The good thing about inflammation is that it is an intricate part of the protective and healing systems of the body.  When we are injured, the body isolates the damaged area with inflammation.  With this process, the body uses white blood cells to remove damaged cells and simultaneously replaces these damaged cells.  Athletes are constantly breaking down cell structure when they work out or compete, and if properly nourished they replace these cells with stronger cells to cope with the increase in activity.  The same can be said in disease.  If bacteria, viruses, molds, parasites, or any other micro-organism invades our bodies and starts damaging cells, this same inflammatory process kicks in and destroys the invaders and the damaged cells replacing them with healthy cells.  This inflammatory process is designed to be very accurate with specialized killer cells that target foreign invaders, phagocyte cells that devour any foreign protein or waste by-products of cellular break down, and many more white blood cells with many different actions.  We were designed to thrive in a hostile environment.  The worst action you can take in this ‘tear down and replace’ system is taking anti-inflammatories.

The bad part of inflammation is when non- lethal substances trigger an immune or inflammatory response.  These are called anti-gens and are commonly seen in hay-fever and food allergies.  When you breathe through your nose, little nose hairs stop and trap foreign proteins into your mucus, then sending them out in a watery stream.  Thus, our nose “runs”, which is a protective mechanism.  If we take some drug to stop this running process and the offending invader stays in our sinus then the inflammation (histamine) process starts which blocks it from entering the body.  By taking anti-histamine medication it will then gain access into our inner body and since it is foreign our immune cells attack it and remember it, thus we become sensitized to it and react with each new contact.  Other proteins entering the digestive process are broken down into individual amino acids and other components absorbed through the G.I. tract and put back together as our protein.  This protein is then accepted by our immune system.  When we take pain killers that destroy our stomach lining, we allow foreign proteins direct access into our blood stream.  The immune system attacks these food proteins making us allergic to that particular food.  This can also happen with the use of anti-biotics.

The ugly part of inflammation occurs when foreign proteins are injected into our bloodstream.  Foreign proteins, of course will be attacked by our immune cells.  If these proteins resemble proteins that we personally manufacture then the immune system can be triggered against our cells that make that similar protein.   When our own protective system is targeted against our own cells we end up with what is called an auto immune disease.  In the creation of vaccines the target bacteria or virus is grown on animal tissue.  The problem is that the final product contains that animal tissue, because it cannot be separated from the serum.  These proteins in this animal tissue can be very close to human proteins, especially if primates are used to make the vaccines.

In conclusion when we have good inflammation we need to help the body do its work, not fight against the natural process by taking anti-inflammatories.  In helping we should give the nutrients necessary to repair damaged tissues.  Along with fresh vegetable juices we would use Dr. Christopher’s amazing Complete Tissue and Bone formula capsules internally.  This same formula, in massage oil, would also be applied liberally over sore areas to help further repair the damage.  This would be followed by the powerful Cayenne Ointment to help with the heat process and to relieve pain.

When we have the ‘bad part of inflammation’ we want to help the body discharge the antigens.  Dr. Christopher’s Nose ointment will help drain the contaminants.  Also we can boil a pot of water, take it off the heat, spray in Dr. Christopher’s MPR essential oil formula and breathe in the steam and oils to open up and drain out the offenders.

With both the ‘bad’ and ‘ugly’ inflammation we would use Dr. Christopher’s highly effective Immune Calm formula to lessen the unnecessary attack mode on its own cells, while not compromising its protective effectiveness.  This would be followed with the repair formula Complete Tissue and Bone.  For best results, the dosage on both of these formulas would be a minimum of 5 capsules 5 times a day for two weeks and then label dosage thereafter.  In my 30 + years as an Herbalist I have never seen anything as effective for allergies and auto-immune diseases as these two formulas.

David Christopher is a Master Herbalist and the director of The School of Natural Healing. He also co-hosts the popular radio show “A Healthier You” and is a popular international teacher and lecturer.

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We get many requests for testimonials so I would like to share with you where you can find them and invite you to share yours with us so others can benefit from your successes.
On The Herbal Legacy website www.herballegacy.com you can type “testimonials” in the search bar and then pick the one you want to read. You can also click on the tab “Ailments and Programs”, or “Single Herbs“, select the one you want and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and you will find the testimonials for that ailment or herb. Here is a sample from the single herb list: 
 

Cayenne
Deep Cut: A person in our audience told how he had cut deeply with a sharp instrument the inside of his hand, fingers and palm. The blood spurted out in streams. He poured a large amount of cayenne pepper into the wound, and within seconds the blood flow slowed down to congealed dripping and the bleeding stopped entirely before many seconds had passed. With a goodly amount of cayenne covering the wound, he then wrapped it. He was so excited about the rapid results he could hardly wait for the regular herb meeting. But, as he said, the “punch line” was lost, because instead of a nasty ragged scar to show how severely he had been hurt, the area was healed and there was no scar.

