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WEED WANDERINGS
~ Herbal Medicine with Susun Weed ~

March 2002 ~ Volume 2 Number 3

Legal Disclaimer

 

What's Inside Weed Wanderings this Month...

Calendar of Events

Feature Article
Nutrition - The Wise Woman Way

Book Review
Opening Our Wild Hearts
to the Healing Herbs


Ask Susun Weed
Candida - I love You!

Recipe of the Month
Homemade Yogurt

~ New Links ~
Fun and interesting
sites for you to visit!

Extra Feature
Moon Water




~ CALENDAR of EVENTS ~


Wise Woman Center -- Workshops for Women
Join us this year for spirit healing and herbal medicine workshops, intensives, and apprenticeships with Susun Weed and other Wise Woman teachers. The Wise Woman Center in Woodstock NY exists to re-weave the healing cloak of the Ancients. This land, this sacred sanctuary for women is a place for the teachings of the Wise Woman way. The Goddess lives here, as do goats, fairies, green witches, and elders. Located between Woodstock and Saugerties, 5 miles from the NYS Thruway, the Wise Woman Center is easily accessible while private enough for nude swimming. You'll receive a map and directions when you register. Nourishing wild-food vegetarian meals are included with all workshops.

See the Calendar of Events & Workshop schedule (and to register) for this year, click here.



~ FEATURE ARTICLE ~

NUTRITION - The Wise Woman Way
by Susun S. Weed

 

The biochemical and energetic nutrients which we digest, absorb, and metabolize from foodstuffs are the foundation of all cellular activity in the body, including growth, repair, reproduction, resistance to disease, and maintenance. Good nutrition is critically important to every form of life we know. Finding, growing, preparing, and storing food has been women's work and women's genius since time out of mind.

The Spirit of the Food

Nutrition begins with milk from mother's breast, from the breast of the Great Goddess. In earth-centered cultures, the harvesting and gathering of food is interwound with sacred threads, and the consumption of the food is a sacrament. This aspect of nutrition is invisible, unmeasurable, undiscussed, but of utmost importance to the health of the individual and the ecology.

Healthy Diets

When food choices are limited, women eat whatever is available. As long as adequate carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins, and minerals are consumed and clean water is available, health is easily maintained.(1) Restricted diets (vegan, vegetarian, impoverished) generally fail to provide adequately for women, and the addition of milk products, eggs, or meat to these diets optimizes health. When the food supply is abundant and foods are highly refined, as is the case in most Western countries, food choices may adversely affect health. This is due in part to an innate (healthy) craving for sweet, salt, and fat (which are scarce in nature but commercially abundant, leading to overconsumption) and in part to the degradation of the foodstuffs themselves.

Protein

After water, protein is the most plentiful substance in our bodies. Without protein we cannot create enzymes, antibodies, milk, menses, skin, hair, nails, muscle, brain, heart, or organs. We require twenty-two different amino acids (building blocks of protein), of which eight are considered essential nutrients. Animal foods contain all essential amino acids. No one food of vegetable origin contains them all, but combinations (such as corn and beans) do. Each and every amino acid must be present at once in the body, and in the correct proportions, for protein synthesis. If even one essential amino acid is low or missing, even temporarily, protein production slows or stops altogether.(2) Adult women can be healthy on low protein diets; however children, pregnant, lactating, and menopausal women require high levels of protein.

Fats

Fat is the most concentrated source of energy in the diet. Found in vegetable seeds, beans, and nuts, fruits such as olives and avocados, and in all animal products, fat is vital to women's health. Unfortunately, many American women avoid fat. A recent study (1999) found 26 percent of women deficient in vitamin E due to low-fat diets.

Linoleic, linolenic, and arachidonic fats are the essential fatty acids, but all fats, especially cholesterol, are vital for the formation of sex hormones (especially postmenopausally), adrenal hormones, vitamin D (for strong bones), and bile. Low cholesterol diets make women's skin and vaginal tissues dry and impede the functioning of the brain and nervous system.

The belief that saturated fats elevate blood cholesterol, causing blocked blood vessels, s-trokes and heart attacks has prevailed since the mid-1960s. Yet most researchers consider this idea simplistic and without scientific justification. In the Framingham Heart Study (USA), the greater a person's intake of total fat, saturated fat, and monounsaturated fat, the lower their risk of stroke. And, while high blood cholesterol levels were a risk factor for heart disease, fat and cholesterol intake in the diet were inversely correlated with blood cholesterol. Swedish studies confirm that saturated fats promote breast health, while vegetable oils (such as canola, safflower, corn, cottonseed, and sunflower oils) promote breast cancer.

Animal fats are more stable than vegetable oils, which become rancid within days after press-ing. (Rancid fats promote cancer and heart disease.) Hydrogenation and partial-hydrogenation slow rancidity but create trans-fatty acids that create deposits on the blood vessels. Even unhydrogenated vegetable oils are unhealthy: They flood the body with omega-6 fatty acids (the primary fat component of arterial plaque), and contribute large amounts of free radicals that damage the arteries and initiate plaque deposits. (3)

Vitamins

Vitamins are small organic compounds made by all living tissues. They are found in whole, fresh foods. Vitamins are absorbed best from dried, fermented, or cooked foods. Some vitamins are fat-soluble (A, E, D); some are water-soluble (B, C). All vitamins are groups of related enzymes that function together. Eighteen hundred carotenes and carotinoids contribute to the liver's production of vitamin A, two dozen tocopherols function together as vitamin E, and only when ascorbic acid is joined by bioflavonoids and carotenes does it function as vitamin C.

