The Online Herbalist

I went for a lovely walk mountain hike yesterday, and a local friend pointed to a tree growing, and said its used in Horchata, I was curious about this Horchata and did some more research, and was amazed to find out it is a tea that usually contains over 20 herbs, some of the plants used are only found in this area, apparently it has many uses and I found this article on it, "This is an incredible drink that is original and can only be found in a little place called Loja, which is located in the south of the Andean region of Ecuador. It must not be confused with Mexican white horchata, this is a vivid-red natural infusion, Horchata is the infusion product of more than twenty different types of fresh-cut herbs and flowers that are grown by farmers in this region. Can you imagine more than twenty plants in the same drink? Some of the ingredients of Horchata are well-known herbs and flowers with which you are likely familiar, such as mint, chamomile, lemon verbena, lemon grass, ba...

Let me start off by saying I have countless remedies for coughs including many other syrups, so if you have a specific type of cough or would like some more recipes just drop me a message and I will be sure to help where I can. Ingredients include:  150-250ml Honey (depending on your level of sweetness), 450ml Water, 1 TBSP Lemon juice, 2 TBSP Ginger fresh chopped, 2 TBSP Turmeric root chopped, 1 TBSP Liquorice root dried, 1TBSP ground cloves, 1 TBSP Elderberries dried and 2 TBSP brandy (stinging) nettle tincture (optional and I will give recipe to this at the end). Recipe:  Make a decoction of the ginger, turmeric, liquorice root, ground cloves and elderberry, leave it to rest overnight (or for a couple of hours till cool), then strain decoction. In a double boiler heat the honey and add in the cool decoction. Stir until thoroughly mixed together, do not boil the honey, at most simmer it. Then will hot pour into a sterilised jar, once cooled add your brandy nettle tinctu...

Let me start off by saying I have not used any synthetic products on my hair/head for almost a year now, I would say that is the first step to healthy head of hair, cutting out the chemicals that are destroying your natural oils that help maintain the scalp naturally and healthily, one of the mottos I live by is, "If you cant eat it, don't put it on your body!" ... all those harmful chemicals, of which the names we can can't even pronounce on the back of our shampoo/conditioner container, get absorbed by our skin! The following washes help for dandruff, hair growth and overall helps your scalp regain and maintain a natural healthy head of hair: The Gel from  Aloe Vera  with a little bit of  Almond Oil and/or Jojoba Oil , you can add a few drops of beneficial essential oils, I like to use  Neem  or  Tea tree  as they are really good for head and hair health, nice to add some aroma too, you put the gel and oil in a blender and its done! Use for a u...

Ashwagandha, also known as Indian Ginseng is a small woody shrub growing to about 60cm in height. The seeds, leaves and bark are medicinal but most commonly the root is used! It is primarily an Adaptogen, meaning it helps reduce stress. Most other ginsengs such as Panax and Siberian Ginseng are also Adaptogens but tend to be far more stimulating than Ashwagandha, Panax the most stimulating, some people even abuse it for its stimulation and tend to get addicted to the pumped up feeling it provides, that is what is so nice about Ashwagandha, its actually a sedative, so it has all the same adaptogenic effects but without the stimulation and is actually known to help improve sleeping patterns and boost general vitality. The thing with adaptogenic herbs is though, that they are not the cure to your stressors, they just help you gain the focus and clarity though the stress, so that you decipher and solve the root cause of your stressors, if it is used as a constant stress reliever, it wil...

Have been using this recipe for quite some time now and my teeth feel amazing, actually just used my toothpaste! Most of the ingredients you should be able to get at your local health or herbal shop and to those of you who may be skeptical of natural toothpaste, are you aware of all the crap they put in regular store bought toothpaste, run, run far away! Anyways, recipes goes as follows: 2 tablespoons of activated charcoal powder 2 tablespoons of bentonite clay powder 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda As much coconut oil as needed to get to a good thick consistency so its all mixed together really well, create a smooth paste I personally add one of my favourite food safe essential oils (must be food safe, do your research!) like peppermint, cinnamon is nice too! TIP: what I do is melt the end product down over the stove and once melted pour into a old toothpaste tube, then wait for it to reach room temperature and enjoy using toothpaste like regular people, but wi...

Native to Africa, Akuamma has a long history of use against malaria. Today it is generally used as a painkiller and an anti-inflammatory, some people use it recreationally as the effects are said to be similar to those of Kratom, another effective natural painkiller, also instead of the ground leaves, the ground, powdered seeds are consumed, it is extremely bitter and that it why is it best taken in capsule form, and the effects usually last 3-4 hours. Some interesting constituents to name are, Akuammine which is an anaesthetic, with numbing effects similar to that of Cocaine, as well as Akuammigine and Akuammidine, which are both opioid agonist, explaining a lot of its pain-relieving qualities! It is also good to be used in a tincture and general dosages of powdered seed vary from 250mg to 1.5grams, this obviously dependant on your level pain, some people use up to 4 grams, although at higher doses it may cause negative effects such as nausea and headaches and at very high dose...

Originally from Egypt and Asia, Anise is a flowering plant that has a lovely flavour and taste similar to that of fennel, star anise and liquorice. Usually the seeds are used in medicine making. It is an expectorant (helps remove mucous from the body), I like adding a drop of the oil in a tablespoon of honey to help with this. Why I like to carry it around with me though is because not only is it great to have before a meal as a digestive aid and to help prevent gas (caraway and fennel in combo with anise works well for flatulence! ) but is also great to have afterwards to prevent bad breath, if at anytime of the day I ever feel my breath is off I just chew some Anise seeds! and my stomach thanks me too! (and is often served after meals in India.) Anise works especially well in hair lice formulations, the oil added to a bit of melted coconut oil works wonders, and it smells nice too, for it to be more effective i would add some tea tree oil too though! Some people may be aller...

Aloe vera is a wondrous plant, with so many uses, most commonly to treat ailments of the digestive system such as constipation, gas, peptic ulcers and IBS. Is also used to treat asthma, apparently a good thing to do is keep the Aloe leaf in a cool, dark room for a week before treatment for asthma as the main healing agent is the Polysaccharides and they 10x if you treat the leaf like this prior to treatment. It is used externally to treat minor burns, bruises, sunburn and insect bites. I also treated Psoriasis successfully with a home-made Aloe Vera Skulp wash (Just plain blended inner leaf gel with a bit of almond oil, also works well with liquorice root and apparently will help with eczema too) Also for those that want to stop nail-biting, the bitter latex may be applied to nails as a repellent, just be sure not to do the cooking, I made that mistake once! It is also said to be good for auto-immune illnesses (whole leaf extract, or just gel taken internally) Overall I woul...