Question

My thyroid is very sluggish and I would like to give it some support, what could I use to stimulate it a bit?

Answer

Traditionally Bladderwrack is used to stimulate the thyroid. Other herbs such as Oregon Grape can also add some benefit by raising thyroid function and improving your digestive health through increasing digestive secretions used to break down your food so you get better absorption of nutrients. Plus, recently a customer came into my shop looking for Rosemary tincture. She had read an article stating this herb to be very good for low thyroid function. I hope to be hearing back from her on how it is working but am hopeful that it will be a good new herb to use with this issue. We at Hummingbird Herbals can put a formula together for you or you can buy these herbs individually and monitor how they are working for you one at a time.

Good Luck.

We aren’t quite clear of the cold and flu season yet and while kids are in school they are more likely to get sick due to the continual contact to others. One estimate suggests that up to 20% of children in this country are absent from school due to illness at any one time. If you are a working parent that means loss of work time for the duration of your child’s illness.  It’s good to have a few tricks up your sleeve to get your kids healthy quick and keep them that way.

The immune system is of course the first line of defense. The best way to keep immunity up is through a healthy diet. Sugar is one of the worst things for the immune system. One can of soda, such as Coca-Cola, can depress the immune system for an entire day.  Help your kids pass by sugar laden treats for more natural alternatives such as fruit sweetened juices (avoid products containing corn syrup), fruit, carrots, and nuts. Do not be fooled by cookies and snacks that say fat free. While sounding healthy they usually still contain lots of sugar. Children can also take the herb Echinacea during the school term when they are more likely to be exposed to viruses, stopping once vacation starts. Echinacea naturally stimulates the immune system and is a great preventative. Glycerites, extracts of herbs in vegetable glycerin, are a good herbal form to give to young children because they are sweet, do not contain alcohol and are convenient to take.

Dairy is another food item that can have adverse effects on a child’s health. While children need calcium, they can not always get it from milk due to their inability to digest it. Ethnic groups such as Native Americans and African Americans especially have this problem. When dairy is consumed by people who cannot digest it, it creates an irritation in the body, causing mucus to form in the digestive system and the lungs. Ear infections as well as sinus problems, allergies, and asthma can all result from this condition. If these illnesses are chronic, consider removing dairy from the diet for several months and see if there is an improvement.  Calcium can be supplemented from other foods such as tahini (sesame butter), tofu, broccoli, cabbage, dark leafy greens, quinoa and amaranth (ancient grains found in health food stores), and almonds to state a few. Herbs with calcium include nettles, horsetail, dandelion and peppermint.

Once a child has already come down with a cold or flu, there are many herbs to both soothe and dispel the problem. Anti-virals such as lemon balm for young children and osha for older kids help with everything from bronchial and sinus problems to cold sores. If your child tends to get chest colds, try red clover, mullein, and marshmallow as a tea. These herbs will help to soothe and move mucus out of the lungs.

For sinus congestion with difficult breathing, give your child a steam bath. Just boil a pot of water, and after turning off the stove, add a handful of thyme to the water and cover. Let steep for 10-15 minutes, long enough to let the water cool a bit. Transfer the tea into a bowl, and with the child’s head covered in a towel to make a tent over it, have them breathe in the steam. Be careful to keep their face far enough from the steam so that they will not burn themselves. Thyme is a great anti-bacterial and opens the air passages. This is due to its essential oil which degrades over time, so the herb must be good quality and fairly fresh. The thyme that you’ve had in your pantry for three years as a seasoning won’t work.

Fevers are another concern to parents and are uncomfortable for the child. They are however the body’s way of fighting off illness. A rise in body temperature can help to kill pathogens and increase the activity of the immune system. Unless your child has a fever over 102 degrees, do not try to suppress it. Instead give a tea of yarrow, peppermint and elder flowers. This is a traditional tea blend that stimulates sweating, thereby speeding up the healing process through cleansing. After a good sweat the body’s temperature usually drops naturally. You can further support this process by bundling up the child when they drink the tea, to further stimulate sweating.