Healthy diets supply adequate vitamins so long as refined foods are rarely eaten. "Enriched" flour is really impoverished, as it does not contain the entire complement of B vitamins and minerals found in the whole grain. When vitamins are synthesized in the laboratory, their complexity is reduced to one active ingredient. In situations of impoverishment and famine, supplements have health benefits. They do not replace healthy food, however, and long-term use of vitamin supplements poses health risks including more aggressive cancers (alpha tocopherol), faster growing cancers (ascorbic acid), and increased risk of cancer and heart disease (beta carotene).

Minerals

Minerals are inorganic compounds found in all plant and animal tissues as well as bones, hair, teeth, finger and toenails, and, of course, rocks. Minerals are also found in, and critical for, optimum functioning of the nervous, immune, and hormonal systems, and all muscles, including the heart. Our need for some minerals, such as potassium, magnesium, manganese, and calcium, is large. But for trace minerals, such as selenium, iodine, molybdenum, boron, silicon, and germanium, our needs are minuscule. (4)

Minerals may be difficult to get, even in a healthy diet. Overuse of chemical fertilizers reduces mineral content. According to US Department of Agriculture figures, during the period 1963-1992, the amount of calcium in fruits and vegetables declined an average of 30 percent. In white rice, calcium declined 62.5 percent, iron 32-45 percent, and magnesium 20-85 percent. (5) Not only are commercially grown grains low in minerals, refining removes what little minerals they do have.

Seaweeds and herbs are dependable mineral sources when eaten, brewed (one ounce dried herbs steeped four hours in a quart of boiling water in a tightly covered jar), or infused into vinegar, rather than taken in capsules or tinctures. Many herbs, such as dandelion l-eaves, peppermint, red clover blossoms, stinging nettle, and oatstraw, are exceptional sources of minerals, according to researchers Mark Pedersen, Paul Bergner, and the USDA. (6,7) For instance, there are 3000 mg of calcium in 100 grams dried nettle.

Phytochemicals

Individual nutrients can be created in the laboratory, but they are unlikely to have the life-giving, spirit-enhancing properties of real foods. Hundreds of different chemicals occur naturally in foodstuffs, many of which avert cancer, promote cardiovascular health, improve sexual functioning, enhance energy, and promote longevity. Primary among these c-hemicals, especially for w-omen, is the class of compounds known as phytoestrogens.

When phytoestrogens are plentiful in the diet, breast cancer incidence is lowered significantly. Phytoestrogens probably also help prevent osteoporosis, high blood pressure, congestive heart disease, and senility. Whole grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits are high in phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogen-rich diets also protect against the harmful effects of estrogen-mimicking chemicals in the environment and in our food.


(1) Price, Weston; Nutrition and Physical Degeneration; Keats Publishing, Inc., 1945
(2) Dunne, Lavon. Nutrition Almanac, 3rd Edition. McGraw Hill, 1990.
(3) Fallon, Sally. Nourishing Traditions Cookbook. ProMotion Publishing, 1995.
(4) Ziegler, Ekhard & Filer, LJ. Present Knowledge in Nutrition, 7th Edition. International Life Science Press, 1996.
(5) Bergner, Paul; The Healing Power of Minerals, and Trace Elements. Prima Publishing, 1997
(6) Pedersen, Mark; Nutritional Herbology; Pedersen Press, (orig. 1987; republished in 1996) (7)Agriculture Handbook Book # 456: Nutritional Value of Foods in Common Units. Dover reprint, 1986. Original by the USDA, 1975.

Johnson, Cait; Cooking Like A Goddess; Healing Arts Press, 1997
Lewallen, Eleanor & John; Sea Vegetable Gourmet Cookbook; Mendocino Sea Veg Co, 1996
Mollison, Bill; Permaculture Book of Ferment & Human Nutrition; Tagari Publications, 1993
Sokolov, Raymind. Why We Eat What We Eat: How the encounter between the New World and the Old changed the way everyone on the planet eats. Summit, 1991.
Weatherford, Jack. Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World. Fawcett Columbine, 1988.
Weed, Susun. Healing Wise. Ash Tree Publishing, 1989.
Margen, Sheldon, M.D. & the Editors of the University of California at Berkeley Wellness Letter.
The Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition. Rebus, 1992.

 


For permission to reprint this article, contact us at: susunweed@herbshealing.com

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~ BOOK REVIEW ~


Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs

by Gail Faith Edwards
Introduction by Susun Weed
Paperback - 256 pages
Published by Ash Tree Publishing

"For mor than 25 years I have been growing, loving, learning about, and using herbs. Although I have studied with herbalists and have read many books, my deepest understanding of of herbs--and the special energies they offer us--has come from my personal relationship with the herbs themselves. The information presented in Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs is the result of many years of observation, experimentation, and personal study. It is also the herbal wisdom carried down to us through the oral tradition, through folklore, and old wives' tales." Gail Faith Edwards




This richly illustrated book gives detailed information on 125 herbs and trees including traditional uses, scientific studies, personal experiences, magical and spiritual uses, flower essences, directions for growing, harvesting, parts used, drying, processing and storing in a variety of ways, making medicines, oils, tinctures, salves, body care products, information on wildgathering, wise woman tradition, ceremony and earth awareness.

Excerpt - "Smudging"

Burning dried herbs, or smudging, is an ancient method of nourishing the spirit and invoking the scared. People around the world burn herbs during ceremonies. I feel instantly reverent when I smell frankincense which was burned in Catholic church during my childhood. Many cultures believe smoke from burning herbs clears unwanted energies and carries prayers to the Great Spirit. I know people who smudge before important meetings and others who smudge their house each day. Sometimes I smudge in the morning as a blessing on the new day, in the evening to relieve accumulated stress and tension, or at night to inspire dreaming.

