Find Infusions Confusin'? :: Holistic Healing

Find Infusions Confusin'?
by author Tanya Coad

Infusions, decoctions, tinctures, extracts, poultices. It’s incredible how many ways the plant kingdom is used to ease human (and animal) suffering and discomfort, even in this modern world.

Western society teaches us to expect a pill for every ill, but this holier-than-nature attitude has backfired on us in terms of our population’s general state of health. Our great-grandparents depended on many forms of herbal preparations.

Infusions have been around since mankind first learned to boil water. The idea of using water to extract the health-promoting properties of a particular plant was a logical deduction, even for primitive man.

Herbal Infusions

An infusion is really just another name for herbal tea; usually one with medicinal benefits. The leafy and flowery herbs are exposed to hot water for only a short time to preserve their volatile oils. To make use of a plant’s tough roots, seeds, bark or nuts, a "decoction" is brewed by simmering them in hot water for 15 to 30 minutes. This may diminish some of the volatile oils but will release the healing constituents. Infusions must be refrigerated and used up within a few days of brewing.

Place about 28 grams (one ounce) dried herbs (or three handfuls of fresh herbs) into a glass, porcelain, ceramic (lead-free) or good quality stainless steel pot or teapot. Avoid aluminum cookware. Pour one pint (one-half litre) boiled water (preferably bottled spring water) over herbs and cover tightly. Let stand for 10 minutes. Cool slightly and strain through a piece of unbleached muslin cloth. Use the brew while still warm or store in fridge in a glass jar. Three cups of infused tea per day is generally a healthy amount to drink. Swish the liquid around in your mouth before swallowing to help with nutrient absorption.

Herbal Tinctures

Tinctures are created by steeping the herb in alcohol. (A few are now steeped in glycerin or apple cider vinegar.) They’re very concentrated, so a smaller amount is used for treatment. Tinctures are a better choice for herbs that are bitter or unpleasant tasting. A tincture lasts for months or years at room temperature.

A general rule of thumb for tinctures:

One part dried herb equals three parts fresh herb.

One teaspoon dried, crushed herb plus one cup hot water equals one serving.

Use any such spring and early summer-blooming herbs as elder flowers, nettles, raspberry leaves, dandelion leaves and St John’s wort. If you’re unfamiliar with the use and effects of any particular herb, consult alive’s Encyclopedia of Natural Healing.

Harvesting and Storing

Fresh herbs should be harvested in the morning before the heat of the day and after the dew has dried. Pick leaves while the flowers are still in bud. Flowers are picked just after opening.

Roots should be harvested at the end of the growing season when they contain their winter store of nutrients. Rinse them gently in cold water then allow to dry on an absorbent towel.

When herbs are gathered they can be tied in bundles and hung upside down to dry, spread on a clean towel or loosely scattered in a large closed brown paper bag. Discard any damaged leaves or flowers. The drying process should take place in an airy spot away from strong sunlight. Herbs must be thoroughly dried before storage or mould may occur. Preserve them in air-tight glass jars, away from light. Don’t crush your herbs until you’re ready to make your infusion.

PDF Table of Herbs and Their Uses

Tanya Coad is a health and nutrition researcher and vegetarian cook who has worked in the health food industry for many years.

Source: alive #223, May 2001

Herbal Medicine in the New Millennium
As we embark upon the new millennium, herbal medicines are everywhere. Herbs one could rarely find in health food stores 10 years ago now line their shelves. It's a sign of the times.

Beauty Supplements That May Surprise You!
Beauty is linked to health. And while everything you take into your body will have an effect on your outward appearance, some foods and supplements have more influence than others.

Herbs
So you take your vitamins daily, exercise regularly and eat well. You drink lots of water and get enough slee.

Reviving the Art of Poulticing
To our fast world of instant fixes, herbal poulticing may seem outdated and hardly worth the trouble required for preparation, but it can save time in the long run.

An Aboriginal Approach to Fighting Cancer
Cancer is like a prairie grass fire--it often spreads quickly and consumes all in its path. Buffalo medicine teaches us that those who survive the prairie fires keep a level head, knowing where to go to stay alive..

