Hope you all had a nice Fall Equinox! Fall is upon us
and the Earth in winding down and preparing herself for Winter.
The squash is finally done producing so much that we can't eat
it all. We have planted our cold weather crops and hopefully are
up by now.
If you didn't do your Liver Cleanse last month, then
there is still time this month to do it. And if you did do your
Liver Cleanse last month and are still having allergy symptoms,
then do it again this month.
Do I sound like a broken record? It is just because I think
that it is really important, considering all our bodies have been
through this year.
I thought I would present the herbs I use in the Liver Cleanse
one by one in detail so that you may start to understand why they
are useful for our bodies to ingest. The first herb and most
important one is Dandelion.
Dandelion: AKA: Lion's tooth. All parts are edible, Dandelion
greens are a rich source of vitamin A, the root is used for cleansing
the liver and skin, the flower can be used in your salad or made
into wine.
Dandelion has been used in many traditional medical systems,
including Native American and traditional Arabic medicine.
Many of you have dandelions growing in your yard, if
you are going to harvest any part of them you will need to make
sure that there has not been any pesticides or herbicides sprayed
on them! That they are not close to the road and that they are
really dandelions. Many plants look like dandelions before they
bloom, so it is safer to wait until they bloom, if you don't know
for sure what they look like.
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Basal Growth
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Dandelion on Left and Chicory on Right
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Their distinguishing character
is that the leaves are long and lance-shaped with large saw tooth
shape, hence the name “Lion's tooth”. It always
has a basal rosette at the ground level, all parts of the plant,
when bruised exudes a white milky substance that has been know
to remove warts, moles, pimples, calluses, and sores, and soothes
bee stings and blisters. and it only has one flower from its hollow
stock.
Each flower head contains hundreds of tiny ray flowers that have
a little “v” shape on the end. The flower head, when
it goes to seed is the familiar globular which puff that when
you blow on it, the seeds fly everywhere.
Enjoy the leaves in the spring in your salad or sauteed with
garlic and onions; they are more nutritious than anything
you can buy at the store. They are higher in beta-carotene than
carrots. The iron and calcium content is greater than spinach.
Other vitamins and minerals include B-1, B-2, B-5, B-6, B-12,
C, E, P, and D, biotin, inositol, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium,
and zinc and the roots in the fall boiled in your Liver Cleanse
Tea, or you can cook it as a root vegetable and contains the sugar
inulin, plus many of the above minerals.
Dandelions are also good for the bladder, spleen, pancreas,
stomach and intestines. It ís recommended for stressed-out,
internally sluggish, and sedentary people. Anyone who's a victim
of excessive fat, white flour, and concentrated sweeteners could
benefit from a daily cup of dandelion tea.
For some interesting recipes and more information on
Dandelions you can check out this website: http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Dandelion.html
Please refer to last months article, if you don't remember what
the Liver Cleanse is all about. And, Remember, I do have the herbs
for the Liver Cleanse already mixed up for you at my office,
and you can Call me at 739-5516 or email me drbontravis@gmail.com
for the Liver Cleanse Protocol, or
download the pdf file here.