Any very dry herb, flower, bark, resin, or root will burn, but some are more aromatic than others. Some scents are known to have certain effects, but you don't need to be an expert. Just go ahead and burn some herbs in a fire-proof bowl or shell, or light up a smudge stick. See what you like. Experiment. What smells good to you? Burn well-dried sprigs of your herbal ally.

When I smudge, I let the smoke go over and around my head and I inhale the aroma. I offer some smoke to my heart area, around my back, and down my arms and legs. I pay special attention to parts in my body holding tension or in special needs of nourishment or healing. I offer a prayer of thanksgiving each time I smudge. I let the smoke carry my prayers to the heavens.

Some of my favorite herbs for smudging are:

Lavender- to attract high, calm, clear energy
Mugwort- to inspire dreams
Rosemary- to protect form "bad" dreams
Sage- for healing, clarity, cleansing
Vervain- to increase power of prayer
Peppermint- to inspire dreams of prophecy
Cedar- to release emotions
Juniper- for clearing
St. John's wort- for protection
Hyssop- to clear, shift energy

Read Another Excerpt: Herbs and Spirit Power


TESTIMONIALS

"A jewel written by an accomplished herbalist, the graceful flow of words makes the reading of this book like smooth honey to the soul."
Rosemary Gladstar, Herbal Healing for Women

"Here is an herbal that delivers what it promises. Let it open your wild heart to the healing herbs. The Wise Woman Way shines here - wild, generous and free..."
Susun Weed, Healing Wise, A Wise Woman Herbal

"Like a good friend, full of sage advice, information, warmth, compassion, spirituality, and humor. One of the best organized herb books I have ever read."
Jean English, editor Maine Organic Farmer and Gardener

"Gail Edwards wonderful book is very special because she approaches the process of working with herbs in a sacred manner. Her kind, wild heart, as well as the wisdom the plants have shared with her over many years, shine through this book."
Brooke Medicine Eagle, Buffalo Woman Comes Singing

Order It Now

Check out the Herbal Medicine Starter Collection

Includes four great herbals: A City Herbal by Maida Silverman, Healing Wise by Susun S. Weed, Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs by Gail Edwards, and Common Herbs for Natural Health by Juliette de Bairacli Levy. If you are curious about herbal medicine and want to learn more, this collection for you!

 


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Extra Feature...

Moonwater - An Ancient Preparation
Excerpt from Luna Yoga by Adelheid Ohlig


 

Moonwater strengthens female power, whether used by men or women.

The art of preparing Moonwater is ancient; its origins are lost to the darkness of matriarchal history. But the recipe is simple, and as easily done today as by any women who lived thousands of years ago.

Begin by making a careful choice of your container, which could be the same for all the different signs and phases of the moon, or which could vary as the moon does - sometimes large and sometimes small, sometimes bright and sometimes dark. You might even have twelve different ones corresponding to the astrological signs.

Your container needs to be able to hold as much water as you would use up in a month, drinking one sip a day. And, you need to be able to close it tightly, so your moonwater won't evaporate.

On the eve of the full moon, fill the container with fresh water. If you like, add a piece of jewelry or a stone that corresponds to the moon's sign. (I don't have any rules for this, but freely associate what the different signs symbolize.) During the full moon, the moon's sign is opposite the Sun's sign.

Expose your filled container to the full moon for the entire night. Place it outside and in the open where the full moon can shine into it for as many hours as possible. Next morning, take your first sip of moon water. This water that has gathered the moon's energy will be the first thing we consume every day from now until the next full moon. Each morning, on an empty stomach, one more sip is consumed, and we strengthen ourselves with the properties of full moon: creativity, abandon, imagination, wildness, strength, brightness.

I wish you much joy with the water of the moon!

This passage is an excerpt from:

Luna Yoga
Author: Adelheid Ohlig. Wise woman secrets from many cultures help you take control of your fertility, increase your sexual pleasure, and relieve reproductive problems. Translated by Meret Leibenstein.

Read a review of LUNA YOGA

Find out about moonlodges held at the Wise Woman Center

About the author:
Told that she had cervical cancer, Adelheid Ohilg sought noninvasive treatments. With the aid of simple yoga and breathing exercises, self-love, tribal fertility dance movements and a sound application of the principles developed by Aviva Steiner for female reproductive health, she cured herself. Her success and the stories told to her by other women, encouraged her to give up her career as a political editor and devote herself full-time to teaching LUNA YOGA for vital fertility and sexuality.




~RECIPE of the MONTH ~

Easy Homemade Yogurt



1 gallon/4 liters milk, any kind
1 cup/250 ml plain yogurt with active cultures

Heat milk over a low flame in a glass or enamel pot. Stir and feel frequently. When milk feels just a little warm (105ºF/37ºC), remove from heat. Put yogurt into a glass bowl or quart/liter measuring cup. Add a cup/250 ml of warmed milk. Stir well. Pour this mix into a one-gallon glass jar. (Ask a local restaurant or deli for one.) Add all the rest of the warmed milk, stir well with a wooden spoon, cap, and set to rest in a warm place (100–110ºF/37–39ºC) for 8–24 hours. The longer it sits, the easier it will be to digest. Keeps refrigerated for four to six weeks.

Excerpt from Susun Weed's New Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way





NEW LINKS to check out...


