Allergies, Ticks & Liver Cleanses

Oh the glories of spring!

LIVER CLEANSING

Spring brings so much beauty but it also means allergy season, ticks and feelings of frustration. The liver holds our vision for what we want to offer the world and how to be of service. When we are out of alignment, we may feel irritable, angry, frustrated, or moody. Or all of the above! This is normal feelings of spring because the liver wants to be woken up gently with pungent, sour and bitter foods.

The liver has hundreds of functions and rebuilds itself every 3 months. If it is bogged down, sluggish, or too hot, then it can’t properly detox the body. Build up of toxins, EPIs, and unwanted bacteria can occur, which leads to the body turning on itself (Autoimmune Disease).

It's a great time for cleanses and drinking lots of water with lemon juice. Be sure to get cardio that sweats out toxins and raises your heart rate to move stagnant lymph. Liver cleansing herbs such as my Liver Tonic formula are also recommended this time of year. It contains: dandelion root, burdock root, nettle leaf, calendula flowers, cleavers, and red clover.

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SEASONAL ALLERGIES

Allergies can be eased and prevented both with liver support and anti-histamine herbs such as those found in my Allergy Relief formula. Here are some lifestyle suggestions for the damp heavy feelings that can arise during spring:

• Eat lighter meals and largest meal at lunch

• Exercise daily and get the blood / lymph moving

• Sweat and get your heart rate up

• Eat Pungent, Astringent foods and herbs to clear up dampness in the body

• Start the day with warm lemon water and eat light until lunch time

• Add more spice to your meals, which should not be raw, mostly cooked

• Lay off the heavy dairy, ice cream, sugar (all dampening)

Consuming bee pollen and honey from your local region is a way to get homeopathic doses of the pollen into your bloodstream, building up immunity & becoming more in tune with your local environment. Propolis is what bees repair cracks in the hive with, thus wonderful for abrasions in the lungs from coughing, bronchitis, respiratory infections. It’s similar philosophy to allergy shots (which can also help people).

Drink nettle tea every day for a month before allergy season begins and see if you notice any difference. Avoid dairy and sugar if you suffer from seasonal allergies as these foods create dampness and inflammation in the body. Book a consult to learn how to heal yourself with herbs. My formula contains: reishi, nettle leaf, elderflower, goldenrod, yarrow, purple loosestrife, licorice, bergamot & turmeric.

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TICK SEASON & LYME DISEASE

Then, there's the dreaded tick season. Ticks carry Lyme disease and co-infections. Just when we're ready to be outside in the woods and then the insects appear to latch on and give us nasty diseases.

Lyme can be transmitted sexually, in utero from mother to baby, through breast milk, saliva, and mosquitos. Most commonly it is spread via Deer Ticks, the smallest tick which can be hard to find. The tick shoots a numbing agent into your skin before latching, fills the hole with a substance that prevents the blood from leaving and then latches on until it is full. Generally it must be attached at least 24 hours to pass diseases into your bloodstream.

THREE WAYS TO BE SAFE OUTSIDE:

1) wear bug spray with cedar oil and rose geranium oil. I like cedarcide spray.

2) Always check thoroughly after being outside for ticks.

3) Plant medicine: in addition to keeping your immune system strong with herbs like Astragalus and medicinal mushrooms, I make a Lyme Prevention tincture that not only strengthens the core immune system, it also kills the bacteria that ticks carry. My formula contains: dandelion, astragalus, Japanese knotweed, cat's claw, teasel, pau d’arco, prickly ash, red root, sarsaparilla, lemon balm, & thyme.

WHAT TO DO WHEN A TICK IS LATCHED ON YOU:

1. Remove tick with tweezers, pull directly out trying to get the entire head

2. Do not use vasoline or oil to suffocate it, this can make them regurgitate more bacteria into your body

3. Save the tick and have it tested for Lyme and other disease at UMass

4. Do not tape it to paper, keep it in a small bag.

5. Wash the bite and apply Lyme tincture or alcohol to sterilize the area

6. Watch for any rashes, fever, flu like symptoms in the next 2 weeks

7. Take Lyme Prevention herbs for 2 weeks 3X daily

8. Ticks can pass diseases in as little as 1-4 hours so it is best to be proactive with herbs and testing the tick.

If you have acute or chronic Lyme, do not take the prevention formula. I make customized formulas to treat acute and chronic symptoms. Do not take Astragalus if you have Lyme.

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