Some Herbs, Spices and Foods and Their Uses

Herbs:

Basil: Warming digestive. Nerve stimulant and tonic. Helps reduce stress and clear the mind.

Bay: Warming digestive. Locally warming and anesthetic.

Chamomile: Anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, anti-allergy. Slightly bitter digestive. Relaxant and sedative. Great for children’s ailments.

Horseradish: Warming, antiseptic, antispasmodic, diaphoretic, decongestant.

Marjoram: Antiseptic, tonic digestive, antidepressant. Slightly expectorant.

Marigold: Antiseptic, anti-fungal. Strengthens immune system.

Parsley: Antiseptic diuretic. Cleanser. Tonic for women in general – not in pregnancy.

Peppermint: Warming calmative. Digestive, antiseptic, anti-spasmodic. Cooling on the skin.

Rosemary: Warming digestive. Circulatory stimulant (stimulates blood circulation.) Hepatic. Tonic.

Sage: Antiseptic astringent. Tonic and restorative. Febrifuge. Balances female hormones – not to be used in pregnancy or during breastfeeding.

Thyme: Antiseptic, bactericide, carminative, expectorant.

Spices:

Aniseed: Antiseptic, antispasmodic, warming digestive. Relaxes stomach chest, especially in children’s ailments. Has a strong licorice flavour.

Caraway: Warming, antispasmodic and digestive.

Cardamom: Aromatic. A warming, balancing digestive. Clears the mind. Expectorant.

Cayenne: Hot, stimulating, antiseptic, antispasmodic. Stimulates circulation and adds heat to other remedies.

Cinnamon: Circulatory stimulant, warming digestive. Astringent for clearing nose and lungs.

Cloves: Antiseptic, warming, germicide, carminative, expectorant, anesthetic. Great for oral irritations and toothaches.

Coriander: Gentle warming antispasmodic and carminative.

Corn silk: soothing diuretic.

Fennel seeds: Warming carminative, balances digestion. Diuretic. Stimulates milk flow. Not suitable for pregnant women.

Ginger: Stimulating, antispasmodic, relaxant, diaphoretic, digestive. Relieves nausea. Warms the whole system.

Juniper Berries: Antiseptic diuretic. Not to be used in pregnancy.

Mustard seeds: Warming antispasmodic. Emetic.

Nutmeg: Antiseptic, analgesic, digestive stimulant. Relaxing in small doses; emetic in large doses.

Turmeric: Antiseptic, aromatic digestive, hepatic.

Foods:

Barley: Cooling, nutritive, soothing and healing.

Cabbage: Cooling and nutritive. Anti-inflammatory, detoxifying, antiseptic.

Carrot: Soothing and nutritive, very easily digested. Diuretic.

Cucumber: Soothing, cooling, anti-inflammatory. Diuretic.

Figs: Nourishing and laxative. Strengthening to the lungs.

Garlic and Onion: Strongly antiseptic and anti-fungal, anti-viral bactericide. Decongestant expectorant. Depurative. Balances circulation and helps lower blood pressure.

Lemon: Cooling. Antiseptic. Soothing, healing, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal. Detoxifying diuretic.

Lettuce: A bitter digestive. Cooling and sedative.

Oats: Soothing, nutritive and strengthening. Nerve tonic. Drawing.

Honey: Nutritive, antiseptic. Soothing, demulcent, expectorant.

Oils: Warming. Soothing, lubricating laxatives.

Salt: Antiseptic, stimulates appetite, soothing.

Vinegar: Cooling, antiseptic, anti-fungal. Clearing and cleansing.


Glossary
Anesthetic: An agent that numbs sensation and so reduces pain.
Analgesic: Has the effect of relieving pain.
Anti-inflammatory: Reduces inflammation (swelling)
Antiseptic: Kills bacteria and prevents infection.
Anti-spasmodic: Relieves spasms or cramps.
Astringent: Drying and contracting, reducing secretions.
Carminative: relaxes digestive tension and spasm. Reduces wind.
Decongestant: Relieves congestion.
Demulcent: Soothes irritated tissues, particularly mucous membranes.
Depurative: Cleanses the blood.
Diaphoretic: Promotes sweating.
Digestive: Aids digestion.
Diuretic: Encourages urination.
Drawing: Draws poisons forms boils and abscesses.
Emetic: Provokes vomiting.
Expectorant: Expels sticky mucous from lungs.
Febrifuge: Helps to reduce fever.
Hepatic: Strengthens the liver.
Sedative: Calms the nerves.
Stimulant: increases activity.



