astringent

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How to stop nasty vomiting when a child can’t even hold water down?

My 4 year old daughter became ill recently due to stomach flu. She could not hold anything down, not even water. After she emptied her stomach completely and the situation did not resolve itself (sometimes it does), I gave her a little teaspoonful of honey – I remembered Juliette talking about how honey soothes the upset stomach but I never tried it. I used raw organic honey and to my surprise, it worked like a charm… My daughter seemed to get better quickly and she took one more little teaspoonful of honey and 10 minutes later she was ready to drink some warm chamomile tea with honey and ground nutmeg. And it did not come back! For the slight diarrhea that followed I made her some Raspberry leaf tea (which is a great tasting astringent, even kids love it), Carob balls and Slippery Elm balls.

I always use organic, raw honey, hopefully you can buy something similar locally. Slippery Elm is available on amazon or from Mountain Rose Herbs.

hone

Foods to eat after diarrhea

Throughout my childhood the first food I got after recovering from stomach flu was baked (and salted) potatoes along with chamomile tea. Chamomile is a great anti-spasmodic and anti-inflammatory and the taste isn’t too bad either if you don’t make the tea too strong. Cooked carrots, mashed potatoes, white rice, bananas and cooked apples are also mild enough on your recovering digestive tract. If you feel up to eating solid foods, soups containing bland vegetables and/or chicken breast can add helpful nutrients and protein, which supports lean tissue repair and energy.


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Maria Treben is often referenced to in my posts, I will keep myself to this old tradition, because her experiences are well documented and I like her insights on the different herbs. She describes calendula as a noteworthy herb to use against several ailments.

Calendula (Calendula officinalis, Marigold)

Calendula (Calendula officinalis, Marigold)

Chemical Profile of Calendula

It contains up to 0.8% flavonoids (O-glycosides of quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin) as well as bisdesmosidic and monodesmosidic saponins, hydroxylated and esterified triterpenes (taraxasterol, faradiol, helianthriol), while the essential oil contains mainly sesquiterpenoids such as cardinol, a-ionone and b-ionone.

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St. John’s Wort is also known as Tipton’s Weed, Chase-devil, or Klamath weed.

St. John’s Wort has become popular again as an antidepressant. It is the number one treatment in Germany and has been extensively studied by Commission E, the scientific advisory panel to the German government. It contains several chemicals, including hypericin, hyperforin, and pseudohypericin, which are thought to be the major sources of antidepressant activity. In several studies of laboratory animals and humans, one or more of the chemicals in St. John’s wort appeared to delay or decrease re-absorption of the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin by nerve cells.

St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum)

St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum)

Neurotransmitters are chemicals that carry messages from nerve cells to other cells. Ordinarily, once the message has been delivered, neurotransmitters are re-absorbed and inactivated by the cells that released them. Chemicals in St. John’s wort may keep more of these antidepressant neurotransmitters available for the body to utilise. Multiple studies have shown that St. John’s wort may be effective in relieving mild to moderate depression, although maximum antidepressant effects may take several weeks to develop.

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Linden flower (Tiliae Flos) tea is my all time favorite. It was introduced to me during my early childhood by my Hungarian grandmother, who cured all the common colds occurring in the family during the cold season with Linden Tea and honey.

Linden Flower (Tiliae Flos)

Linden Flower (Tiliae Flos)

It helps your immune system and even prevents you from getting colds. It is a powerful perspirant, so it will make you sweat, but that’s how the miracle is done. It will help your body cleanse itself and will leave you will feel like born again or as if you just came out of invigorating, cleansing sauna. After a good night of sweating, change your clothes and bed sheets upon waking to get rid of the substances that just left your body.

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