 

YeYe Mi offers women those very seeds for gardening her spirit, mind and body As a woman's healing collective, Yeye Mi promotes the spiritual empowerment of women by honor their power, strength and wisdom! Yeye Mi is headquartered in Archer, Florida with a regional office in Silver Spring, Maryland. It was founded in the year 2000 by Olorisha Olapetun Orisatolu, Thunder Mother, affectionately referred as "Thunder Mother", after being guided by her female ancestors. Olapetun is an Apetibi Ifa, Olorisha, Ancestral Priestess, writer and healer.

 

The Summerlands is a Celtic Pagan Community dedicated to rediscovering, preserving, disseminating, and when necessary, recreating that which was lost to us ... the magick, history, customs, and religions of our ancestors. We are about worshipping and celebrating the old Gods and Goddesses in Ways both ancient and new ... in walking the path that Spirit leads us upon ... in rediscovering our connection with the Spirit of Our People. Come. Enter within. Walk the Dreamways through the dolmen. The snapping of a twig ... the rustling of the leaves send shivers through your soul. Heed the words of the Greenman as the world spins away and The Summerlands await you.

Amaranth Womyn Lesbian Community is a full featured site offering chat, message boards, games, greeting cards, networking, resources and an awesome communitycreated monthly magazine featuring articles, an artgallery, stories, news and much more."

 

Childbirth Solutions provides a collection of childbirth articles and birth stories that cover preconception, pregnancy, birth and postpartum care. It also offers visitors an interactive childbirth glossary, an onsite search engine, a due date calculator, a Dad's page, forums, live chats, a Doula finder and a shopping mall - Maternatopia.

 

 

Museum of Menstruation - Discover the rich history of menstruation and women's health in this virtual museum. The museum intends to serve as the world's repository for information about menstruation from as many cultures as possible, and to make this information public knowledge. Read about everything from the history of tampons to religious views of menstruation to menstrual odor. Find a rich store of menstrual humor and read women's answers to the question: "Would you stop menstruating if you could?"

 


Know of a good site to recommend?

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ASK SUSUN WEED

Red clover tincture will do nothing to help you conceive
Candida is a helper. It is keeping you healthy!
Raspberry leaf - best known and safest of uterine and pregnancy tonic herbs
Progesterone cream - don't believe the advertising
Yogurt will help to establish good intestinal flora
Chickweed tincture can be used to dissolve cysts
Urinary tract solutions - Uva Ursi Infusion or tincture work great
Be aware of the dangers of vitamin E supplements

Gaining some weight during menopause is completely normal

If you have a personal health question for Susun, she has a free hotline

Every Tuesday evening (from Mid-April to the end of October) from 7:30 to 9:30 EST

Call: 845-246-8081

NOTE: It is helpful if you have read Susun's article and books before calling her, as you will find answers to your preliminary question there and so Susun can help you with more indepth questions you may have.


Legal Disclaimer: This content is not intended to replace conventional western medical treatment. Any suggestions made and all herbs listed are not intended to diagnose, treat,cure or prevent any disease, condition or symptom. Personal directions and use should be provided by clinical herbalist or other qualified healthcare practitioner with a specific formula for you. All material on this website/email is provided for general information purposes only and should not be considered medical advice or consultation. Always check with your personal physician when you have a question pertaining to your health and healthcare.





To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Subject: desperate to conceive

Dear Susun,
I have only recently been introduced to you and your readings. I am 41 and
trying to conceive for the 4th and final time. I am taking Red Clover
tincture, Nettle tea, Vitamin E and Progesterone cream. Anything else I
should be doing. And can you explain to me what the Lunaception is.
Thanks


Subject: red clover tincture will do nothing to help you conceive

Susun's Response:
So far as I know, red clover tincture will do nothing to help you conceive. You need to drink the infusion (made by putting one ounce dry weight of red clover in a quart jar, filling the jar with boiling water, lidding tightly and steeping for at least four hours). The tincture contains neither the minerals nor the phytoestrogens you need.

Likewise, nettle tea is fairly useless. Make an infusion as for the red clover. You can drink a quart a day if you wish of either herb. Switch back and forth so you get both of them but don't combine them together.

Taking supplements when trying to conceive is risky. I would rather see you getting vitamin E from nuts, seeds, and fresh oils.

I am absolutely against progesterone cream. If you don't have a deficiency, you could cause damage to yourself and/or your fetus. Are you aware that you are using a hormone that is supposed to be used only by prescription? They got under the rule by saying they sell it only for cosmetic reasons. The dosage of progesterone is about 100 times greater than is considered safe by the FDA. I would avoid using it unless an MD supervised.

Green Blessings,
Susun Weed





To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Subject: diagnosis candida - need help!


Hello Susan,

I have just recently discovered your website and am sponging up all your wonderful, informative writing as fast as I can. I've already placed an order for your books and am waiting anxiously for them but meanwhile, I wonder if you can give me some direction is my ongoing battle with candida-albicans.

In a nutshell, after 2 years of antibiotics, which only made my multitude of symptoms worse, and a highly stressful job and lifestyle, I discovered a naturopath who immediately told me I had candida. For the past year I've been on ALOT of naturopathic capsules (very costly) and have changed my eating habits and food choices to all organic, no sugar or caffeine, only
whole grains, very fresh or freshly ground, etc... I've even quit my very stressful job and am seeking freelance work and a more balanced lifestyle. I am married and have a 4 year daughter at home, am 40 years old and fairly fit and active (working to improve my exercise patterns)

The capsules and supplements I take now are:

Zypan - stomach acid
Zymex - slow fix for candida
Drenamin - ? not exactly sure but think it's supposed to sort of lure
candida away from vital organs while we're working on eliminating it?
DHA - brain food
Calcium
Catalyn - vitamin supplement
Garlic - standard capsule

Teas - drink lots of Yerbamate and Paul D'arco loose teas daily with stevia - and have just started using Paul D'arco tea as a douche to try to put out the fires of my yeast infections.