Other good cold and flu herbs are rose hips with their vitamin C, vervain to help with headaches and achiness as well as being anti-viral, and ginger for its warming and anti-nausea effects. All this should give you a good arsenal to deal with the common acute ailments that children get all in your own home. Of course you should see a qualified health practitioner if your child or has a high temperature or does not get better within a few days.

-Health and Blessings, Melanie Rose

Melanie Rose is the owner of Hummingbird Herbals, which makes medicinal tinctures, teas and body care products as well as carrying quality bulk herbs, and is a practicing herbalist in Durango.

Question

I was wondering if you have anything that would work for an 11 month old for a cough. I believe it is related just to a cold, but it doesn’t seem to want to go away. If you could please let me know if there is anything that would help, it would be appreciated.

Answer

The Kid’s Cough Away is useful for clearing up a cough, both by stimulating immunity, reducing irritation and through its expectorant quality (moving mucus out of the lungs). You can put the tincture in a little juice or give it to them straight. I would suggest giving the dosage of 4-8 drops on the bottle up to 5 times a day. Health and Blessings, Melanie

Question

I have a problem falling asleep and remaining asleep during the night, but I still work and get up at 5am M-F. I am looking for some herbal, that will allow me to sleep better, but not knock me out so I cant get up in the morning. Do you have any herbals that might help this condition? I don’t want to go to an MD and start taking sleeping pills because I believe natural herbs are much better for the body.

Answer

Our Dream Deep tincture formula has been very helpful for many people that suffer from this problem. It will make you sleepy at night but has no lingering effect in the morning. Plus unlike most drugs on the market, these sedative herbs are not addictive. The above formula does have Valerian in it, which while being a wonderful sedative is not very yummy and very occasionally a person may have the opposite reaction. If you have never taken Valerian I suggest taking a small amount earlier than bedtime to check your reaction before depending on it. I see this opposite reaction less often with the formula than with the single herb tincture. Passionflower and Kava as single herbs are other nice sedatives. Kava works particularly well if your mind is overly active or stress and anxiety are involved and Passionflower is helpful for high blood pressure as well. If these herbs don’t work effectively enough, there maybe something deeper that needs to be worked out which can be discussed in a consultation.

Question

I have Acid reflux and would like to avoid taking pharmaceuticals for the problem. Got any ideas for a natural remedy?

Answer

Good choice! The popular way for treating acid reflux with drugs like Nexium, Prylosec and the like blocks production of acid in the stomach for up to eight hours but does nothing to keep the esophageal valve shut or heal the problem. What’s worse, without stomach acid you cannot break down proteins into amino acids which are the building blocks for neurotransmitters and thus mental health AND you cannot absorb essential vitamins like B or calcium. Long term use of these drugs may even make you more susceptible to stomach cancer.

Instead the problem can be treated with herbs, which will strengthen the digestive tract and eliminate the problem. Hummer’s Bitters taken before meals helps to stimulate digestive juices and enzymes causing more ease of digestion and less problems with acid reflux, indigestion and bloating. Plus it can help with cravings for sugar and help with the digestion of fats, aiding in weight loss, another common contributor to acid reflux.

If the occasional potluck, binge or wine drinking episode leaves you with symptoms even after taking the Hummer’s Bitters (or in case you forgot to take them) the Neutralizing Cordial is an excellent remedy for symptomatic relief. However I highly recommend stopping the problem before it starts and I bet your general health and energy should also improve.

Winter is getting closer, the nights are colder, and acute illnesses are becoming more prevalent.  With the fluctuations in temperature from warm days to cold nights, dry indoor heating, and kids back in school spreading germs, it is easy to catch a cold or worse this time of year. That does not mean that you have to suffer this winter, however. There are many natural methods to keep you healthy or help you recover faster if you do catch your coworker’s cold.  As an herbalist I see hundreds of illnesses respond favorably to herbal medicine every winter and hope to share my experiences with you so that you can experience the same relief.

