Tag: immune

My Apothecary Garden of Herbs & Flowers

Today I’m writing about my apothecary garden, as I’ve just decided to call it.

Recently I appropriated the last section of our vegetable garden. I wanted to grow plants that had nice flowers, as well as being attractive to the bees and butterflies.
The plants being useful herbs, or harvestable in some way, was also a factor.

The term ‘apothecary’ is derived from the Ancient Greek word (apothḗkē), which means “a repository or storehouse”. The term also refers to a medical person who dispenses herbs and medicine. Hence my idea for the term ‘apothecary garden’.

These are the herbs or flowers that I have planted.

Echinacea or Purple Coneflower

These plants have beautiful big purple pink, daisy like, flowers that look great in a vase. Apart from looking nice, these flowers attract bees and butterflies to the garden. The flowers and leaves of the plant can be used to make tea and the petals are edible.

Research has yet to determine what exact compounds in purple coneflower give it its medicinal properties. Animal and test tube studies have shown that the extracts do fight certain viruses and appear to stimulate the immune system to ward off bacterial infection. Laboratory findings have shown that it is also effective in healing superficial wounds. Generally, echinacea is widely used for boosting the immune system.

Borage or Star flower

Borage is actually considered a herb and has clusters of blue star shaped flowers. Again, this plant is a favorite of bees and is also known as a Bee Bush. Both the flowers and the leaves of the plant are edible.
Borage leaves have been used in European herbal medicine since the Middle Ages.
Traditionally, the leaves have been used to treat rheumatism, colds, and bronchitis. Borage seed oil has also been used in combination with fish oil for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and skin disorders.

Bergamot or Beebalm

Bergamot is an ancient herb that belongs to the mint family. Its name was acquired due to the similarity in fragrance to the unrelated Bergamot Orange. Because of it’s flowers, it’s commonly grown as an ornamental plant to attract bees and butterflies to the garden. There are different varieties of this plant and the flowers range from deep red to pink and white.
This is another plant where both the flowers and leaves are edible. Using the leaves and flowers to create a tea similar in taste to Earl Grey.
North American tribes in the eastern United States used the herb to ease the pain of mild abrasions and bee stings by crushing the leaves of the plant and rubbing them on the skin. This is where the common name of ‘Beebalm” originated.

Chamomile or German chamomile

German chamomile is one of several different species in the daisy family that have the common name chamomile. Looking similar to daisies, the flowers have an apple-like fragrance and are attractive to bees and butterflies.

Chamomile is one of the more familiar medicinal herbs, with a high profile in literature and a long history of use. It is commonly used for making the herbal infusion called chamomile tea. As the infusion is purported to have anti-anxiety properties, is widely regarded as a sleep-inducer and has been used medicinally for many ailments. Chamomile is also one of the top ingredients used in hair care products for lightening and brightening blond hair.

As I actually planted seeds for my garden, I now have to water and wait. Hopefully in a couple of months I will have flowers like the ones in the title picture and will be able to share some of our uses for these plants.

Till the next post,
Live clean n Prosper
(Sources –traditionalrootsinstitute, sustainablegardeningonline, herbcottage, wikipedia)

A bit about Histamines

Todays post is about histamine or histamines.

You’ve most likely heard of antihistamines. They’re medicines that tame the symptoms of an allergic reaction. But what are histamines?

Histamine is a biologically active substance found in a variety of living organisms. It is found throughout the animal kingdom and is present in many plants, bacteria and in insect venom.

Histamines are actually chemicals made by the body’s immune system. They serve as neurotransmitters, carrying chemical messages between nerve cells. Therefore they are also part of the body’s defence system. They assist the body to eliminate something that’s irritating it, such as an allergy trigger, or “allergen.”

Histamines start the process that hustles those allergens out of your body or off your skin. Once your immune system identifies the allergens as a threat, it responds. Such as sending histamines which cause you to sneeze, tear up, or itch.

How does this happen?

First, it sends a chemical signal to “mast cells” located in the skin, lungs, nose, mouth, gut, and blood. The message is, “Release histamines,” which are stored in the mast cells.

Once they leave the mast cells, histamines boost blood flow in the area of the body affected by the allergen. This causes inflammation, which allows white blood cells and blood plasma proteins, to leak from the bloodstream to the site of injury or infection. Once there they begin to fight the infection.

