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I drink organic shade grown coffee but I put sweet and low in it. Gasp. I know, it makes no sense and I’ve tried to stop. I can’t. Over at 5 Minutes for Going Green I wrote a post about my natural weight loss struggle and the zero calorie mentality that basically has me hooked on artificial sweeteners.

This was before my new love affair with Stevia. Have you tried this stuff? Holey Moley! Good by artificial sweeteners, hello Stevia! Very expensive but well worth it. It is so sweet that I can use half the packet in my coffee and make it go the distance. Plus, zero calories and it’s natural.

Stevia, a herb native to Paraguay, has been “treated like a drug by the FDA”, again proving that the FDA is in bed with the chemical companies. The more I read about Stevia and the ongoing saga with the FDA, the more I am convinced that money has everything to do with what is on our shelves, versus health and safety.

Artificial sweeteners are big dollars in the U.S. and the FDA can’t have a natural herb like Stevia knocking all those pink and yellow packets off the grocery store shelves. Oh, my…what would happen?

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Instead, take some preventative steps and try some of these herbal remedies, often available at your local health food store.Before the flu comes your way, try some of these anti-viral and immune system building herbs.

1. Zinc - Zinc is an essential trace mineral that stimulates the immune system – great for those days when the flu is coming your way.

2. Echinacea - Echinacea a popular herb since the 70s is one of the two natural remedies that we start taking daily (with Vitamin C) around this time of year to boost our immune systems

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One of the most misunderstood and over-treated childhood conditions is a fever. Fever is not a disease, and in most cases is nothing to worry about. An elevation in body temperature is one of the body’s strongest weapons to deal with infections, and is best left to run its course.

A fever increases the amount of natural antiviral and antibacterial substances in the blood. Fever also increases white blood cell count, to kill cells infected with viruses, and it improves the ability of white blood cells to destroy bacteria and infected cells, while impairing the replication of bacteria and viruses.

Western medicine has a limited number of treatments available for fevers, most of which involve Tylenol or Ibuprofen, which may mask the symptoms and actually prolong the illness.

Treating a feverish child with natural remedies is a gentler method that doesn’t introduce pharmaceuticals into their body or artificially force a fever down. Dr. Robert Mendelsohn, author of How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor, debunks the myth that febrile seizures (convulsions) and high fevers cause permanent damage the child’s brain or body. He does recommend seeing a physician if your infant (under two months old) has a fever over 100°. Fevers under 106° should be allowed to run their course.

Of course, when your child is miserable and can’t sleep, treating a fever with natural remedies may give enough relief for them to sleep and heal. You will probably need the sleep as well…

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Feeling old?

Holy Basil helps your immune system to help you!

Research recently presented at the British Pharmaceutical Conference found that holy basil extract was effective at searching for and eliminating harmful molecules and protecting against damage caused by free radicals in organs.

The researchers, led by Dr Vaibhav Shinde from Poona College of Pharmacy, Maharashtra, India, studied the herb for anti-oxidant and anti-ageing properties.

Dr Shinde said: “The study validates the traditional use of herb as a youth-promoting substance in the Ayurvedic system of medicine. It also helps describe how the herb acts at a cellular level.”

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CankerMelts not only heal canker sores in 1 to 5 days, but they help relieve the pain too. These slow natural dissolving discs adhere to the oral sore and provide anti-inflammatory pain relief.  Recently, my daughter thought she had another canker sore, although I could not confirm it by peering in her mouth. I let her try CankerMelts, and she did not complain about the sore again.  CankerMelts are not limited to canker sores, as they can be used on any sore in the mouth, such as from braces or biting one’s cheek.  It is advised not to use CankerMelts with children under six years of age, due to choking hazards.  CankerMelts are made in the USA.

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Of course, this was one of the great hits of the party and I did NOT make enough. I had to keep a secret stash so that late comers could at least give it a taste!

Mr. Edworthy offered a very simple recipe for lavender infused lemonade that I couldn’t resist. I put two and two together and realized I had plenty of lavender in the garden just ripe and ready for this sweet, cool, summer drink.

Here’s what I did (pretty much straight from Mr. Edworthy’s book - it worked very well):

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We come from the earth, we return to the earth, and in between we garden.
Anonymous

Since we moved into our current home, we haven’t developed a serious vegetable garden. We’ve missed it, and every winter for the last 4 years, we have dreamed, planned, fantasized and even drawn pictures complete with fences (which are critical since we have a seriously hungry deer and critter population), vines, flowers and rows and rows of burgeoning edible vegetation.

The subsequent Springs have found these dreams beyond our capacity what with start up multi-media companies and other silliness occurring. However, we have managed to keep our perennial beds going and since I seem to have a flower addiction, these seem to expand a little every year.

