff you buy for $150/kg from the health food shop!! You can buy powdered cat's claw and schisandra berry for $35 - 38/kg from Australherbs, around the same price per kilogram as macadamias.

Schisandra berries

5 life lessons I learnt from being bed-ridden

8/5/2014

I went to bed on Tuesday night feeling nauseous and with a belly ache, and woke up feeling like I’d been hit by a truck. Every muscle in my body ached, and moving was a joke – I felt about 200 years old!

I don’t know whether it was food poisoning or that yucky gastro bug going around, but it felt dreadful! However, it lasted a fraction of what it could have, thanks to some herbs, some rest, and even some TV (I know, shocking!).

When I went over the last week step by step, I could see the warning signs and how I’d ignored them. Read on for the five big lessons I learnt from the whole experience that could help you avoid experiencing the same thing I did, starting with lesson number one...

Listen to the warning signs.

Last weekend I was preparing to open my new yoga and clinic space… at the same time my mum was visiting for the first time in a long time, at the same time I was teaching a bunch of classes the same day, on the same day I planned to catch up with several different friends… you get the idea.

I noticed I was losing my keys over and over again. Locking them in the car, finding them in obscure places after hunting for ages, and getting really frustrated in the process. Picture me after teaching my final yoga class of the day, crying and screaming whilst lying under my Dad’s land cruiser for twenty minutes trying to undo the spare key in pitch black, while my mum waited for me to pick her up from the train station! I was stressed out and it was giving me the memory of a guppy.

Stress triggers our brains to release hormones, like cortisol, which affect the memory and cognitive function section of the brain. The over-stimulus caused by these hormones overloads the memory part of the brain, which causes us to forget things. Temporary memory loss can also be caused by multi-tasking, which many of us do to "stay ahead" in our busy lives. I for one am guilty of multi-tasking, thinking I’m being more productive when really I’m just making myself unmindful and stressed out!

When we are carrying on a conversation on the phone as we walk into the house, and planning what to cook for dinner at the same time, we aren’t paying attention to where we are simultaneously putting down our keys. Our brains don't store data well when we’re not paying attention to something in the first place. Brains are designed to do one task at a time. We are not computers and when we try and behave as if we were, our brains refuse to co-operate and forget things.

Exercising daily, eating healthily, getting plenty of sleep and practising mindfulness all help maintain a healthy brain, producing more neurotrophins, essential transmitters to enhance nerve connections within the brain.

Herbs are king.

After a busy four days of fitting out the new space and entertaining my mum, I arrived at my partner’s house late one night, frazzled and exhausted. I ate something and went to bed feeling a bit nauseous but too tired to care. The next day I was in a world of gut pain and couldn't bear the thought of getting up.

Being in no state to self-prescribe herbal remedies, my herbal-wizard boyfriend Andreas took great pleasure in concocting strong and slightly disgusting brews of thyme (anti-microbial and carminative) and peppermint (calming for the gut), and making gel capsules of powdered pau d’arco (antimicrobial, analgesic) and echinacea (immune boosting) for me.

Sure enough, my every-minute stabbing gut pain became less frequent and less intense, and I recovered in record time. The power of herbs never ceases to amaze me. (This further fuelled my desire to study naturopathy in the second half of this year!) I also managed to get some sleep. A lot of sleep…

Rest is golden.

Trying to do too much gets us into trouble by putting our adrenals into overdrive and driving our immune systems into the dirt. Getting sick was the final alarm bell my body was using to tell me to “slow down or we’ll force you to.”

Once I was sick, all I wanted to do was lie in bed. Sleeping during the day is something I rarely do because of a misguided belief that it’s lazy to be in bed when the sun is out. How ridiculous of me to think that!

I was in bed for all of Wednesday – except when some unsuspecting but lovely Jehovah’s Witnesses came knocking and on seeing the state I was in, offered to come in and make me some tea. (With my about-to-hurl sounds they were only at the door for two minutes, which must be some kind of record.)

Listening to my body by staying in bed all day was possibly the best thing I did. I woke up on Thursday feeling refreshed and better than I did before I got sick! I enjoyed some hula hoop yoga in Andreas' sunny backyard, feeling grateful to be alive. Rest truly is a powerful healer. And it gave me a chance to watch a little TV, another thing I’ve avoided for the past 12 or so years…

TV is not (always) evil.

On Wednesday night, being in less pain but still feeling exhausted I desperately wanted a distraction. So I turned to watching a few hours of TV to divert my attention away from the pain.

I normally shun television but I managed to find a few English game shows on ABC and SBS that felt like they weren’t killing brain cells. Plus Masterchef was pretty enthralling!

I now understand why people are drawn to TV – it’s a distraction, and when you’re in (any kind of) pain, distraction isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s still not something I’d want to use as a long term coping mechanism, but it helped. And as I lay there staring at the idiot box, I started to realise that…

Having healthy digestion is a blessing.

In the midst of my crippling gut pain, I thought of all my clients with IBS, IBD, Crohn’s, food intolerances and food allergies, and sent them some serious metta (loving-kindness). I’m extremely fortunate not to have any life-consuming gut issues besides lactose intolerance (which is relatively easy to manage).

Living with that kind of pain day in and day out is hard to imagine, yet it’s something many of my clients and closest friends do every. Single. Day. Having healthy digestion, and having general health, are a blessing, something to be deeply grateful for, rather than take for granted.

Casey's blog