Breast Self-Exam
© Susun S Weed
Excerpt from: Breast Cancer? Breast Health! the Wise Woman Way
by Susun S. Weed
One self-help technique available to any woman concerned about breast cancer is monthly breast self-exam (BSE). You can add this exam to your established breast self-massage routine. Or you can learn it first and then add breast self-massage. The two techniques work wonderfully together, as well as alone, because both encourage us to focus our attention on our breasts.
Breast cancer causes distinct changes in the breast tissue. When we observe our breasts as closely as we do our faces, and touch them as often, these changes are more obvious. Combined with journeys to the Wise Healer Within (who can alert you to microscopic cellular changes before they can be seen or felt), breast self-exam can provide extremely early detection of cancer, giving you time to take appropriate action to reverse those changes with non-invasive natural remedies.
Women doing breast self-exam with attention and consistency can find cancers as small as one-eighth of an inch and locate masses that may be undetectable otherwise. As many as one-third of all breast cancers found by women couldn’t be imaged by a mammogram. This is especially true of younger women whose denser breast tissues obscure small lumps to the x-ray “eyes” - but not to the touch. Whether you choose to have regular screening mammograms or not, an important aspect of breast health is touching your breasts regularly. Mammograms can’t take the place of knowing your own breasts, whether through breast self-massage, breast self-exam, or a combination of the two.
Before we can notice changes, we have to know what our breasts look and feel like; and that’s what BSE is about. It gives us a format for knowing our breasts intimately; it helps us gauge what’s personally normal and what needs attention. It’s more accurate, and much more affirming, to think of breast self-exam as being about getting to know your breasts, not about trying to find cancer.
Positions for Breast Self Exam
Affirmations by Clove
In positions 1–6 you are looking at your breasts in a mirror, first standing still, then turning slowly from side to side. The best light is from the side rather than overhead.
Position 1: Look
Stand in front of a mirror with your arms at your sides.
I see myself, a beautiful goddess.
Position 2: Look
Stretch both arms over your head.
I welcome the healing rays of the heavens.
Position 3: Look
Clasp your hands and bring them down behind your head; push your elbows back hard.
I open my heart and my lungs.
Position 4: Look
Push your palms together hard in front of your forehead.
My body is strong and healthy.
Position 5: Look
Bend from the hips until your nipples point down. You can rest your hands on your knees or a wall.
My breasts receive the healing rays of the Great Mother, the Earth.
Position 6: Look
Put your hands on your hips (fingers pointing down) and push down hard.
I am woman, the source of life, creating my own life.
Position 7: Touch
Sit in a bath or on a bed and lean back, or stand in the shower. Raise your right arm and put your hand behind your head. Use a spiral, clock, or row pattern and three levels of touch to explore your right breast thoroughly with your left hand. Change sides; touch your left breast with your right fingerpads.
Position 8a: Touch
Lie down and relax. Place a pillow under your right shoulder. Bring your right arm up and tuck it under your head. Bend your knees and roll slightly to the left until your right nipple points up. Using an orange segment or row pattern, touch the outer half of your right breast. Continue with 8b before switching sides.
Position 8b: Touch
Keeping your hand firmly in place, roll onto your back and examine the inner half of your breast, using the same pattern. Repeat 8a and 8b on your left breast.
For more information, see Breast Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Wayby Susun Weed. www.ashtreepublishing.com
Nourishing and Tonifying Herbs: The Hidden Keys to Health
© Susun S Weed
Most herbalists, throughout history, have been fascinated with poisonous plants. This fascination, along with careful study, experimentation, and observation, has given rise to pharmacy - the use of concentrated poisons - on one hand, and to homeopathy - the use of diluted poisons - on the other.
While respecting the ability of plants to stimulate and sedate, I have focused my studies elsewhere, specifically on the nourishing abilities of plants. The main premise of the Wise Woman Tradition is that health is inherent in each being, with nourishment being the key that unlocks it. Thus, I have spent the past 30 years recommending the use of nourishing herbs to a wide variety of people with a wide variety of problems.
Because nourishing plants, by definition, can't kill, they are scorned by many herbalists. Their effects are said to be slow and weak. Yes, poisonous plants do create instantaneous results, and I do use them when I need that immediate reaction. But they always undermine health.
Nourishing plants always build health. Their effects are slower, but still rapid - with significant improvement in well-being seen in 10 days or less - and powerful, often life-changing.
