Rosemary - The Herb of the Week

When I was working towards my Diploma of Herbal Studies, I went through an "herb of the week" program in addition. The rules were simple. Each week I chose an herb to learn about and use. For example, one week I adopted Lavender to be my studied plant. I even made bread that had lavender flowers in it.

I've decided to revive this tradition. So, I chose Rosemary to be my plant of choice this week. This means that I will cook with it, use it for beauty, make ointments - whatever I can think to do with it. I believe this to be the best way to get to know a plant.

My first assignment? I am going to buy a fresh rosemary branch and stick it in a bottle of wine to use as a heart tonic. I read in my Australasian course materials that it is a good tonic for low blood pressure which is something I am afflicted with. Plus, I cook with wine all the time and rosemary infused wine will give my food an extra kick.

Keeping Your Liver Healthy with Herbs

The liver is one of those organs that we often don't think about until it stops working. Whenever we drink or eat something, or liver steps in. It helps metabolize fats and the foods we eat and helps regulate our weight.
So what's the problem? It has TOO MUCH work to do. Obesity, taking medication, drinking too much, etc can all affect the way the liver functions. In other words, it is easy for the liver to get overworked which throws the body out of balance.

In Chinese Medicine, practitioners often help their clients restore liver health as a vital first step to any healing program. I believe in doing something similar. But instead of waiting for health to decline, I like to take herbs that are good for the liver on a constant basis.

Here are some of the herbs I use:

• Milk Thistle
• Dandelion Root
• Burdock Root

I go into greater detail about the herbs in an article I wrote: How to Use Herbs for Liver Health.

I also enjoy certain foods that have liver cleansing properties. Foods like lemons, artichokes, and watermelon are a vital part of my diet.

Living a Healthy Lifestyle is all About Simplicity

I've learned the hard way that we tend to over complicate the process of being healthy and fit. We go to the gym all the time, we restrict our calories and measure our food portions. While this is good to some extent - things can get complicated and frustrating rather quickly.

Instead, I've discovered that simplicity reaps for more rewards than complexity. When we want to lose weight or become healthy, most of us reach for the self help books and magazines. I don't know about you, but when I do this it tends to overload my brain. When that happens, I don't do anything.

But when I keep things simple, great things start to happen. I lose weight. I get fit and healthy. My health improves and I don't get as many colds. My allergy symptoms nearly dissapear. Here's what I try to remember:

• Maintain a simple yet balanced workout program that features activities that I love doing.
• Drink plenty of water and herbal tea.
  
• Eat lots of whole grains, a good amount of protein, and plenty of fruits and vegetables
• Take a time released food based vitamin daily.

And that's it. Losing weight and being healthy is that simple. Yet, I often forget that. For more of my thoughts on this subject, read an article I wrote on eHow.com called How to Enhance Your Life Through Simple Living.

Treating Menstrual Cramps with Herbs

I get menstrual cramps pretty much every month. Some months it's worse than others. And each time, I try to resist the urge to take painkillers like ibuprofin because I always get an upset stomach from them. I couldn't pull this off without herbs, however.

There are two ways that I use herbs to tret menstrual cramps. The first way is by using the plants to prevent cramping in the first place. I take stinging nettle and oatstraw throughout the month, which help a lot.

When I actually have the cramps, I use the following herbs to help bring me relief. I don't use them all at once - I'll just pick one or two and stick with that.

• Chamomile
• Ginger
• Basil
• Peppermint
• Cramp bark

I use a tea for all of them except the cramp bark. For that, I take a tincture. I never mix them - I just take one plant at a time because they don't seem to mix well together. The exception to this is with peppermint and chamomile.

That can help you get started. For more information, check out an article I wrote on ehow called How to Relieve Menstrual Cramps with Herbs.

Using Herbs for Weight Loss the Safe Way

I've been in weight loss mode lately. I'm doing it the old fashioned way - more exercise and healthy eating. But as an herbalist, I can't help but consider herbs that will aid my weight loss efforts. I know, this concept has mixed reviews by some - but hear me out. :)

My first experience with taking herbs for weight loss occurred when ephedra was popular for this, and it was not banned at the time. As an herbalist, I knew that it was utterly ridiculous to try it because of the side effects, but I went for it anyway. Ephedra is not traditionally used as a weight loss helper in the herbal world - it is known as a great respiratory herb and can help with asthma and other lung related problems. Sudafed is derived from this plant.

Anyway, I had an odd reaction to it. It accelerated my heart rate and made me sleepy - the total opposite of how it was supposed to work. In fact, I had to take long naps when I took it. Needless to say, it didn't work.

Over five years later, I know better. Now, I believe that the best approach to using herbs for weight loss is to focus on keeping the body healthy and strong and focusing on the liver. The liver is responsible for fat metabolism. And, since it tends to be overworked, especially if we are overweight, taking medication, drink too much alcohol, etc it is safe to say that if the liver is healthy it can really help. So, I'd focus on herbs like milk thistle, dandelion, and yellow dock to help with weight loss.

I wrote an article at ehow on How to Lose Weight With Herbs that goes into this concept in more detail. I also mention herbs such as green tea and calming herbs such as chamomile to also help with weight loss.

New Weight Loss Blog - Watch Me Succeed

I love showing people that doing certain things is possible. I currently have a goal to lose weight but I don't believe in diets. So, I started a blog called The Rebel Dieter - it's all about my quest to lose those extra pounds by changing my diet and lifestyle. The focus is on becoming healthier, not on dieting and deprivation.

Diets make me feel obsessed with food and that's the last thing I need when trying to shed unwanted pounds. I've learned that losing weight is all about moving the body and feeding it the right things to keep it healthy. The blog is all about how I'll go about doing that.

How Do You Like Your Tea?

I absolutely love drinking tea. I drink on average four cups a day. Green tea is my go-to but lately I've been enjoying Rooibos and fruity blends. The fruitier blends are wonderful iced and sweetened with a little honey.

One thing I love to do is slice up fruit like peaches and oranges and add it to my iced tea pitcher. I take out the tea bag after around ten minutes of steeping but leave the fruit in. The fruit adds natural sweetness without the extra sugar and gives black tea, which I usually find pretty boring, a little more interesting.

You can also spice things up by creating a tea ritual. I like to create a quite moment with relaxing herbs and quiet music. Sometimes, tea is about more than just drinking a beverage.