Healing Herbal Teas: A Complete Guide to Making Delicious, Healthful Beverages. / by Brigitte Mars. Laguna Beach, California: Basic Health Publications, 2005. 170 p. glossary, bibliography, resources, index. ISBN-13: 978-1-59120-110-6.
A selection of 45 readily available and safe herbs, Healing Herbal Teas: A Complete Guide to Making Delicious, Healthful Beverages is a primer of the preparation of healing waters—those you drink for internal benefit and those you apply externally for maladies of your skin, hair and eyes. The concept of this book is to present herbal tea drinking as a healthy choice, and to provide descriptions of the herbs and how they support the body.
Author Mars’s book is a sophisticated view of the healing properties of herbs, influenced by both eastern and western traditions. Chapter 1, “The Fine Art of Tea” examines the history of tea drinking, wildcrafting, herb gathering, drying and storing, brewing teas as infusions, decoctions, equipment for making tea, storing the tea, flavoring and the like. She provides a section on the Five Flavors, sweet, sour, bitter, salty and pungent or spicy, now widely recognized as how our palates interpret taste. For instance if you’re drinking tea with lemon, bitter and sour flavors are prominent; whereas it’s also popular to take tea with honey, which balances bitter with sweet. A pungent or spicy note can be achieved with cinnamon added to tea. A few herbs, such as nettles, are actually salty in flavor.
The author notes that taking the time to acknowledge your tongue’s experience is a healthy choice in itself. Not only do herbs taste delicious, their flavors can be enhanced by adding other herbs’ flavors to your liking. And more than sensations on your tongue, tastes actually indicate the action or energy the herb can have after ingestion, sometimes called the post-digestive effect. This factor is important in choosing your teas: sour flavors in medicinal dosages may not be good for your constitution, if you are suffering from too much acid in your stomach or have diarrhea; likewise bitter flavors in medicinal dosages may not help your condition if you are suffering from cold in the body, or are lacking in energy. In her instructions for tea infusions, decoctions, and hot-water versus cold-water preparations, by the cup or the teapot, Mars carefully distinguishes between medicinal dosages and non-medicinal (she calls these “social” tea) proportions.
Healing Herbal Teas presents readers with “45 … wonderfully potent herbs”. The entries for this select group of herbs contain the botanical and family name and identifies the part used in teas; further, the entries are formatted to provide information for “Medicinal Use”, “Flavor”, and “Wildcrafting and Cultivation”. In the section Medicinal Use is an explanation of the herb’s benefits, followed by the details on “Physiological Characteristics, Traditional Targets of Application, Constituents, and Contraindications”. So the presentation of an herb covers not only its benefits and taste, its energy and action on the body, but also its botanical features and characteristics. This is a form of knowledge called pharmacognosy, or knowledge of the physical plant, where and how it grows, as well as its properties.
Chapter 2, “Healing Herbs” lists many known diseases or symptoms such as Addison’s Disease, AIDS, HIV, Epstein-Barr virus, Graves’ Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, etc. as well as everyday complaints that are possible to alleviate with the use of herbal teas: acid indigestion, chronic fatigue, eczema, irritable bowel syndrome, sore throat, etc. Examples of herbal indications for everyday complaints are seen in the following three herbs. Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is listed as providing nutritive support, regulating blood pressure and high cholesterol, and controlling varicose veins. Blackberry (Rubus villosus) is said to clear heat and reduce inflammation, cool fevers and dry dampness. And Calendula (Calendula officinalis), quite a powerful herb said to “move congestion, dry dampness, promote tissue healing, curb infection, increase circulation, and clear toxins and inflammation”, p. 34.
Such herbs as Basil (Ocimium basilicum), Echinacea (Echinacea spp.), Rosemary and Sage (Salvia officinalis), can be harmful to your health or even toxic if overused. Pregnant women and nursing mothers should take note of the many precautions when using herbs. Of the over forty herbs presented by Mars, 6 of these are given as very safe herbs: Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), Blackberry (Rubus villosus and others), Calendula (Calendula officinalis), Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), Plaintain (Plantago major) and Rooibos (Aspalanthus linearis). The remaining 39 herbs are generally safe herbs. Note: if you are taking prescription medications for any disease, condition or complaint, please be sure to check with your health provider before using healing herbs for any reason.
Chapter 3, “Herbal Formulas” provides insight into the construction of formulas, those herbs taken together for specific effects. In Chinese medicine and Ayurveda, herbs are known singly for specific attributes but delivered in formulas for healing. As author Mars remarks, herbal simples (herbs taken singly), have strong healing properties. Herbal formulas, on the other hand, treat the whole person and not merely a condition or upset, and may be the best choice for chronic conditions and disorders. An example of the difference would be attempting to cure a headache with either aspirin (an analgesic property taken originally from Willow tree bark) or with an herbal formula. In a formula, several main herbs are supported by one or more additional herbs, all chosen to treat the complaint and the whole person. Mars’s formula for a headache could contain five herbs: Chamomile, Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) and Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) to relieve nervous agitation, Peppermint (Mentha x piperita) to calm smooth muscle and release energy from interior outwards, and Dandelion Root (Taraxacum officinale), a blood purifier. Other formulas Mars suggests are for Children’s complaints, Zodiac Tea Blends, Teas for the Seasons, and Color Therapy Teas, thereby introducing the idea that teas can offer creative channels to healing.
Chapter 4, “Healing Teas Used Topically” describes teas used as baths, compresses, and soaks to help alleviate complaints with skin, energy, menstrual, and muscle pain. Teas used as eyewashes, hair rinses, sitz baths and steam inhalations complete the chapter. It’s interesting to note that European herbalists have been very enthusiastic about the benefits of herbal healing waters, especially Maurice Messeguě and Rudolf Weiss (see previous post on Weiss).
Chapter 5 offers “Fun with Tea Parties”. A departure from the serious nature of the book’s instructions for healing teas, this chapter concentrates on healthful recipes for “social teas” to enjoy with friends. Not merely fun and unusual, these healthful Violet-Filled Crepes, Dandelion Flower Muffins, Peppermint Cookies and Hawthorn Berry Chutney and other delicious treats are tempting indeed.
The last sections of the book contain a Glossary, Bibliography, Resources, Other Works by Brigette Mars, and Index. The Index is complete with entries for types of teas, conditions and diseases, names of flavors, personal names, and common names of herbs.
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