Ask an herbalist: Absent Period & the use of Chamomile

Ashley Asks:

Hi... i read online that chamomile is really good for vaginal health. I would steep the fresh herbs in a bath or rinse my vagina with the water from the tea bags. I see some amazing results BUT my period has been missing in action for two months. I have went to doctors and they think I’m making this up or just plain crazy. On May 10 my cycle was expected to start but i didn’t see anything until the 15th. It was a few spots everyday for a few days. On June 1 i spotted again for just a day this time and now I’m in the clear. My cycle was expected to start today June 4 but i feel all the other symtoms (fatigue, hunger, mood swings) BUT NO CYCLE. I have went to the doc three times over the course of this month, have taken at least 20 pregnancy tests and all negative. Even the blood pregnancy test was negative so I know I’m not pregnant. Please tell me the Chamomile is doing something funky to my body, for i am simply going crazy. 

-Ashley

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Hello dear, 

First let me say a few things, you are not going crazy and in no way shape or form does what's going on have anything to do with chamomile. She simply does not have the properties to stop a menstrual cycle and fact she's the opposite and can be used to help sync up a cycle.

All of that aside the chamomile found in tea bags sold in stores is extremely weak because it's generally been sitting for a very long time and the amount in the tea bags is extremely trivial. Like to the point that majority of the time the only thing we are getting is the flavor of chamomile and that in itself is still not very true compared to fresher higher quality larger amounts.

 A few things I don't know here that would be of help is your age, the amount of stress you're currently going through our what your diet is like those things would all be helpful to know but I'll just cover all of these just in case and it'll be good info for anybody else reading.

Did you know that women slowly begin to cycle into menopause between the ages of 25 and 30? This doesn't mean that we suddenly stop bleeding by any means but missing cycles and simply spotting can be a huge indicator that we are further along in this journey than we realize especially if you are past the age of 30.

I am 33 and went from bleeding for 7-8 days to now for the past year only bleeding heavily for 1-2 days a month. That is menopause.  

How stressed out are you? Stress can have an extreme effect on our body and delay menstruation significantly. This can be anything from emotional stress to physical stress for example women who exercise excessively such as marathon runners just to give one example often no longer have a cycle or are very sporadic ones at that because they are pushing their bodies extremely.

What is your diet like? Are you a vegan or vegetarian? Are you on a very strict and restrictive diet were you don't allow yourself to eat a varied amount of foods? Our bodies genuinely need healthy animal fats and proteins to have the spare energy it takes every month to bleed. Also if you are any of the above and let's say you don't cook your vegetables thoroughly and even worse maybe you're on a raw diet this would definitely be linked to why your body does not have the ability to bleed and is an extremely common symptom of such diets. Cooking our vegetables fully for no less than an hour is critical for breaking down the cellular structure of the plant so our body can access/digest the nutrients that are found within the cells.

Have you been on birth control for an extremely prolonged time frame? Getting off of birth control can cause our cycle to be erratic and when we are on birth control we never actually have a true cycle and prolonged use can cause symptoms such as these.

If I was in this situation I would be making sure that my diet was not extremely restrictive and included healthy animal fats such as grass-fed butter, whole fat plain milk yogurt, Cheese's, eggs and grass-fed Meats so on so forth.

I would evaluate my life and see how stressed out I am and see what I can do about relieving some pressure from myself including worrying about not bleeding.

I would hop onto Amazon and by Susun weeds book the new menopausal years and read it from front to back especially if you are in your 30s because even if menopause isn't what's going on here this is information that you need to know that most doctors are ignorant about.

I would be making sure to drink nourishing herbal infusions every single day! Which is basically where we put 1 oz of safe simple herb such as nettle into a quart jar pour boiling water over the top cap and allow to sit until the next day chill and drink. I would also add to my daily rotation of nourishing herbal infusions red raspberry leaf, red clover, Linden and comfrey. You can find a lot of info on nourishing herbal infusions by checking out a saved story in my Instagram bio that shows you how to make them and everything and definitely Google Susun Weed nourishing herbal infusions!

I hope some of this gave you a few ideas of what direction to go in  and also just to say again I absolutely promise  that chamomile  has nothing to do with your current situation 💕 

Kindest regards ,  

April

Ask An Hebalist: Fresh vrs Dry Violet for oil infusions & when to pick Hawthorne berries.

Sorcha Asks:

Hello April,

I have two (hopefully) short and sweet questions. You can just answer one :) I just thought I may as well ask both since I couldn't choose between them!
What is better to use in a violet oil , fresh or dried herb? and
When is the best time to pick hawthorn berries? How can you tell when they are ready?
I hope you are well xx and I just love all you put out into the world! Thank you for all the time you give to everyone, its very special.

Lots of love and warmth,
Sorcha

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Hello Sorcha, 

With Violet being such a moist lady  I really prefer her to wilt  quite well  before  I use her in an oil infusion  if not she has a tendency to make  the oil go rancid .  So  I'd say make sure your leaves  are about 80% dry  they don't have to be crunchy  just closer to dry than moist .

 Now with Hawthorne berries fall is the time to gather these and much like with Rosehips because they are in the same family you get much more medicinal qualities from her if you wait until first frost, if you live in an area that doesn't get frost just wait until you've had a prolonged period of cold at the very least and you can somewhat trick the berries after that cold period by sticking them in the freezer for a day or so!

But if you don't want to wait that long to get Hawthorne's amazing heart health benefits do know that her leaves are shown to have not only the same compounds as the berries but a higher level! So while I absolutely utilize her berries I also make Hawthorn Leaf tinctures as soon as she has leafed out enough that I can gather them in a sustainable manner.

I hope these answers have helped you some!

April G.

Ask An Herbalist: Oat straw and Wheat allergies

Cait asks:

Hello April!

Hope you are well.

I've been following your posts and guidance for a couple years now and am familiar with your ideas on restrictive/heroic diets. I had been a vegetarian for 10 years (ages 13-23) and left that lifestyle after developing food allergies to gluten-containing things. I have no doubt that I did serious damage to myself by not allowing myself to eat enough or healthfully. But it even went beyond "normal" celiac symptoms to the point where even touching inadvertantly something with gluten causes me painful, raised "burns" on my skin, lips, fingers and if eaten my tongue begins to feel odd and numb. I don't tend to experience a tightness in my throat or breathing problems unless it's anxiety. (I also suffer from depression & anxiety but those showed themselves before the vegetarianism). I'm fairly sure it's not all psychosematic, as the reactions are consistent even when I am not aware of gluten's presence.

I want to begin your infusion advice but am a little unsure of what to seek other than the miraculous Nettle (raspberry leaf speaks to me, as well). I've been told before that with true deep healing I may recover somewhat from my food allergies.

So my question is this: Is it advisable to make oatstraw infusions since oats are related to/grown in the same fields as gluten grains?

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Hello Cait! 

I feel like infusions would be a great way for you to overcome allergies  nettle is really specific for this I mean I've seen people with severe allergies  like anaphylactic type recover substantially after 6 months to a year of using nettle infusion daily . 

All of that aside with this level of contact allergy I think if possible and you have the insurance to do it it would be worth seeing an allergy specialist to determine if you are actually allergic to, the wheat or the gluten, or potentially something entirely different such as things that are often sprayed on comercial wheat products . 

I knew one gal who swore she was deathly allergic to gluten and it turned out she was actually allergic to the fungicide type stuff they spray inside of most bread bags(even the organic brands)to make the bread on the store shelf last longer ,they then don't have to add this as an ingredient because it's not actually baked into the bread. She is able to eat flour now as long as its 100% treated and she bakes her own bread. That might not be your case but it's just some things to consider . 

Also when I was pregnant with my daughter I suddenly became gluten intolerant and this was back in a time where gluten-free wasn't a thing on top of I live in wheat country LOL I noticed that I could eat spelt bread / flour so I started to kind of look into what might be going on.

Within 3 months of giving birth I discovered that I was really low in magnesium and ironically enough being low in this critical mineral can cause gluten intolerance but this again probably isn't your case because it's actually causing a reaction on your skin. These are just thoughts that are rattling around in my head so I figured I'd share them!

As far as what other herbs you could use to do your nourishing herbal infusions I'd for sure add Linden, Comfrey, Red clover alongside your Nettle and Red Raspberry leaf.

As far as the issue of wheat contaminated oats the way that actually works isn't how people thing, it's not that the oats are being grown in the same field as the wheat at the same time as they both have different harvesting times as well and even if they did share a filed every other season when they were doing crop rotation most Farmers burn their fields in between or they are completely stripped and any left over hay/straw will have fully composted by next growing season so there's no contamination factor there.

The real concern that comes in with wheat contaminated oats is in the grain itself and that's because farmers use the same combines/ threshers/grain trucks to harvest these grains and the way that works is it all dumps into one big truck and then they drive it to their scales to get their weight so they can sell their grains and such. I'm speaking from experience here having grown up working harvest, so the contamination comes in at the grain truck level as the wheat berry dust is still inside of the hauling truck and the 16 year old they hire to air blast the bed does a half ass job at best because it's 100+°F dusty hot and he's not getting paid well enough! So the oat berries that get harvested now have wheat dust on them.