I call the nourishing herbs "people's herbs" because they are safe for anyone to use for any reason. And the use of nourishing herbs is "people's medicine," our birthright of health. People's medicine is a direct threat to hierarchy medicine, whether mainstream or alternative. It returns the power of health to the hands of the individual, out of the hands of the elite.
Nourishing herbs are powerhouses of protein, minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals that counter cancer and prolong life. The best ways to extract this richness are those that rely on water and dilute acid as solvents: that is nourishing herbal infusions and mineral-rich medicinal vinegars.
Nourishing Herbal Infusions
Tea for You?
Teas are a favourite way to consume herbs. Made by brewing a small amount of herbs (typically a teaspoonful to a cup of water) for a short time (generally 1-2 minutes), teas are flavourful, colourful drinks.
Herbs rich in colouring compounds - such as hibiscus, rose hips, calendula, and black tea - make enticing and tasty teas. They may also contain polyphenols, phytochemicals known to help prevent cancer. Since colouring compounds and polyphenols are fairly stable, dried herbs are considered best for teas rich in these.
Herbs rich in volatile oils - such as ginger, chamomile, cinnamon, catnip, mint, lemon balm, lemon grass, lavender, bergamot, and fennel, anise, and cumin seeds - make lovely teas which are effective in easing spasms, stimulating digestion, eliminating pain, and inducing sleep. Since much of the volatile oils are lost when herbs are dried, fresh herbs are considered best for teas rich in these, but dried herbs can be used with good results.
I enjoy a cup of hot tea with honey, which has its own medicinal value. But teas fail to deliver the mineral richness locked into many common herbs. A cup of nettle tea, for instance, contains only 5-10mg of calcium, while a cup of nettle infusion contains up to 500mg of calcium. For optimum nutrition, I drink nourishing herbal infusions every day.
Infusion for Me!
An infusion is a large amount of herb brewed for a long time. Typically, one ounce by weight (about a cup by volume) of dried herb is placed in a quart jar which is then filled to the top with boiling water, tightly lidded and allowed to steep for 4-10 hours. After straining, a cup or more is consumed, and the remainder chilled to slow spoilage. Drinking 2-4 cups a day is usual.
Since the minerals and other phytochemicals in nourishing herbs are made more accessible by drying, dried herbs are considered best for infusions. (See experiment 2.)
I make my infusions at night before I go to bed and they are ready in the morning. I put my herb in my jar and my water in the pot, and the pot on the fire, then brush my teeth (or sweep the floor) until the kettle whistles. I pour the boiling water up to the rim of the jar, screw on a tight lid, turn off the stove and the light, and go to bed. In the morning, I strain the plant material out, squeezing it well, and drink the liquid. I prefer it iced, unless the morning is frosty.
I drink the quart of infusion within 36 hours or until it spoils. Then I use it to water my house plants, or pour it over my hair after washing as a final rinse which can be left on.
My Favourite Herbs for Infusion
Any herb that is free of poisons - that is, any herb that contains little or no volatile oils, resins, alkaloids, or glycosides - is a good choice for infusion. Additionally, I prefer to use herbs that are exceptionally high in protein, minerals, and vitamins for my daily infusions. See Chart 1.
Nourishing herbal infusions cost me less than a dollar a day. (I buy them by the pound at wholesale prices from Frontier Herb, and so can you.) A quart of infusion a day completely replaces all vitamin and mineral supplements, giving me a saving of at least $75 per month. (The average supplement buyer spends $100-$150 a month on pills, though some customers spend more than $300 monthly on nutritional supplements of various kinds.)
I use these five nourishing herbal infusions regularly, drinking at least a quart a week of each one:
- nettle leaf (Urtica dioica): nourish and rebuild adrenals, kidneys, blood vessels, skin, hair
- oatstraw (Avena sativa): longevity tonic, rebuilds nerves
- red clover blossoms (Trifolium pratense): my anti-cancer ally
- linden flowers (Tillia americana): anti-flu, anti-cold, lovingly soothes lungs and guts
- comfrey leaf (Symphytum officinale): heals, nourishes brain, bones, mucus surfaces, skin
I also use, for excitement or for specific reasons, these nourishing herbal infusions:
- chickweed (Stellaria media)
- mullein stalk and leaf (Verbascum thapsus)
- raspberry leaf (Ideaus sp.)