Prevention is the best way to stay well this winter. Echinacea’s popularity is not unfounded as it is one of the best immune enhancing herbs if you feel your stress level elevated and your immunity down. Even after you’ve received the first blow of illness Echinacea is useful, but other herbs should also be used if you want a speedy recovery. Astragalus is another more pleasant tasting immune enhancer, which makes it great for taste conscious children. I recommend taking these herbs in a tincture, a liquid extract in an alcohol base, as the potency is preserved in alcohol and gets into the blood stream quicker, thus being more effective. For kids and others that are sensitive to alcohol try a glycerin based tincture instead.

If you have missed your opportunity to stave off a winter cold or flu altogether and are beginning to experience achiness, sore throat, stuffiness, etc. it is time for more drastic measures. Taking antibiotics when you have a virus is not useful as they are only effective on bacterial infections and can actually decrease your state of health by killing useful bacteria in your gut necessary for proper digestion. This is where herbal medicine shines with anti-viral herbs such as Osha, Lomatium, and Baptisia. All can help decrease the time you are sick and can be used in combination with other herbs for symptomatic relief. Osha, a local plant traditionally used by native people in this area, is particularly useful for upper respiratory infections due to its added ability to expectorate mucus out of the lungs and thus help resolve lung infections. For those that have a bacterial infection such as strep throat or a sinus infection, Usnea tincture, a lichen that grows off tree branches in the area, can be useful if used immediately and diligently. If you are not experiencing relief after several days be sure to see a doctor as the complications from an untreated Strep infection can be serious. Thyme, Yerba Santa, and Eyebright are useful for upper respiratory congestion and are good in combination with antiviral or antibacterial herbs in tincture. Herbs to try for a dry, unproductive or painful cough are Elecampane, Mullein, or Coltsfoot. Soothing herbs like Licorice, Marshmallow and Fenugreek are also useful if there is much irritation in the throat, lungs or sinuses and all can be made into a pleasant  tea.

Another time honored way to recover from a winter illness is through sweating. At the beginning of an illness try taking a hot bath while drinking a cup of Peppermint tea. As soon as you get out of the bathtub bundle up in a warm robe and jump into a bed piled with blankets and stay there. Bringing up your body temperature stimulates your immune system, which is why we get feverish when sick. If you quickly produce a temperature over 101 when illness strikes you can be assured that your immune system is working effectively. Suppressing a fever with over the counter medication might make you feel better temporarily but it is actually suppressing your immune function and will keep you ill longer.

While Goldenseal is an herb that has been popular for years for winter ailments, particularly in combination with Echinacea, I do not recommend using it in my practice. Besides the fact that it is endangered or threatened in most of its habitat and is exorbitantly expensive, it is also in my opinion often the wrong herb to use. During the initial stages of an illness your body puts up defenses through secretion and inflammation to fight off foreign invaders. Goldenseal, an anti-inflammatory to mucus membranes, will only stop your body’s wise attempt at defense making it harder for your body to heal. If you have taken this combination before you have probably experienced some relief from the symptoms of your cold (stuffiness and runny nose) and thus thought that you were getting better.  However it may actually draw out your illness in the same way over-the-counter cold medicines do. Goldenseal is indicated in chronic ailments, where continued inflammation could lead to a secondary infection such as a sinus infection, and with bacterial infections. If you want an affordable and ethical substitute for Goldenseal try Oregon Grape or Yerba Mansa, and use them appropriately as well.

Most importantly, when it comes to health, listen to what your body is wanting and give it the rest and caring it needs to make the healing process easy and successful.

Health and Blessings, Melanie Rose

Melanie Rose is the owner of Hummingbird Herbals, located at 230 E. College in Durango and offers classes and herbal consultations. She has been working with herbs for the past seventeen years.