I started taking a velvet bean supplement last week as an addition to my herbal treatment for seasonal depression. I’ve suffered from moderate seasonal depression for about six years. I don’t do the whole anti-depressant thing, so I tried to just battle through it for the past few years, hoping that someday I would just get over it. I finally began putting together an herbal treatment that would keep it from being debilitating. Last year after denying that I was depressed for several months, I incorporated St. Johns Wart and light therapy into the mix. It was too late in the season to know if it was the new treatment, or the onset of spring that did it. Or maybe it was watching Kiefer Sutherland play an FBI agent on Twin Peaks for several hours a day that finally pulled me out of the depression. Whatever it was, it took too long. I decided that this year would be different.

A blood test revealed that I had shockingly low vitamin D levels at the end of October, which is usually when I start experiencing symptoms. I started taking vitamin D supplements, and eating vitamin D rich foods. As you can imagine, it was light night and day. As soon as I got on a good routine with the vitamin D, all of the symptoms nearly vanished. But a few weeks ago, I felt it begin to creep in. It wasn’t the trouble concentrating, or compulsive overeating, or sleep issues that came back. It was just the uncontrollable, unexplainable sadness and weakness. It was a bummer. I wanted out of it, and fast.

My mother suggested taking Velvet Bean, because it releases L-Dopa which is transmitted into natural dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that controls your reward and pleasure sensors. It’s what makes us competitive enough to have survived as a species. Beyond that, it also boosts testosterone levels, lowers blood sugar levels, increases libido, decreases muscle pain, purifies the blood, and can even be used to help heal snake bites and remove parasites from the digestive tract. Not… that I have any of those problems.

Do you take Velvet Bean supplements?

Last week, when I incorporated Red Raspberry Leaf tea in my morning blend, I know what most of you herb lovers were thinking… She’s giving up caffeine, she’s taking Red Raspberry Leaf… She’s pregnant! Unfortunately/Fortunately, you would be wrong. I am not pregnant, and I’m not trying to get pregnant, so slow your roll there. Maybe if there were herbs that could allow you to see the world, meet a lovely man, become what you want to be in life, and help you settle down, I’d be ready for all of that.

Alas, there is no herb for that. I’m still poking my way around this planet. I will soon be certified to teach yoga, and hopefully that will bring me closer to knowing what I want to be in life. And that lovely man thing… well, that’s up to the universe.

Even though Red Raspberry Leaf is traditionally known for it’s uses with pregnancy, single girls can find a variety of uses for it as well.

Why do I blend with Red Raspberry Leaf? Well, I can honestly say that I didn’t know much about this herb when I got it. The Frontier package only said that it was for “female balancing.” I love balancing! I’m a female! There’s an herb for that? I’m in. When I opened the lid of the jar and smelled it, I knew that this one was coming home with me. It’s earthy, but sweet, and it’s an excellent flavor replacement for my usual Earl Grey.

Now that I know more about Red Raspberry Leaf, I can honestly say that I’m glad I followed my nose on that one.

Benefits of Red Raspberry Leaf:

• Soothes inflammation in the intestine
• Prevents dehydration
• Lowers level of blood sugar in diabetics
• Treats oral diseases like gingivitis
• Treats flu, upset stomach, nausea, sore throat, fever, and vomiting
• Regulates the menstrual cycle
• Treats PMS

Goooooooooooooooood morning!

I’m not sure if you can sense sarcasm in a blog post, but I’ll just let you in on something… That was an extremely sarcastic good morning. I know that you all know that I’m generally cheerful and jazzed about the new day.

Mornings are usually my favorite part of the day. I let my feet connect with the cold floor and open my eyes as wide as possible. Then I close them and connect with my breath for awhile. I get up and wait for some time to pass before I put my glasses on. In the meantime, I just allow the close up world to be clear, and the far away world to be a blur in the distance. I’m sure that this is all getting a little boring for you.

Would it be saucier if I let you all know that I’m naked when all of this is going on? Yep, I’m naked. I hope you’re happy/interested in my hypothetical morning tale now.

Where was I? Oh, well, I walk to the coffee pot and pour myself a giant cup of coffee, so I can wake up while I prepare some breakfast tea. Then I read blogs while I drink my tea. Then I follow all of that up with a Red Bull and some egg breakfast. If I’m not quite jittering yet, I mix all three of the aforementioned together and slam them down.

Okay, maybe I didn’t drink that much of it, and maybe I’m just being nostalgic. I have finally made a necessary leap and gave up the caffeine beast that has (secretly and quietly) been keeping me alive, cheerful and sustained all of my good qualities. Now that I no longer have the legal and acceptable drug at my disposal, it seems that it was my life’s blood. Alas, it’s not. Now that the caffeine headaches have past, I’m finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Here’s the blend I’m using to perk me up these days:

• 1 T peppermint
• 1 t Red Raspberry Leaf
• 1 t Dandelion Leaf

I’m not sure if oil and aromatherapy should generally be included in an herb blog, but I’m just going to go ahead and go for it because I’m feeling it. Or I guess, I’m writing this post for the exact opposite reason. I’m really not feeling it.