• Water Infusions: water infusions are just like teas. They are made using fresh herbs and hot water. Water infusions are powerful healing technique as they are easily assimilated and digested within the body.
• Decoctions: decoctions are much like water infusions only different.  The method of making decoctions differ in that the herb is actually boiled in the water. This method works best for hard seeds, roots, barks and dry herbs. Decoctions can be made into syrups, honeys, gargles, oils and creams.
• Tinctures: in a tincture the properties of the herb are extracted and preserved in alcohol. For those who cannot take in alcohol, the dose can be left in a cup of water, uncovered for several hrs while the alcohol evaporates. They can also be used as ingredients in non-internal remedies such as creams.
• Vinegars: vinegars can be made from scratch by leaving pealed, cut apples in water for a few days. They are very useful as hair rinses and skin preparations as they keep within the ph balance of the skin.
• Infused Oils: Infused oils take a long time to prepare but last a while and are extremely useful both on their own and in the making of other useful remedies such as ointments, creams and plasters.
• Ointments: ointments are made with infused oils and bees wax. They can be used to alleviate dry skin, sooth itchy skin, calm tired skin – they should not be used on burns or open, weepy skin.
• Creams: Creams are lighter than ointments as they contain water or water-based extracts (herbal teas, decoctions and tinctures). Because oil and water do not naturally mix, an emulsifying agent such as bees wax, lanolin (wool fat) or egg yolk needs to be used. Bees wax seems to be the best as many people are allergic to lanolin and egg yolk doesn’t keep for very long. Creams are suitable for sensitive parts of the body and inflamed or weepy skin conditioned.
• Syrups and Honeys: herbal syrups and honeys are nutritive and pleasant to take. One must be careful of what herbs to use when making syrups and honeys, as taste does play a part in healing effects – bitterness for example stimulates the appetite and sluggish digestive reflexes! They are especially useful for coughs and sore thoughts! (not for diabetics and sugar intolerant people)
• Skin and Body Care: There are many recipes that are good for the skin and hair, nails and teeth!


Aniseed Digestive Biscuits

Makes about 60 biscuits

Ingredients:

 8g aniseed
 250g butter
 225g caster sugar (keep 3 spoons separate to sprinkle on top)
 3 drops vanilla essence
 15ml milk or water
 350g plain (all purpose) flour
 beaten egg yolk

Method:

1. Crush the aniseed, leaving a small amount uncrushed for decoration.
2. Heat the butter in a pan until brown, then leave to cool.
3. Beat in 1/3 of the sugar, and then add the remainder with the vanilla essence, milk/water and crushed aniseed.
4. Mix in the flour very well then turn out onto a board and knead well.
5. Shape into long thin rolls and cool in the fridge for 1hr.
6. After and hour, cut into rounds about 30cm thick and place onto a greased baking sheet.
7. Brush with beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with whole aniseed and caster sugar.
8. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees centigrade for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.
9. Allow to cool for 203 minutes before removing from the sheet.
10. Enjoy!



Lemon Skin Balm

Ingredients:

 4 teaspoons lemon juice
 8 teaspoons vegetable oil
 1 ½ - 2 teaspoons clear honey

Method:

1. Mix ingredients together thoroughly by putting them into a screw top jar (such as an empty jam jar) and shaking well.

2. *OPTIONAL* Add and equal amount of water (about 1 – 1 ½ teaspoons). This just makes the lotion smoother. Shake continuously while applying.

This lotion is un-perfumed, apart from the natural lemon fragrance. One drop of essential oil can be added to increase the aroma. Any citrus oil works well.

This is both a healing, soothing and nutritive lotion which moistens and softens dry chapped or tired skin. This simple recipe can’t really be improved upon, other than to use good quality oil, such as sweet almond oil, wheat germ oil or peach kernel oil. This is highly recommended if you intend to use this recipe often as these oils add extra healing properties to the lotion as they enrich the skin.

Thyme Foot Talc

Ingredients:

 10 tablespoon corn flour
 5 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
 5 teaspoon finely powdered thyme

Method:

Grind the ingredients together into a fine powder and store in an empty powder dispenser.

Alternatives:

- For athlete’s foot, rub the skin – especially in between the toes – with lemon peel, releasing the oil, and then dust with a fine sprinkle of the thyme foot powder.
- Parsley foot talc is good for feet which become over-hot and tired.


Mustard Foot Bath

Ingredients:

 2 teaspoons ground mustard powder (can be bought at most supermarkets)
 2.2L hot water

Method:

Mix the mustard and water together in a bowl big enough to accommodate your feet. Soak feet for 20 minutes. Try to relax your whole body by breathing in deeply and regularly. Dry feet well and keep them warm afterwards.

