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What is Dr. Miller's Holy Tea
Holy Thistle
Blessed Thistle
Persimmon Leaf
Malva Leaf (Chinese Mallow)
Marshmallow
Holy Thistle:
Traditional uses: Supporting the liver in the release of toxins. Medicinal use for over 2000 years, most commonly for the treatment of liver and gallbladder disorders. Blood purifier, Stomach and digestive disorders. Strengthens heart, liver, kidneys and lungs.
Holy Thistle supports the liver in the release of toxins. Used medicinally for over 2000 years, most commonly for the treatment of liver and gallbladder disorders. Holy thistle products are popular in Europe and the United States for various types of liver disease. Holy thistle is believed to have great power in the purification and circulation of the blood. It is such a good blood purifier that drinking a cup of thistle tea twice a day will help ease chronic headaches. Holy Thistle is used for stomach and digestive problems, gas in the intestines, constipation, and liver troubles. It is very effective for dropsy, strengthens the heart, and is good for the liver, lungs, and kidneys. It is claimed that the warm tea given to mothers will produce a good supply of milk. It is also said to be good for girls entering womanhood as a good tonic.
Blessed Thistle: (Cnicus benedictus)
Traditional uses: Supporting the liver in the release of toxins. Medicinal use for over 2000 years, most commonly for the treatment of liver and gallbladder disorders. Blood purifier, Stomach and digestive disorders. Strengthens heart, liver, kidneys and lungs.
Blessed thistle is also known as holy thistle, St. Benedict thistle, cardin, and spotted thistle. This herbaceous annual has been cultivated for centuries as a Blessed thistle is also known as holy thistle, St. Benedict thistle, cardin, and spotted thistle. This herbaceous annual has been cultivated for centuries as a medicinal herb.medicinal herb. It was a component of many herbal remedies used to combat the plague. The herb was cultivated in monastery gardens as a cure for smallpox. Its specific name is in honor of St. Benedict, the founder of a holy order of monks. The ancient Romans ate the leaf fresh and boiled the root as a vegetable. Thistle was once used as a nutritious fodder for cattle in Scotland, and the leaf, folded between two slices of buttered bread, was eaten with the breakfast meal. British and German Pharmacopoeias recognize that "bitters", including blessed thistle, stimulate bile flow and cleanse the liver. In Europe, blessed thistle, as a "bitter vegetable drug" is considered to be a medicinal agent used to aid digestion and promote health. The herb contains B-complex vitamins, calcium, iron, and manganese.
Blessed thistle is considered by many contemporary herbalists and in traditional folk use as a natural herbal tonic, astringent, diaphoretic (increases perspiration), emetic (induces vomiting), and stimulant. Both the blessed thistle and milk thistles are recommended as a liver tonic, particularly when the liver disease is brought on by alcoholism. It has been used in treatment of jaundice and hepatitis.
A tea from the leaves, taken warm, will increase perspiration, reduce congestion, and help to bring down fever. A mild infusion is astringent and may relieve diarrhea, but a very strong infusion is emetic and may cause nausea and vomiting.
Blessed thistle is considered to be one of the best herbs to stimulate the flow of milk in lactating women (lactating women should always consult their physicians before taking this herb), and its emmenagogue action (promotes menstrual discharge) helps to regulate female hormone balance and relieve menstrual pain. Blessed thistle has also been used to treat the vaginal discharge known as leucorrhea.
The herb is used in the commercial manufacture of herbal bitters, and is considered a general tonic and digestive. Its bitter properties increase the flow of bile and other gastric secretions. The herb may stimulate appetite and relieve flatulence. Blessed thistle is said to relieve melancholy and lethargy, and was traditionally fed to mentally ill persons. It acts to increase blood circulation and aids memory. Applied externally in poultice form, blessed thistle is a good treatment for shingles, wounds, and ulcers. The plant has antimicrobial properties. The essential oil has been shown to have antibiotic action against infections, specifically Staphylococcus aureus and S. faecalis. Blessed thistle has a history in folk use for the treatment of heart ailments, cancers, and as a contraceptive, but these, and other traditional uses, have not been confirmed by research.