You know when you hear a story and it gets in your mind and it gets a little bit distracting? You know how that story starts spinning around in your head, and everything begins to look differently? Things you used to love take on a new light according to this revealing information. Things you didn’t ever think about become the only thing on your mind. Then you start poking around and poking in and learning more until your mind begins to ache from all of the information.

This happened when I heard a story on This American Life about Foxcon, the manufacturer of Apple products and most of the electronics that we use in the United States. It’s this huge factory in China that has all of these ridiculously huge problems including child labor, extraneous overtime, use of a neurotoxic chemical that their workers are exposed to, horrid working conditions and on the job suicides. In the end of the report, This American Life reported that things are kind of getting better. But then it says only 30% of Apple product manufacturing companies are audited.  Many economists say that these sweatshops breed opportunity. Is this true? Even if it is true, think beyond Apple. Everything is made in China. Shouldn’t we feel awful? What about all of the things that we get from Indonesia, where factories are worse?

Whew! That took awhile to get to this herbal aromatherapy remedy. You know what I’m talking about though. Sometimes you have a lot going on (I’m trying to post for this blog and my vegan recipe blog), but you get caught up in some train of thought that brings on the brain pain. You see what I’m saying here? Once you open your eyes and start looking around, your mind can be overwhelmed by an incessant train of thought. So how can you calm the mind without putting it to sleep?

Peppermint oil! Spread a few drops on your temples and feel alert without the pain. This relieves tension caused by eye strain, crippling negative thoughts or a long day’s work.

What herb do you use to get rid of headaches?

Milk thistle is great for flushing toxins out of your liver

Uuuuuugh! Even though you promise yourself that it wouldn’t happen again, you wake up after a late night out. Your head is screaming, your stomach is churning and the insides of your body generally feel like they’ve dried up like the Sahara or an even drier desert. Best case scenario, you wake up alone or with someone you know. Worst case scenario, you wake up on a planet without herbs. Your mouth tastes disgusting, your muscles and joints ache, and you’re feeling that stinging regret but you have no idea what for. It’s probably best not to think about it until your body can handle what your mind remembers.

The hangover. It’s an awful and fickle beast that seems to come out of nowhere when you’ve had six shots, three beers and that one glass of scotch at the end of the night. You probably should have had a few glasses of water before you fell asleep. You probably should have eaten something. You probably shouldn’t have gone to that last bar. You probably… wait… did you drink whiskey out of a beer bong last night? Yeah, that was you. Yuck.

Well, you can’t very well change the past. Might as well get your hind end out of bed and make some hangover cure tea. I’ve got just the ticket. I’ve been experimenting with this one this week as I’ve been living in a new city and doing the whole drinking/social gathering thing that you tend to do in a new place when you don’t know anyone. Yay for social lubricant! Nay for waking up feeling like you want to eat an entire pizza while you down six more beers to make the pain stop.

Anywho, here’s a tea blend that will have you feeling great in no time flat. I would suggest no more than two or three cups since there are some heavy hitting cleansing herbs in the mix that might leave you even more dehydrated. For this reason, you should drink at least one glass of water after every cup of this tea.

Hangover Tea Blend

• 1/2 t milk thistle
• 1/2 t dandelion root
• 1/2 t peppermint
• 1/2 t black tea

I’m a big believer in following your nose when it comes to finding herbs that are right for your body. I mean, obviously, you have to do your research, but when you’re just looking for something positive to add to an everyday blend, I like to let my nose point the way. This is how I stumbled across dandelion leaf awhile back. Since then, I’ve learned quite a bit about my beloved dandelion. Nearly every part of the dandelion can be used for healing, but for the sake of brevity in today’s post, we’re going to talk about the dandelion leaf in particular.

Overview

Dried dandelion leaf looks unnaturally green, like they’ve been dyed for St.Patty’s day. It’s a bitter herb that smells sweet and fresh. It’s a great cleansing herb. Since we’re on the heels of a gluttonous and toxin filled holiday, it’s a great time to start adding dandelion leaf into your tea blends.

Dandy Diuretic

Fun fact: The French word for dandelion is “pis en lit” or “piss the bed,” which testifies to the herb’s effect as a diuretic. One of the great things about dandelion leaf is that it’s one of the very few diuretics that doesn’t deplete potassium. As a matter of fact it adds potassium to your system. Crazy, right? It also acts as a mild laxative and blood purifying agent. It increases bile production which helps metabolize fat. As such, it’s a great herb to take after a bender or eating binge. I know all of that sounds kind of gross, but it’s really awesome.

Vitamins and Minerals

This post about dandelion leaf is brought to you by vitamins A, B, C, and D. This herb is also naturally filled with the minerals calcium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, and iron.

It also contains the amazing antioxidant luteolin, which is known as a free radical scavenger and antioxidant. It also helps metabolize carbohydrates.

Cost

One of the best things about this herb is that you can afford it even if you’re not living on a  hefty criminal investigator salary. You can get cut and sorted dandelion from frontier for as little as $11/lb. In the spring, you can harvest your own. Dandelion wine anyone?