For the last 3 years, we’ve been doing potted veggies and herbs on the deck, where our big scary guard dog (not), woody the wonder boy, our goofy golden retriever, keeps the critters from taking the entire harvest. We don’t mind sharing with the wildlife, but they tend to get greedy around here.

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Lovin’ Fresh is a series of recipes
designed to showcase produce gathered
from local farms or grown in my own garden. 

It’s been brought to my attention that croutons aren’t “much of an entry” (this from a man that goes pale at the mere mention of his participation in the nightly dinner preparations), but I beg to differ.  While making your own croutons isn’t hard, it’s something most folks rarely think to do.  The recipes I post aren’t meant to be revolutionary.  Rather, they are here to prompt you, noble Eat.Drink.Better readers, to embrace the freshest, local food you can find.  Homemade croutons made with a fresh herb butter fit in perfectly with that scheme, don’t you think?  I certainly do. 

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Pregnancy Herbal Tea Recipe:

To make this tea, add about 1 teaspoon of each herb, except the yellow dock, to a glass quart jar. Use just a pinch of yellow dock, as it has a strong flavor and should be used in moderation. Add boiling water to the herbs, and let the tea steep for at least four hours for maximum absorption of vitamins and minerals. This tea tastes good at any temperature, and a quart should be drunk every day by pregnant women and nursing mothers.

• Raspberry leaf: This herb has been called “The pregnant woman’s best herbal friend” by Jeannine Parvati, author of Hygieia: A Woman’s Herbal. The foliage has long been used by native people and midwives, as it relieves morning sickness and eases birth. This herb can also aid infertile couples.

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Imagine an organism, native to the American prairie, whose value to people prompted wholesale hunting to fill the demands of a niche market. In the period of roughly a decade and a half, consumers managed to rediscover and exploit natural reserves of this species which had originally been utilized by Native Americans in the eastern United States. The organism, echinacea (not the American bison), consists of 9 species of plants, some of which are recognized as endangered by federal and state authorities.

What Is Echinacea and How Does it Work?

The blanket term echinacea usually refers to three species of this plant: Echinacea angustifolia, Echinacea purpurea, and Echinacea pallida. All three varieties are native to North America and are often packed into individual or homogenized mixtures that are marketed as immunity boosters and touted to either prevent colds or lessen their impact/duration. Echinacea can be used preventatively or post-exposure to shorten the duration of colds when the rhinovirus (the cause of the all-too-common cold) has invaded and incubated, causing symptoms (the sniffles). Doses are delivered orally and come in the form of tinctures, pills, or drinks with intake instructions specific to the product listed within the packaging.

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Herbs that Alleviate Morning Sickness

Ginger is well-known for its nausea reducing qualities, and many women have had success with ginger tea for relieving their morning sickness. The herb I found most useful was peppermint. I drank my own blend of herbs for a pregnancy tea (I’ll be posting that recipe soon!), and the peppermint really made me feel better. You can drink the tea cold or hot, depending on what makes you feel better. Fennel seeds also relieve queasiness, whether in tea or simply chewing on the seeds. Slippery Elm is another herb that may calm your stomach.

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If you’re a college student looking for an internship this Summer, we’re looking for web publishing and marketing interns.

A 2007 study of health practice trends cited in an issue of Alternative Therapies estimated that nearly 1 of 5 Americans reported using herbals for treatment of health conditions or for health promotion (Gardiner et al., “Factors Associated with Herbal Therapy Use by Adults in the United States,” 22-29). This translates to a multi-billion dollar industry that will probably only grow as public education and the cost of medicines continue to rise. This trend, which spells good news for herbal therapy retailers and users, does not come without its share of potentially negative environmental consequences.

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Some years I’m more organized than others, but I almost always have some combination of edible vegetation to harvest throughout the growing season.

I take over the sunniest room in the house and cover every surface with my little egg cartons filled with wonderful nutritious soil and the baby sprouts that will become salad and pesto among other things in only a few short months.

Because I live in the wild suburbs of Northern New Jersey, we have significant challenges in having vegetable gardens because the deer and other critters are abundant, confused, and starving! If you don’t build a Fort-Knox style fencing system, it is a wonderful exercise in feeding the local wildlife, but don’t expect to have anything for yourself or your family.

So, we opt for primarily container gardening and keep it up on the deck and our really scary (not) golden retriever, woody, patrols the perimeter. We lose a little to the chipmunks, which are kind of like mosquitoes and have gotten far more brazen than I remember.

Here are my favorite edible things to grow in my little kitchen deck garden containers:

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