To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2001
Subject: Exposure to Chemicals and Pesticides...
Hello Susun,
I live in an area that is sprayed with agricultural chemicals rather
frequently. I was wondering if there is anything I can do to strengthen
my family's bodies against these harmful things. I already filter
my water and buy organic food. I try to stay inside while they are
spraying. I cannot afford to move. Besides I don't want to sell the
place...there are too many ancient oaks, my connection to my land(I
have spent my entire life here), and many memories here. I feel that
just about every place has some danger of poisons since humans have
so little respect for anything, and have decided to ruthlessly use
these chemicals. I speak out all the time against pesticide and chemical
use, but I just don't know what else to do when it comes down to actually
being exposed to the stuff. I'm frightened.
Thank you for your time
Sent: Monday, September 3, 2001
Subject: Seaweed helps to remove heavy metals
Susun's Response:
I hear you. The use of chemicals all around us is frightening. I am
especially carefull to eat organic meat, milk, butter, cheese, eggs,
and other foods that contain oils (seeds, nuts, grains) as that is
where the chemicals concentrate. Organic fruits and vegetables don't
matter as much. However, according to EWG
and USDA, the twelve most contaminated foods include: Strawberries,
Bell Peppers, Spinach, Cherries, Peaches, Cantaloupe, Celery, Apples,
Apricots, Green beans, Grapes, Cucumbers - buy organic when at all
possible, otherwise peel or wash well! The five least contaminated
veges are: avocados, sweet corn, onions, cauliflower, and asparagus.
Seaweed
helps remove heavy metals and radioactive isotopes; I eat it as
a vegetable once a week or more. You can learn more about wonderful
KELP
from Ryan Drum, professional wildcrafter, herbal educator. And,
make certain to discover Dulse
(Palmaria Palmata) featured by the outstanding Mendocino
Sea Vegetable Company.
Our bodies remove as much of the water soluble chemicals as possible,
the oil soluble ones just linger until we die. Not much we can do
to remove them except cry! Tears help release the dangerous chemicals.
:)
Green Blessings,
Susun Weed
To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Sent: Monday, September 3, 2001
Thank you so much for your info. I absolutely LOVE seaweed
To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2001
Subject: Multiple Chemical Sensitivities
Are there many herbal helpers for MCS(multiple chemical sensitivities)?
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2001
Subject: herbal remedies for MCS
The primary herbal helper for those with MCS would be stinging nettle.
The infusion (one ounce of dried herb brewed in a quart of boiling
water for 4-10 hours) strengthens the kidneys, adrenals, and liver
and helps the body deal with chemicals.
Both seaweed and burdock root, eaten as a vegetables rather than taken
in pills, remove heavy metals and radioactive particles from the body
and could be of tremendous assistance to you in becoming more tolerant
of the modern world.
Green Blessings,
Susun Weed
To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2001
Subject: Asking about progesterone
Intercourse is painful and there is bleeding. My periods are taking
longer to start. The doctor did a D&C and said that I had hyperplasia,
but it had very small chance of it becoming benign. But he put me
on progesterone. I take 1 tablet at night for the first 12 days of
the month. My emotions have calmed down a little. The med. is called
prometrium at 200mg. I'm 40 yrs old and a mother of seven. My oldest
is 20 my youngest two are 2 and 3yrs. old, so I cannot take a year
off. Would you recommend that I not take this. The only thing I've
heard about you is a tape from the Herbfest 2000, that a friend gave
me to listen to.Thank you for your time and answer in advance.
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2001
Subject: Nourish Yourself with Infusions
Susun's response:
Progesterone is a hormone that encourages the growth of new tissues;
it is the hormone of pregnancy. As such, it has a strong link to cancer.
Women who take estrogen and progesterone for five or more years have
40% more breast cancer than women who take no hormones.
Since you are obviously beginning menopause, I would not want to change
your hormones. But I am a woman and I have no need to keep you available
to satisfy my urges (as men do). In Tennessee the man of the house
builds himself another place to live during his womans menopause.
You may find your body acting in new and strange ways, maybe less
interest in intercourse and more interest in other forms of sexual
pleasure.