Now making hay is completely different process with completely different equipment so they're going across there knocking down the cuttings after they've already taken off all the grain tops and they're running it through a baler that kicks out individual string wrapped bails now normally this would be turned into animal food but some of it such as the oat straw which is really really high in protein and favored by Pig farmers is set aside to sell to people like us. It's not as likely that it's contaminated because this equipment is just so different and there's no dusty grain truck involved.

That being said it really might be worth the effort if you reached out to whoever you're going to buy your bulk herbs from such as Mountain Rose Herbs or Frontier Botanicals and ask them if they're oat-straw is certified gluten-free.

Because companies these days really like to put that mark on a package for the sake of charging more if we're just being honest like one time I saw a bottle of water marked gluten free LOL and it was a dollar fifty more than the water not marked gluten free, but anyhow this means they are very willing to make sure or probably tell you that it is gluten free.

I hope you found some of this helpful and if oat straw can't be in your rotation that's okay cause we have lots of other herbs we can work with😊

Ask an herbalist: Stubborn mucus

Avis asks:

Hello! My ND gave me a herbal tincture that includes astragalus, eyebright,horehound,prunus) take 1 teaspoon 3 times a day. And herbal tea/tussin drink twice a day. I have mucus in my chest that isn't loosening and may have to go to the Dr. Are there any traditional meds thar may interact with these herbs?

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Hello dear, 

Well i see they have gone the way of throwing a complicated kitchen sink blend at you and didn't give you much guidance. Meaning they should have discussed the potential interaction of each and every herb in the blend with you and any meds you may have been on. While I won't do the NDs job for them I can tell you what I would do if I really needed to break up this gunk in my chest. 

I'd use one safe simple plant ally that's not likely to interact with any meds I may be talking. 

Mullein

I'd be making and drinking a quart of mullein infusion blended with whole fat milk (it's a myth that dairy causes mucus in fact she does the opposite.)  Every single day!

Mullein is very lung specific and absolutely blows the herbs you mentioned above out of the water when it comes to thinning out/helping us cough up the crap in our lungs!

Whole milk also acts as a thinner so together I've never seen the combo not clear out a stuck chest. 

An infusion is crazy easy: 

Place one ounce by weight of dried mullein leaf in a quart size jar. 

Cover with boiling water up to the very top of the jar, stir then add a bit more water. 

Cap and let set 8 hours. 

 Strain through a tightly woven cloth (because mullein has tiny hairs you don't want to be drinking)

Add in half the amount of whole milk (so if you had 2 cups of infusion add 1 cup whole milk)

Warm back up and add honey to taste, drink & repeat. 

I personally would do this daily for a week before I resorted to seeing a doctor. 

I would also be sure to be taking steam baths daily even if my only access was a steaming pot of salt water with my head under a towel with the pot under the towel as well so I breathed in the steam. Because salty water steam also thins mucus.

I hope some of this ends up being helpful! 

Kindest Regards, 

April

Ask An Herbalist: Can Sake be used to make tinctures?

Nabil asks,

Dear sir,

Can Sake be used to make herbal tinctures and extracts?
Kind regards
Nabil

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Hello Nabil, 

Just to say i am a Mam not a Sir 😉 

So most sake is only 40 poof meaning it's roughly only 20% alcohol. So while you could make a tincture with this it would be a rather weak one at best.

However if you could find sake that is 100 proof meaning 50% alcohol 50% water it would make a well balanced tincture that not only would contain a good balance of extractions of both water/alcohol properties of the plant but ready to use as soon as it's done being decanted.

Which is the appeal to using 100 proof vodka for tincture making. Also when the alcohol we use is clear it has more "room" to extract with.

Meaning almost all liquor starts out clear and it then becomes colored by placing it in various storage containers such as wooden barrels, the alcohol then tinctures the wood. So when we use it to make a tincture it has already been tinctured and simply can't extract as much from the plant.  

80 proof is the next best thing to use. 

If vodka is not available to you in your area perhaps Schochu is. Which from what I have read is basically vodka made with a type of sweet potato and it's average proof is 80-100 so it would work well.

With all of this being said you can at the end of the day use sake. If it has a low alcohol content just be sure to let it set for 3-5 months versus 1-2 months.  

I hope some of this was helpful! 

Kindest Regards, 

April. 

Ask An Herbalist: Sweaty hands

Sandra asks,

I am so glad I found you via instagram. I already ordered a few things and the uplifting oil safed my life in no time since we don’t get a lot of sunlight these days. Thank you so much!

My first problem is. I am suffering soooo hard from my sweaty hands. They are just dripping wet when there is even just a hint of Stress for me. When I try to make a phone call every layer of my sketchbook is superwet and I am
Not even the anxcioust person or such.
I tried literally everything. I even got my hands into a electricity thingy treatment. NOTHING EVER HELPED.
This is ridiculous! I am not able to shake someone’s hand.

Second problem:
I am a lot into pain regarding my migraines. When this happens I am usually sitting on the floor not being able to talk or move. Puking all over my stuff. This isn’t fun. I bought your saint johns tincture but didn’t had a chance to try it since I just got it today.
Any recommendations?

Is there something I could do? Please help.

Much love!

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Hello Sandra, 

It sounds like you may be living with Palmar hyperhidrosis.   Which is basically fancy talk for folks who have overactive sweat glands in their hands. Some people have wet hands all the time some people like yourself get triggered by stress. But I'm for sure not a Dr and this is not a diagnosis so this is something you'll want to discuss with one 😉

But if i saw a Dr and he told me this is what's going on there are a few things I may try out:

Most research suggests that this condition  may be caused by hyperactive sympathetic nervous system .  Which is basically the thing in your body that makes you have stress responses, fight or flight responses, Goosebumps  things like that  so my first step would personally be to begin nourishing my nervous system  with nourishing herbal infusions ! 

Oat straw infusion is fantastic at not only helping us remain calm but nourishing and tone our nervous system. Not to mention it has loads of calcium that's accessible to our bodies. Think health benefits of oatmeal x 100!

Sometimes we're having excessive anxiety and we don't even realize it like we are just stuck in a state of panic and it just becomes our normal so we don't even realize that we are panicking until it's spikes, but your body sure does. 

So the next thing I would consider is adding in another nourishing herbal infusion which would be stinging Nettle , because this Ally not only heals us with sincere nutrition she supports our thyroids/adrenals and this really helps reduce stress.

She's a life changer for people dealing with anxiety especially if we're caught in a cycle of depleting our adrenaline glands with stress, worry, caffeine and anxiety. We get caught in this horrible loop of depletion  and the more depleted we are the more anxiety we have. Also it's important to remember our bodies can have anxiety attacks without our minds joining in. I.E hands pouring out sweat.

But another thing about her is that she is an astringent, and this means to dry out. Not like it's going to dry you out but it kind of just tightens all of your blood vessels up in a good way, she is amazing for people who have like hemorrhoids and things like that but also it might help dry out what's going on in your hands.

But allow herbal infusions time to work. Drink them every day for three months and i promise you will see lots of changes for good in all areas of your body and mind💜 

I see from a little bit of research that people do sometimes have good success from soaking their hands in teas that are high in astringents/tannins because it shrinks the pours in your hands which may reduce sweating. Some astringent herbs are Yarrow, Rose, Blackberry root and leaf, White Oak, Green and Black Tea, Witch Hazel, Willow,Peppermint, Rosemary, Ginger and a ton more! 

But one herbal ally i really feel may outshine the ones above is culinary Sage both soaking your hands in an drinking her as a tea (not infusion). 

I hope some of this was helpful! 

As far as your headaches go check out this video reply I made for a gal who is also suffering by clicking here 💜

Kindest regards, 

April  

Ask An Herbalist: Re-infusing plant material from herbal infusions

Dena asks,

April,

I just want to say first of all, I follow your Instagram account and resonate with a lot of your posts. I have a pretty simple question and apologize if the answer is somewhere else on your site. I have been rotating infusions of nettle, oat straw, and more recently red raspberry leaf. I bought a ton of these herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs.

My question: do you reuse herbs you’ve already infused? I feel like I go through a lot of the herbs and would love to get more use out of them. Are they as potent a second time around? Thanks for reading! Take care,

Dena

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Hello Dena, 

I know the feeling of going through a ton of plant matter in infusion making! The answer here is yes and no depending on the individual plant ally. 

 The allies you mentioned are basically spent after their first go round but you can pull more out of them so to speak if you let them set over night in the fridge versus the standard 4 hours. But don't do this with raspberry as her tannins have a tendency to make folks puke/feel yucky if to many are extracted.

But allies such as linden, mallow, comfrey, Hawthorne (most berries in the Rose family really), mushrooms, most roots all have benefits of being infused a second time around and even release I guess you could say deeper properties towards healing that the first brew just can't get to until their cell structure has been really weakened. 

