HERBAL PICKIN'S WRAP-UP
In this newsletter, we are including
some of the responses we received from this series. The first is an email
from a dear lady who noticed an area that warranted a caution. I wrote asking
permission to publish her email and she replied, "Be my guest! :) Hope it
will be helpful to someone who otherwise might have been injured. I am
adding a brief note about the undetectability of botulism toxin (see below),
should you want to include it." We did and here is her caution in
total:
<< Dear "Abby",
Thanks so much for your Herbal
Newsletter -- I enjoy it so much. Regarding this last one, I have a comment
on the following information:
"CALENDULA, Pot Marigold (Calendula
officinalis) is one of the best herbs for any number of skin problems. The
petals, dried or fresh, can be tossed directly into your bath water. Calendula,
chamomile, and comfrey leaf combined make a soothing herb bath for babies and
young children. Calendula petals can also be added to base oils or vinegar.
To do this, start with a clean bottle that can be corked. Stuff calendula
petals into the bottle filling it about half full. Pour in the oil or vinegar,
cork the bottle, and place it in a sunny spot for about two weeks. Choose
olive oil or canola oil as the base oil. Don't forget to label the bottle
and, after the two weeks is up, store the infusion in a cool dark place.
Use your calendula oil as a body oil. It is an excellent replacement for
baby oils. Your calendula vinegar infusion makes a wonderful facial wash
or hair rinse. It will help to reduce spider veins and add highlights to your
hair." (Abby's Herbal Newsletter #45)
It always happens that someone
feels they must ingest a lovely formula like this, as a salad dressing or
bread dip or who knows what. Please, please warn your readers not to do this.
These ingredients placed in a sunny spot for two weeks have become a most
marvelous breeding ground for botulism. We encounter Clostridium botulinum
bacteria nearly everywhere without ill effect; it is the toxin of the bacteria
which is an extremely deadly poison. The toxin is produced in an anaerobic
environment, like that of the oil in a corked bottle.
While it may be that the vinegar
formula would be acidic enough to inhibit growth of the bacteria, I would
not want to be a guinea pig for that theory. Certainly the oil is a BIG
problem. There have been recent cases of major food poisoning from folks
who have made the popular flavored oils (e.g. roasted garlic and olive oil)
at home without knowledge of botulism prevention.
Note that the botulism toxin is
invisible, tasteless, and odorless. Its presence is not apparent as in other
food spoilage. Meticulous efforts at prevention are the only way to avoid
a potentially fatal encounter with botulism.
A reasonable person should be
able to get the benefits of the calendula oil and vinegar without putting
him/herself at risk in the process. Beware of accidental ingestion of even
the tiniest bit (e.g. I wouldn't put any near my face, and I would wash my
hands thoroughly after applying), as botulism is highly toxic.
Better safe than sorry, as you
wisely counsel us!
Thanks again,
(another) Lynda >>
Thank you Lynda! We appreciate your
wise counsel, too. You are right about the vinegar acidity, but I would
not want to guinea pig that theory either. One alternative method would
be to make these infusions by gently heating them on the stove and
refrigerating them as soon as they have cooled to room
temperature.
"I have sinned!" "I ask for
your forgiveness!" I gave you a sinful recipe for lemon balm cheesecake,
but with the help of Dr. Allocca, I am redeemed. He sent us the following
recipe which we publish with permission. I must confess, this cheesecake
tastes so good I still feel like I am sinning. Thank you Dr. Allocca!
Did you say you have published a cookbook?
Dr. Allocca's Tofu Cheesecake
-
16 oz soft tofu
-
4 tablespoons sesame tahani
-
1/4 cup fructose
-
2 tablespoons lemon juice
-
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Puree
tofu in a blender until smooth. Mix in a bowl with remaining ingredients.
Spoon into a pre-baked 9" pie shell. Or, place 1-1/4 cups whole wheat oat
bran graham cracker crumbs (crush graham crackers) and 5 tablespoons cold
pressed canola oil into a bowl and mix. Place 1/4 cup of crumb mixture in
each of five 10 oz Pyrex pie dishes. Form a crust along the bottom and sides
of the dishes. Pour 1/2 cup filing into each dish. Bake at 350 degrees F.
for 25-35 minutes. Allow to cool at room temperature.
Topping:
Top with fresh or slowly thawed
frozen strawberries or blueberries after the pie has cooled.
Or
Add blueberries or strawberries
to a pot along with enough water to cover fruit, plus 1 tablespoon of
agar agar. Stir and bring to a boil. Allow to cool slightly, but not
completely. Add to already cooled pie. Refrigerate to set topping.
This is a healthy recipe that
tastes great!
-----------------------------------------------------------
John A. Allocca, Sc.D., Ph.D., C.C.N.
http://www.allocca.com
-----------------------------------------------------------
MORE MAIL... CAROL WRITES...