In general, I encourge you to take time to nourish yourself. I especially
recommend daily use of yogurt and nourishing herbal infusions. These
remedies may not solve your immediate problem, which as I understand
it is painful intercourse which causes bleeding, but they will strengthen
you throughout and may make your vaginal tissues stronger too. Red
clover infusion is also anticancer and may be a special ally for you.
You can learn to make an infusion from any of my books. Do you have
a copy of Menopausal Years? It contains pages of remedies for women
with dry vaginal tissues.
The revised edition (due out November 2001) includes a new section
on progesterone creams, one on wild yam as a progesterone precursor,
and one focusing on herbs as sources of hormones. It will be out in
less than six weeks. You can preorder it on line at www.wisewomanbookshop.com
Green Blessings,
Susun Weed
To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Sent: Friday, August 03, 2001
Subject: High Blood Pressure
Hi I am new to the site and you might have already answered this before.
I am 26 and about 50 lbs over weight. I have 3 children (by the way
the Childbearing
Years was my bible the whole time) well I have high blood pressure
and while I am losing weight I was wondering what herbs I could take
to aid in controling my blood pressure. Thank you so much for your
time
Sent: Monday, August 05, 2001
Subject: Motherwort tincture to lower blood pressure
I like Motherwort tincture, a dose of 25 drops several times a day,
to lower blood pressure. And an hour of yoga a week is also in order,
or a mile walk at least three times a week. And a diet with lots of
whole grains, well-cooked fruits and vegetables, and yogurt or fish
more frequently than meat helps too.
Green Blessings,
Susun Weed
To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Sent: Friday, September 07, 2001
Subject: IVF and herb safety?
Susun,
Women sometimes consult with me about herbs for fertility, and I generally
recommend red clover, nettle, raspberry leaf, to build up the body,
with the addition of false unicorn root or dong quai after a few months.
Some of these women at some point decide to try a course of IVF and
want to know if they should discontinue the herbs. I feel that nettle
and raspberry leaf should be continued, but I'm less sure about plants
like red clover or false unicorn, which have more of a direct effect
on the hormone balance and might distort the action of the hormones
administered during IVF. What do you think?
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2001
Subject: Wild yam or Vitex
to increase fertility
I think red clover would help protect them from the carcinogenic
effects of the hormones they take to do IVF and could be safely used
as an infusion several times a week. I don't use false unicorn much
as I have been led to believe that it is in short supply. Wild yam
would be my choice to increase fertility, or vitex.
I believe both could be safely used with IVF hormones, but not in
capsule form, only tincture or tea.
Green Blessings,
Susun Weed
To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Sent: Friday, September 21, 2001
Subject: Miscarriages...
Hi Susan,
I have had 5 miscarriages. I have had tests and blood tests and everything
has come back normal. I have one healthy little girl and had no problems
carrying her except that I was so sick. So sick that even my doctor
remembers how sick I was and that was five years ago! My doctors now
want to send me to a specialist but are so slow in doing things and
I am getting frusterated. And to tell you the truth, I doubt the "specialist"
will do much either. I lose the babies very early like 5 through 8
weeks. The longest I have carried was 10 and 1/2 weeks. they did look
at my husbands sperm and it is fine and normal they also looked and
my levels of hormone last time I was pregnant and said they were a
little low at first but then as the pg progressed they went up and
also they tested for chromosonal problems last time on the fetus.(
I had a D/C and they said nothing was found wrong.
Can you help me? Anything to suggest as what do I do?
I am currently taking vit e with tocopherols and B-complex and vit
C with bioflaviniods 500mg, calcium, folic acid and a prenatal supplement.
Is this even going to help? Ive never taken vitamins before and I
started taking these sept 3 and I got sick but kept on. Now I am fine
and my body is use to it now.
let me know what you think. Hope to hear from you soon.
Sent: Friday, September 21, 2001
Subject: Herbs for fertility
Response from Susun's Daughter (Justine):
First do you have Susun's book Childbearing Year the Wise
Woman Way? If not, I suggest you get it...carried in bookstores,
Amazon.com and at our website www.wisewomanbookshop.com
It is inexpensive and quite valuable....
Second, here is an article Herbs
for Fertility from our website and a link to the page...PLUS,
you may also want to read another article by Susun - Fertility
after Forty, even if you are under forty it still has some good
tips.
My guess is that susun would not be so pro the vitamins...except maybe
the vitamin E, which you could get from Wheat Germ Oil, as a more
complete and natural source...However, red clover infusion would be
her first choice for you...do you drink it???
