Lotus Root Tea

Lotus Root Tea
Lotus root tea is especially helpful in relieving coughs and dissolving mucus in the lungs.

To prepare it squeeze the juice from a half cup of freshly grated lotus root into a pot with one cup of water.

Simmer until the liquid thickens, add a pinch of sea salt, and drink it hot.

If fresh lotus root is unavailable, dried lotus root can be used instead.

To make tea form the dried root, add 2 tablespoons of lotus root to 1 cup of water.

Bring to a boil, reduce the flame, and simmer for fifteen minutes.

Add of sea salt or a dash of tamari, and drink it hot.
Lotus Root Tea

Cabbage and Cabbage Sprout Juice

Cabbage and Cabbage Sprout Juice
Green and red cabbage and members of the cabbage family, such as Brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage collard greens, kale green and so 0n, are highly cleansing due to their concentration of vitamins B-6 and C (and large stores of vitamin A and calcium in kale and collard greens), and minerals including chlorine, iodine, potassium and sulfur.

Cabbage was considered to be tonic and rejuvenator by the ancient Greeks who also used it as a cure for baldness.

Cabbage juice is an effective laxative and skin food as well as an effective healing agent for intestinal ulcers.

Scientists believe the active ingredient in cabbage juice that helps heal ulcers is vitamin U.

As wonderful and valuable a cleanser and healer cabbage juice is, it may produce gas in some people.

The sulfur in cabbage juice can react with bacteria in the intestine, causing mild intestinal cramping and gas.

If experience these symptoms after drinking cabbage juc9e, try reducing the amount by diluting it with other juice or spring water.

Also cabbage sprout juice can be tried rather than whole cabbage juice.

Cabbage sprouts from red, green or Chinese cabbage seed make an equally good juice especially when mixed with other vegetable juices.
Cabbage and Cabbage Sprout Juice

Toxicities of Herbal Teas

Toxicities of Herbal Teas
Because manufacturers are not required to list potential toxicities on the labels, consumers may unknowingly exposed to harmful substances.

More than 30 herbal teas contain substances that cause serious toxicities, including liver, GI tract, nervous system, and circulatory system disorders.

Chaparral, an herbal preparation made from the leaves of the creosote bush (Larrea tridentate) of the American southwest desert, is used in teas capsules and tablet preparations.

Chaparral is promoted for the treatment of cancer, to retard aging, and as a free radical scavenger because of its antioxidant properties.

In December 1992, the FDA Center for Food safety and Applied Nutrition issued a warning suggesting a potential link between chaparral use and liver toxicity after six cases of hepatitis were reported after consumption of the herb. Some of the serious liver problems required hospitalization.

An herbal tea containing woodruff, melilot and tonka beans produced abnormal clotting function and mild clinical bleeding due to its high content of natural anticoagulants called coumadins.

Deaths have also been reported from the use of herbal teas made from oleander leaves (Nerium oleander) that are rich in toxic cardiac glycosides and mistletoe berries (Viscum album) that contain viscotoxin and other toxic principles.

Using herbal teas in home remedies for common childhood illness may trigger serious health problems for child.

Peppermint and chamomile teas are commonly used among Mexican-American populations. Their prolonged use, in the absence of normal food, may result in water intoxication and seizures in young children resulting from an inadequate sodium intake.

Furthermore, many herbal beverages are actually a concoction of several herbs. With the lack of comprehensive data on individual herbs, it is difficult to predict the combined effect of a complex mixture of herbs that may act in concert, in conflict or synergistically with each other.
Toxicities of Herbal Teas