The topic of the week: an herbal and dietary approach to osteoarthritis.
Tag: herbalism
An Herbal and Dietary Approach to Cold and Flu
A tutorial on natural treatment of cold and flu symptoms
Cold-Buster Miso Soup
The sunny-hued soup to banish any cold-weather bug.
Baked Beans Bourgignon
I’ve always though that baked beans and Bourgignon sauce combined would be a match made in heaven. Think about it. Baked beans. With wine. And rosemary. And lots of roasted mushrooms. After trying it the verdict is that it’s damn decadent: pure comfort food be it for breakfast, lunch or supper. At breakfast, it can…
Incorporating Herbs into Daily Life: Herbal Soups, Broths and Porridge
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the word for herbal tea and the word for soup are the same: tang. This isn’t surprising since the herbal decoctions of that system of medicine are indeed quite thick, heavy and broth-like when they aren’t being cooked directly into meat or water-based soups or rice porridge – both of which…
Herbal Stimulants Part 2: Other Caffeine-Containing Herbs – Tea, Maté & Cacao
Although coffee is the best known and doubtless one of the most popular of the caffeine-containing botanicals, it isn’t the only contributor. Many other plants have caffeine in their compositions, most of which are consumed for both medicinal and recreational reasons in the regions from which they hail. Nowadays in the global village, most are…
Herbal Stimulants Part 1: Coffee and Coffee Alternatives
When a client comes to consult for the first time and I ask for a dietary profile, more often than not the first thing I hear is, ‘’I’m not giving up my coffee.’’ People are personal about their coffee and there’s an assumption that the first thing an herbalist is going to do is ban…
Herbal Candy – Techniques and Uses
Disclaimer: the following information is provided purely as brain candy to the herbal geek. Consult with a skilled herbalist prior to taking any plant-based medicine since it’s just that – medicine. Herbal candies are a wonderful way to make herbs something to look forward to and an easy way to get medicine into picky eaters and children. …
Making an Awesome Herbal Oil
In the article on Topical Herbal Preparations, I promised that there would be a detailed account of how to make really amazing herbal oils; so here we are. In Western Herbalism, herbal oil on its own is usually used to rub into sore muscles, to hydrate and/or repair the skin, or as a surface pack…
Topical Herbal Alternatives
My Mother called me a while back with a bad muscular ache and asked me what herbs or medication she could take to make it feel better, ibuprofen hadn’t been helping much. I asked her if she’d considered A535 or Myoflex rub. There was a bit of a stunned silence on the other end of…
Making a Killer Curry Powder
Let’s start by getting this out of the way: Curry Powder is not East Indian cuisine. Not by a long shot. In Indian cuisine, curry is a labour of love with a masala (spices) made fresh for a dish pretty much every time. The spice blends used will vary by dish, by region and by…
Crunchy Cooking 