Herbal Remedies (Tested and Untested) and Folklore

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I am currently sipping a cup of black tea with some knobs of ginger and turmeric to soothe my tummy ache. I haven't read any recent journal articles regarding the efficacy of turmeric and ginger compounds on alleviating inflammatory distress, but hey- I'll go for a placebo effect if it works. Plus, it tastes good!

Do you have any remedies that you use?

I realized when entering the title of this thread that I may receive some 'interesting' responses. Eh. Not worried.

[mamselle]

Check out the historical pharmacopeia, "The Queen's Closet," or the "book of receets" that Countaway Medical Library has, that once belonged to Rev. Dr. Wadsworth.

(Can't give the links on this phone, will add later...)

M.

[nebo113]

I tried tumeric for muscle aches but....nada....so I stopped after several bottles.

[mahagonny]

Kava kava has a minor tranquilizer effect. I have an herbalist friend who says it's safe but you should eat something with fat in it when drinking kava so it won't tax your liver. I have some with cheese in the wee small hours if I have too much on my mind for sleeping.

St. John's Wort, I have heard, has some anti-depressant in it that may be similar to an SSRI. I don't use this as I am on an antidepressant already, and it's not too expensive.
I was told pure peppermint tea has decongestant effects but it doesn't work for me although it is pleasant.
Green tea thins your blood. Caution.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

If anyone is interested, here is a wonderful herbalist's blog (plenty of foraging info):

http://66squarefeet.blogspot.com/

It's sort of an intersection of wild food/foraging/herbalism, etc.

[aside]

Follow the science and choose wisely.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

Follow the science and choose wisely.

True. I'm not trying to promote anything that has no scientific investigation associated with it.

JAMA has a number of articles covering herbal dosing.