Sometimes i'll toss some of my spent nettle or kelp infusions into my soup pots because they do still carry good fibers and such I've even made a "spent nettle bread" that isn't too bad, but mainly I give it all to my compost pile 💜  

I hope some of this was helpful! 

Kindest regards, 

April  

Ask An Herbalist: Collagen Disorder and feeling less than

Anastasia asks,

Beautiful soul, been following your IG account and my heart resonates with your sharings. Thank you for being a brave heart in this world.

My body, after birthing my only child, a son, at age 35 fell apart, I felt like humpty dumpty. A couple years after I found out I have a disorder where my body does not process collagen in the right way, so my ligaments and tendons fail to perform as they need to. Joints and bones fall out of place easily. And a host of other diagreeable things such a veins pop out, agressive cellulite, bad scarring...
And I am now 41, been living a healthy life, practicing serious yoga and inquiry for 20 years, but yet, my mind makes me feel as though I am less than others.
Of course I can continue on with my life story, but I will leave this with you.
I have recently started making an oat and rose hip tea in the evening that seeps all night and I drink it in the morning. That is my foray into herbal medicine as of now. I do microdose cannibas in a smokng form also, this seems to help with the feeling of less than. But not sure I want to rely on this form, as it is not legal here in PA.

Thank you again for sharing your heart in this world!!!

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Hello Anastasia,

First off let me start by saying that I absolutely love your name 💜 

The next thing that I want to tell to you is that it's okay to not be okay all the time .

That when we begin to look at our dis-ease not as an ailment but as the actual medicine we need we can rapidly find acceptance and healing to our situation . 

I know that that sounds absolutely crazy but I promise I speak from experience. When I accepted a sincerely challenging illness was just going to have to be coexisted in and stopped beating myself up for having limits things changed rapidly.

When I think of ligaments and collagen and joints in all these bits and pieces that are giving you challenges I wonder if you're being stretched out beyond your ability.

Like are you giving too much of yourself to others? Saying yes when you really mean no or are simply conditioned to say yes without even thinking?

We know this is really easy to do especially with children, and so in my mind that just connected because this all began happening to you after you became a mother.

Those are just some thoughts that I felt like I should get out here, something for you to digest maybe.

But there for sure some things that you may want to try to help your body heal or learn to live with this dis-ease.

Our beautiful plant ally Comfrey is the healer of all things joints, tendons, mucous membranes, bones anything along these lines she is pretty amazing for.

I've seen people use her to heal cartilage in knees, torn shoulders, broken bones, ligament issues and beyond. She is often referred to as knit bone or stitch cartilage by folk herbalist.

So I would look into nourishing herbal infusions drank daily beginning with hybrid comfrey a lot of people get nervous about using comfrey internally but here is a link from Susun Weed that clears up a lot of this confusion.

Then I would also start drinking stinging Nettle infusion it's going to really help us get our energy back and not just from stimulation like caffeine does here I'm talking about real energy from Optimum Nutrition that Nettle has to offer. Here is a link to a video on how to make herbal infusions. Basically it's just boiling hot water dumped over an ounce of herb place in a mason jar, cap and let the sit for 4 hours or over night, strain and drink a cup or more a day that's it!

You keep up with drinking a cup or more of herbal infusions every day for 6 weeks and I bet you that your body will feel different. Most people are blown away with how they feel in 6 months of drinking infusions daily!

I really feel like not only would this benefit your mental state and physical state just from the large amount of nutrition that nourishing herbal infusions contain but as humans we really crave ritual, it might seem silly that pouring boiling water over some plant material would be considered ritual. But the cycle of feeling worthy, worthy enough to do this everyday for our body is a powerful ritual.

Before we know it we're working in all other kinds of ways to practice self-care that really leads us to not only feeling better physically but feeling better about ourselves mentally.

I really hope some of this was helpful dear, thank you so much for reaching out.

Kindest regards,

April

Ask An Herbalist: Blue Elderberry during pregnancy.

Ashley asks,

What's your thoughts on ingesting blue elderberry(sambucus cerulea) during pregnancy? I'm sick and would love relief/comfort from the great elder shrub. Thank you.

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Hello Ashley,

I personally would feel comfortable using Elderberry during pregnancy as long as a few rules were followed . 

 I would make sure that my Elderberries were fully cooked before ingestion and i would make sure not to ingest the seeds. I would also make sure that I didn't use any unripe berries in any preparation being made and that my berries where free of little stem bits or any leaf pieces.

Now if you were to make a tincture the alcohol extraction process counts as cooking and the berries/seeds get strained out anyhow. Dehydrating or drying them counts as cooking too, so if you have some dried berries to brew tea out of that's perfectly fine just make sure you strain it well before drinking. I would simmer them for 20-30 mins on low as well.

Blue Elderberry somewhat like Echinacea is an immune boosting herbal ally so it's important to note that if you maybe have an autoimmune disorder Elderberry or anything that increases the immune systems function should be avoided so you don't help your immune system attack your body further.

There are some studies that say the flu makes a pregnant body over react with immunities so if you are battling the flu you may not need to increase your immune system further. Because I mean this puts our bodies under stress, we can only amp up our white blood cell count so much before it actually does damage.

This is kinda why herbal allies are best as preventatives, so a single cup of elder tea a day may help us not get the flu or other viruses with no real risk of harm. But trying to use it during a flu may* put us at risk kinda deal via overworking our bodies that are already in overdrive creating a little human.

When I was pregnant with my two children  I certainly felt comfortable having a glass of Elderberry tea now and then and maybe a few extra while I was fighting off a cold.

I hope that some of this was of help to you!

Kindest regards,

April

Ask an herbalist: Thieves Oil without the use of volatile oils

Bronwen Asks,

Hello, my friend introduced me to your store and art (art of herbalism) and was wondering if you could recommend something similar in the herbal realm to thieves oil. I am looking for something safe for the whole family including our 3 year old. We are both very sensitive to essential oils. Including having to leave places because of diffusers because I get an almost instant headache. I am also trying for a second child do will hopefully be pregnant in the near future. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

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Hello Bronwen! 

 I'm so glad you asked 😊 there are two ways to go about this:

For general countertop/surface cleaning  we would make a vinegar infusion . 

 This is as simple as adding all of your ingredients which will be Cloves , Lemon peel, Cinnamon, Eucalyptus leaf, Rosemary leaf.

And letting it set for 3-6 weeks. Strain and dilute by 50% with distilled water in a spray bottle and tada some awesome cleaner!

Now you can also do the same ingredients  in an oil of your choice  such as olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil Etc and let this sit for 6 to 8 weeks to infuse in a dark place  and then strain. You can use this just like a body oil or make a salve. Be sure the herbs used are dry so you don't end up with rancid oil💜 

While you for sure could use the vinegar as a hand sanitizer you could also use a 100 proof vodka and make a tincture not meant for ingestion .  So put all of their herbs into a jar probably about 1/2 or 1/4 cup of each is fine feel free to experiment fill to the top with the 100 proof vodka let set for 6 to 8 weeks strain out the plant matter and  water it down by 50% with distilled water, put some in a little spray bottle and just like that you have a handy hand sanitizer  on hand that's has safe/naturally occurring levels of volatile oils 💜

 I know a lot of folks use the volatile oil version sold of this internally (soooo dangerous!) As an attempt to prevent illness. Instead of resorting to that some safer and more effective options are Elderberry tea or tincture (made with fresh berries), Stinging Nettle infusions drank daily, Turkey tail mushrooms, Rose hip tea the list could go on for ever really of safe simple herbs!! But those are a few you may enjoy/benefit from learning about/getting to know better.

I hope some of this was helpful! 

Kindest Regards, 

April

Ask An Herbalist: Reynaud's disease

Chloe Asks:

Hi April,

Firstly, I just wanted to say thank you for your approachable and simple hands on herbalism. I was convinced earlier this year that I needed to save up $600 to take an herbalism class. So thank you so much for putting your knowledge out there to the masses. I've recently bought some herbs to make Susun Weed's nourishing herbal infusions because of your first "Ask an Herbalist" video. I'm so excited to start!

My inquiry is regarding living with Raynaud's Syndrome/Disease. It's a disease that affects the nerves around the blood vessels in your hands and feet. Basically when exposed to cold (for myself it's anything below 50F) the nerves constrict around the blood vessels and halt any blood flow. This results in numbness and pain. What ends up happening as well is when I finally am able to warm myself up again, my fingers will swell like they would if I had too much sodium and will usually stay bloated/stiff until the next morning. I do keep reusable hand warmers on me. I am a 27 yr old woman with no other health issues. I've had this since i was around 8 years old and my mother also has this.

Thank you so much for your time!!!

<3 Chloe

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Hello Chloe,

I'm really happy to hear that you have discovered the Wisewoman path and now on your way to remembering the things you already know without spending hundreds of dollars for information that is available for free to all should they look!

I'm even happier to hear that you are beginning to drink nourishing herbal infusions because this would have been the first thing I would have suggested!

In fact I hope you're drinking a quart of stinging nettle infusion or more a day! Stinging nettle is amazing for so many things and she just never quits giving! One thing she's amazing at is improving circulation. But also you would be nourishing your body as a whole and when we do this we heal as a whole versus target healing.

