Herbal Remedies

Herbal remedies: fiction or fact?

Herbal remedies do their job because of the properties they contain. They are not magic potions. In the roots, leaves, flowers, berries, bark or seeds, herbs have specific biochemical properties that are healing and restorative for our systems. We’ve come to the point in our high-stress lives where we need all of the healing and restorations we can get.

Being a natural resource, they have no additives, preservatives, or dyes. They aren’t sweetened with sugar or sugar substitutes, and they are not mixed with other ingredients that could compromise the herb’s effect or give you something you don’t want or need.

The water in herbal teas plays a vital role to increase the effectiveness of the remedy. The water diffuses the potency of the herb and delivers its properties in a manner that is harmonious with your natural body processes.

Confused? Where to Start

There are hundreds of herbs with healing properties, and each herb has its own unique qualities. This can be very overwhelming and can become “a garden of confusion”. One of the remarkable qualities about many herbs is the fact that they can do more for your body than merely treat symptoms. In many cases, they can treat the symptoms and the underlying weakness. When you take herbs as teas, you get the benefits of the herbs and some delightful drinks, too.

Start very simply. Seek out one herbal tea that might be useful for your current needs. If you find two herbal teas to help you, that alone would make your discovery of herbs worthwhile. Over time as you learn to trust the gentle relief and healing benefits that herbal teas bring, you’ll find more teas to help you resolve everyday disorders. Then one day you’ll realize that you’ve made a break-through. Plain and simple drinks. Plain and simple healing.

How Much – How Often?

You don’t need to take handfuls of herb capsules, or drink the same tea ten times a day to reap the benefits of an herbal remedy. One great tea, once a day, is a positive step forward. Two great teas a day can be a real health advantage.

If you are just starting to use herbs for their healing properties, I would recommend that you begin with moderate doses, like the dose in one cup of tea in the morning. When you are using teas for healing treatments, a good rule is to take the tea as you need it, once or twice a day, and use it for one week.

* Taken from the book 20,000 Secrets of Tea by Victoria Zak. This book is available at Boston Harbor Tea and has an informative list of herbal teas for various health conditions.

Featured Fall Teas

Be Ready for Fall

Be sure to check out our featured teas for fall. The air is getting cold and soon we will need to keep our insides warm.

Harvest Time

These featured teas are blends of herbs and teas such as Harvest Time which is made up of Wild Cherry Bark, Rosehips, Chamomile, Cinnamon, Lemon Peel, Orange Peel, Lemongrass, Peppermint, Blackberry Leaf, Cloves, Red Clover, Sage, Extracts. Caffeine free as well, this makes a very fine “tea” to sip in the afternoon or evening.

Grandma’s Apple Pie

Another one to try as autumn begins is Grandma’s Apple Pie with an apple cinnamon taste with actual apple bits and almond pieces. It is a black tea with a crisp, fruity flavor.

Yerba Chai

If you like the chai flavor, sip the Yerba Chai, a roasted yerba mate blended with a warm blend of spices. Chai is typically made up of cardamon, allspice, cinnamon, cloves and ginger; all the spices that bring fall to mind.

Anise Spice

Lastly, try the Anise Spice tea sure to satisfy the licorice over. It has anise, cinnamon, black licorice combined with a black tea. Of course, anything with a black tea is caffeinated.

It will soon be crisp, cold autumn weather so be sure to stop in to the Boston Harbor Tea shop to stock up on your favorite drinks to keep you warm!

Calming Medicinal Herbs

Many calming and natural medicinal herbs are used as nature’s way of soothing nerves. These plants are highly absorbable by the body, therefore, very effective in reducing the anxiety and tension that comes with stress.

Natural Tension Tamers

Most noteworthy, listed below are only a few of the many natural tension tamers we offer at Boston Harbor Tea.

German Chamomile

From Germany, chamomile eases sleep, relaxes the muscles in the body. Some people have benefit in the digestive tract by relieving spasms, abdominal pain, gas and bloating.

Linden Leaf and Flower

This herb from Bulgaria reduces internal stress, muscle tension, and relieves anxiety. It also has a calming effect on the heart to ease heart palpitations.

Kava kava

Origin, Figi, Kava Kava has a calming effect, eases heart palpitations, and relaxes muscles. Furthermore, it relieves anxiety, tension and emotional stress. *Note: It can be intoxicating in high doses.

Medicinal Herbs from South America and Mexico

Damiana

– helps to soothe and strengthen the brain and nervous system which calms the nerves, eases tension headaches, and gives you that feeling of well-being.