- hawthorn berries, leaves, and flowers (Crateagus sp.)
- elder berries or flowers (Sambucus canadensis)
- burdock root (Arctium lappa)
- violet leaves (Viola sp.)
- plantain leaves (Plantago sp.)
- marshmallow root (Althea off.)
- slippery elm bark (Ulmus fulva)
I only use one herb at a time in my infusion. I keep it simple, so I can really get to know the plants - and myself.
How Do Infusions Taste?
Generally, great! Most people like the taste of nourishing herbal infusions, but here are a few hints to get you started. Remember you can add anything to like to your infusion, from instant coffee to whiskey, as well as honey, cream, lemon, or your usual seasoning choices.
- Nettle infusion is improved by the addition of salt or miso when you drink it hot; I like it iced.
- Comfrey leaf infusion heated, with honey, is wonderfully soothing; great iced too.
- Oatstraw is mild and easy to drink hot or cold, sweetened or plain.
- Linden flower infusion is great cold, but even better heated and taken with honey.
- Red clover, especially flavoured with mint, is so like iced tea you can fool your friends.
The tannins in red clover and comfrey make me pucker my lips, so I add a little dried peppermint (Mentha piperata) or bergamot (Monarda didyma) to my jar when I make the infusion, just enough to flavour the brew slightly. You can add up to a teaspoonful per quart of any aromatic herb without poisoning yourself. Or you can heat the completed infusion, a cup at a time, and pour it over an aromatic herb to make a tea infusion. Sage, ginger, lavender, thyme, marjoram, shiso, oregano, rosemary, lemon balm, hyssop, and basil are all wonderful choices.
Notes: Is comfrey safe for internal use? The roots of wild comfrey, Symphytum officinale, are known to contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids which can cause venous liver congestion. Two neonatal deaths are ascribed to ingestion of comfrey root. The leaves of cultivated comfrey, Symphytum uplandica, do not contain these alkaloids and appear to be safe for all women, even pregnant and lactating women. Four generations of people living at the Henry Doubleday Research Center have eaten cooked comfrey leaves regularly, including during pregnancy and lactation, and no liver problems have been seen in this population. See: Awang DVC. Comfrey. Canadian Pharm Journal 1987: 101-4. Also see: Gladstar R. "The Comfrey Controversy." Journal of the Northeast Herbalists Association. 1994
Chart 1: Vitamins and Minerals in Herbs Used As Nourishing Infusions
per 100 grams dry weight
- Chickweed: calcium (1210mg), magnesium (523mg), manganese (15.3mg), phosphorus (448mg), and zinc (5.2mg); vitamins A, C, K; protein (2% of total)
- Stinging nettle: calcium (2900mg), magnesium (860mg), phosphorus (447mg), potassium (1750mg), and zinc (4.7mg); vitamins A, B, C, D, E, K; protein (10% of total)
- Oatstraw: calcium (1430mg), phosphorus (425mg), and potassium (352mg); vitamins A, B, C, E; protein (15% of total)
- Red clover blossoms: calcium (1310mg), magnesium (349mg), and potassium (2000mg); vitamins A, B, C, E, K; protein (20% of total)
- Comfrey leaf: calcium (1130mg), chromium (0.8mg), manganese (7mg), phosphorus(211mg), potassium (1590mg), selenium (0.57mg), and zinc (0.28mg); vitamins A, B, C, K; protein (10% of total)
Chart 2: Minerals in Herbs Used Mainly As Vegetables
- Kelp: calcium (3040mg), magnesium (867mg), manganese (7.6mg), phosphorus (249mg), potassium (2110mg), selenium (1.7mg), silica (7.6mg), and zinc (0.6mg)
- Amaranth greens: calcium (1210mg), phosphorus (324mg), and potassium (1864mg)
- Dulse: calcium (632mg), chromium (2.7mg), magnesium (593mg), potassium (2270mg), selenium (3.3mg), silicon (36.8mg), and zinc (3.9mg)
For Curious Minds
Experiment Number One Compare herbal tea and nourishing herbal infusion
Weigh out 1 ounce of dried stinging nettle, oatstraw, red clover, raspberry, or comfrey leaf. Put it in a quart/liter jar. Boil water and fill the jar. Stir until the herb is completely wet. Add a little more water if you can, until the jar is completely full. Cap tightly and let it sit for four hours.