Historically, Blessed Thistle has been recommended as a treatment for stomach upset, indigestion, constipation and gas. Some individuals employ this herbs, as they would its cousin milk thistle, as a remedy for gallbladder and liver disorders. However, there is only limited clinical evidence to support it use medicinally. Notwithstanding, many individuals report that blessed thistle is an effective medicinal healing herb. A few studies show that blessed thistle may be useful as an anti-inflammatory.
The related milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is commonly used as a blood and liver purifier. Blessed thistle, likewise, is considered to have a beneficial effect on the blood which, in turn, enriches the milk. It has sometimes been stated that the herb was first cultivated by Gerard in 1597, but as this book was published twenty years previously it would appear to have been in cultivation much earlier, and in fact it is described and its virtues enumerated in the Herbal of Turner in 1568.
Medicinal Action and Uses: Tonic, stimulant, diaphoretic, emetic and emmenagogue. In large doses, Blessed Thistle acts as a strong emetic, producing vomiting with little pain and inconvenience. Cold infusions in smaller draughts are valuable in weak and debilitated conditions of the stomach, and as a tonic, creating appetite and preventing sickness. The warm infusion - 1 OZ. of the dried herb to a pint of boiling water - in doses of a wineglassful, forms in intermittent fevers one of the most useful diaphoretics to which employment can be given. The plant was at one time supposed to possess very great virtues against fevers of all kinds.
It is said to have great power in the purification and circulation of the blood, and on this account strengthens the brain and the memory. The leaves, dried and powdered, are good for worms. It is chiefly used now for nursing mothers the warm infusion scarcely ever failing to procure a proper supply of milk. It is considered one of the best medicines which can be used for the purpose.
It is said to have obtained its name from its high reputation as a heal-all, being supposed even to cure the plague. It is mentioned in all the treatises on the Plague, and especially by Thomas Brasbridge, who in 1578 published his Poore Man's Jewell, that is to say, a Treatise of the Pestilence, unto which is annexed a declaration of the vertues of the Hearbes Carduus Benedictus and Angelica. Shakespeare in Much Ado about Nothing, says: "Get you some of this distilled Carduus Benedictus and lay it to your heart; it is the only thing for a qualm... I mean plain Holy Thistle." The 'distilled' leaves, it says 'helpeth the hart,' 'expelleth all poyson taken in at the mouth and other corruption that doth hurt and annoye the hart,' and 'the juice of it is outwardly applied to the bodie' ('lay it to your heart,' Sh.), "therefore I counsell all that have Gardens to nourish it, that they may have it always to their own use, and the use of their neighbours that lacke it".
Turner (1568) says: "It is very good for the headache and the megram, for the use of the juice or powder of the leaves, preserveth and keepeth a man from the headache, and healeth it being present. It is good for any ache in the body and strengtheneth the members of the whole body, and fasteneth loose sinews and weak. It is also good for the dropsy. It helpeth the memory and amendeth thick hearing. The leaves provoke sweat. There is nothing better for the canker and old rotten and festering sores than the leaves, juice, broth, powder and water of Carduus benedictus." Formulated by Dr. Bill Miller, Ph.D. in Nutritional Science, the Holy Tea is a unique herbal blend of safe, all-natural ingredients designed to promote healing by gently cleansing the digestive tract and detoxifying the body. The National Cancer Institute write that holy thistle may have anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects. Topically, a poultice of blessed thistle is used to soothe skin irritated by burns, scrapes, shaving, sunburn, and other relatively minor injuries. A poultice is usually a soft cloth that has been soaked in a medication, possibly heated, and applied to an aching or injured area of skin surface.
Precautions: There are no reported incidents of thistle toxicity. However, as with most medicinal herbs, they should not be taken during pregnancy. Children under two years should not be given the herb. Lactating women should consult with a qualified herbalist before using the herb.
Side effects and Interactions: None reported.
Persimmon Leaf: (Diospyros kaki)
Traditional uses: Allergies, Hay Fever, Itching, Rough Skin
Eating persimmon leaves inhibits weight gain and lowers lipid levels.
Supplementing a high-fat diet with powdered leaves taken from Native American persimmon trees can inhibit weight gain and lower both food intake and plasma lipid levels, research shows. Scientists believe that the rich fiber and phenolic content of persimmon leaves, which are commonly used to make tea in India, increases the amount of lipids removed from the body as feces.