I'm also hoping you'll rotate through linden blooms, oat straw, comfrey and more!

But really an ally that I'm hoping you will get to know on a deeper level is Hawthorne! While she's mainly known as a fantastic Ally for heart health the reason she's known this way is because she's amazing for the whole cardiovascular system. Meaning she really helps get blood flowing! In fact she’s such an amazing ally at this that people have been able to replace heart medication with Hawthorn tincture! Of course this is the kind of thing people have to talk over with their doctors and so on and so forth, but in your case I really feel like you would benefit from building a relationship with this plant Ally.

Do however know that Hawthorne is a slow-acting herbal Ally and I know that in a western medicine society we are used to seeing results right away so after a few months if things aren't changing we can be disheartened and start looking elsewhere. But usually it takes about 3 to 6 months for her effects to really be felt of steady daily use. With Hawthorne I really only suggest using a tincture made with fresh plant matter or a very strongly brewed tea even an herbal infusion. The really cool thing about Hawthorne as there are no known contradictions or toxicity levels when using her. So I feel safe working with us Ally on a 24/7 365 day basis.

I even found an article from Susun weed that mentions your specific condition here on a write up about Hawthorne!

I would also try to look at this condition as the medicine that I need. I know that that sounds funny or maybe doesn't make sense right off the bat and that's okay. But maybe your body wants you to have a warm cup of tea in your hands all the time. Maybe it knows that you need nourishing warm stews to thrive. Maybe it  knows that you need to be wrapped in cozy layers of soft wool and fuzzy furs to feel safe and open. Maybe it's calling for you to be in a different surrounding. These are just things that we can think on here of how the illness is actually the medicine and or message we need while we also work with herbal allies to strengthen and heal our body.

I really hope some of this was helpful for you dear!

Kindest regards,

April.

Ask An Herbalist: Do fluctuating temps degrade herbals & using wood heat when wood stoves are not allowed.

Sara Asks:

Hello April!

First of all, thank you for taking the time to read what I have to ask.

I can see your overwhelming amount of attention on social media daily, so it means a lot to know that you will be reading this and possibly answering it.

My question is would you happen to know if storing my dried herbs in extreme fluctuating temperatures will harm them or cause them to lose potency in their properties?

I live off grid on the the Westernmost ridge of the Appalachians and we have very fluctuating temperatures, Where can go from 70 to the 20's in a matter of hours. (Like many places nowadays)

My partner and I don't have heat in our cabin that we built and we hunker down into the cellar where we have one wall mounted propane heater. (Insurance doesn't allow a wood burner inside a log cabin in PA )

My dried harvests keep growing each year and there isn't much room in the cellar for us two and our pets let alone an herbal apothecary!

I would like you to know that I have tried to research my question in books and on the internet before I wrote to you, and came up with nothing.and I suppose there is a good reason for it- most people have heating And cooling in their homes and need not worry about extreme conditions!

Thank you so very much for taking the time to read this,

and thank for being so honest and true with all that you do and say.

Love and light to you,

Sara

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Hello Sara,

Thank you for reaching out to me!  I really have been needing to get back to answering these questions after a  couple of chaotic months and this one I think is a perfect place to start!

Well you're probably having a hard time finding research because you're looking up fluctuating temperatures with dried goods but what I would consider is not thinking of these as dried good so much as something that's being stuck in a freezer, unthawed, stuck in a freezer, stuck in a freezer on and on. We know that that is not ideal for vegetables or meats and even prolonged freezing really degrades nutritional value as well as medicinal value of herbals and all other plant materials. So basically while it will not destroy them it most certainly will have an effect on the nutritional and medicinal value.

But I understand the predicament you're in and I'm pretty sure I can help with that actually!

Now I know all this will be relative to being able to afford it but it might be something you could save up to do or at the very least have a look into.

There are quite a few things we can do in these states that don't allow wood burning stoves in a hand hewn cabin and still have wood heat. The first option is to build an outdoor wood furnace. This is basically where you stick a wood stove inside of like a thick-walled fire proof building usually made out of cinder blocks or the like and you burn the wood stove inside of said building capturing the heat and piping it into your home. It’s really fantastic because you can burn these stoves really hot and really load them down and just basically have an on-demand furnace for your home. You can also buy them pre-made and you can even work it to where you have them heating water for you. You may have already looked into this but it's definitely worth a mention in case you haven't. Here are a few links that will talk about outdoor wood furnaces and how to build them and such.

 http://www.instructables.com/id/outdoor-wood-boiler-from-junk/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outdoor_wood-fired_boiler

So although I live in Oregon neighboring states and a few types of Home structures here have similar laws of no wood stoves allowed one really good way that folks have gotten around this is that most places that don't allow wood stoves do allow pellet stoves! A pellet stove still burns wood it’s just in pellet form which is actually pretty great because it’s a waste by product being used up (saw dust) so you're not actually contributing to more deforestation, this is also ideal if you do not have a sustainable amount of timber on your property to harvest each winter.

There are even non-electric models (like this one) so it would take you nothing to run besides gravity. In our new home that we moved into last November ( New to us, anything but actually new LOL) we opted to rip out the old kerosene heater and put in a pellet stove, for one it was cheaper than a wood stove especially since we moved in winter and the price of wood at that point in time would have been basically giving an arm and a leg. but also because this house is a piece of shit LOL and the county would have never approved a wood-burning stove. But with a pellet stove we didn't even have to give notice that we installed.

Basically the reason that these stoves can be burned in most structures where wood stoves are not allowed is because they put out little to no emissions meaning there's no creosote buildup to cause a  chimney fire. Which is what they are worried about in a log home, which is understandable. It's a single double walled vent that goes through your wall and  emits a tiny amount of smoke. Anyhow I don't know if this is something that would get you around your current loophole but it sure is worth looking into as well as the outside wood burning furnace.

As someone who has lived off grid I can tell you the thing that becomes the most taxing over the years is the loss of quality of life in regards to basic human needs such as heating, running water and not only running water but warm running water! Because you end up focusing more on surviving versus living. While you might not be able to have all these things at once it is worth taking one step at a time to achieve any you may not have over time. Plus if you went with one of those routes and were able to heat your entire home you would have room for your Apothecary and all of your dried goods would not go through freezing and unfreezing!

While I know most of this was about potentially heating your home and that's not necessarily the question you asked I hope you found some of it helpful none the less!

Kindest regards,

April.

Ask an Herbalist: PMDD

Samantha Asks,

Do you have any remedies for PMDD? Mine becomes extremely debilitating, I'll cry for days, be angry with myself and everyone around me, become hateful and malicious, and have constant anxiety until after my period starts.... I just want it to stop.

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Hello hun,

There are for sure some Plant allies that can help you but let's dive into some other stuff first. I've seen time and time again Women counter their pmdd with optimal nutrition and nourishing herbal infusions. Now I know that you have had an on-again off-again vegetarian diet ( to the readers I do know this wonderful lady somewhat in person.) But I really want you to focus on healthy animal fats.

Now I know that you're eating a small amount of ethically-sourced meat and while that's great I'd really love for you to focus on getting more nutrient-dense fat in regards of how you're preparing it. Think bone broth with marrow filled bones, think adding more grass-fed butter to all the things you cook, think eating two or more cups of plain yogurt a day, think dairy like crazy assuming you're not allergic, think full fat milk especially if you can get your hands on some unhomogenized, replace creamer with full on cream.

I know a lot of people hear this and I say oh my gosh I'm going to gain weight so fast eating like this but that’s not generally the case with these type of fats.. The ones that make us gain weight quickly are the fats that our body can't process such as saturated fats from vegetable based oils, think all things unnatural. As in they can’t exist without the sincere effort of altercation. Of course being active is very important to our health too.

Next thing is while I know you eat a lot of vegetables are they very well cooked? Did you know that our body doesn't get very much nutrition from raw or undercooked vegetables? So the way it works is that the cellular structure of a vegetable is tough that's why we have to cook them to soften them. Our gut has a hard time breaking down the structure of the cells to reach the nutrition within when they are raw. So it's really really important that vegetables be cooked low and slow for a good amount of time. Now I'm not saying you can't ever eat a raw vegetable again it's just important that I'd say 90% of your vegetable intake is well cooked.

Meat is the other way around. The cellular structure of all meat is soft when raw and easily digestible however we know that it's not necessarily safe to just go around eating raw meat. So when we cook meat it gets tough but what does it do when we cook it for a really long time? It gets soft again! So the trick with meat is either to eat your steaks pretty raw which is to me delicious haha but I know that's not the case for everybody or cook your meat very low and very slow for a long extended period of time so the toughened up cell structure can once again break down into a more digestible state. So you know think Crock-Pot, think long cooked pot roast think it needs to fall off the bone. This will also help release some of the fats in it and in turn make them more readily digestible.

The next thing I really suggest is to look into nourishing herbal infusions drinking a cup or two daily especially stinging nettle infusion, red raspberry leaf infusion, red clover blossom infusion and oat straw infusion.

