By Jonathan Evans
Herbal Information Specialist/Business Representative for the Herbarium
Greetings dear readers. This month’s column is going to be dedicated to answering your questions. I have been writing a lot about select topics but you all have so many questions, so let’s go.
READER’S QUESTIONS
Dear Jonathan,
I do not know where you stand on Donald Trump, but he scares the willies out of me. I can’t watch the news anymore because it just makes me angry and anxious. Do you have any suggestions on what herbs could help me relax?
Mona
Dear Mona,
It doesn’t matter where I stand. I can’t watch much news lately either. I will say the present political situation has brought many people to the Herbarium with similar concerns. Fortunately, we have a wide variety of remedies for stress, anxiety, and depression.
For example, we make an anti-anxiety tea blend, a relax blend and a “lift your spirits” tea blend specifically for these problems. There are individual herbs to help ranging from valerian root, passionflower, lemonbalm, chamomile, kava kava and skullcap herb to name a few. These come in liquid and capsule form and can really help take the edge off. If all else fails, Irish whiskey is a good fallback plan.
See our Internet radio show archives for an episode dedicated to this topic:
Herbal Answer Man : Episode 10 - Stress & Anxiety http://tobtr.com/9773015
– Jonathan
Dear Jonathan,
Do you know anything that can help with sore muscles other than Tiger Balm? I do not like the smell of it or the regular stuff at the drugstore.
– Gerry
Dear Gerry,
There is a product we have called Cobrazol. It is odorless and does not stain. It contains several homeopathic ingredients such as frankincense, turmeric, cayenne, MSM and arnica along with three snake venoms. I know it sounds weird, but it really works! We offer free samples to see how well it works for you.
Since we got this product, I can now proudly say I am a bona fide snake oil salesman!
– Jonathan
Dear Jonathan,
I have been experiencing tingling in my arms for several months. I saw my doctor and he says my heart is fine, but every so often the pain and tingling comes and nothing seems to help. Do you have any magic herbs for this?
– Ken
Dear Ken,
Glad you checked with the doctor. Since your health is okay, might I suggest a visit to the chiropractor? If this began back in the snow shoveling days, you may have thrown something out in your back or neck.
The pain and tingling you described is very common.
You could also try our “ Ultimate Soak” bath salt blend. It contains several herbal extracts and essential oils in an epsom salt base. This stuff can relax every muscle in your body. It may be something to try.
Extra magnesium internally can help or an extract of Jamaican Dogwood, which is a specific for nerve pain. Homeopathic Hypericum is also used for nerve pain.
– Jonathan
Essential oils … continued
I have tried to avoid lecturing on the essentials of essential oil safety, but the multi level marketers are constantly telling people the wrong information. So as long as the public’s safety is in jeopardy, I will continue to give you the best sources for real information.
Robert Tisserand is the recognized expert on oil safety. You can look it up for yourself: https://www.facebook.com/RobertTisserandEssentialTraining/
Just last week we had several customers and phone calls asking about ingesting oils. The simple answer is DON’T!
Here are some facts to consider:
• Essential oils do not contain vitamins, minerals, or hormones. We had a customer who was taking lemon oil internally for vitamin C. There are no vitamins in essential oils. We looked it up.
• If you put the oil undiluted on your skin and it burns or causes a rash, you are not detoxing. It is a burn. This can also lead to sensitization and allergic reaction.
• Pure essential oils can and do oxidize. If someone tells you that their oils are pure and do not oxidize, they are misinformed. All oils oxidize.
• Ingesting oils can cause damage to mucous membrane, irritate your stomach lining and cause stress to your liver.
• The oils can travel the same pathways as medications and can affect your drugs actions.
Moreover, Frankincense oil is not a cancer treatment. It does not contain boswellic acid. Tinctures of boswellia containing 65 percent boswellic acid do work.
I have seen sites selling frankincense oil as a cancer “cure” at $95 for 5 millliters. This is outrageous. There is a special place in Hell for those who would take advantage of cancer patients.
– Jonathan
Please send your questions on botanical remedies to Natures Rx: Jonathan Evans via email at herbarium258@gmail.com, or by regular mail to: The Herbarium, 264 Exchange St., Chicopee, Mass. 01013. If requesting additional information from Evans, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope.