ALSO ...too much vit C may make your environment too acidic and inhospitable
for conception...check out this site for more info...Sister
Zeus.... Using Vitamin C to Prevent Conception.
Write back with the answers to my questions and to let me know if
you have her book... She will be answering emails on Monday, so she
may be able to add further insight then...
Love, Justine (Susun's daughter)
To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Sent:Friday, September 21, 2001
Subject: Re: Herbs for fertility
Hi Justine!
First of all I just want to say that I am so happy you wrote back.
I have written for help and advice from different people ( doctors
mostly) And have never gotten a response. So thank you so very much.
Anyways to answer your question first off no I do not have susun's
book. But would like one.
I forgot to mention in my e-mail that I conceive very easliy. We joke
that my husband could look at me and I'm pg!
Secondly , Im not so hot on Vitamins myself, but I really didnt know
what else to take. We are desparate to try anything and not go to
a specialist. Im tired of being poked and checked and scanned and
having my blood tesed and taken for absolutely everything they think
might be wrong.
I don't drink red clover.I have never heard of it. Is the stuff that
you buy in a health food centre any good? I live up north and don't
know if we have it up here.
Thank you again for writing back to me.
To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Sent:Friday, September 21, 2001
Subject: Red Clover and Red Raspberry
You can buy red clover flowers and raspberry leaf dried from a health
food store or from frontier online...or another herbal vendor on line...check
out some of the resources in our herbal links on the links page..frontier
is there as well as other herbal vendors...
You need to first buy the herb, then make an infusion for it...I can
send you directions...or making the infusion its pretty easy...
Add to a canning jar one ounce of dried cut herbs, fill to the top
with boiling water...cap and let sit for 8 hours or more...drain and
drink....you should refrigerate after a few hours, if you make a big
batch but you can drink alot of it for a long time....
Really, do order Susun's book...its only 9.95 and it tells how to
make infusions, tinctures, salves, and the rest...plus lots of really
good info you must know..... www.wisewomanbookshop.com
Excerpt from her book:
P19 Preventing miscarriages and hemorrhage
Raspberry leaf tones the uterus and helps prevent miscarriage and
postpartum hemorrhage from a relaxed or atonic uterus.
P18 Red Raspberry Leaves
Brewed as a tea or as an infusion, Rubis is the best known, most widely
used, and safest of all uterine/pregnancy tonic herbs. It contains
fragrine, an alkaloid which gives tone to the muscles of the pelvic
region, including the uterus itself. Most of the benefits ascribed
to regular use of raspberry leaf throughout pregnancy can be traced
to the strengthening power of fragrine or to the nourishing power
of the vitamins and minerals found in this plant. Of special note
are the rich concentration of vitamin C, the presence of vitamin E,
and the easily assimilated calcium and iron. Raspberry leaves also
contain vitamins A and B complex and many minerals, including phosphorus
and potassium.
Susun also has a Threatened Miscarriage Brew on page 150 ( with Wild
Yam, Cramp Bark, and a few others) which you would want to read about
and prepare when you feel its necessary......
Let me know what luck you have sourcing the herbs and the book and
how it goes for you....
Love, Justine (Susun's daughter)
To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Sent:
Subject: Wild Yam for conception
Hope we aren't overdoing it with advice for you!! :) :)
Yes, do get my book, and check out the threatened miscarriage brew
in the introduction (really) by Jeanine Parvati Baker.
Sounds to me like you are not really producing enough progesterone
early on in your pregnancies. Wild yam tincture, 30 drops twice a
day, or two cups of tea a day, can help. The funny thing is that if
you take it every day it may prevent you from conceiving, so be sure
to take it only two weeks out of the month. For you, probably from
ovulation to menstruation. Once you do conceive, you can take the
wild yam every day.
Avoid herbs in capsules.
Important: to make an infusion, put one ounce (by weight) of dried
red clover blossoms or raspberry leaves in a quart jar and fill to
the top with boiling water. Cap and let sit fot 4-10 hours, strain
and drink the entire quart in a day. With bulk herbs, a cup is the
right amount if you don't have a scale to weigh out the ounce.
These infusions provide all the vitamins and minerals you need and
in more effective (and safer) forms than pills. I really do not think
that taking supplements will be of any use to you at all, and may,
as justine mentioned, be counterproductive.