Anyway, I still struggle daily with yeast infections and the cough after eating from not digesting my food (bad gut flora levels-I take Zypan for my digestive needs), and alot of sinus mucus along with various negative emotional effects do you know of other herbals that could help me recover from this faster and less expensively?

Signed, Desperate for health



Subject: Candida is a helper. It is keeping you healthy!

Susun's response:

Oh dear. From my point of view you are doing the worst things in the world to try to help yourself. Let me explain.

Candida overgrowth results from lack of gut flora (killed by antibiotics in your case, but also killed by chlorine in the water, preservatives in food, and essential oils in your environment).

Candida is a helper. It is keeping you healthy! You need it. But not so much of it.

What would convince it to ease off? More gut flora! You need to eat lots of moldy, yeasty, bacteria rich foods like yogurt and sour dough bread and homemade wines and unwashed fruit (for the molds on the skins) and miso and sauerkraut. I know. I know. This doctor told you to avoid all those foods. I can only tell you that I have helped people who have had candida for over a decade, people who have taken all the (expensive) pills, people who have eaten strict diets, people who have done everything they though was right but still weren't healthy and still had symptoms. After 7-10 days on the fermented, moldy, yeasty, bacteria rich diet they are smiling and feeling great!!

My friend Ryan Drum has also treated hundreds of candida cleanse failures. His remedy is the same, only more simple. He has you stir a big spoonful of organic garden soil into a glass of water and drink it daily for a month. Gets those molds, yeasts, bacteria, and fungi back in the gut where they belong. I also see that the stores are selling pills of soil micro organism, so if you are really into pills, you could choose that option.But it is ever so much more fum (and less expensive) to just eat blue cheese, etc.

My suggestions to replace your drugs:
Dandelion root tincture, 20 drops before meals instead of Zypan
Yogurt, etc instead of Zymex
Candida does not get into any organs, it stays in the intestines. So avoid Drenamin
Nourish your brain with whole grains and cooked greens. Avoid soy, and stop taking DHA.
Calcium makes brittle bones. Instead drink nourishing herbal infusions and eat yogurt.
A cup of nettle infusion has 500mg calcium. A cup of yogurt has 450mg of calcium.
There are no vitamins in pills. Vitamins are enzymes produced by living tissues. All pills contain laboratory make synthetics and cause disease. Those who take as little as 500mg of vitamin C a day for a year create blood vessels that look twice their age. Throw away your Catalyn.
Consumer reports found that garlic powder, like you buy in the supermarket had more effect that any garlic capsule on the market. Costs a lot less too. Even fresh garlic works better. Cook with it. Roast it. Eat it on toast. Make it into pesto. Be creative, but throw out the pills.

Instead of Yerbamate which is full of caffeine, try nourishing herbal infusions if nettle or oatstraw or comfrey leaf or red clover. All of them will help your gut. Pau D'arco will kill gut flora. Please stop drinking it. Stevia could also make things worse as it is so sweet. Try to do without it for a while if you could.

If you have a vaginal yeast infection, it is NOT related to candida. Same organism, almost, but with a different lifestyle. First, eat yogurt. Then, put yogurt into your vagina. Do this for at least ten days. If symptoms do not go within a week, you have a bacterial infection, not a yeast infection. If so, you could put a peeled clove of garlic inside, near the cervix for 10-14 days to challenge the bacteria. Be prepared to smell like garlic if you choose this option. But please don't use Pau D'arco or anything else as a douche. Douches cause vaginal infections!!!

So these are my opinions. They are based on my extensive and ongoing research and my work with people over the past 35 years. We are all different and what has helped some others may not help you. But it might :)

Let me know how it goes for you. Helps me help others.

Green Blessings,

Susun Weed



Subject: Please, please advise me further.

Hi Susan,

Thank you so much for responded to my questions. As I read your answer, I find myself filling with a mix of anxiety and fear as well as excitement and hope. This has also brought on more questions, like:

If I let go of the last year's worth of efforts, can I continue to get questions answered by you or should I ask for a professional referral to whom I can connect with? (All I mean is I don't want to assume that your services are free even though I am very appreciative of your reply to my original query.) I was very sick a year ago and although not cured I do feel some fear in letting go of this way of medication. I thought I was taking a positive step into the naturopath world and away from the traditional "scientific" medical world; but now I find that I should take an even bigger leap of faith into the wise woman world and frankly, I'm scared!

One of my biggest fears is knowing what to eat now (I mean like the naturopath gave me a list of what to eat and what not to eat) and how to prepare tinctures, etc. I feel so unknowledgeable but wanting to learn about this way of healthy living. Is there a description of a wise woman's diet and recipes in your books that I have not gotten to yet? (I'm still reading the first book)

Please, please advise me further.



Subject: Trust the Wise Woman in You!

I am sorry but Susun will not be able to answer, she is away for sometime and her inbox is glutted. I trust you, being a wise woman yourself, will find the answers to your questions.