"Since the persimmon leaves have beneficial effects on hemostatsis, constipation, hypertension, apoplexy, and atherosclerosis, they have been broadly applied in food and medicine," says J Lee, from the Ottogi Research Center in Kyonngi-do, The Republic of Korea and colleagues.
To investigate if the leaves also improved metabolism and lipid levels, the team fed three groups of rats either a normal control, high-fat, or high-fat with powdered whole persimmon leaf diet, for 6 weeks.
Eating the high-fat diet without persimmon leaves increased the rats' body weight by an average 114% in comparison with those fed the normal control diet. However, rats eating the persimmon leaf supplemented high-fat diet had a final body weight similar to that of the normal control group after 6 weeks.
"Thus indicating that persimmon leaf supplementation suppressed the excess body weight gain that could be induced by high-fat feeding," say the authors in the journal Food and Chemical Toxicology. They added that these rats gained less weight because persimmon leaf consumption suppressed their food intake, perhaps via the hormone leptin, levels of which were higher in the leaf-supplemented group than the high-fat only group.
Malva Leaf (Chinese Mallow):
Traditional uses: Demulcent (soothes and softens irritated tissues, especially mucus membranes) diuretic, emollient (softens the skin) galactagogue (increases blood flow in nursing mothers) gentle stimulation of the bowels.
Often made into a tea to soothe the membranes of the digestive system. Malva Leaf is mildly astringent and diuretic and used to treat gastroenteritis, The Herbal Medicine Maker's Handbook: A Home Manualstomachache and conditions of the spleen. The Chinese use Malva Leaf as an expectorant and as a gargle for sore throat. Malva Leaf is also thought to be a mild laxative. The seeds are used in Tibetan medicine, where they are considered to have a sweet and astringent taste plus a healing potency. They are used in the treatment of renal disorders, the retention of fluids, frequent thirst and diarrhea.
The word "malva" is derived from malakos, which in Greek means "soothing"; not surprisingly, malva tea is often given as a gargle to reduce throat inflammations. Drinking the tea also helps calm stomach and intestinal irritation. Warm compresses can draw toxins from pimples, abscesses and other skin inflammation while cool tea compresses can help to relive superficial burns. The leaves of Malva sylvestris, otherwise known as blue mallow, are rich in mucilage. The mucilage of M. sylvestris is made up of high molecular weight acidic polysaccharides (Classen B, et al., Planta Med 64(7): 640-44 (1988)). The leaf tea is traditionally believed to be useful as an anti-inflammatory, decongestant, humectant, expectorant, and laxative. It has also been used internally for soothing sore throats, laryngitis, tonsillitis, coughs, dryness of the lungs, and digestive upsets. Mallow is also used as a poultice for healing wounds and skin inflammations. In traditional medicine, mallow leaf tea is also used against abnormal growths of the stomach and to alleviate urinary infections (Bisset NG (ed). Malvae folium-Mallow leaf. In Herbal Drugs and Phyto-pharmaceuticals
(1994, CRC Press, Stuttgart, pp 313-316).
The Herbal Handbook: A User's Guide to Medical HerbalismThe Malva or Chinese Mallow plant (Malva verticillata) is a member of the Malvaceae family which also includes the Marsh Mallow and the Hibiscus. The leaves have a mild pleasant flavor. Malva has been cultivated in China for over 2,500 years, and is now cultivated in some countries of Europe as a tasty salad green. Malva seed contains mucilage, polysaccharides and flavonoids. In traditional medicine, the Malva leaf was often made into a tea to sooth the membranes of the digestive system. It is a demulcent (the mucilage soothes and softens irritated tissues, especially the mucus membranes), mild diuretic, emollient (softens the skin), and a mild laxative (a gentle stimulant of the bowels). Malva Leaf teas are used in the treatment of renal disorders, the retention of fluids, frequent thirst, and diarrhea. Malva Leaf has been used to treat stomach ache, gastroenteritis, irritable bowel, and conditions of the spleen. The Chinese use Malva Leaf as an expectorant and as a demulcent gargle to soothe a sore throat. It can also soothe a bronchial irritation in persons with bronchitis or emphysema. (Beware of Chinese Mallow teas which also contain Senna or Cassia angustifolia, which are strong laxatives and can create dependency. Dr. Miller's Holy Tea does NOT contain Senna.