The School of Natural Healing website www.schoolofnaturalhealing.com has a link on the left hand side “Testimonials about The School of Natural Healing” here is one from there.

I have an 8 year old daughter, Katie, who has Down Syndrome. She has suffered chronic ear and sinus infections for years. We were constantly in the doctor’s office for another round of antibiotics. I knew that they were harsh on the body and was extremely concerned for her. One day I expressed my concern to her pediatrician that there must be something we could do to strengthen her immune system or eliminate something from her diet. I was laughed at and told it was just the lot Katie had been given and she would always be sick. I was furious.
I looked around for an alternative, signed up for the School of Natural Healing and Katie has not been back to any doctor in almost a year. We have all but eliminated milk from her diet and when she does start in on a sinus or ear infection we start her on Dr. Christopher’s Infection Formula and Kid-e-Mune and the results are immediate.

We also have people who email them in. Here is part of one that we recently received:

Hypothyroidism
This began when I passed the mirror one day and noticed a big lump on my throat.
Everyone encouraged me to go to the doctor’s and have it checked. They verified it was a goiter. Nurse Carol told me that if I did not take the prescription for Levothyroxine, I would die! (How’s that for terrorizing patients!)  She said my heart would enlarge and I would develop an enlarged heart and cardiovascular disease.  I continued to say thank you but no thank you.  She felt the goiter and said it felt like a “simple” goiter.  She could detect no nodules or lumps.  She insisted I at least take the prescription home.
I did.  I looked it up in the Drug Formulary.  The first side effect was 13% bone mass loss.  My mother took this drug and developed osteopenia very quickly.  The second side effect was, can you believe it, cardiovascular disease!!  So, I was darned if I did, and darned if I didn’t.
I called David Christopher and told him about it.  He asked me how I felt about it.  I told him there was no way I was going to take that medicine!  He said “then let’s get started”.
Some of the suggestions he made were:

I love reading and hearing about the wonderful healing that goes on with people. I know life is much better when we are healthy. Please send us some of your successes. You can reply to this newsletter or send them to registration@snh.cc. We would love to hear from you.

Have a Healthy and Happy Day!

Doreen Spackman is a Master Herbalist graduate and employee of the School of Natural Healing.

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The International Herb Association has named Rose the herb of the year for 2012. Rose is one of the herbs on the School of Natural Healing’s 100 herb list.

Rose petals have long been used as an infusion, used for the cooling and astringent properties, in the relief of uterine and other hemorrhages, and as an application to ulcers affecting the mouth, ears, anus, etc. The fresh bruised petals were applied to inflammations of the eyes. Rose buds are said to be one of the safest and most widely used eyewashes, acting as a mild astringent, giving tone to the tissues and shrinking capillary inflammations and redness. The petals are mildly astringent and slightly laxative; they are considered a good nightly antidote to take for sluggish bowels.

Rose hips are a good source of vitamin C. They are said to have twenty five percent more vitamin C than an orange. They help to fight infection and have a diuretic effect. When gathering rose hips, it is best to wait until after the first frost. The vitamin C content rises considerably after that first nip. Refrigerate them unless you plan to process them immediately.  If you wish to dry them, do so in a dehydrator below 135 degrees. Don’t let them dry too slowly or you will lose the C content, but don’t let them get hot or the “C will flee” away.

In the book Herb Syllabus by Dr. John R. Christopher, it tells us that the Rose is a symbol of love. The bridal rose is the symbol of wedded bliss. The cabbage rose is the ambassador of love, and a rose sent daily to a person communicates that you aspire to his/her smile. The damask rose communicates admiration for a beautiful complexion. A deep red rose lets someone know that you are embarrassed about something you did. A single rose communicates simple love. A thorn-less rose means that you began to love someone early in your relationship. A withered rose means that your love is decreasing or that you are jealous. White and red roses given together suggest that you wish to enhance unity. A rosebud when red means that you think someone is pure and lovely, while a white one communicates girlhood love and a moss-colored rosebud means that you are confessing your love.

Looking over that list, I hope none of you sent the wrong message with the roses you sent for Valentine’s Day.

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For millenniums people have practiced interventive dentistry starting with tooth pulling, wooden and metal replacements, mercury compounded fillings, root canals, and th

e one attempt at prevention, fluoride, which ends up destroying the very enamel it was supposed to protect.  Do modern dentists fulfill a useful purpose today?  Absolutely, they are wonderful technicians and save people from a lot of suffering.  However we need to ask, is there something better?  Of Course there is something better!

