Tuesday's Tip!

Liver and Gallbladder Flush Tea!

Liver Flush Benefits
The liver and gallbladder flush restores the normal functional capacity of the liver to dump toxins into the bile so that they can be eliminated through the intestines and colon. The flush promotes overall digestive health including bowel elimination. Olive oil has been known to increase beneficial HDL cholesterol levels while lowering harmful LDL cholesterol.

Liver Flush Pointers
One of the best times to take the liver flush is in the evening just before bedtime. It is best to eat a light dinner, then just before bed do your liver flush. Taken on an empty stomach is optimal. Have a cup of tea ready to drink immediately after taking the flush.

Liver Flush Recipe
Mix these ingredients in a blender or in a jar and take just before bedtime.
Olive Oil - 3 Tbs. organic and cold pressed
Juice of 2 Lemons organic
Garlic - 1 medium clove organic and minced (beware of garlic breath the next day)
Ginger - small chunk organic and minced (chopped fine in a blender or by hand)
 Cayenne Pepper- just a pinch
Orange - 1 optional for taste

Directions for Liver Flush
1. Drink and follow with a cup of caffeine-free herbal tea, such as  peppermint!
2. Drink the tea immediately following flush.
3. Go to bed and lie on your right side with your knees up to chest, so that the mixture goes directly to your liver and gallbladder. Some people experience moderate nausea but this passes quickly.
4. In the morning you should have a healthy elimination!

Weekly Herbal Tidbit Lemon Balm

I am using a lot of lemon balm this week so I thought yes! Let us do the Weekly Herbal Tidbit on lemon balm! We grow our own lemon balm here and its super easy!! I encourage you to grow your own too!

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), celebrated for its wide range of uses in the garden, kitchen and medicine cabinet.
Previously overlooked due to its aggressive tendencies, lemon balm is currently enjoying a revival by both herbalists and chefs alike, and its calming sensibilities are endearing themselves to our stressed-out, over-taxed bodies and minds. Indeed, as a healthy herbal tea, there can be no better tonic for uplifting spirits and relieving tension.

The mildly sedative tea eases headaches, indigestion and nausea and causes a slight dilation of the blood vessels, thus helping to lower blood pressure.

A History of Healing

Native to the Mediterranean region, lemon balm has been cultivated for more than 2,000 years. Its genus name, Melissa, is derived from the Greek word for bee; ancient Greek author Pliny the Elder and 16th-century herbalist John Gerard both observed that lemon balm is useful in attracting and keeping bees. Officinalis refers to its place in the official apothecary. The common name ‘‘balm’’ is shortened from ‘‘balsam.’’
Ancient and more modern herbalists alike were well aware of the plant’s healing and restorative powers. Gerard and the ancient Greek physician, pharmacologist and botanist Dioscorides both used the leaves steeped in wine to treat snakebites and scorpion stings. Maud Grieve gave a nod of scientific proof to those ancient uses in her book A Modern Herbal. She wrote in 1931, “It is now recognized as a scientific fact that the balsamic oils of aromatic plants make excellent surgical dressings: they give off ozone and thus exercise anti-putrescent effects. Being chemical hydrocarbons, they contain so little oxygen that in wounds dressed with the fixed balsamic herbal oils, the atomic germs of disease are starved out, and the resinous parts of these balsamic oils, as they dry upon the sore or wound, seal it up and effectually exclude all noxious air.”
Lemon balm’s popularity continued throughout the centuries, and it was enjoyed as a tea to combat mental confusion and as an elixir thought to extend lifespan. So widespread was lemon balm’s reputation for promoting longevity and dispelling melancholy that by the 17th century, French Carmelite nuns were dispensing their Carmelite Water to a faithful following. The lemon-balm infused “miracle water” was thought to improve memory and vision and reduce rheumatic pain, fever, melancholy and congestion.
Introduced into Great Britain by the Romans, lemon balm is now found in both England and North America, brought by colonialists who had come to rely on it for teas and flavoring. American Shakers grew lemon balm as a relief from mild fevers. One of the herbs grown in Thomas Jefferson’s gardens, lemon balm was well established as an important culinary herb, one especially suited to syrups and beverages.

Basic Lemon-balm Tea Recipe

The leaves of this herb have long been appreciated for their flavor. Pour a generous cup of freshly boiled water over 1-2 teaspoons of dried lemon-balm leaves and steep, covered, for 10 minutes. Keep the leaves covered to prevent most of the essential oils from escaping. Drink a total of 3-4 cups over the course of a day, preferably before meals. 

Lemon Balm and Calendula Salve

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Olive Oil
• 3/4 Cup Dried Lemon Balm & Calendula (Just throw in a couple handfuls of each until you get 3/4 cup- try to use equal parts of each.)
• 1/2 Cup Beeswax
• 3 TBSP. Coconut Oil
• 2 TBSP. Shea Butter
• 5 Drops Tea Tree Oil
• 5 Drops Lavender Essential Oil

*I do not add preservatives. Many of the ingredients contain natural preservatives, so your salve will have a shelf life of 1-2 years.

Directions:

1. Add dried herbs, olive and coconut oil into crock pot and heat on low for 3-4 hours.
2. Strain oil through cheesecloth and return to (clean) crock pot on low heat.
3. Microwave beeswax and shea butter in 1 minute increments until fully melted.
4. Immediately add melted beeswax and shea butter into crock pot & mix well with wooden spoon. If the wax starts to harden up turn the crock pot up to the high heat setting and stir until completely liquified.
5. Add in tea tree and lavender essential oils and mix well.
6. Pour mixture into small containers with lids and keep lids off until salve becomes solid.

This salve helps with:

• Minor Burns
• Bug Bites & Stings
• Inflammation
• Itching
• Chapped Lips
• Cold Sores
• Dry Skin
• Athletes Foot
• Warts
• Cracked Heals
• Sunburn
• Stretchmarks
• Hemorrhoids
• Shingles
• Muscle Aches & Menstrual Cramps

Yall have a wonderful week! Come out and see us this week in Laurel MS! Sat. May 4th Day in the Park!!!

Happy Herbal Healing! 

Homemade mouthwash!

Tuesday's Tip!
Making Mouthwash

Supplies Needed:
½ cup filtered or distilled water
2 tsp baking soda
2 drops tea tree essential oil
2 drops peppermint essential oil

Baking soda will settle to the bottom of the jar when not in use, so be sure to shake mouthwash before each use. Swish about 2-3 teaspoons of this homemade formula in your mouth for a minute or two. As with any mouthwash, try to avoid swallowing this while gargling.

Feel free to double this recipe for a larger batch. Making really big batches is not recommended because the oils will continue to blend over time and flavors can change.
Save money and get better mouthwash

Store Bought Mouth Wash $0.10/ounce.
Our mouthwash recipe above yields 5 ounces with raw ingredients that cost approximately $0.03/ounce.