In an allergic reaction, the immune system gets caught in a viscous cycle. Immune system proteins called antibodies, which are bound to mast cells, bind to the antigens to remove them. In the process, the mast cells are stimulated to release more histamine. The result is histamine in excessive amounts creating the visible symptoms of a localised allergic reaction. These include a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, watery or itchy eyes and hives.

Contact reactions

Allergic contact dermatitis, or hives, is a common skin condition that causes an itchy and weeping rash. The rash is usually localised to the area in contact with the allergen. It lasts as long as contact continues and typically one to two weeks afterwards. Even if the contact was very short, a rash can actually develop two or more days after contact.

Nickel metal is the most common cause of allergic contact dermatitis. Other causes include plants, chemicals, creams and ointments.

Foods and Histamines

If you have a food allergy, histamines are in on that response process, too. When you accidentally eat or drink something you shouldn’t, they’ll work in your gut to trigger your allergic reaction.

The most common foods known to cause a reaction are – nuts, shellfish, food additives, eggs, strawberries, and wheat products

Some foods are also naturally high in histamines. These include aged and fermented foods and alcohol (especially red wine). 

(Sources –https://www.webmd.com,https://www.allergy.org.au,  https://www.britannica.com)

On a personal note

I recently suffered from a contact allergic reaction on my arm. I am still not exactly sure of the cause, though possibly plant or insect. The result was an incredibly itchy patch of hives, which persisted for 10 days. Alternating between liberal applications of Rosemary oil and Calamine lotion helped immensely.

Till the next post,

Live clean n prosperAs a 

Vitamin D, Sunlight & Mushrooms

Today’s topic is Vitamin D, Sunlight & Mushrooms.

I know that this seems like a strange combination but all will become clear.

This morning I read an article about vitamin D deficiency. It seems that despite Australians being referred to as ‘bronzed aussies’ and our nation referred to as a ‘sunburnt country’, many Australians are actually deficient in this vitamin.

Many Australians work predominantly indoors and spend much of their leisure time indoors. This limits overall sun exposure.

The awareness of skin cancer and the increasing use of sun screens also mean that our bodies don’t absorb the necessary rays required to create vitamin D from sunlight.

What is Vitamin D?

It is a hormone that helps the body absorb calcium and control calcium levels in the blood. It is also important for preventing depression, muscle growth, organ development and supporting the immune system.

Recent research suggests adults may actually need at least 2,000 IU of vitamin D every day to maintain a healthy level in the body and reap the most benefits.

Most living things can make vitamin D through sunlight exposure.

The human body is able to produce its own vitamin D3 when the skin is exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet (UVB) rays. When UVB rays hit the skin, a chemical reaction happens: The body begins the process of converting a prohormone in the skin into vitamin D3.

It’s estimated that we should get more than 90% of our vitamin D from daily sun exposure.

The amount of vitamin D absorbed from sunlight depends on some variables, including the country and skin pigmentation. Under picture-perfect conditions, the human body is able to produce as much as 10,000 IU to 20,000 IU of D3 in just 30 minutes

Studies have found that between 2 to 15 minutes of sun exposure to your unprotected face, arms, legs or back, three to four times every week is enough for your body to produce all the D3 it needs. Times will vary depending on the time of year and where you live. (Source – ABC Health)

Where do the Mushrooms come in?

Research has found that we can get a small amount of vitamin D from food. Fish and eggs naturally have some vitamin D, while some processed foods have added vitamin D.

Mushrooms also have a small amount of Vitamin D. The form of D vitamin produced in mush­rooms is D2, unlike the D3 found in the few animal foods that naturally contain it.

It used to be thought that D2 was less potent and bioavail­able in the body than D3. A recent study comparing D2 from mushrooms with D3 from supplements, has found that D2 is as effective as D3 in boosting the biologically active form of the vitamin in the body.

It is also possible to boost the levels in mushrooms by putting them in the sun for a while.

Just 15 minutes of direct sun­light can produce 200 to 800 IU in 85 grams of mushrooms regardless of type. At least 90% of the vitamin is retained after storage and with cooking.

To do this your­self, place the mushrooms with the “gills” (or underside) facing the sun to increase D production. The mush­rooms may discolour or dry out a little.

If you like mushrooms, exposing them to UV can help you get more vitamin D, however you have to eat a lot. They will certainly boost your levels and add other nutritional elements to your diet. Most of us probably find it’s easier to take a vitamin D3 supplement.

Till the next post,

Live Clean n Prosper