Stinging Nettle: A Golden Oldie
Masan was once golden with shimmering leaves and a bright aura. The human beings did not pay their respect to this plant medicine, taking it for granted, passing it by without offering tobacco.

Herbs for Hectic Times
Famous author and personality Deepak Chopra likes to tell a story about a medical doctor who had not had a check-up for 25 years. When the doctor finally was compelled to get a physical for life insurance requirements, a large dark spot was found on his lung. It was diagnosed as inoperable cancer. A couple of months later, the doctor was dead.

Herbs 101
I first started to study herbal medicine in 1975 when I was 20 years old.

Happy in Herb Heaven
When I was growing up, my mother would send me into our herb garden to gather chives, parsley and lovage. I'll never forget being surrounded by the distinctive aromas and how she used these herbs to enhance the flavour of our soups, salads and more. Herbs are nature's special gift to us.

Libido-Enhancing Products
, also called "potency wood, has been used historically to treat sexual debility.

The Spirit of the Nature Doctor
The workers use only organic farming metho.

New Roots Herbal
Peter Wilkes, founder and president of New Roots Herbal, is no newcomer to the natural health industry. In 1977, Wilkes founded Community Natural Foods; two years later, he launched a second company, Christmas Natural Foods, in Richmond, British Columbia..

Healing Traditions of Latin America
. It's the ancient Mayan herb that has strengthened men's sexual potency in the forests of Central America for centuries.

Shopping List for a Healthy Heart

Vitamin E (100 percent natural source mixed toco.

Happy 30th anniversary, alive!
This month marks the beginning of alive magazine's fourth decade. Over the years, millions of readers have benefited from the information, advocacy, and guidance provided through the pages of alive.

Natural Digestive Aids
Peter Rabbit's mother knew the therapeutic value of natural digestive aids. She dosed Peter with a cup of strong camomile tea after his overeating escapades in Mr. McGregor's garden gave him a bad case of indigestio.

Why Herbs Work

The Art of Wild Harvesting
Individually, many of us have little ongoing direct experience with plant life. However, big business is quickly recognizing the huge profit potential in selling herbal medicine. At the very least we may say that herbal medicine is re-emerging as people discover its many positive qualities.

Learning about Herbs

Can Medicinal Plants Beat Cancer?

Go Wild for Garlic

Nature Doctor Revisited
Dr Alfred Vogel was the ultimate herbal pioneer. This Swiss naturopath spent his youth on safari: he tracked native botanical remedies in tropical jungles, South American deserts and American plains. It was, in fact, Vogel who brought echinacea to the attention of the western world.

Doctrine of Signatures

Interest in Herbal Healing Increases
In North America most medical doctors prescribe pharmaceutical drugs to treat their patients' symptoms. While drugs effectively suppress symptoms, they can produce side effects and imbalances in the body that may worsen the condition or result in additional ailments or illness.

Jolt Without the Jitters
We may love the aroma and initial effects of our morning coffee, but the potential for headaches, nervousness, and insomnia leaves a bitter aftertaste.

Natural Immune-Health Products
All diseases, from colds to cancer, have one thing in common. They can all be defeated by our body's own powerful immune response. There is much we can do to ensure this self-healing system functions optimally. Eating an organic, natural foods diet fortified by taking immune-supporting nutritional and herbal supplements, drinking purified water, exercising daily, and being mindful and positive creates the best self-healing environment.

Soak up the Relaxation
Long-term emotional or environmental stresses can be hard on the body, mind, and emotions. Quality essential oils have powerful yet subtle effects on emotions and can help relieve stress and anxiety when used in baths, massages, or in aromatherapy diffusers.

Better Than Chocolate
Centuries ago, when indigenous people in the South American rainforest discovered the good energy provided by the leaves of the yerba maté tree (Ilex paraguariensis), it became the base of their herbal medicine. Now, scientific review is substantiating their reverence for "maté (pronounced in two syllables as ma-tae).