Holy Basil Batman! Basil's got carminitive powers!

So, I promised you a carminitve tea blend and I intend to give you one. But that’s only going to take a minute and I’d like to fill this space with an herbal education diary post today. It’s going to be some friggin awesome documented shiz.

If you’re in a hurry to sooth your rumbly tummy, you can skip to the blend below. It will be that bulleted list of four things and an instruction to let it steep in hot water for 10 minutes. You won’t be able to miss it.

In the meantime, I’d like to tell you about where I’m at with herbs at this moment. I’ve been studying herbs for the past year and I’d have to say that I’ve made a lot of headway in that time. I know what many herbs look like, what they do, what they taste like when steeped, how they’re best prepared. I’m pretty proud of all that I’ve learned. But I just had one of those kind of disheartening moments when you realize that you know absolutely nothing and that you’ve only scratched the surface. It may seem nieve, but I just realized that I really have just scratched the surface.

Do you know what herbs are essentially? They’re plants. Do you know how many plants there are on this planet? I’m not a botanist or anything, but I’m guessing billions. Do you know how many properties each herb has? And how many compounds you can make with that herb combined with other herbs to achieve a desired affect? I could go on and on. If I want to be a medicine woman, I’m going to have to step up my game. So, that’s what this post is about. It’s about being overwhelmed with the sheer idea of comprehension when it comes to herbs. It’s okay. We don’t have to know anything. This one post a week is going to give me more of an understanding than I would have otherwise. Let’s just keep on herbing and see what we know in a years time. So… Without further ado:

Carminitive Tea Blend

• 1/2 t Basil
• 1/2 t Peppermint
• 1/4 t Spearmint

One of the Herbal Education faves, chamomile, is a carminative. We knew we liked it for a reason.

Wow. That last post was really bizarre. After reading it, I decided that I’m starting a new rule this week. There will be no more late night blogging  extravaganzas. You’re welcome and I’m sorry for subjecting you to my odd late night ramblings.

It’s been a long couple of weeks, what with the holiday season rearing it’s over-stressed, over-indulging head. I’m looking forward to getting back on track and getting into my old groove. Granted, New Years Eve is coming up, so we’re not out of the clear just yet. Thankfully, it’s coming on a Saturday this year. This means that there’s more time for relaxing before and after. That means there’s also time for getting our digestive systems back in sync with our mind/body.

Digestion is a complex process, and in many eastern cultures people incorporate herbs into the process that reduce gas, spasms, and indigestion. These herbs are called carminatives and many of them can be added to food to prevent digestive issues. But if you’re like me, most of your holiday food groups consisted of bread, sugar, meat, and things that don’t generally get infused with these digestive wonder herbs in the west. If you’re a westerner and you consciously incorporate these herbs into your food for better digestion, you are in the minority and I would love to score a dinner invitation. We could talk herbs over herbs. Wouldn’t that be nice?

Here’s a list of herbs that have carminative qualities via gaines.com:

This week, I’ll share one of my favorite herbal tea blends for promoting healthy digestion. Stay tuned by subscribing to the RSS feed.

What are your favorite carminative herbs? Do you have a blend that you enjoy?

You’ve had deja vous, right? Isn’t it the friggin’ best? Man, I love deja vous. It’s probably one of my favorite things about existence. It flashes over me and I realize that I’ve been here before. I know that I’m in a place and time that I’ve never ‘really’ been and I almost get giddy. Shoot, there’s no reason to sugar coat it, I get down right giddy when it happens. Why?

It reminds me that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. They say that 15-25 year olds experience it more than anyone else. Perhaps it’s a neurological signpost placed in our adolescent brains to let us know that we’re on the right path. In that case, I’m glad that my signposts are still showing themselves even though I’m past the cusp of prime deja vous age.

So when I’m sitting here at 3 a.m. and I’m trying to finish my to-do list and write this post and I’ve had too much pizza and I’m almost falling asleep and I’m kicking myself for putting everything off until 3 a.m. and I’m wondering if I should be kicking myself for talking to my ex again because, you know, I love him, but he’s kinda scared of life and things that are different but oh I still love him and I don’t care what happens with us, man, because he’s my best friend and we met in the cutest way when I was an administrative assistant and I just want us to be all up in each other’s lives foeva but we’ll see how that goes. OMG. That was a crazy run on sentence and I’m so tired that I’ve obviously gone crazy and word vomited all over this post. Anywho, when all of that is going on and I start to doubt myself, I get some deja vous and it tells me, “Don’t worry darlin’. This is your place. You were meant to eat too much pizza, get confused about your ex, work until 3 a.m… This was all part of the plan.” And it makes me feel amazing to know that I belong right now.

So what was the point of all of this? I wanted to give you a list of herbs that will help keep you awake when you’re crazy tired and you have a bunch of stuff to do. Here goes:

1. Ginger
2. Yerba Mate
3. Ginko Biloba
4. Ginsing
5. Cinnamon