When your infusion is ready, boil more water. Put a teaspoonful of the dried herb in teaball or directly into your cup and fill the cup with boiling water. While it steeps, strain the plant matter from your infusion, squeezing the wet place to release all the liquid it absorbed. Heat a cup of the infusion; put the rest of it in a tightly-lidded jar in the refrigerator.
Sit down with your cup of infusion and your cup of tea. Taste them just as they are, then, if you wish, add honey. Compare and contrast the colors, flavors, and sensations.
Experiment Number Two Compare fresh and dried herbs for infusion.
Weigh out 1 ounce of dried stinging nettle, oatstraw, red clover, raspberry, or comfrey leaf and make an infusion, as above, in a quart jar.
Weigh out 4 ounces of fresh stinging nettle, oatstraw, red clover, raspberry, or comfrey leaf. Use the same plant for both brews. Cut the fresh herb up so it fits in your quart jar and make an infusion by filling the jar with boiling water. (Herbs lose about 75% of their weight when they dry, so 4 ounces of fresh herb dry down into 1 ounce of dried herb.)
After one hour of steeping, look at both jars, taste and compare/contrast. Repeat three more times at hourly intervals.
Minerals are released slowly into water. They darken the color of the water and give it a dense, rich taste. Oil-soluble vitamins float to the top and make a thin glaze of swirls.
Experiment Number Three Compare fresh and dried herbs for teas
Buy or grow a tasty, aromatic herb, like ginger, peppermint, or rosemary. For this experiment you will need one tablespoon of fresh herb, and one teaspoon of the same herb dried. Place the fresh herb in a cup or mug and the dried herb in another. Fill both to the top with boiling water. After one minute, taste, smell, compare the teas. Wait another minute and compare again. Then wait five minutes and try each one again.
Experiment Number Four Using seeds for infusions and teas
Make a tea with aromatic seeds - anise, caraway, coriander, cumin, fennel, or fenugreek. Use a teaspoon of seeds in a cup of boiling water. At the same time, brew a seed infusion using a quarter-ounce of seeds per cup of boiling water. After a minute, taste, smell, and contrast the tea and the infusion. Repeat in five minutes, then in thirty minutes, then after an hour, then after four hours.
Teas of dried seeds are usually best, as the longer brewing time of the infusion releases volatile oils that taste bitter and can damage the kidneys and liver.
Further Study
- Drink 2-4 cups of nourishing herbal infusion for a month and see if your health changes in any way. Best if you don't drink coffee or tea during this month.
- Choose a green ally to focus on this year.
- Read Healing Power of Minerals by Paul Bergner.
- Read about stinging nettle and oatstraw in my book Healing Wise.
- Make vinegars at different times of the year and compare them.
- Unpasteurized vinegar can form a "mother." In a jar filled with herb and vinegar, the vinegar mother usually grows across the top of the herb, and looking rather like a damp, thin pancake. Kombucha is a vinegar mother. Does your local health food store sell mothers? Kombucha? What is a vinegar mother? Is it harmful?
- What is an ionic form of a mineral?
- What is a mineral salt?
- How do our bodies’ uptake and utilize minerals?
Nourishing and Tonifying Herbs: The Hidden Keys to Health
©Susun S Weed
Most herbalists, throughout history, have been fascinated with poisonous plants. This fascination, along with careful study, experimentation, and observation, has given rise to pharmacy - the use of concentrated poisons - on the one hand, and to homeopathy - the use of diluted poisons - on the other.
While respecting the ability of plants to stimulate and sedate, I have focused my studies elsewhere, specifically on the nourishing abilities of plants. The main premise of the Wise Woman Tradition is that health is inherent in each being, with nourishment being the key that unlocks it. Thus, I have spent the past 30 years recommending the use of nourishing herbs to a wide variety of people with a wide variety of problems.
Because nourishing plants, by definition, can't kill, they are scorned by many herbalists. Their effects are said to be slow and weak. Yes, poisonous plants do create instantaneous results, and I do use them when I need that immediate reaction. But they always undermine health.
Nourishing plants always build health. Their effects are slower, but still rapid - with significant improvement in well-being seen in 10 days or less - and powerful, often life-changing.