To find true health for our teeth we need to look at the facts.  Humans and their pets get tooth decay, all other animals do not.  You will not find tooth decay in nature.  You will not find gorillas, wolves and lions, out in the wild, flossing and brushing their teeth!  Nor do you see them crowded in dental waiting rooms, waiting for treatment.  Yet they keep all their teeth until they die.  While their counter parts, our cats and dogs, have the same diseases that we have, including dental disease.

Knowing this important fact, we now need to examine the differences between us and gorillas, and our pets and their wild counterparts.  The main difference is obvious.  Gorillas and other animals in nature have never been spotted sitting around campfires cooking hot dogs and marshmallows and washing down their S’mores with colas and other sugary beverages. Yes, dental health is all about environment.  We have developed an environment where our dental health has deteriorated over centuries and continues to deteriorate currently.

In comparing our situation and the reality of nature, we can observe that wild animals eat their food raw while we “civilized animals” eat our food cooked (processed).  If wild animals get food stuck between their teeth, the enzymes, inherent in all food, breaks it down.  Enzymes are destroyed, starting at 118 degrees and are non-existent after exposure to temperatures above 140.  To illustrate the importance of enzymes, let me relate my own observations with those who live vegetarian lifestyles who also suffer multiple cavities.  Vegetarians can eat fresh raw apples, every day of their lives, and these raw apples will never cause decay.  Yet if they eat a lot of dried apples it can rot their teeth out.  It is interesting to note that even though dried apples are not cooked, and retain their enzymes; these enzymes are inactivated when dried, because they require a watery environment to function.  Therefore the concentrated sugar from the apple stuck between the teeth causes tooth decay.

So, if we have blown it by not practicing prevention and we now have cavities, are there natural treatments?  Of course there are and they have been around for centuries.  Since they are “alternative” and not promoted by the current system, they are not well known.   Let me relate my personal preference for a natural program to deal with cavities.

• First, stop feeding the bacteria.  No sugar, white flour or dairy, this is the minimal you can do.  The optimal is no refined food.
• Then, remove the offending bacteria.  This is accomplished by flossing and then brushing with Dr. Christopher’s tooth powder (all tooth pastes are counter- productive).
• Next thoroughly rinse with water, and then orally take one spoonful of a good quality olive oil or coconut oil.  Swish this oil between the teeth around the mouth and gums for 10 minutes.  Do not swallow this oil, for it is attracting the bacteria in the mouth and cavities, which become trapped in it.  Spit this out into a lined waste basket rather than in the sink as to not clog the plumbing.
• Then orally take two droppers full of Dr. Christopher’s X-Ceptic extract and swish it between the teeth for three minutes and then swallow it.
• Next stretch out a cotton ball and soak it in X-Ceptic extract, which is then placed between the gum and cheeks.  This is left in until the next time you eat.  After eating, the entire procedure is repeated.

When the bacteria are destroyed, the pain is greatly diminished.  To totally be free of pain, the damage caused by the bacteria needs to be repaired, including the rebuilding of tooth and enamel.  This is accomplished with consuming one quart per day of Dr. Christopher’s BF&C bulk herb decoction.  It should be sipped and swished throughout the day.
Many clients have reported back with successful experiences using this routine.  I personally have experienced tremendous reduction of tooth pain, and have witnessed the miraculous repair of bacteria caused cavities.  

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We want you to know of our wonderful website that many of our readers are unaware of - Herballegacy.com. This site has a list of Dr. Christopher’s formulas, a list of ailments and programs to help with those ailments, single herbs, recipes, herbal education information and more. I’m going to walk you through the site to help you find the information you’re looking for

Some easy ways of accessing the site:

1. At the bottom of your newsletter there is a section of Herbal Resource Links. Click on the second link that says “Herbal Legacy.”
2. Go to www.schoolofnaturalhealing.com On the left hand side in blue click on “Herbal Reference Links”, and then click on the “Herbal Legacy” link.
3. Type www.herballegacy.com into your browser bar.

Home page
We get many calls where readers want to give information from the newsletter to their family and friends. This is where you can direct them to sign up for the newsletter. They only need to type in their first name and email address, then click the submit button.