Yerba Mate

– builds resistance to stress. It contains B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, and B5) and vitamin C – the anti-stress team. Pantothenic acid (B5) stimulates the adrenal glands which regulate the production of hormones including adrenaline and cortisone. Yerba Mate is a stimulant and even though it helps with stress, you do not want to blend it with these other calming herbs.

Passion Flower

– grown in India and Mexico, conditions and tones the nerves and relieves pain. Being an overall “nerve conditioner”, it is good for all nervous disorders including nervous tension, irritability, anxiety, agitation, stress induced disorders, tension headaches, and exhaustion. It is an anti-spasmodic that relieves muscle spasms such as twitching, nervous coughs, and hyperactivity.

Medicinal Herbs from USA

Skullcap (Blue)

– strengthens and tones the nervous system alleviating tension, anxiety, and the jitters. Additionally, hysteria, nervous exhaustion, depression and panic are also reduced by skullcap. Customers say this herb eases nervous tension and internal stress that comes with withdrawal from drugs, alcohol, nicotine, and tranquilizers. It also helps in aiding sleep.

Valerian Root

– works as a tranquilizer and a sleep aid. It relieves pain, tension, and the effects of strain. It quiets and soothes the brain and nervous system. *Note: this should not be used with sleep medications and can cause hallucinations in high doses

Rest & Relaxation for Us All

R & R (Rest and Relaxation)

Hey, all you awesome Boston Harbor Tea fans. I wanted to give you all a heads up. We will be CLOSED from September 17, 2017 to October 2, 2017 for some needed time off. So please get stocked up on any teas or herbs you might be needing. THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING!!!

CLEANSE: R & R ( Ream out & Rejuvenate )

This time of year is a good time to cleanse as well. Come in for your cleansing teas and herbs for the full 22 days. Fall is a great time to cleanse in order to get rid of harmful toxins in your body especially before we head into the holiday season. This can be tailored to your specific blood type or just a general cleanse package if you aren’t sure of your blood type. Certain blood types work differently and so the herbs are chosen according to what works the best for your body.

Cleansing of your body’s organs can be an effective way to help improve the body’s way of functioning properly along with relieving and possibly eliminating ailments that can become troublesome to you. A cleanse is a process of cleaning the blood by removing impurities and toxins from the liver and lymph system which play a large role in processing what is put in the body. When these two organ systems get backed up, other organs like the kidneys, gallbladder, and intestines have to process what the liver and lymph system could not. This can affect every cell in the body, both short and long term.

The best part is while you are detoxing, you can eat natural, whole foods at the same time!

CLEANSING TEAS/HERBS:

Acid Removal:

Burdock, Catnip, Meadowsweet, Pau d’Arco, Plantain, Slippery Elm, and Spearmint

Blood Cleaner:

Burdock, Goldenseal, Plantain, Sarsaparilla and Yarrow

Female:

Calendula, Chaste Tree Berry, Damiana, Dong Quai, Milk Thistle, Motherwort, Paul d’Arco, and Slippery Elm

Heart:

Astragalus, Calendula, Dong Quai, Ginkgo, Ginger, Hawthorm, Motherwort, and Suma

Kidney:

Cleavers, Cranberry Powder, Damiana, Hawthorm, Horsetail, Marshmallow, Plantain, and Red Raspberry Leaf

Liver:

Calendula, Cleavers, Dandelion Leaf, Dandelion Root, Marshmallow, Milk Thistle, and Slippery Elm

Lungs:

Elder, Goldenseal, Hyssop, Lungwort, Marshmallow, Mullein, Plantain, and Pleurisy root

Stevia – The Sweetener Plant

Try Stevia Starting Tomorrow

Next time you want something sweet, try using the Stevia leaves as a sweetener in your drinks or in your baking. Since stevia is a natural plant, your body will be able to absorb it better and it has no caloric value. You can purchase it in leaf form like a tea at Boston Harbor Teas.

Issues Surrounding Sugar

Refined sugar consumption is on the rise in the United States. Because sugar displaces nutritive calories, it leads to many of our health problems today like obesity. Therefore, many of our ailments stem from the use of too much sugar which on the average is a staggering 150 pounds per person per year!

Plants – Easy to Absorb

Therefore, as a plant, you may want to grow your own. The plants are available in the springtime as are many other herbs from your local nurseries. The whole leaf products contain all the health benefits of the herb used for centuries by the Guarani Indians of Paraguay. It is commonly known in South America as yerba dulce meaning ‘sweet herb’.