I call the nourishing herbs "people's herbs" because they are safe for anyone to use for any reason. And the use of nourishing herbs is "people's medicine," our birthright of health. People's medicine is a direct threat to hierarchy medicine, whether mainstream or alternative. It returns the power of health to the hands of the individual, out of the hands of the elite.
Nourishing herbs are powerhouses of protein, minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals that counter cancer and prolong life. The best ways to extract this richness are those that rely on water and dilute acid as solvents: that is nourishing herbal infusions and mineral-rich medicinal vinegars.
Mineral-Rich Medicinal Vinegars
Herbal vinegars are an unstoppable combination: they marry the healing properties of apple cider vinegar with the nutritional genius of plants - the mineral- and antioxidant-rich, health-protective green herbs and wild roots. Herbal vinegars are tasty medicine, enriching and enlivening our food, while building health from the inside out. Vinegar is unique in its ability to draw minerals out of plants. The addition of vinegar to cooked greens magnifies the minerals available to our bodies. And the addition of mineral-rich medicinal vinegar to our diet magnifies health by making high-quality minerals available.
Vinegars Seek Minerals
Minerals are important for the health and proper functioning of our bones, our heart and blood vessels, our nerves, our brain (especially memory), our immune system, and our hormonal glands. No wonder lack of minerals can lead to chronic problems and getting more can make a big difference in health in a few weeks. One of the best way to get more minerals - besides drinking nourishing herbal infusions and eating well-cooked leafy greens - is to use herbal vinegars.
Vinegar and Your Bones
It is not true that ingesting vinegar will erode your bones. Adding vinegar to your food actually helps build bones because it frees up minerals from the vegetables you eat and increases the ability of the stomach to digest minerals. Adding a splash of vinegar to cooked greens is a classic trick of old ladies who want to be spry and flexible when they're ancient old ladies. (Maybe your granny already taught you this?) In fact, a spoonful of vinegar on your broccoli or kale or dandelion greens increases the calcium you get by one-third. All by itself, apple cider vinegar is said to help build bones; when enriched with minerals from herbs, I think of it as better than calcium pills.
Vinegar and Candida
Some people worry that eating vinegar will upset the balance of gut flora and contribute to an overgrowth of candida yeast in the intestines. Some people have been told to avoid vinegar altogether. My experience has led me to believe that herbal vinegars help heal those with candida overgrowth, perhaps because they're so mineral rich. I've worked with women who have suffered for years and kept to a strict "anti-candida" diet with little improvement and seen them get better fast when they add nourishing herbal vinegars (and fermented foods such as sauerkraut, miso, and yogurt) to their diets.
Making Herbal Vinegars
Fill any size jar with freshly-harvested and coarsely-chopped aromatic herbs: leaves, stalks, flowers, fruits, roots, and even nuts can be used. For best results and highest mineral content, be sure the jar is well filled and the herb well-chopped.
Pour room-temperature vinegar into the jar until it is full. Cover jar: a plastic screw-on lid, several layers of plastic or wax paper held on with a rubber band, or a cork are the best covers. Avoid metal lids - or protect them well with plastic - as vinegar will corrode them.
Label the jar with the name of the herb and the date. Put it some place away from direct sunlight, though it doesn't have to be in the dark, and someplace that isn't too hot, but not too cold either. A kitchen cupboard is fine, but choose one that you open a lot so you remember to use your vinegar, which will be ready in six weeks. You can decant your vinegar into a beautiful serving container, or use it right from the jar you made it in.
Which Vinegar?
I use regular pasteurized apple cider vinegar from the supermarket as the menstrum for my herbal vinegars. I avoid white vinegar. Malt vinegar, rice vinegar, and wine vinegar can be used but they are more expensive and may overpower the flavor of the herbs.
Apple cider vinegar has been used as a health-giving agent for centuries. Hippocrates, father of medicine, is said to have used only two remedies: honey and apple cider vinegar. Some of the many benefits of apple cider vinegar include: better digestion, reduction of cholesterol, improvements in blood pressure, prevention/care of osteoporosis, normalization of thyroid/metabolic functioning, possible reduction of cancer risk, and lessening of wrinkles and grey hair.
Notes for Herbal Vinegar Makers
- Collect jars of different sizes for your vinegars. I especially like babyfood jars, mustard jars, olive jars, peanut butter jars and individual juice jars. Look for plastic lids.