Love, Justine





To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Subject: Breastfeeding and Herbs

Dear Susun,

I pray to God for assistance in writing this letter. I am 35 years old and my husband and I would like to have another baby. (My husband would like two more.) We have two already. I have always had difficult pregnancies. Before my oldest was born, I had 4 miscarriages. The first one I didn't know what happened. The second was a blighted ovum, the doctor said. The third was much more tragic. I lost him at 20 weeks. I had problems with premature labor and severe leg and back pain. It's a long story. I was hospitalized and had a cerclage ( my cervix stitched). After I got home, my water broke and the baby died in my uterus sometime later at the hospital. The last miscarriage was at 22 weeks. I had another cerclage and was put on bed rest at 14 weeks. Again I had problems with premature labor and was prescribed medicine . Still having problems with premature labor, I was hospitalized. After some time, I start hemorraghing at the hospital. I lost that baby as well. My last two pregnancies, however, resulted in 2 wonderful children after switching doctors. After 4 cerclages and 2 cesareans, what could I do to have a pregnancy without the bedrest, premature labor, and the cerclage? I have had so many problems. My family says that I should not get pregnant again. I love children and I want more. I am breastfeeding right now. I really do not know what to do to prepare for a healthier pregnancy while I am breastfeeding.

If you need more information to be able to adequately address and answer this inquiry, would you please respond to this e-mail with a phone number so we ( my husband and I ) can contact you personally. I am Un-comfortable relaying such sensitive and intimate matters over the web. Even this has been difficult for me to write.

Thank You for taking time to read this.


Subject: raspberry is the best known, most widely used, and safest of all uterine and pregnancy tonic herbs

You have provided plenty of information. you are lucky to be alive and your husband and children are lucky to have you with them too. Although you don't want to hear this, I think your family is wise in their protection of you and they have valid fears. If you were to have a complication the whole family might lose you.

If you are determined to have another child - as it sounds you (or your husband) are - then you need to nourish yourself. You are still nursing and considering getting pregnant again. What have you been doing to strengthen your reproductive organs such as your uterus?

Do you use herbal medicines? You can start drinking herbal infusions, click here for recipe

Brewed as a tea or as an infusion, raspberry is the best known, most widely used, and safest of all uterine and pregnancy tonic herbs. It contains fragrine, an alkaloid which gives tone to the muscles of the pelvic region, including the uterus itself. Raspberry leaf tones the uterus and helps prevent miscarriage and postpartum hemorrhage from a relaxed or atonic uterus. Safe for use while lactating - the high mineral content of Raspberry leaf assist in milk production, but its astringency may counter that for some women. Raspberry leaf works to encourage the uterus to let go and function without tension. It does not strengthen contractions, but does allow the contracting uterus to work more effective and so may make the birth easier and faster.

You would be wise to strengthen your uterus and nourish your body completely before trying to get pregnant again - try to put it off for a while longer so you can increase your chances of enjoying a healthy pregnancy and successful delivery.

A few more articles you will want to read:
Herbal Allies for Pregnancy Problems
Fertility after Forty


To ensure a healthy pregnancy, consider ordering Susun Weed's
Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year

Love,
Justine (Susun's daughter)


To: Susun Weed
Subject: Re: Breastfeeding and Herbs

Thank you for your quick response. It was a Reminder for me. I am a vegetarian and I have taken herbs but not consistently. My husband and I do want more children but we are waiting for at least a year or two. I will buy the Book and start preparing. I thank you again. You are a good service to the people.




To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Subject: Progesterone cream - don't believe the advertising

Hi Susun,
I have just "discovered" your book through a friend. I'm enjoying your very different viewpoints. I also heard a radio show you did last night and I discovered (to my horror) that you don't agree with the use of progesterone cream which I've been using faithfully for the past 6 months. Thank you, thank you, thank you for waking me up! (I'm also a nurse, I should have known better!)




Subject: Re: you are special

Susun's response:
You are welcome. It is easy to believe advertising. What a rare and remarkable woman you are to understand immediately the problems and to change your actions. Brava!!

Green Blessings,

Susun Weed

 




To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Subject: How can we establish good intestinal flora?

Dear Susun, I have ordered all your books and am waiting for delivery. I heard you on the Cary Nosler show in Sacramento, CA. My breastfeeding daughter has had reoccurant mastitis and has been on antibiotics for weeks (the mastitis is still not cleared up). Her 10 week old twin girls have gotten terrible tummies. Their feces smell like fresh bread dough (yeast) and they have gas and pain. How can we establish good intestinal flora for them? Are there herbs that we can use.? We are desperate here.


Subject: yogurt will help to establish good intestinal flora

Susun is away now, she won't be back for a few weeks. Is you daughter consuming plenty of plain yogurt? If not, make sure she eats at least a few cups a day, and it should contain live culture including L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, and S. thermophophillus. Eating the yogurt will help your daughter reestablish good intestinal flora, which in turn should help the babies. Is it possible that the babies have thrush? Do they seem hungry but fuss instead of nursing? Are the insides of the cheeks and throat redder than normal? Check carefully for white patches on the inner cheeks and other tender tissue; these are yeast colonies.

Some thing to do to help eliminate the yeast overgrowth: first take special care with hygiene to keep it from spreading. Wash hands every time the babies mouthes or mother's nipples are touched and after changing diapers and going to the bathroom. Coat the inside of each baby's mouth with yogurt after each feeding. Dip your finget in the yogurt and offer it to be sucked; wash your fingers afterwards. Also, smear the nipples with yogurt; wash before nursing. Take special care not to contaminate your yogurt with thrush. Or, dissolve a level teaspoon of baking soda in eight ounces of water. Using a fresh cotton swap thoroughly wipe the insides of the baby's cheeks, the gums, and the tongue with this solution after every nursing. Prepare the solution fresh every day and stir well before using. Discourage thrus on nipples by bathing them after nursing with a vinegar solution made from one tablespook vinegar in a cup of water. This need not be made fresh every day.