"Hi,
I have a great comfrey plant,
but I'm afraid to use it as I've heard a lot of bad things about using
it both internally AND externally. Scientists and doctors are saying it
is a carcinogen, and that it does damage to the liver. I've also read
somewhere that it may also cause skin cancer if applied to broken skin.
There were also some deaths from drinking Comfrey Tea, at one time,
supposedly because these individuals consumed too much, and... had used
the wrong species. Could you Pleeaassse enlighten and advise. I would
really like to clarify comfrey's safety and proper usage? I'd like
to also know the names of all the species of comfrey.
Thanks.
Carol
P.S. I once, out of desperation,
used Comfrey with notable results as a poultice when my son dropped a
25 LB weight on his foot. After making a concentrated solution/or tea
to soak his foot in, I then had him wrap one of the wet leaves around
the injured foot. He immediately got relief from both the pain and the
throbbing. I should also mention his toenail did not have to be pierced as
one would expect, because the blood never built up under it!"
YEPPERS... that's my favorite herb!
Allantoin is the key constituent in comfrey that repairs damaged tissue.
Rosmarinic acid is the constituent that has an anti-inflammatory action.
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are the 'demon' constituents in comfrey.
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are highly toxic to the liver as isolated
substances, but it is not yet clear whether they are toxic in the
"context of the whole plant, as they are only present in minute amounts,
often being completely absent from samples of dried aerial parts. The
highest concentration is in the root and, until its safety is confirmed
(or denied), comfrey root should not be used internally. (The aerial
parts are considered safe.) The legitimate question mark over comfrey's
safety as a medicine needs to be balanced by a deeper understanding of
its therapeutic properties." (The Encyclopedia Of Medicinal Plants,
Andrew Chevallier)
A safe rule-of-thumb for comfrey
is to use it as a topical remedy and take only the aerial parts internally,
never exceeding the recommended medicinal dose. I have not seen any
research proving comfrey leaf is a carcinogen. If it is out there,
please send it to me.
Carol, don't let anything, or
anybody, steer you away from this wonderful herb. The fact that some
have abused it, and other substances, should not be the gauge we use
in our choices. I believe the comfrey controversy has been exaggerated.
The same is true for many other herbs, but the tides are slowly turning as
more health care professionals come to espouse herbal alternatives.
CATE WRITES...
"Hello! I love receiving your
newsletters! Keep up the good work!
A friend gave me several herbs
for my garden and one of them was burnet. She said it's good for salads,
but I can't find any other info on it, i.e. another name, medicinal
properties, etc. Can you help?
Also, I have several patches
of garlic, and over the years have let them grow without harvesting,
because I don't know when to harvest! How do I know they are big enough?
I've been letting them flower and notice the flower heads, when dry, have
small, seed-like things that I've been broadcasting. Is there anything
I can do with these seed-things?
Thanks for your help!"
Hello Cate! Burnet (Poterium
Sanguisorba), commonly called salad burnet, has no significant medicinal
value, but it is an excellent salad green. It has a mild cucumber
flavor.
Dig up that garlic you lucky thing!
You have a buried treasure there, big or small. The best thing you can do
with those "seed-things" is to broadcast them just as you have been doing.
They also have no medicinal, or culinary, use. By the way, the usual time
to harvest is when the tops begin to fade, turning yellow.
CARLY WRITES...
"Dear Abby, I am from Hong Kong
and grew a pot of basil (don't know if it's holy or sweet basil). Can you
tell me what can be done to the flowers. Is there any medicinal use? For
the leaves, I am going to make a pesto sauce. Do you have the recipe of
how to make pesto sauce?
Another question: Is there any
caffeine in green tea?
Thanks for your attention"
Hello Carly! Thank you for writing.
The leaves of holy basil differ from sweet basil in that they are serrated
and covered in fine hairs, and they are a deeper shade of green. The
flowers of holy basil can be included in the mix of aerial parts for
medicinal uses, but when using sweet basil for culinary purposes, the
flowers are avoided. Keep them pinched back to encourage a bushier growth
which produces more leaves for harvesting.
TEA (Camellia sinensis syn.
Thea sinensis), sometimes referred to as green tea, does contain caffeine
(1-5%). It also contains xanthines, theobromine, tannins, flavonoids,
fats, and vitamin C. It is useful as a nerve tonic and in treating
infections of the digestive tract. Among its other medicinal benefits,
this tea also inhibits tooth decay.
There are a number of ways to make
pesto. We did give a recipe, but I don't remember in which newsletter.
When that happens, our search tool comes in handy. You can do a search
of our entire site using the hyperlink to that tool on our main index
page (http://www.abbysherbshop.com/).
Sorry I have to hurry now. I love
hearing from all of you. Keep those emails coming.
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