Let us know if any of these things help you so we can keep helping
other women.
Green Blessings, Susun Weed
To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2001
Subject: Childbearing Years is helpful
Hi Susun and Justine,
I got your book! Its very informative. Lots of information to help.
Really good book. But I do have another question. I am drinking red
clover, but I read in your book that it was used for fertility, does
it help in pregnancy? Or more so raspberry leaf? Great cover on the
book! I didn't notice the baby in the moon right away, I noticed it
the second time I was looking at it.
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2001
Subject:Red Clover and Red Raspberry are great!!!
Yes, both are great. Use the 1:1 mix as described in the book on
page 3, or alternate. Both have great stuff in them that will help
you at this time and through your pregnancy and after as well...You
can, of course lean towards the Red Raspberry now, and use more of
the red Clover later.....But, both are allies for you for sure! So
glad you like the book!!!!!!!
Love,
Justine (Susun's daughter)
To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2001
Subject: Your book: Menopausal Years
Hi Susun
First of all I would like to tell you how great it is what you are
doing. I love your books! They are much needed! I just recently bought
the one about menopausal years and I have a question.
I had breast cancer when I was 43 in 1997 (Your book breast cancer-breast
health helped me tremendously through that difficult time. I did have
surgery, radiation and 2 sessions of Chemo, which I stopped, because
I didn't tolerate it well and it just didn't make sense to me. Through
the radiation I ate mostly fruits and your immune soup to help clean
out my system) My cancer which was hormone receptive is in remission
now. I totally changed my diet, mostly organic/vegetarian (with fish,
once in a while an organic chicken) am doing Yoga and meditation a
couple of times a week, etc., and I am not taking any Tamoxifen. I
am wondering now if there are any herbs in your book I should not
take, because it would increase my estrogen level. I try to cut down
on my hot flashes with dietary changes and additional Vit. B6, but
I can't wait to start on using some of your suggested herbs. Please
let me know. Thank you so much!
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2001
Subject: Avoid Soy and Dong Quai
Susun's response:
Get ready for the New Revised Menopausal Years, with lots more
information on phytoestrogens. (Available in two months)
The phytoestrogens found in foods and food-like herbs act like tamoxifen,
reducing cancer risk. Those in certain herbs, including soy, act differently.
So in your situation, I would avoid any soy except miso and tamari,
and probably not use dong quai either. I would use red clover, nettle,
and lots of lentils in my daily diet.
To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Sent: Monday, August 13, 2001
Subject: Your book: Menopausal Years
Dear Susun,
Thanks so much for your mail. I can't wait until the new revised Menopausal
Years comes out and will definitely get that one too. I knew about
soy, but I didn't know about Don Quai. So that's great advice and
I will not take that one. I will definitely add the suggested herbs
and foods to my diet. I know I will have more questions down the line.
In the meantime thanks again and have a great rest of the summer.
To: susunweed@herbshealing.com
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2001 12:26 AM
Subject: we've walked hand in hand
Dear Susun,
I would like to thank you for the blessing of your books. For the
past 18 years I have turned to you for guidance and wisdom. Wise Woman
Herbal for the Childbearing Years carried me through five pregnancies,
four home births ( two unattended homebirths), and child care . You
have never failed me. When my best friend was diagnosed with breast
cancer we devoured Breast Cancer Breast Health, which is my least
favorite book to have to give someone, but it has been a blessing
to many of my friends. Healing Wise is one of my favorite reads. Every
time I pick it up there is something (someone) new speaking to me.
Now as I begin menopause, I have turned to you again through Wise
Woman Herbal for the Menopausal Years and received relief, perspective
and wisdom. Thank you for walking this journey with me. You've been
there through it all the fears, joys and sorrows.
Blessed Be,
Beth
Sent: Monday, September 03, 2001
Subject: Thanks so much for your words of praise
Susun's response:
Dear Beth,
Aw gee shucks. blush blush Thanks so much for your words of praise.
Can I quote you?
There will be a revised and expanded version of Menopausal Years the
Wise Woman Way available by Hallloween. We will let you know as soon
as it is printed.
Green Blessings,
Susun Weed
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION
FOR SUSUN WEED?
Legal Disclaimer
top of page
|