The nettle itself is one of the most nutrient-dense plants on the planet it has more nutrients than even blue green algae and it's cheap! You can buy it by the pound dried from somewhere like Frontier herbals or Mountain Rose Herbs. An infusion is just long brewed tea, basically you just dump boiling water over 1 oz by weight of dried plant matter in a quart jar, you fill it to the top, put a cap on it, let it sit for 4 hours strain and drink a cup a day. But here's a quick video that shows how to do it. It's best to drink nettle cold as the rush of energy we get from her true stamina building ability can kind of make us nauseous if drank warm. It's also better to add salt to her than it is try to sweeten her. But you can also add this to your food I mean you can take the dried plant matter and start adding it into soups and whatever else you're making you just use it like a spice and get it into your body however you can well within reason haha!

Red raspberry leaf is a loving ally that aids our womb health and our whole cycle health sadly many only lean on her when they are trying to become pregnant or when they are pregnant or in late stages of pregnancy but really she is an amazing ally at supporting women in all of our stages that and she tastes amazing with sweet cream!

Red clover is a very powerful ally she is specific for hormone support a lot of people think their hormones are out of balance, the thing is if our hormones where ever actually in balance we would be very ill if not dead that's because they're fluctuating constantly in our body reacting to things such as the moon cycle, our own cycles, stress, the amount of light we have in our room when we sleep, the volatile essential oils all around us and so much more. But the thing is with red clover she's a natural blood thinner so you don't really want to be drinking more her for more than 4 days in a row that way if you cut yourself you know you don't bleed out. However this is a really good ally to sync up with in your infusion drinking cycle with your period coming because she'll thin the blood and make the cramping less.

Oat straw is pretty fantastic she's a natural nervine meaning she calms us down! She's also loaded with calcium, that and basically everything you’ve ever heard about oatmeal being good for you the straw of Oats is better. She actually has higher nutritional value when made into a nourishing herbal infusion. So she would be a great ally to work with during that week or two of chaos before you start to bleed to help you stay calm. Also since you've made babies with that body of yours you can use all the calcium from naturally occurring sources you can get. She tastes pretty good with sweet cream just like the raspberry leaf as well as the red clover all three of those take pretty well to being sweetened.

So the way this is going to work is you get your herbs for infusing buy at least a half a pound each because it takes an ounce per infusion. So let's say there's four cups in a quart and you're going to drink at the very least a cup a day so each infusion made will last you four days. So for four days you drink stinging nettle infusion, for four days you drink red raspberry leaf infusion, for four days you drink red clover infusion and for the final four days you drink oat straw infusion which  brings you to the end of the cycle and you start all over again with the nettle. This takes a little bit of time but most people when they add nourishing herbal infusions into their life within a month or two are astounded how much their health improves overall and the lessoned symptoms of pmdd should be pretty remarkable.

There are for sure a few other things that you can have on hand to help you not so much get those emotions under control I don't like when people say that but to take the edge off of them so you can process them a bit easier I guess I'd say. There are some herbs that can hold your hand through this cycle every month.

I would look into getting the following tinctures making sure that all of them have been made with fresh plant matter not dried plant matter. The first one would be motherwort she is so calming yet not quite sedating so you can safely use her during the day while chasing around your kids or in any other situation. Basically I like to use her in moments of rage you know how it feels like when it starts to creep up and you feel it building and you see it coming and it just there's nothing you can do about it. You're basically a prisoner to anger. If you reach for motherwort tincture a gentle yet powerful nervine and put a half dropperful under your tongue your state of mind will change to a calmer one I promise.

A few more that come to mind are Catnip tincture as well as California poppy tincture. While I don't advocate non single herb tinctures these two while I won't blend them in the same bottle I will use them at the same time. the catnip can really put you down in a good way like it can take you down to that calm level that you're looking for and the California poppy (don't worry she contains no opiates) will really take that frayed edge off you know that feeling you have of just about falling over into it,  where you're just walking on the edge of all this anger and fear and you feel it any moment it's just going to be too much she is just great at pulling us back from the edge and allowing us to take a moment to gain perspective. Not to mention she's amazing at helping with pain relief  but so is the catnip so you can use both of these right through your cycle.

The next thing that I absolutely want you to do before the cycle starts all over again is allow yourself to get fucking angry. I am not trying to assume anything about you personally but I know sometimes women in general hold back reactions for the sake of a harmonious existence. We swallow down little events everyday telling ourselves just to let it go. However this rage builds up in all of us and when we get close to our cycle we are in such a state of release with a physical release like we are actually getting ready to release an entire month's worth of anticipating life that didn't grow and all of the energy is just ripped out of us and if we think that we can only allow it to let this one bit out and not everything else that we've built up throughout the month we are lying to ourselves.

So I'm not saying to go around just being an asshole to everybody I'm saying that acknowledge these things that are bothering you on a daily basis that are done by people who either are not listening to your needs or don't even realize they're doing something that bothers you. While I'm know your kids are young it still applies even if they don't necessarily change their behavior it's just healthy to let out those things that bug us as they happen. It builds healthy boundaries.

Also find a place to scream even if it's into a pillow, find something you can break, beat the shit out of something not living with a baseball bat. Don't be afraid to allow this rage and anger to come out as long as you're directing it at something that won't physically feel pain because then you're not so worried about holding all this back and you learn to let it out in healthier ways. Because I'm pretty sure that when we let this rage out we in so many ways make room for growth and for joy to come in on a deeper level.

So I would try to look at your pmdd as a tool to improve your health through Optimum nourishment as well as letting some anger out in a healthy manner.

I really really hope some of this was helpful for you hun and everyone else reading.

Kindest regards,

April

Ask an Herbalist: Adrenal Gland Support

Silvia Asks:

Adrenal Fatigue, hypothyroidism

Dearest April,

I am 48 years old. Over the past 3 years, I have gained 30 pounds, I have been so so tired... I show signs of adrenal fatigue, dehydration, foggy brain and chronic exhaustion. I would love to regain optimum health. Is there anything you would recommend or suggest Please? I'm desperate. Thank you,

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Hello Silvia,

There are quite a few things that we can do here they're going to be so easy it's mind-blowing! okay we're going to address your adrenal fatigue, dehydration, foggy brain, and chronic exhaustion all with one plant Ally!

Stinging nettle needs to be your best friend right now and forever until the end of time haha!

But seriously Stinging Nettle infusions dranken daily are amazing at supporting our adrenal functions especially when they've been burned out, giving us true energy and rebuilding stamina unlike supplements like caffeine Etc. This comes back  full circle, helping with your chronic exhaustion. I have no doubt that your foggy brain comes from just being chronically tired all the time. When you start drinking two cups even up to a quart of this infusion a day do you won’t really need to worry about dehydration.

In reality people are terrified of dehydration because it was a marketing scheme by bottled water companies, soda companies all that stuff. Really you don't become dehydrated unless you are stuck in a remote situation or deep in the desert with no access to water. As long as you're drinking when you're thirsty you're not going to actually become dehydrated. People have been actually hurting themselves over the past decade attempting to remain crazy hydrated as it really taxes our kidneys. so if you're drinking a quart of liquid a day that's just four measure cups you're just fine.

Although if you are finding yourself feeling excessively thirsty all the time like you just cannot quench your thirst I'd really like to have you check out your blood sugar levels and see if you're dancing with a bit of prediabetes or the like. that's always something to be mindful of especially if we've been gaining weight.

And although you've been gaining way I'm going to tell you to make sure that you have a good amount of healthy animal fats in your diet. From grass-fed options would be the best. Even just adding two cups of plain yogurt whole milk yogurt to your diet daily or do your  help good. not to mention your digestion. This does wonders for our adrenals and every other part of our bodies!

Here is a link to a quick video I made on how to make herbal infusions they're basically just long brewed tea and it's so easy to do there’s no reason to be intimidated at all! You just need to buy yourself some bulk  stinging nettle leaf and you can find those at places like frontier herbals or Mountain Rose Herbs and buy at least a half a pound because you're going to be using one ounce at a  time and that gets used up quickly.

It will take a little while but I'm telling you two months or so into drinking 2 even 4 cups of nettle infusion a day will change your life.

Here is a link to an article from Susun Weed about the amazing healing ability of nourishing herbal infusions for Optimum Health. Also there are some other ideas in there for herbs that you could use one at a time for making these infusions.

I really hope you find some help in here hun!

Kindest regards,

April Graham

Ask an Herbalist: Menopause & Anxiety

Julie asks:

Hi April,

My name is Julie.I'm 56 yrs. old.I am in menopause and have never felt so disconnected from myself.I took hormone replacement for a while but I have been off of it for several months.I have always suffered from anxiety and panic from being sexually abused as a child and I felt like I had it under control until menopause kicked it and now it's back.I have insomnia because my mind will not shut down.What do you recommend and thank you for doing what you do.Thank you!!