Here are some interesting facts about Stevia:

The sweet taste in stevia comes from glycoside molecules that have zero calories.
Consequently, there are no carbohydrates so it doesn’t cause cravings like sugar.
The sweetness of stevia leaves and pure extracts varies from sourse to source and among the different brands.
The genetics of the plant, cultivation, and processing all influence the stevioside content.
Surprisingly, there is no known toxicity associated with stevia herb or stevioside extracts.
Extensive safety and toxicity testing have been performed. Therefore, Stevia has always been shown to be safe.
Unfortunately, Stevia has a bitter component that can be reduced by proper cultivation and processing.
Some white powered stevia extracts on the market today contain a filler made of either maltodextrin or fructooligo-saccharides.
Stevia is not a source of nutrition for bacteria in the mouth or candida yeast in the colon (as is sugar).
Stevia is said to aid people with diabetes or hypoglycemia.
Research has shown that a whole-leaf concentrate has a regulating effect on the pancreas and helps stabilize blood sugar levels.
Other uses of the herb include lowering elevated blood pressure, aiding digestion by reducing gas and stomach acidity, relieving nausea, and helping to reduce obesity.
Fortunately, it has been known to increase energy levels and mental acuity.
Many people have reported improvement in their oral health after using stevia concentrate in their toothpaste.
Also using it diluted in water as a daily mouthwash benefits your oral hygene.
And lastly, Stevia is useful in healing a number of skin ailments.

Reasons to Drink Green Tea

Voice of Reason – Your Body

Do you believe that your body can tell you what works for your nutrition and what doesn’t work? Perhaps the solution is a simple as drinking green tea.

The problem stems from ignoring what the body is trying to say and continuing to put things into our bodies for various reasons such as simply liking the taste or craving the food. We can all ignore inflammation, stomach aches, head aches, or bowel disorders to a point, that is, until it interferes with your daily living.

For example, even though you suffer from extreme acid reflux, stomach aches, bloating and gas, insomnia and jitters, you continue to drink coffee daily. There is a choice. Continuing to consume one to two cups a day, feeling its lousy effects – or *STOP* – finding other drinks, like green and herbal teas, that don’t effect your body adversely.

“The voices of cold reason were talking, as usual, to deaf ears.”

– Ellis Peters, Brother Cadfael’s Penance

Type “O” Blood

If you are a type “O” blood type caffeinated coffee is a drink that should be avoided. The same goes for black tea.

After discussing this with a customer of mine she said, ” Today I have learned that these are symptoms that repeat themselves after drinking a cup of coffee. I have heard about blood type diets for many years starting back in the 70’s and pretty much have discounted that information, but today it makes sense. I think it is time to seek out better options for me and stop drinking coffee.”

Therefore, what should a type “O” be drinking? My suggestions are water, green tea and herbal teas. There are many to choose from. You can sample them at the tea shop to find out what kinds appeal to you. I encourage you to come in and spend some time getting acquainted with the diverse tea varieties. They can be every bit as satisfying as a cup of coffee and, furthermore, offer some nutritional benefits as well.

Marshmallow Root

I opened up Boston Harbor to share marshmallow root with everyone. It is one of my favorite herbs because everyone benefits from this plant. Althaea officinalis is its latin name.

It helps with many different things like reducing inflammation, immunity, anti-aging, disease resistance, kidney weakness, lowers blood sugar levels, shrinks and softens growths, and had protein to build muscle.

Marshmallow is also filled with many nutrients like vitamin A, B1, B2, B3, B5, C, oxygen, calcium, iron, potassium, and magnesium. The list could go on and on.

This plant is amazing!

Marshmallow grows in yards all over. Growing to around 4 feet in length with stems that have jagged edged leaves that are covered with fine hair. The flowers that can grow up to 2 inches wide with colors the vary from white, light red, or purple. You can harvest marshmallow yourself and use all of it’s parts. The roots can be dried and used for tea, the flowers are good for dry chapped skin, and the leaves can be put into a salad and eaten.

Caution:

However, if you use chemicals on your lawn, you do not want to use those. These plants have been tainted by the chemicals. If you do decide you want to start harvesting the marshmallow plant, wait two years after your last lawn treatment and you should be able to harvest them the third year.

When marshmallow root is dried it can be white and fluffy or chunky with a little bit of fluff. It all depends on how it is prepared. When making the tea, it has a faint yellow color if any at all. Marshmallow does not have much of a flavor, it’s not sweet or bitter so if you mix it with another tea or flavor it’s not going to ruin the taste of your drink.

Here is this fun rhyme to help you remember the uses of marshmallow:

Dry places are moistened
Hard conditions are softened
Inflammation goes away
Tissues resist decay.
-Cathie-