Vanessa, 31 from Garner, NC asks me “what is a good herbal expectorant for phlegm? I am having allergic reactions to ?? I am not sure of. However, i seem to have alot of phlegm collecting in my lungs.”

Well Vanessa lets look at this. Phlegm is also called sputum and mucous. In Chinese Medicine phlegm does not really need to be a physical form coughed up from your lungs, but that is another discussion. Typically here is how phlegm develops. Phlegm starts as a form of dampness and then is decocted down into a much thicker substance. Your lungs are naturally a damp place and if that place is heated up and that fluid is cooked you have created some phlegm in there. This is a generalization, but a very common source of getting this phlegm. Now, typically phlegm will be a dark color from the heat. The lighter the color the more heat you have there. Usually you will end up with a more clear runny phlegm, a yellowish is more ‘cool’ but I will go over herbs to cover both of these.

Vanessa wasn’t very descriptive with her condition. So lets cover a nice general condition. Let’s add in a cough that will usually accompany the phlegm, which is your bodies natural instinctive way to expel the phlegm. What we want to do here is get rid of the phlegm by breaking it down and expelling it. We also want to soothe your throat, tonify your lungs and quiet your cough.
I like to use syrups here since we can soothe the throat at the same time and give an application that will coat the area leaving the medicine on the area. An alternative is a smoking mixture where you can use mullien, but lets move on to the syrup.

We want to use an expectorant, in other words something that expels the phlegm out. Comfrey and/or Playcodon are the good herbs here. To quiet the cough we will use the ultra powerful Kuan Dong Hua or Coltsfoot. This herb can be a little pricey but it works very well and tastes/smells wonderful. To compliment and soothe we will use Wild Cherry Bark that will also add some good flavor. I personally would use Lobelia here to open the system up to the treatment.

Gather these herbs and throw them in a stainless steel pot. You want 4oz of herb and add water to the pot to match the height or 500ml would be good. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low heat for over an hour. Keep decocting and cooking down to get a think substance but make sure not to burn anything. You can remove the herbs and throw the water back in and a add a bit of Slippery Elm pre-mixed with a little water and add it in there. This will thicken the decoction, but don’t add too much it will get slimy. After this add honey and or glycerin to the decoction to thicken.

1-3 teaspoons of this mixture as needed should do a great job to our condition here. Should you rather buy this ready to take, Dimmak Herbs Cough Section also sells a cough syrup that is similar to this and works great (go under products and its under ’syrups’). I feel a nice tingle in my throat and fast relief. On a final note your concoction should be kept refrigerated. This should now last you about 3-6 months.

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Most of the herbs used by a herbalist are not household herbs. In fact, ’spices’ are herbs that are of quite different quality than the others herbs used to treat illnesses most of the time. So, I know that I talk about herbs that many people don’t have around the house. Of course I always recommend the right herbs for the job and I am not here to give you ‘home remedies’ and tell you to take ginger for a huge list of conditions.

Today, I ran across a recipe that I have for food seasoning. This is no normal herbal seasoning. It is a special blend that contains a great deal of vitamins and minerals that can be used to season food. Since most of the ingredients are found in most households, I thought you guys would love a little change :)!

Here is the recipe:
1part each of
Garlic
Parsley
Watercress
Sweet Basil
Oregano
Marjoram
Thyme
Kelp Powder
Dulse Powder
Nettles
Comfrey
Rose Hips
Capsicum
1/4 Part each of
Dandelion
Burdock

It is best to make a small amount of this concoction and check your taste. Adjust as necessary. You can grind in some Sea Salt and Pepper if you really wanna make an all around seasoning, but those can be added separately anyway.
When you get it down the way you want, make a large powder of the seasoning. Large amounts can be used in making stocks or soups. I use this in kicharee and congee recipes for the vitamin and mineral benefits.
Guess how much I save over those who buy multivitamins? The best part is these are being taken as food, so they are assimilated by the body in a natural way!

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A first degree burn is basically a sun burn or any other irritation of the skin. Skin will appear red and will be sensitive to heat. A second degree burn is more severe and deals with blistering and puss in the area. The body at this point is trying to cool itself by sending liquid to the area (pus) to cool and protect the area. Third degree burns are even more sever and relate to a loss of skin at the area. I would like to touch only briefly on the first two and talk about using herbs and household goods to heal 3rd degree burns.

First degree burns are most commonly had from sunburns or from some hot water. The skin gets red and is very sensitive to heat. At this point the skin is very irritated and either gonna die and peel or make it through. Honestly the best remedy here is Aloe Vera Gel. Nothing magic here that you may not have already known. Aloe is a very soothing and since its a gel you are able to run it over the area and instantly feel a nice cool feeling on the area. Keep the area from heat and exposure and you’ll be fine in no time.

Second degree burns are a furthering of a first degree where the body is trying to cool and pad the area. This leads to blistering and a whitening of the area. Second degree burns are common in fair skinned people and for those of you who are not may never see this type of burn. This can be a much more painful experience and its a little trickier because you have open wounds basically. Our main herb here is going to be calendula. For the absolute quickest and most effective use of calendula simply saute it on low heat with Olive Oil in a 1 part calendula to 4 part Olive Oil. After about an hour just strain out the herb and use the oil. If you have access or want to make a better oil take 2 parts calendula, 2 parts comfrey leaves, 1 part lobelia. If there is pain the area add 1 part Kava Kava. Kava acts as a local anesthetic and will help a great deal. You will want to powder these down and combine with olive oil to make a thick paste. You could also add all of these in 1 part to 4 parts water with a little slippery elm and cook down to a really thick paste. You will want to apply this and cover with gauze very lightly and wash often to avoid infection. These formulas should provide a good deal of relief and quick healing!