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Hello Julie,

There's quite a bit going on here so I'm just going to put some gentle suggestions out. But to be clear I am just in the beginning stages of menopause but this will be my main game plan when I get further in. I'm going to make sure that I'm eating plenty of healthy animal fats. I know that I basically tell everybody the same thing, well that's because it's so needed in a society that has been sold the gimmick of fake fats made out of plants and other not so good for us things. Not to say that plants aren’t good for us but the oils that come out of them can do more harm than good at times. Just like no plant can replace the health benefits of grass-fed butter, our few cups of whole fat plain yogurt daily, or whole milk as long as these things are grass-fed including bone broth, cheeses, all varieties of meat they are good for our health and especially menopausal women.

Also be sure that you are eating a really good amount of vegetables too, basically it's important to have a varied diet and it's important that your vegetables be cooked very low and slow to break down there tough cell membrane so you can actually digest nutrition that's in them.

Basically when we make sure that our bodies are functioning with Optimum Nutrition we are going to feel better and this is really going to help with our anxiety too. I would look into doing nourishing herbal infusions of stinging nettle, oat-straw, common garden comfrey, kelp is a real big one here and red clover. You do them in cycles so you're drinking like two cups of infusion a day and there's four cups to a quart so you can drink two cups of one type for two days and then switch to the next and just go in a big circle until you reach the first one and just start over again. No need to be intimidated this is super crazy simple and you can follow this link here to a really short video that I made that will show you how easy it is.

Okay I also want you to get this book it should be in every single woman's home especially as we get into our early thirties and beyond about dealing with menopausal years by Susun Weed. Of course none of this is going to heal your trauma but it really might put you on a path of self-care, self-discovery, and allowing yourself to be fucking angry about the shit that happened allowing yourself to let it out so you have room to bring joy in.

I do really hope that's some of this helps you on your way dear.

Kindest regards,

April Graham

Ask an Herbalist: Fertility & Grief

Serena Asks:

Hi April,

My husband and I have been trying for a baby for over a year and there's just so much advice out there and so many factors, my head is spinning! I really respect the breadth and depth of your knowledge about trauma as well as herbs and nutrition so I thought I'd reach out.

I'm turning 32 this year and I have a history of sexual trauma going back to the age of 4 and only recently have I begun to work through it. My mother also had a history of trauma but she never told me details and she died of ovarian, uterine, endometrial cancers three months ago. My siblings and I cared for her at home until her last breath. An honour, but a very stressful and painful time as you can imagine. I can see so many reasons why a baby hasn't come to me just yet but I long to be a mother so badly and my husband wants to be a father.

I’ve always had painful heavy periods and used birth control for five years in the past. I've been taking evening primrose oil, vitex, red raspberry, prenatal vitamins, ashwaghanda, just willy nilly taking a million things to see if anything helps. I hope you can give me some advice! I just ordered your moon blood salve so I'm hoping to have some relief from painful periods soon.

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Hello Serena,

First thing I definitely want to say is that I am by no means of fertility expert. and there are a lot of really great people out there that specialize in this area from an herbal standpoint, here is a link to someone that could probably give more in-depth help then I am  going to offer today. Also do check out this book by Susun Weed, I think it will really help you if you don't have it already. On Amazon you can basically just pay the cost of shipping if you buy it used.

But hey let's dive right in. Okay so what's your diet like? The thing is our bodies are more receptive to pregnancies when we are functioning at optimal nutrition levels. Your body says “Hey we've got excess of everything we need why don't we make another little creature!” haha! So I would make sure that I was eating healthy animal fats at every chance I got like grass-fed butter, grass-fed meat, grass-fed whole fat plain yogurt, whole milk, cheeses, bone broths and beyond! I would also be really sure that I was getting a lot of vegetables in my diet that are very well cooked, because we get very little nutrition from raw vegetables our stomachs just can't digest the tough cell membranes that are present and raw vegetables. Same thing goes with me except for it's the opposite so you can't just eat this meat raw so you need to make sure that you are cooking it really low and slow for a long time and like a Crock-Pot or a really long time in the oven basically until the meat falls off of the proverbial bone or a literal one.

Also be so very sure to get a good bit of activity into your day. Being sedentary kills. Oh and this is going to seem random and kinda witch crafty but I swear there is real science behind it. I want you to sleep in a 100% pitch black room except on full moons, when they roll around i want you to (if possible) sleep where the light of that moon gets into the room. This will really help sync your cycles up. As in when I began doing this years back i was all over the calendar now in the summer i 100% bleed on the full moon and in winter i shift and bleed with the new moon and my ovulation is spot on. It’s all linked to our circadian cycle (internal clock).

With your raspberry leaf make sure that you're doing nourishing herbal infusions and not just tea. Tea made of non-volatile plant material ( volatile meaning highly aromatic herbs such as chamomile, lavender Etc ) Is basically just flavored water. An infusion it's just long brewed tea where you're going to put 1 oz by weight of raspberry leaf into a mason jar you're going to then dumped boiling water over the top of it put a cap on it (please don't shake it) and let it sit for 4 hours. Then you just strain it and drink a cup or two a day. Here's a quick video you can watch to see how crazy easy it is so there's no reason to feel intimidated by this!

The next thing I would do is add in Stinging Nettle infusion, then I would do Red Clover infusion, I'd even add in Kelp just for good measure and Oat Straw taste good too! But here's the deal you're not going to drink these all the same time so you do like a schedule. There are four cups to a quart jar and so you say for these two days I drink two cups of Nettle and the next two days I do two cups of the red raspberry and then the next two days I do two cups a day of the Red Clover and then you get to the Kelp and then you just circle around like that and before you know it your body will be functioning at optimal nutrition levels and it's not just going to be your fertility that could fall into place but also your health and just feeling better/having real energy. Also all of the herbs mentioned are womb nourishing!!

I'm sure you're already tracking your moon time and if you're not the calendar that came along with my kit will really help you. But I also have you look into like a really good ovulation app where you can see what days you're supposed to be ovulating. And then I would have sex on every one of those days that you're fertile and maybe two days before and two days after for good measure haha I mean really the goal is to get that sperm in you on the perfect day so you can't really have too much sex in this case!

I personally would back away from the other herbs you've mentioned and focus more on the making your body more receptive in the way of having everything it needs versus kind of trying to force it you know? But I mean of course there are  factors to look into if you're trying and trying and trying over like a year or two time frame and you don't get pregnant you might want to look into his fertility abilities and yours as well.

But also your body might just know that you're not done grieving yet. You just might not be receptive at this point but you shouldn't feel guilt over this at all because babies are hard and they are even harder to handle emotionally if all the sudden we are hit with a wall of grief and trauma that we haven't truly addressed while we're having to address the seriousness of becoming a mother and how draining that can actually be. So I would look at all of this as a way to begin my own healing journey and as I nourish my body maybe just maybe I can heal a little further and when I am emotionally and physically ready a seed will probably take hold when this area we've been cultivating is fertile in all ways you know?

I really hope that some of this will be helpful to you and that your own little creature will come to you when the time is right for you!

Kindest regards,

April Graham

Ask an Herbalist:Insomnia, Depression, PTSD and beyond.

Joy Asks:

Insomnia, depression, PTSD and other anxiety issues

Hello,

I suffer from the above maladies. I haven't had a full/good night's sleep in years. This is making my other issues worse. I was taking Xanax and klonopin but I don't want to be taking those poisons. I have tried passion flower, lemon balm, valerian, hops, melatonin, saffron tea, lavender, etc. Nothing seems to help. Would you be so kind as to advise me on what you think could help me? I look forward to your reply.

Thank you,

Joy

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Hello Joy,

This is going to be a complex answer and there might be some stuff in here that you don't want to hear or aren't ready to hear. But I want you to know that I'm coming from a deep place of caring and that I too live with  severe complex PTSD and a ton of anxiety issues so really I'm going to share with you a bit of my experience and hope that you can find a healing here in my words.

So I see that you where taking benzodiazepine medications which you know is basically the norm in our society right now especially with anybody who has any anxiety issue. It's a Band-Aid medicine and it's become an epidemic.How long have you been off of it? Did you taper safely or did you go cold turkey or come off it in a matter of months which is the same thing as cold turkey?

I know you can't really answer those here quickly for me but I just have to put that out there that all of these things are issues. Here is a link to something called the Ashton manual it is how to safely taper off of benzodiazepine medications and explains some of the hell that you are likely going through. I used these medications for my PTSD for the better part of a decade and it took me 3 years of horrors I can't explain fully to slowly and safely taper off of this poison.

Unfortunately one of the side effects of many of this medication is insomnia, anxiety, and basically anything they've told you that it would help you with it actually causes especially in long term use.

If you haven’t been off for a long time and you started taking things like Passion flower, Lemon balm. Valerian, Hops, Melatonin on and on unfortunately those herbs being what I call reactive adaptogens  as well as nervines all stimulate the same area but the benzodiazepines calloused over. So basically while  your Gaba receptors are trying to heal the last thing you want to do is essentially pick the scab with herbs that create an uptick in stimulation of your GABA. I know a lot of herbalist will say “oh this isn't true this will help you this is a calming thing” but quite frankly they haven't gone through the hell of a true benzodiazepine withdrawal that last for years and this is such a new phenomenon in our society that herbalism is very far behind in understanding how to adapt practices to legit brain damage caused by a prescribed chemical.