The herb of choice for curing the mastitis is Echinacea augustifolia. Unlike penicillin, it works as a preventative as well as a curative. Susun uch prefers the action of Echinacea as an infusion. Use one ounce of the root in a pint of boiling water and steep it for at least eight hours. Drink two cups until the fever comes down. Then make a lighter infusion: one ounce of the root in a quart of boiling water and drink one or two cups daily for another week.

If you must resort to echinacea tincture: use 1/2 drop per pund of body weight as a single dose. Repeat the dose up to six times a day until the fever remits. Continue with two to three doses daily for another seven days or until all symptoms are cleared.

A tincture of the fresh 9only) poke root stimulates lymph glands actively and clears mastitis quickly. Poke root is potent and the effect is cumulative; use no more than 2 drops daily. Weed usually combines Poke with Echinacea, but it may be effective as a simple.

In addition to the Echinacea root infusion and the poke root tincture, your daughter will want to poultice her breast/s at least four times daily as well as getting plenty of bed rest and she should try to nurse as long as possible on the infected breast/s.

She can use a hot poultice of Parsley or Comfrey leaves. Place a handful of fresh or dried herb in a clean cotton diaper, tie in a rubber band, and steep in simmering water for 10-15 minutes. Compress the breats with the hot, wet bundle.Even hot water alone has a beneficial effect, as it stimulates circulation and eases the tension in taut tissue; herbs increase the effectiveness. Frequesnt (4-5 times a day), short (3-5 minute), consistent applications work better than sporadic, lengthy treatments. If infection is present, throw away poulticing materials after use.

Above are just some of the remedies you will find in your copy of Susun Weed's Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year. I hope it arrives very soon and that you are able to help your daughter get well quickly. Rest is very important for her now, a ten minute nap every two hours would be good for her as will as enjoying a cup of violet leaf infusion. She will need as much help as she can get right now with two tiny tots!

Love,
Justine (Susun's daughter)

 




To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Subject: Uterine fibroid tumors and cyst on breast.


Dear Susun,
Recently found you on the web and just received my first newsletter from you. I first want to say I am so very Grateful to have found you all. I am an Herbalist, very new at it though and I was wondering if you could give me any guidance on fibroid tumors and cysts on breast. My fibroids are uterine and I know I have at least three large ones. One can actully be felt protruding in the lower abdomin area. Another interferes with my bladder as I am constantly having to urinate, leaving me unable to drink the required about of water a day. I do have heavy bleeding also.For the fibroids I am using a mixture of female bolus mixed with warm castor oil apply it with flannel cloth as poultice with some heat for two nights, next two nights same application only with olive oil, then two more nights same application with wheat germ oil. I am trying to avoid surgery at all costs, but it can be very painful and dibilitating at times. I also drink motherwort a week before and the week during menstration also drink red rasberry leaf on a daily basis. This does all seem to help, but wondered if there was something else I should or shouldn't be doing??? My cyst is on right breast adjacent to areola @ 9"o'clock if that is of any help to guide me. There is no pain and didn't know I had it till doc pointed it out. I have not started working on this. Your advise will be most appreciated. Thank you in advance. Peace and Blessings.



Subject: Chickweed tincture can be used to dissolve cysts.

Susun's response:

Chickweed tincture can be used to dissolve cysts. A dose is a dropperful, taken 2-6 times a day.

There is a long section on remedies for women with fibroids in New Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way. How old are you? Fibroids disappear after menopause.

I would advise against motherwort, especially so near your bleeding time, especially as a tea. It tends to encourage the growth of blood vessels to the uterus, the very thing you do not want. If you want to take some motherwort tincture to ease cramps while you are menstruating, that should be fine.

Many women find eliminating raw foods decreasing bleeding and pain from their fibroids.

Cme so we can talk. Every Tuesday evening (between March 12 and October 31) from 7:30 to 9:30 I answer the phone at 845-246-8081. there is no charge.

Green Blessings,

Susun Weed

 




To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Subject: premenopausal urinary tract problems


I respect your wisdom , having had good advise from you in the past.
I am 41 years in to this life and am starting to notice alot of changes. my husband works out of town alot, the last time he came home, we had alittle too much fun and now i have a bladder infection that i am afraid is heading for my kidneys. going to start nettle infusion and dandelion tincture, and am eating alot of yogurt(plain), also drinking a couple of glasses of pure unsweetened cranberry juice every day. i am not prone to urinary tract infec. i hope i am on the right track. is there anything else i should be doing , I don't want to use an antibiotic, thank you!


Subject: Re: urinary tract solutions - Uva Ursi Infusion or tincture work great

Susun's response:

Do you have my book New Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way? It has an entire chapter devoted to bladder infection fighters. So does Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year. You are doing good stuff (yogurt and cranberry juice). Check out the herb uva ursi. Infusion or tincture both work great.

Green Blessings,

Susun Weed

 




To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Subject: tamoxifen and diet


Dear Susun,
I am 47 years old and had a mastectomy 2 years ago when I was diagnosed with estrogen positive receptor cell breast cancer. I currently take tamoxifen. Do you have any specific recommendations with respect to diet? I eat a tofu/fruit/flax seed smoothie several times a week, and take up to 800 IU of vitamin E daily, both of which seem to help with the hot flash situation (did I forget to mention that I have had three periods since I stopped chemotherapy in May 2000?). Maybe this is too much personal information for you., but in for a penny,... If you have any information, or could direct me to a source of information (so much is conflicted), it would be wonderful. Thank you for your time. Greens Regards



Subject: Be aware of the dangers of vitamin E supplements

Susun's response:
Do you have either my book Breast Cancer? Breast Health! the Wise Woman Way or New Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way? In the first, I have a chapter devoted to complimentary medicines for women taking tamoxifen. In the latter, much info to help you with hot flashes.