The seed contains mucilage, polysaccharides and flavonoids. It is demulcent, (soothes and softens irritated tissues, especially the mucus membranes) diuretic, emollient, (softens the skin) galactogogue (increases milk flow in nursing mothers), and gentle stimulation of the bowels. The seeds are used in Tibetan medicine, where they are considered to have a sweet and astringent taste plus a healing potency. They are used in the treatment of renal disorders, the retention of fluids, frequent thirst and diarrhea. The weedy Malva Leaf has been used interchangeably for food, tea and medicine for thousands of years. The Aztec's used Malva Leaves for Bronchitis, Tonsillitis, Gastroenteritis, Pleuresia (Inflammation of the membrane that covers the lungs), Leucorrea or White Discharge, Inflammation of the Cervix, Inflamed Hemorrhoids, Colitis, Rectiti, Intestinal Infections, Cutaneous Diseases and to Soften Tumors and Abscess.
Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis):
Traditional uses: Soothe and support the intestines. Relief of coughs and irritated throats. Traditional remedy for respiratory tract, particularly in cases of irritating coughs with bronchial congestion. Used to treat sore throat and to alleviate heartburn, and stomach problems. Mild anti-infective and immune-boosting properties.
Considered a cure-all by the ancient Greeks.
The Marsh Mallow or Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) was used by the ancient Greeks to remedy bruises and bleeding, and as a mild laxative. It was used in medieval Europe for indigestion and diarrhea. The Marsh Mallow root or leaf was traditionally used to soothe and support the intestines. It is rich in calcium, zinc, iron, sodium, iodine, vitamin B complex, and pantothenic acid. Herbs high in mucilage, such as Marsh Mallow and Malva Leaf (of the same family), are often helpful for symptomatic relief of coughs and irritated throats.
Mallow has expectorant and demulcent properties, which accounts for this herb's historical use as a remedy for the respiratory tract, particularly in cases of irritating coughs with bronchial congestion. Marsh Mallow root and, to a lesser extent, Marsh Mallow leaf both contain significant percentages of mucilage, a natural gummy substance that does not dissolve in water. Like other mucilage-containing substances, Marsh Mallow swells up and becomes slick when it is exposed to fluids.
The resulting slippery material coats the linings of the mouth, throat, and stomach to relieve irritation and control coughing associated with respiratory conditions such as smoker's cough. Herbs high in mucilage, such as Marshmallow, are often helpful for symptomatic relief of coughs and irritated throats. Mallow has expectorant and demulcent properties, which accounts for this herb's historical use as a remedy for the respiratory tract, particularly in cases of irritating coughs with bronchial congestion. Marsh Mallow may also have mild anti-infective, immune-boosting, and diuretic properties. In the British Herbal Compendium the use of Marsh Mallow is listed for gastroenteritis, peptic and duodenal ulcers, colitis, and enteritis. Topically, Marsh Mallow is used to soothe and soften irritated skin, and as a remedy for cuts, wounds, abscesses, boils, burns, and varicose veins. The edible leaves are used as salad greens in France.
It is an old-time remedy for bladder infection, digestive upsets, fluid retention, intestinal disorders, kidney problems, sinusitis and sore throat. Marshmallow is a natural source of beta-carotene, amino acids [amino acids are the "building blocks" of protein], minerals and vitamins and is often used as a filler in the compounding of pills. Primary chemical constituents in Marshmallow include substantial mucilage, polysaccharides, flavonoids Formulated by Dr. Bill Miller, Ph.D. in Nutritional Science, the Holy Tea is a unique herbal blend of safe, all-natural ingredients designed to promote healing by gently cleansing the digestive tract and detoxifying the body. The National Cancer Institute write that holy thistle may have anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects. (quercetin), kaempferol, asparagine, tannins, lecithin and pectin. The great demulcent and emollient properties of Marshmallow make it useful in cases of inflammation and irritation of the alimentary canal and of the urinary and respiratory organs. Recently, Marshmallow has been used as an expectorant to treat a variety of upper respiratory problems. Marshmallow also contains large amounts of vitamin A, calcium, zinc and significant amounts of iron, sodium, iodine and B-complex vitamins. Like slippery elm, Marshmallow reduces inflammation and has a calming effect on the body. Topically, marshmallow is used to soothe and soften irritated skin. It also sooths irritation and inflammation caused by bronchitis, urinary tract infections, colitis and other problems such as constipation.
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