The Healing Power of Botanical Medicine
Dear Medical Advisor: I am the mother of a 19-year-old female athlete who does not have a monthly cycle. Her diet has been poor (her choice).

Flora
Flora Health has been manufacturing and distributing organic health products since 1965 and is a recognized pioneer in its fiel.

Swiss Herbal
Swiss Herbal started out as a small home-based import business in the fifties, but has grown over the years to become the provider of Canada's largest selection of natural health remedies.

Flora
One reason for Flora's continued success is the on-going commitment to innovation.

Nu-Life
When the low-carb diet craze exploded, companies from nearly every food-related industry responded by rushing to develop low-carb products. As these companies scrambled to cash in on the dieting trend of the year, store shelves filled with low-carb cereals, low-carb ice cream, and even low-carb beer.

Puresource
If you have any doubt that public interest in natural health products has been on the rise for years, consider the fact that natural products distributor Puresource was named on Profit Magazine's list of the 100 fastest growing Canadian companies three times between 1997 and 2000.

Inno-Vite
Leaving a secure career to follow your dreams is a risky move-but for Cornelius and Donna Pasare, it was also the right move.

The Flora way: Do what can't be done
It's not every natural health company that can offer "products and services for the purification and upliftment of the body and spirit, but Flora isn't just any natural health company.

Make Your Own Lip Balm

After-sun Bronzing Oil

Licorice
The Romans called it Radix dulcis, meaning "sweet root. The Germans called it "sweet wood. The armies of Alexander carried it to allay thirst, the Sioux in North America chewed it for toothache, and medieval English governments taxed it. Licorice has been used in many ways by many cultures.

Yucca
Did you know that a substance found in fresh flowers from the yucca plant combats some strains of melanoma in test tube studies and in mice? Although the effectiveness of yucca with human melanoma has yet to be proven, this often overlooked ornamental shrub is medicinally useful in a number of ways.

White Willow
Most people who enjoy a leisurely stroll through lakeside parks are familiar with the willow tree. Its boughs weep gracefully toward the ground or dip languidly into nearby water. What people might not realize is that constituents found within willow bark have revolutionized pain management in modern medicine.

Hot and Cold
The idea that herbs can be heating or cooling is often connected with traditional Chinese or Ayurvedic medicine. Many people do not realize that this classification of herbal remedies was also a vital part of Western medicine for almost 2,000 years.

White Tea
There is nothing better than a hot cup of tea to relax the body and refresh the mind after a long, stressful day. Before indulging in your usual cuppa, consider the newest addition to the beverage market-white tea.

Lemon Grass
Sitting in my favourite Thai restaurant, I am surrounded by exotic smells that engulf my senses. I dig into Thai Hot and Sour soup (Tom Yum Gai) with great anticipation. Ahh...the wonderful taste of lemon grass.

Secrets of Self-Healing
Author Dr. Maoshing Ni is better known online and elsewhere simply as Dr. Mao. Together with his brother (heirs to a long lineage of Taoist masters in healing), Mao has several books to his credit and currently practises medicine at California's Tao of Wellness.

Eucalyptus
For some, the eucalyptus tree may conjure up images of koala bears frolicking in the Australian outback. Yet for the country's first settlers, the aromatic plant went far beyond providing a playground for furry marsupials; it was quickly dubbed "the fever tree for its many disease-fighting abilities.

Make Way for Marsh Mallow
The botanical name for marsh mallow, Althaea officinalis, is Greek for "to cure. Pliny the Elder (23 to 79 AD), naturalist and philosopher, said, "Whosoever shall take a spoonful of mallow shall be free from all diseases that may come.

Herbal Cleansing
Plants cleanse and revitalize our bodies from the inside. Our body systems are designed to utilize the benefits of plants, and we may suffer chronic illness and premature aging if we do not consume enough botanical bounties.

Hormonal Harmony
Irregular periods, hot flashes, night sweats, and nutritional deficiencies leading to heart issues and bone loss are only a few of the health concerns associated with hormonal imbalances due to menopause.