In both books you will find that I urge women to be aware of the dangers of vitamin E supplements. THere are eight forms of vitamin E used by the body and pills supply only one. In fact, alpha tocopherol has been found to be a very active PRO oxidant! Women who take supplements of E are four times more likely to die if they have breast cancer than women who have not taken such supplements. And vitamin C is worse; it is the favorite food of many aggressive breast cancers. The menopause book has an appendix which lists the best food and herbal sources of nutrients. For more E, eat peanut butter, nuts, fresh ground flour, whole grains.

Tofu is a problem. I eat it rarely or not at all. I am not at ease with women on tamoxifen taking it. A recent study of Japanese men found those who ate tofu twice a week or more were TWICE as likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's. (These men and their diets have been followed for twenty years!) Ditto with soy beverage. Avoid. THe best soy products are miso and tamari. But soy is not recommended by me for menopausal women and is not allowed in any alternative cancer clinic in North America, most of which believe that tofu and soy milk aggravate cancer.

Flax seeds eaten raw are also a problem. All the studies that found benefit gave women freshly ground flax cooked into muffins or bread. That is the best way I know of to use flax. You may want to read my article on phytoestrogens in the menopause website.

Maybe this is too much information for YOU, but I hope not. Remember hot flashes are a sign of health and we do not want to remove them.

Green Blessings,

Susun Weed

 




To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Subject: Tummy fat

Blessings, Susun!

I have loved and treasured my body for all it is, all it has done, and all it tells me for several years now, but I am wondering if the extra fat it is laying down, especially around my middle, is a good thing or an exclamation to make a change. I am nearly 51. What do you think? This has been going on for about 5 years now, especially so this past year.


Sent:
Subject:

Response:
it depends entirely about how you feel physically and emotionally about you extra fat. it is a natural response for the menopausal body to take on extra weight to ease the transition. But, you need to be the one to decide how much fat and how you feel about it. Do YOU feel it is an Exclaimation for change? Is it healthy fat? Can you tell the difference? How is your diet? These are questions you can ask yourself - you already intuitively know the answers.

Also read Susun's excerpt on weight gain from her New Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way.

Love,
Justine (Susun's daughter)



Subject: Re: Tummy fat


Thanks so much for your response. My diet is healthy... largely veggies/grains/cheese..... I really don't have a problem craving sugary things (I eat very few of those), so that's not it, and I
walk easily an hour and a half per day, 4 days a week. I will look at the reference you sent to see if there are some clues there. I have the book, but am reading Healing Wise first, to
give me a good foundation. BTW, I am SO looking forward to learning from my green friends I
never appreciated fully before, once the weather warms. Do you have any suggestions as to things I want to be looking for right now, or will I have to wait till everything starts to grow in
late March or so?



Subject: Gaining some weight during menopause is completely normal....

Yes, you may have to wait to find you green allies until the plants grow again. But until then, how about making and drinking nourishing herbal infusions? You can buy the herbs in bulk (online or from a local health food store)and then you will have a good supply. Here is a nice article Susun just wrote, and of course you will find lots on the virtues of infusions in both of the books you have.

Love, Justine

PS. gaining some weight during menopause is completely normal....



Subject: Herbal Infusion and peace of mind

Thanks again!!! I feel more at peace after reading this info!

 






DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR SUSUN WEED?

Susun has a free hotline every Tuesday evening (from Mid-April to the end of October) from 7:30 to 9:30 EST. Call: 845-246-8081

NOTE: It is helpful if you have read Susun's article and books before calling her, as you will find answers to your preliminary question there and so Susun can help you with more indepth questions you may have.

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Susun Weed's books include:

 






Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year
Author: Susun S. Weed. Simple, safe remedies for pregnancy, childbirth, lactation, and newborns. Includes herbs for fertility and birth control. Foreword by Jeannine Parvati Baker. 196 pages, index, illustrations.
Retails for $11.95
Order at: www.wisewomanbookshop.com





Healing Wise
Author: Susun S. Weed. Superb herbal in the feminine-intuitive mode. Complete instructions for using common plants for food, beauty, medicine, and longevity. Introduction by Jean Houston. 312 pages, index, illustrations. Retails for $15.95 Order at: www.wisewomanbookshop.com



NEW Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way

Author: Susun S. Weed. The best book on menopause is now better. Completely revised with 100 new pages. All the remedies women know and trust plus hundreds of new ones. New sections on thyroid health, fibromyalgia, hairy problems, male menopause, and herbs for women taking hormones. Recommended by Susan Love MD and Christiane Northrup MD. Introduction by Juliette de Bairacli Levy. 304 pages, index, illustrations.
Retails for $16.95 Order at: www.wisewomanbookshop.com
For excerpts visit: www.menopause-metamorphosis.com



Breast Cancer? Breast Health!

Author: Susun S. Weed. Foods, exercises, and attitudes to keep your breasts healthy. Supportive complimentary medicines to ease side-effects of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or tamoxifen. Foreword by Christiane Northrup, M.D. 380 pages, index, illustrations. Retails for $14.95
Order
at:www.wisewomanbookshop.com





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