So if you haven't been off of this medication for over a year I don't want you to touch anything like that at all. Basically if an herb can give you any type of Instant reaction I don't want you to touch it with a ten-foot pole. it's going to make all of these symptoms you've had from getting off of this medication even ones you didn't realize we're from getting off of it come back, they call these waves.

But there's still a lot that we can do and use to help ourselves become free from these anxieties as well as get a good night's sleep for once. There are a lot of adaptogens meaning herbs that help our bodies function at higher levels that don't give us instant reactions or stimulate anything in our brain necessarily. The first thing I want you to do is take a long hard look at your diet. Variety is key. If you are on some heroic strict guilt driven diet that says if you eat XYZ you're going to be punished for it. If you right now are a vegetarian or a vegan I want you to knock it the hell off. I want you to nourish your body deeply with grass-fed animal fats such as grass-fed butters, grass-fed ghee, grass-fed whole fat plain yogurt, grass fed whole milks, start making bone broth, grass-fed meat the fattier  the cut the better, cheese's of all kinds and beyond!

Why? Because our body desperately needs these fats to function and you can not I repeat can not replace these fats with plant-based fats they just aren't the same. There are even specific nutrients that we can not get from plants and you won't find health in a pill so taking pills to replace what we can't get from plants is just a waste of time. But even if you're not a vegetarian or vegan you honestly probably don't have enough of these healthy fats in your diet. and this brings us to building up Optimum levels of nutrition.

Now i’m not saying I want you to eat a ton of meat every day you can still have a mainly plant based diet and just add in these animal fats to what your cooking. However it is important when you eat vegetables that you cook them low and slow for a long time, see the thing is the cellular structure that makes up plants is very tough when it's raw so your body doesn't get much of the nutrients when you eat them in their raw state. So when we cook them for long periods of time it breaks down the tough cellular structure then the nutrients in the plant matter becomes more readily available to our body. Now meat is the opposite it is soft and easily digestible in raw form and toughens when we cook it. But clearly we can't just go around eating raw meat, well you could if you had like really fresh sources but since most of us don't have the ability to go out and butcher right here and now the best thing to do is to also cook your meat for a really long time. Such as using a slow cooker for all day stews or pot roast or just basically cook it until it falls off the bone/apart.

The thing is most of our diets today in the food we eat in general are so lacking in nutrition that we have this sad ability as a country to be overweight while still suffering from malnutrition. And that comes from unhealthy fats and vegetables that are ripened in a warehouse versus on the plant for the sake of shipping. So I would really really love for you to look into stinging nettle infusions drinking at least two cups a day, oat straw infusion and that's about the only reactive nervine that I would feel comfortable using while coming off of benzodiazepines or having not been off of them for a year, I would then also look into making kelp infusions and don't  worry these are so easy to make here is a link to a video showing you how and here is a link to an article talking about how amazing they are for building Optimum Nutrition. Basically it's a long brewed tea where the water pulls all of the nutrition out of the plant matter and when you drink it it's instantly available to your body.

Nettle infusion is one of the few tools that basically gave me my life back from PTSD, it's really going to nourish our overworked adrenal glands. As well as give us true energy versus stimulation energy that you get from things such as caffeine and sugar. Not to mention it has more nutrition than almost any damn plant on this Earth including blue algae and you can buy it bulk for cheap! It is also amazing for helping with insomnia. Work infusions into your daily routine for a few months and it will be life changing.

The thing is when we are nutritionally deficient our entire body suffers so I guess what I'm trying to get across here is that we can't treat our body like a car to where we're like what I want to fix is insomnia so I feel better so I can deal with my anxiety. We have to heal ourselves as a whole and when everything comes together like that and we're nursing our entire body everything kind of just falls into place.

But clearly I'm going to say to you if you drink coffee, if you eat copious amounts of sugar, if you smoke cigarettes if you are using any type of stimulant knock it off. I know it's hard because we get stuck with these things we get stuck in these addictions and the false codependent comforts they give but we really have to more often than not rip everything apart in our life to get to a place of healing.

The next thing I'm going to talk about that really helped me with my anxiety is allowing myself to get angry as fuck! Stop saying sorry, stop feeling bad, stop feeling like I'm broken, stop saying yes to shit that I don't want to do! Allowing myself to say this is not okay with me, I don't want to go do that, I don't want to be here for you, I don't want to be responsible for your emotional well-being, I need to put myself first, I need to call out bullshit and pain no matter how long ago it happened all of this absolutely liberated me! Then something amazing happened, I found myself in a place where when I did say yes to things I genuinely meant it and my anxiety slowly started to melt away, true healing began after a lifetime of suffering. I mean if I told you that three years ago I couldn't even leave my house to go to the grocery store or talk to another human being would you believe me?

I know you wrote to me specifically about being able to sleep but the odds are good that your inability to sleep is related to anxiety issues, anger issues, a bunch of unresolved shit that just keeps your mind/body going a million miles an hour even if you don't realize it. I mean in all honesty how often do you think yourself I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight and get worried about it? That in itself is anxiety.

One thing that really helped me on top of all of this stuff was using hemp based CBD oil, I order mine from here. I'm not a sponsor or anything, they don't pay me to talk about this company this is just one that I have found that I really like. For me staying away from THC is very important as it tends to trigger anxiety for most folks with PTSD no matter the strain. Basically we want the CBD without the high of the THC and using their hemp oil drops is one of the things that gave me my life back. It does take a little while to build up in your body and you will have to mess around with a dosing to see what works for you but it's worth it. I went from having such severe anxiety attacks that I would spend literally days in the bathroom shitting myself from factual terror about going to I don't know a two hour barbecue at just my parents house with two other people to going live on Instagram with thousands of people. I just wanted to give you the examples to let you know like how extreme I was and how when I started using some of these tools and focusing on Optimum Nutrition and letting myself just fucking rage about the shit that's happened to me and the things that are really affecting me or have affected me in life I slept really well at night.

This is probably coming off way more ranty than I usually do and that is probably because I'm using a talk to text program so I'm able to just dump my brain onto this page. I do really hope though that you find a few helpful hints in here and some stuff to consider.

I know in the beginning I said that some of this could be hard to hear or that you may not be ready to hear it and I think the important thing to understand right now is that while I'm answering you specifically I'm also answering a lot of other people at once so I kind of have to like cover all the stuff that comes into my head about who could be doing what and I don't mean to make you feel like I'm assuming that you have or haven’t done these things and I don't want you to feel guilt about any of this even if you did know some stuff is better avoided. Mainly I hope you find a bit of help here in my words.

Kindest regards,

April Graham

Ask an Herbalist: Autism & Yeast Overgrowth

Chantel Asks:

My son has been diagnosed with autism. He is extremely hyper, at times to be not focused or concrete... He seems at times like his brain can’t process information... At times I wonder if its yeast. As an infant he had serious serious with yeast...

How can I treat yeast in his body in a holistic way that is natural ?

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Hello Chantel,

Autism is a tricky one there are so many speculated causes, really I think it's just a combination of all sorts of things. Basically a perfect storm of chemicals heavy metals and just the way our society is in general. But if you suspect that it's yeast the best way to control yeast in our bodies when it becomes imbalance is to add in the missing healthy bacteria. The thing is is that yeast is supposed to be in our body but since it's the easiest one that grows when we have an imbalance of other bacteria like let's say we're taking antibiotics or anything like that that kills off sensitive gut bacteria yeast is the first thing to come in and soldier forward and fill the gaps basically.

So what I would do if I or my children were battling  with yeast is up the healthy bacteria in my diet. I would add in one to two cups of plain yogurt everyday. I would cut back on the sugars that do feed the yeast, I would start eating truly fermented foods you can even buy something like Bubbies pickles from most Whole Food Markets or anything like that and just get him to eat half a truly fermented pickle a day and the amount of real probiotics that would get back into his system would be astounding.

A lot of people like to take over-the-counter probiotics for this but we know that they're mostly  useless because they can't live up to the digestion process of our guts. But you can also get creative and jump into the world of fermented food at home, it's really easy and fun too!

Just be sure that if you start him out on a fermented food diet that you go very slowly. Because as we introduce these missing bacterias into our bodies they kill off the bad bacteria as well as the overgrowth of yeast and they cause something called die off. Which is basically where we start to feel like we have the flu because so much bad stuff is dying in our body at once. So you just go really slow you know a little bit of a fermented pickle today maybe a little bit of milk kefir tomorrow but just introduced one thing slowly at a time  in small amounts and you will avoid die off.

But there are a few other things that I've seen work pretty well for folks with autism including youth and adults. Getting optimal nutrition it's so vital, loading ourselves down with healthy animal fats from sources such as bone broth, grass-fed butter, ghee, plain whole fat yogurt, grass-fed Meats especially fatty cuts, Cheese's of all kinds, basically anything grass-fed and  raised ethically is going to do wonders to build up Optimum Nutrition.

