’Tis that time of year. You know… When all of your best intentions about not scarfing down mass quantities of holiday delectables go out the door. What to do when you’re at a holiday gathering and your belly is starting to bloat like a hot air balloon, but you forgot to wear stretchy pants? Well, if you planned ahead, you take out your little brown bottle of digestive herbs.
Gut health isn’t as complicated as it sounds. But a vast majority of people all over the world are plagued with stomach problems brought about by irritable or sluggish digestion, despite eating all the right stuff and exercising too. Why does this happen and what consequences can it bring about?
Wait, you might be thinking, mints can be bitter? Yup…not all mints have a lovely aroma and flavor. But this doesn’t mean they aren’t great medicine. Some of my favorite all-time herbs are bitter mints. In fact, I just processed pounds-worth of one of them, motherwort, yesterday with my herb-growing friend.
If you like to cook, drink tea, or simply enjoy a variety of tastes for your sophisticated palate, you have undoubtedly used ginger at some point in your diet in several different ways. Available for ingestion as a fresh root, a powder, a whole leaf, and even pills, ginger has played a large role in kitchens and medicinaries for centuries all over the world.
Litsea is a bit off the beaten path for some folks. Those familiar with Traditional Chinese Medicine, however, will know that Litsea (or May Chang) has been used medicinally for thousands of years. Native to Southeast Asia, Litsea has been used for everything from asthma to digestive issues.
Kimchi, the Korean dish featuring fermented cabbage, is a nutritious powerhouse. For starters, it’s a heck of a source of probiotics, which help keep your gut health in tip-top shape. When you consume probiotics regularly, it keeps your digestive system moving, it keeps
I woke up the morning before last and it felt like autumn. Sure, it’s still quite warm during the day here in Durango, but something about the light and the cool morning air signaled the imminent arrival of the colder months here at higher elevations.
One of the things I miss about living in California is the preponderance of oak trees. They’re all over the hillsides with their beautifully twisting branches. Even small patches of oaks provide food, shade, and habitat for a wide variety of plants, mushrooms, and creatures. Not to mention, oaks are great trees for climbing, and, if big enough, lounging in. Oaks are trees in the genus Quercus, of which there are hundreds of species.
Stomach cramps and bloating are uncomfortable at best, and downright painful at their worst. Almost all of us are familiar with dull pains that originate in our lower abdomen and cause us to curl up, swearing to avoid dairy or roasted garlic for the rest of eternity.
Plumeria are a member of the family Apocynaceae or Dogbane family of the genus Plumeria L. or plumeria P. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) does not list any species for the genus. Though it is commonly thought that the plant is native to Hawaii, DNA testing has proven that its origin is in the southern forests of Mexico.