- The wider the mouth of the jar, the easier it will be to remove the plant material when you're done.
- Always fill jar to the top with plant material and vinegar; never fill a jar only part way.
- Really fill the jar. This will take far more herb or root than you would think. How much? With leaves and stems, make a comfortable mattress for a fairy: not too tight; and not too loose. With roots, fill your jar to within a thumb's width of the top.
- After decanting your vinegar into a beautiful jar, add a sprig of whole herb. Pretty.
My Favorite Herbal Vinegar
Pick the needles of white pine (or pinon pine) on a sunny day. Make herbal vinegar with them. Inhale deeply the scent of the forest. I call this "homemade balsamic" vinegar.
Using Your Vinegars
Herbal vinegars taste so good, you'll want to use them frequently. Regular use boosts the nutrient level of your diet with very little effort and virtually no expense.
- Pour a spoonful or more on beans and grains as a condiment.
- Use them in salad dressings.
- Add them to cooked greens.
- Season stir-frys with them.
- Look for soups that are vinegar friendly, like borscht.
- Substitute herbal vinegar for plain vinegar in any recipe.
- Put a big spoonful in a glass of water and drink it. Try it sweetened with blackstrap molasses for a real mineral jolt. Many older women swear this "coffee substitute" prevents and eases their arthritic pains.
- Herbal vinegars in the diet have a reputation for banishing grey hair and wrinkles.
- Spray sage or lavender vinegar in the armpits as a highly-effective deodorant.
- Use rosemary or lavender vinegar as a hair rinse to add luster and eliminate split ends.
- Anything vinegar can do, including clean the kitchen, herbal vinegars can do better.
Weedy Herbal Calcium Supplement
Use one or more of the following plants to make an herbal vinegar that can reverse and counter osteoporosis. Dose is 2-4 tablespoons daily.
Amaranth (Amaranthus retroflexus) leaves
Cabbage leaves
Chickweed (Stellaria media) whole herb
Comfrey (Symphytum officinalis) leaves
Cronewort/Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) young leaves
Dandelion (Taraxacum off.) leaves and root
Kale leaves
Lambsquarter (Chenopodium album) leaves
Mallow (Malva neglecta) leaves
Mint leaves of all sorts, especially sage, motherwort, lemon balm, lavender, peppermint
Nettle (Urtica dioica) leaves
Parsley (Petroselinum sativum) leaves
Plantain (Plantago majus) leaves
Raspberry (Rubus species) leaves
Red clover (Trifolium pratense) blossoms
Violet (Viola odorata) leaves
Yellow dock (Rumex crispus) roots
Plants That Make Exceptionally Good-Tasting Herbal Vinegars
Apple mint (Mentha sp.) leaves, stalks
Bee balm (Monarda didyma) flowers, leaves, stalks
Bergamot (Monarda sp.) flowers, leaves, stalks
Burdock (Arctium lappa) roots
Catnip (Nepeta cataria) leaves, stalks
Chicory (Cichorium intybus) leaves, roots
Chives and especially chive blossoms
Dandelion (Taraxacum off.) flower buds, leaves, roots
Dill (Anethum graveolens) herb, seeds
Elder (Sambucus canadensis) berries
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) herb, seeds
Garlic (Allium sativum) bulbs, greens, flowers
Garlic mustard (Alliaria officinalis) leaves and roots
Goldenrod (Solidago sp.) flowers
Ginger (Zingiber off.) and Wild ginger (Asarum canadensis) roots
Lavender (Lavendula sp.) flowers, leaves
Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) new growth leaves and roots
Orange mint (Mentha sp.) leaves, stalks
Orange peel, organic only
Peppermint (Mentha piperata and etc.) leaves, stalks
Perilla (Shiso) (Agastache) leaves, stalks
Rosemary (Rosmarinus off.) leaves, stalks
Spearmint (Mentha spicata) leaves, stalks
Thyme (Thymus sp.) leaves, stalks
White pine (Pinus strobus) needles
Yarrow (Achilllea millifolium) flowers and leaves
Herbal Vinegars Where You Eat the Pickled Plants, too
Burdock (Arctium lappa) roots
Chicory (Cichorium intybus) leaves, roots
Dandelion (Taraxacum off.) flower buds, leaves, roots
Garlic bulbs
Leek tops
Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) leaves and stalks