I would also look into doing nourishing herbal infusions of oat straw which is a great nervine and helps us gently calm ourselves and it's also full of amazing nutrients. you could also look into stinging nettle infusion but that does tend to give energy but true energy but sometimes we're hyper because we're lacking in nutrition. And this isn't to say that you haven't been feeding him well or anything like that it's just a symptom of the way our food in our country and a lot of countries is produced now it does not have nutrition that it once had and if you find him to be a picky eater like a many autistic children it's kind of hard to make sure that they're getting everything they need.

Another thing to remember is to cook all of your vegetables extremely well. the cell membrane of vegetables is what needs to be broken down in order to extract the nutrition from our food during digestion but our guts just aren't up to the task so when we cook our vegetables very well that tough cell membrane breaks down and the nutrients are readily available. It's the opposite for meat you know how meat is soft before we cook it and it can toughen up when we do that's because of cell membranes are now toughening but since we can't eat alot of our meats raw clearly for health reasons it's important to cook them really well too basically to the point where the toughened cell membranes from cooking break down again so think Crock-Pot long cooked meals,  Pot Roast and stews that are simmering all day.

Well I hope that you're able to find some help in this for your amazing little boy.

Kindest regards,

April G.

Ask an Herbalist: Skin Care

Amber Asks:

Hey April! I was hoping you could tell me what would be helpful for my facial skin care. My skin is very oily and I have large, clogged pores. I break out often, usually the painful, deep zits that you can't really even see. Nothing I have used has solved any of these issues. Currently I am using burts bees face wash, a natural plant based retinol serum and your rose tallow face cream. If I wash my face too many times a day it gets red and dry. The face cream has helped with the oiliness some but not as much as I'd like yet. Also, if any of your advice includes products that you make, please tell me! Thanks!

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Hello Amber!

Okay there are quite a few things I would start doing and stop doing here. We'll start with whats hurting our skin and go from there. Just like any part of our body the more we wash it the more it tries to replace the oils we have washed away. Especially the hair/face area. So we get in this vicious cycle of dryness and oiliness and that's when our skin begins going nuts.

Sooo here's what i want you to get out of your life and away from your face. Essential oils and chlorine. You see me talk a lot on here about these two chemicals and there's a good reason for that. Those essential oils are stripping away all of your good bacteria on your skin and causing a big ol imbalance you may think that you aren't using them but you are. That Burt's bees face wash will be chalked full of them and i'd be willing to bet the serum does as well. Not to mention a ton of other horrible chemicals (Burt's Bees is actually a really sketchy company that just passes themselves off as "alternative" for the sake of marketing.) Chlorine is just as bad in the way that it kills bacteria on contact which is why she's so favored in water treatment she kills gut bacteria too. Check this filter out to use in the shower so your not washing your face with chlorine and check this one out (spendy but worth it) to get chlorine out of your drinking/cooking water. While your at it but unscented laundry soap, deodorant, throw out your air freshers, scented candles, cleaners. I promise just getting these volatile oil compounds out of your home/diet will on it's own make a HUGE improvement in your overall health. Truly.

So what are you gana wash your face with? I want you to buy some PURE UNSCENTED tallow soap. Just good old animal fat and lye turned into soap. This will clean your face but not strip it of it's oils and I only want you to use it every other day. In between just use warm water.

The reason my face cream (made with tallow) is helping is because tallow is very similar to our own natural fats so much so that our bodies don't just crave it they require it. So when you use that tallow based cream you are replacing what you've been stripping off and your body is not having to try and pump out more to replace what's been washed away. See the cycle forming here? So if we cut out the things that are taking away our oils and actually add more healthy animal fats to our skin we produce less and less oil.

So let's tie this all together with some deep skin healing nourishing herbal infusions! Comfrey is amazing at healing our skin from the inside out, seriously! I know there is huge controversy on drinking Comfrey internally here is an article from Susun Weed that put's it to rest. Drink a cup or two of her a day for the next few months and your health will change. Now add in Nettle infusion and have a read here for more ideas! Here is a quick how to video for making herbal infusions to drink it's crazy easy!

How are your healthy animal fat levels? Are you making sure to eat plenty of grass fed butters and yogurts? Nice free range meats? Maybe start making some bone broth and have a few cups of that a day as well! Our bodies thrive with healthy animal fats and lots of very well cooked veggies/grains.

Our skin being our largest organ she is a legit indicator of our overall health. But since we are not machines that can just have parts replaced it's vital to bring healing as a whole in a quest to heal one area.

I sure hope some of this is helpful to you!

Kindest Regards,

April G.

Ask an Herbalist: Seborrheic Dermatitis of the scalp

Jessica Asks:

Hi April!

I've been dealing with seborrheic dermatitis on my scalp since I was a small child (going on 20+ years now). I've been to countless dermatologists over the years who have prescribed countless creams, foams, and oils to treat the itchiness, flakes, and burning. Nothing seems to help long term... or at all, really... (with one exception, which I'll get to), and the out of pocket expense for something that only mildly helps just isn't worth it to me anymore. Is there anything in the herbal realm that can at least bring some relief?

The only time I've ever found complete relief was when I was pregnant and treating a stubborn yeast infection with OTC medication at the recommendation of my OBGYN. I didn't make the connection until much later that my scalp wasn't itchy and inflamed until after I had been off the yeast infection meds for awhile! 

Thank you so much for your time!

Jessica

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Hello Jessica! 

Okay let's jump right into some stuff I want you to stop doing if you are then we'll go into what you may want to give a go to get some relief!

All that shampoo in your shower, body wash, hair products anything that has scent throw it away. But some plain good old tallow soap. Not lard based but tallow based. No scents at all. Why? Essential oils are volatile compounds that are simply aggravating the situation and killing the much needed healthy bacteria on your skin they also do a lot of other damage you can read about here if you'd like. But don't stop at bathroom products. Switch over to unscented laundry soap, hand soap, dish soap, check out your toothpaste to it's got eo's, candles, air fresheners and beyond. This is going to help your health in so many ways I promise!

Next get chlorine out of your life by getting a high quality water filter such as a Berkey if you can afford it they do sell just the filters and there are many how to's on making your own with just the filters they sell. Also get a filter for your shower, this is key. Again you are killing all of the good bacteria on your skin (and in your gut) and breathing in chlorine gas as it evaporates with the warm water. I like this filter for showers. Unless of course you have untreated well or spring water feeding into your home!

These two things will make a huge difference on their own. But here is what I would start doing on top of that for healing as a whole.

I would start right off the bat with domestic/garden Comfrey infusions and drinking them daily. I know people think Comfrey is dangerous to use internally but here is an article from Susun S Weed that will show you how safe she is when we use the right variety. She is an amazing healer of skin from the inside out, no joke causing skin cells to regenerate and so so much more. But I would also begin rinsing my hair with her weekly! Besides the amazing amounts of calcium in her will have your hair, bones, skin, teeth and more so strong and replenished it's shocking!

I would also add nettle and kelp infusions to my weekly infusion cycles. Here is a video that shows you how simple infusions are to make!

Now.. Are you getting the much needed healthy animal fats that your skin/body craves? Even if you are a vegan i strongly urge you to at the very least drink a cup of bone broth a day and think of it like one of the many needed supplements to remain healthy while eating a vegan diet. You can make sure you are supporting farmers who are ethically raising animals too which really helps prevent animal abuse. If your vegetarian no worries you can find health animal fats in whole milk, butter, ghee, whole milk/fat yogurt, cheeses, eggs etc just eat a lot! But if you are a varied eater let's jump right in start adding all i talked about above with healthy grass fed meats, the fattier the better! But unless your eating a rareish steak make sure you cook your meats a very long time. This is so the cell membranes that toughen up with heat break down and our bodies can easily digest the meat. With the veggies the cells are tough when raw and we barely digest them raw so cook them well too!

Okay but what can we do about that damn itch?! We can rely on some safe simple plant healing here too. Chamomile and Plantain (the weed not the banana people) you can make yourself an oil infusion (watch this super short easy how to video) of half Chamomile and half Plantain, I want you to use pure Avocado oil to make it. I know it's spendy but she is going to add some much needed fatty acids to you damaged scalp on top of giving sincere itch relief and promoting healing. Here's how. Chamomile is AMAZING at stopping itches of any kinds, in fact many tests confirm she is more effective than cortizone externally! Then the Plantain will swoop in and promote healing, calm irritation and inflammation etc. I also have a video here about harvesting Plantain.

Take your infused oil and apply it to the areas of scalp that are suffering. If it's the whole scalp id work some in weekly and leave it over night. Making sure to only wash my hair with the plain tallow soap. Again this will promote healing too, tallow is amazing and the closest fat in nature to our own skin oils. In fact if you are feeling brave you could order some grass fed beef tallow and work it into your scalp and leave it for a 24 hour period. Out of all of this one thing will be sure, your hair will be very very soft!

Keep this practice up for quite a few months and then when you find relief just keep on rolling with it, especially the infusions we are meant to drink.

I hope you are able to find some help in some of my rambling here!

Kindest Regards,

April G.