Third degree burns are the most serious burns although you don’t have to be a in a ‘burn victim ward’ to have them. You can burn smaller areas or limbs of your body quite easily. Fire is the most direct cause of third degree burns and they are not fun. In reality the worst part of the burn is that it is an open wound with complete burn off of skin. So you have infection to worry about and the scar that will be left there as you body tries to heal this area. If you have a serious burn, I recommend a hospital trip. If you choose not to or whatever, I am not responsible :). What we want to do here is apply a soothing paste to the area that will also help our bodies regenerate skin in the area! Well, there happens to be such an herb and its called comfrey. Here is the recipe you need. 3 parts comfrey root, 1 part lobelia, 1 part calendula, 1/2 part honey, some garlic juice, 1/2 part wheat germ oil, and some olive oil. Notice the similarities to the second degree burn formula, although there are some differences. We are using comfrey root instead of leaves, we are using honey, we aren’t using anything additional for pain, the ratios are a bit different, and you need to make this a certain way.
You need to fine powder the herbs and throw the honey in a stainless steel pot. Heat the honey to where it is liquified. At this point put your wheat germ oil in there and then turn off the heat. Now put all of your herb into the pot and mix up while adding olive oil to get a very thick paste. You can throw your garlic juice in there now and make sure your paste is thick like cake frosting. At this point you will know if you over did the honey cause the paste will harden. If you did this right you are ready to apply. Apply directly and thickly over the wound and bandage over. You will leave this on for 3-4 days and then remove without disturbing anything. Make sure you THUROUGHLY CLEAN THE WOUND prior to applying this!
Now let me explain what we have here. You washed the wound and now you have a clean third degree burn. Calendula is a very soothing herb and treats burn very well. Lobelia helps other work by relaxing the area and helping with pain. Garlic is one of the best disinfectants on the planet and will help with a clean healing process. Comfrey root is a very strong flesh regeneration herb. It also has drawing power and is soothing and anti-inflammatory. Wheat germ is protecting the area and soothing, a very important part of this formula and should not be left out. The olive oil helps with the binder and is much less expensive than wheat germ oil although you can use only wheat germ oil if you want. Finally the honey will act as a barrier on the wound and keep infection out for the 3-4 day period you will have this on.

A few things I would like to point out. You can buy a formula ready to go for burns called Burn Paste from www.dimmakherbs.com. Calendula is a weed and grows abundantly. You should learn to recognize the herb as it could help you tremendously if you were out in the wild. Fresh calendula works the same as dried.

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Due to the recent comments made of a fellow webmaster at Doc1vitamins who sell vitamin supplements, I decided to talk about making sure your body has the vitamins and minerals that it needs. I admired that Doc wrote a blog stating a fact that if you aren’t deficient in vitamins in your body taking them isn’t going to do much for you. This is why I don’t really condone a multi vitamin as you would be better off testing your body for what your missing and work on helping your body assimilate what it needs. Should you be deficient in Vitamins in your body, change your diet and supplement when needed. What seems to be the blatant total overlook in developed countries is that our soil is quite deficient in minerals. So unless you grow your own food, you are missing out on minerals that are very important to bodily functions like metabolism, something everyone wants seeing how 33 million was spent on weight loss pills in the US. In reality, there should be just a great a concern to analyze your mineral content as vitamins. You should make sure you get your Minerals, just as you do with Vitamins. Well, here is a way to take in an easily assimilated mineral content of Iron, Calcium, Silicon, Magnesium, Potassium, Sulfur, Iodine, Zinc, and trace minerals. Here is what you need:
14g of each of the following herbs-
Parsley Root
Yellow Dock
Nettles
Irish Moss
Horsetail
Comfrey Root
Watercress
Kelp
Add all these herbs to a quart of water and simmer for 45 minutes. Strain liquid in a bowl and add another quart of water to the herbs and simmer for 10 minutes. Strain the liquid in the bowl with the other liquid, discard the herbs and throw all the water back on the heat simmer down for another 45 minutes and you should end up with say 3/4 of a quart or so now. If you want to get the full benefits of this and include the iron you have to add in Blackstrap Molasses. Just double the liquid of Blackstrap Molasses not going over 8oz. The molasses will also preserve what you have just made and will now keep for a couple months in the fridge! Take a tablespoon 3 times a day and that’s it!

Okay, so now your all full of minerals and have officially tasted some pretty nasty stuff, Sean how can we just keep up on our minerals? Well, you didn’t really ask that question because you love my blog and read the last post about sea salt. The SEA is where the minerals are! Seaweeds become tasteless and leave all of their minerals behind when slow cooked in something. I recommend Wakame, but Kombu is another good choice and is a better detox, but adds a touch of slippery texture to your food. Take a pinch of your favorite seaweed and add to your broth, soup, crockpot, chili, or anything your slow cooking. I recommend a small pinch per serving your making. Wakame can also be found in miso soup, a broth that is taken before meals to make sure you take in your minerals and warm up your digestive fires.

Note 1: Kelp is a secret weapon of mine for weight loss. Kelp adds delicious minerals to foods and can be taken often in capsules too.
Note 2: I would be more than happy to pack up and sell anyone a pack of mineral herbs to be made exactly as this recipe! The total is 4oz of herbs, you would need to supply the molasses. Email me at sean@blogofherbs.com if you would like to order some packs of these mineral herbs.

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