Yellow Dock (Rumex crispus) roots
Rosehips (Rosa rugosa)
Raspberries/blackberries
Chart 1: Minerals in Herbs Used As Medicinal Vinegars
per 100 grams dry weight
- Peppermint: calcium (1620mg), manganese (6.1mg), magnesium (661mg), phosphorus (772mg), potassium (2260mg), and selenium (1.1mg)
- Garden thyme: calcium (1350mg), chromium (2.0mg), iron (147mg), magnesium (436mg), manganese (6.4mg), selenium (1.6mg), silicon (20.2mg), and zinc (1.5mg)
- Yellow dock root: calcium (1000mg), magnesium (320mg), phosphorus (757mg), potassium (1220mg), selenium (2.5mg), and silicon (1.3mg)
- Garden sage: calcium (1080mg), chromium (0.3mg), magnesium (285mg), manganese (3.0mg), potassium (2470mg), silicon (3.1mg), and zinc (5.9mg)
- Burdock root: calcium (733mg), chromium (2.0mg), iron (147mg), magnesium (537mg), manganese (537mg), phosphorus (437mg), potassium (1680mg), selenium (1.4mg), silicon (22.5mg), and zinc (2.2mg)
- Dandelion root: calcium (614mg), chromium (0.9mg), iron (96mg), magnesium (157mg), manganese (6.8mg), phosphorus (362mg), potassium (1200mg), selenium (0.86mg), silicon (4.7mg), and zinc (1.3mg)
Chart 2: Minerals in Herbs Used Mainly As Vegetables
- Kelp: calcium (3040mg), magnesium (867mg), manganese (7.6mg), phosphorus (249mg), potassium (2110mg), selenium (1.7mg), silica (7.6mg), and zinc (0.6mg)
- Amaranth greens: calcium (1210mg), phosphorus (324mg), and potassium (1864mg)
- Dulse: calcium (632mg), chromium (2.7mg), magnesium (593mg), potassium (2270mg), selenium (3.3mg), silicon (36.8mg), and zinc (3.9mg)
For Curious Minds
Experiment Number One Test vinegar's ability to absorb minerals
Put a fresh bone in a jar and completely cover it with vinegar. What happens? Does the bone becomes pliable and rubbery? How long does it take? Will eating vinegar dissolve your bones? Only if you take off your skin and sit in it for weeks!
Experiment Number Two Make egg shell vinegar
Fill a jar one-quarter full of vinegar. Drop crushed egg shell into it. What happens? Does the vinegar foam? How long does it take? Egg shells are exceptionally rich in bone-building minerals. Can you taste the calcium in this vinegar?
Experiment Number Three Explore medicinal vinegars
Make four or more vinegars with the same plant, using different types of vinegar, including both pasteurized and unpasteurized apple cider vinegar. (For the others, use rice vinegar, malt vinegar, wine vinegar, or even white vinegar, but not umeboshi vinegar.
Taste your vinegars daily for a week, then weekly for five more weeks. You may, if you wish, decant some of your vinegars for use after six weeks. But you may also wish to keep observing them as they age (for years, if you wish). I have some vinegars which are more than 30 years old and still in good shape. Note which stay edible the longest, and what happens to those that become inedible.
Experiment Number Four Explore medicinal vinegars
Buy a quart or more of unpasteurized apple cider vinegar. Use two cups to make several small herbal vinegars: one with roots, one with leaves, and one with flowers. Boil the other two cups. Make one herbal vinegar with the boiling hot vinegar. Make another with the boiled vinegar after it has cooled. Continue as in experiment number three.
Further Study
- Drink 2-4 cups of nourishing herbal infusion for a month and see if your health changes in any way. Best if you don't drink coffee or tea during this month.
- Choose a green ally to focus on this year.
- Read Healing Power of Minerals by Paul Bergner.
- Read about stinging nettle and oatstraw in my book Healing Wise.
- Make vinegars at different times of the year and compare them.
- Unpasteurized vinegar can form a "mother." In a jar filled with herb and vinegar, the vinegar mother usually grows across the top of the herb, and looking rather like a damp, thin pancake. Kombucha is a vinegar mother. Does your local health food store sell mothers? Kombucha? What is a vinegar mother? Is it harmful?
- What is an ionic form of a mineral?
- What is a mineral salt?
- How do our bodies uptake and utilize minerals?