Fresh Onion Syrup

Ingredients:

 1 large or 2 small onions
 450g brown granulated sugar or clear honey

Dose:

Adult: 2 teaspoons 3 times daily or up to every two hours to help fight off a cold

Child: ½ - 1 teaspoon 3-6 times daily

Method:

1. Peel and slice the onions into rings.

2. Put 5cm of onion in the bottom of a clean jam jar and cover with 5cm sugar/honey. Repeat until jar is full, pressing each layer down firmly before adding the next.

3. Cover the last layer of onion with a thick sugar/honey layer, and leave overnight in a cool, dry place. If sugar has been used, it will have liquefied into syrup by dissolving into the onion juice – this is the onion syrup.

4. In the morning, strain off the liquid and throw away the un-dissolved sugar left at the bottom of the jar. Pour into bottles and label with the name, date and dose. Store in a cool dark place. It will keep for up to a week in the fridge.


Infused Rosemary Oil

Ingredients:

Makes approx 300 ml of infused oil

 50 – 75g dried rosemary or 75-100g fresh rosemary (chopped)
 300ml unblended vegetable oil (not sunflower or canola oil)

Method:

1 After chopping the rosemary, put half the herb and all the oil into a container with a lid. (Like an empty glass jar with a lid)

2 Place the container in a pan and fill the pan with water to within 2,5cm of the top of the container. Simmer slowly for 2 hours. This water bath allows the prolonged heating without the danger of spoiling the oil by boiling. To save time and energy costs, 2-3 canisters can be heated together.

3 After 2 hours, allow the mixture to cool slightly and then strain it well. This is now halfway through the process and the oil will have changed colour. At this stage the oil is safe for young children, either as massage oil or as bath oil. Discard the used herbs – they are great for compost in house plants and this completes the cycle by returning the goodness back to nature.

4 Refill the canister with the remaining rosemary, cover with the strained oil and return to the pan. You may need to top the water back up to within 2,5cm of the top of the jar. Simmer gently for another 2hrs. Don’t forget to put the lid back on the jar. It is important that the oil does not boil as this destroys any value the oil contains.

5 When the oil has cooled enough to work with, pour it through a strainer lined with cheesecloth. If you are using fresh herbs, there may be a watery green liquid at the bottom of the oil. This liquid must be separated out and thrown away, otherwise it will spoil the oil.



Onion Poultice

Ingredients:

 1 large onion, peeled

Method:

1. Roast onion whole until soft.

2. Cut in half and apply to affected area

This remedy works well to draw out splinters, cleaning wounds and alleviating earache.


Cinnamon and Ginger Decoction

Ingredients:

 2 ½ cinnamon sticks, broken up
 2.5cm fresh ginger root, sliced thinly
 350ml water
 I teaspoon honey (optional)

Method:

1. Simmer the spices in the water in a tightly covered pan for 10 minutes.

2. Strain and drink hot (add honey if desired)

This remedy is an excellent defense against oncoming colds! It can also be used as a mouthwash for infected gums and unpleasant breath.


Simple Ointment

Ingredients:

 300ml homemade infused oil or cooking oil
 25g yellow beeswax, grated or thinly chopped

Method

1. If you want make a different amount of ointment to that described below, remember the ratio of oil to wax is: 10 quantities of oil to 1 quantity of wax. Place the wax and oil into a heatproof jug.

2. Stand the jug in a larger pan and place on the stovetop. Carefully pour water into the pan until the water level is just below that of the oil in the jug. Bring the water to a gentle boil and then turn the heat down. Simmer until the wax has melted, stirring occasionally with a metal spoon.

3. Remove the jug from the pan and allow the liquid to cool down a little (not enough for it to harden!) then pour it into clean jars. Fill the jars to within 1cm of the top, reserving a little of the ointment for topping up later, and leave open until ointment has set.

Zingy Toothpaste

Ingredients:

 1 teaspoon fresh sage, ground
 6 teaspoons sea salt
 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
 ¼ teaspoon ground cloves (optional)

Method:

1. Grind all ingredients together in a pestle and mortar until they form a fine powder.

2. Pour into a clean 30ml jar and pack down tightly.


To Use:

Put a small amount on a toothbrush and brush in the usual way. Rinse your mouth with plenty of water. This remedy is especially useful when one experiences sore gums as the cloves act as an analgesic.


Simple Toothpaste

Ingredients:

 1 teaspoon fresh sage, ground
 6 teaspoons sea salt

Method:
As above

To Use:
As above