Tabs on the site:

1. Articles - Here is a list of previous newsletters with their name and the date the article came out. There are articles for everything from “Natural Protocol for systemic Yeast overgrowth & leaky gut syndrome” on May 5, 2010 to “Preparing a fomentation for injuries” on March 30, 2011 and everything in between.
2. Dr. Christopher formulas - Click here for a list of Dr. Christopher’s original formulas and the herbs in them.  Some let you know what each herb in that product does, and some will tell how many parts of the herb is contained in the product. It also tells different ways to use the products and testimonials of people who have used them and their results.
3. Ailment & Programs - Here you can learn about the difference between the 3 day juice cleanse,  the extended cleanse program, the incurables program, as well as a list of ailments from A-Z and the way Dr. Christopher taught how to take care of that problem.
4. Single Herbs - We have place School of Natural Healing graduates Thesis papers here so you can have more information on single herbs. Each thesis will tell the history, location, chemical constituent, medicinal qualities, contra-indications, some herbal formulas using that herb, dosages and applications, and personal experiences with those herbs.
5. Recipes -Everyone loves recipes and here is a great resource from breakfast and main dishes to snack, soups and of course desserts. Yummy!!
6. About Us - gives you some information about Dr. John R. Christopher and David Christopher.
7. Herbal Education -This gives you information about the School of Natural Healing and the times the general public can call and talk to a Master Herbalist for answers to health questions.

I love Herballegacy.com it has so much information on one site and so convenient to use. Have fun on the site and let us know what helped you most or send us some of your testimonials.

Have a Happy and Healthy Day!!!

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We had an interesting dinner the other evening–I had prepared a fabulous cashew sauce for our zucchini noodles and was excited for the kids to try it out.  My three year old took her first bite, said “Yum!” and then immediately had a look of horror cross her face.  Being the mom that I am, I thought, “Oh no you don’t - not tonight!” and immediately gave her another bite.  She cried and complained while I tried to enjoy some of my own dinner.  As I often do, I gathered my wits, force fed her another bite and ate some more.  But this was not the usual whining about something new for dinner.

Her cries got louder, her face turned red and all of a sudden she had big white bumps around her eyes.  The bumps multiplied, her eyes starting swelling shut, her stomach hurt and I sprang to action.  I grabbed a cold wash cloth for her eyes, held her in my arms and took a moment to think.  It seemed like her body was having a major reaction, that her immune system was just going crazy.  Best thing to calm the immune system?  Marshmallow and Astragalus.

So I had my son grab a bottle of Kid-e-Soothe and immediately gave her three droppersful.  I checked the washcloth, it was burning up, so I cooled that down and gave her three more droppersful of Kid-e-Soothe.  The swelling in her eyes and white bumps started decreasing, so I kept changing the cloth on her eyes and giving Kid-e-Soothe while I flipped through my homeopathic book (that I keep in the kitchen, specifically for times like this!) and finally found what I was looking for - Apis, a specific for hives, reactions, allergies, etc.  I gave her some immediately, and started alternating it with the Kid-e-Soothe.

She was able to lie on the couch while I started some Raspberry/Spearmint/Catnip Tea a favorite at our house for any sickness.  A few minutes later she was done with the cloth on her eyes - and they looked A LOT better.  The cloth wasn’t pulling out heat anymore.  I slowed down the Kid-e-Soothe and Apis because she wouldn’t take it.  And then (about ½ hour into the experience) she threw up.  She would only take one sip of the tea, which was fine, but she did want more Kid-e-Soothe and Apis.  I also put some Apis in a water cup and she sipped on that intermittently.

She threw up twice more that evening, each about an hour apart, and then slept soundly the rest of the night.  The next morning she was back to her old self, playing and laughing with her brothers–and completely starving for breakfast!  She had a few red areas on her face so I gave her more Kid-e-Soothe and Apis and it cleared up within an hour.  She was fine the rest of the day.

As I took care of my little sweetheart I let my mind put the pieces together that caused this experience and realized that she is definitely allergic to cashews.  The only other time she has eaten cashews is when I chopped them up in a homemade energy bar.  She threw up a ½ hour after eating those and again about an hour later.  I don’t remember any swelling or hives during that experience, but maybe it’s because she only had a little bit of the energy bar, not a concentrated amount like the cashew sauce.  The other thing that I realized is that she always refuses cashews when I offer them to her.  Somehow she knows that those aren’t good for her and stays away from them.  What amazing bodies we have!  She was listening to her body all along - it just took an experience like this one for me to understand!

I also felt so thankful for my upbringing and the School of Natural Healing course I am completing.  I was able to keep my wits about me, understand what my daughter’s symptoms were telling me, and act accordingly.  What a blessing!  No trip to the emergency room, no Benadryl, just the safe herbs and homeopathics I had in my kitchen.  What a fabulous dinner!

Tara Eyre is a busy mother of three fabulous children.  She grew up with herbs and is finishing up her Master Herbalist course through The School of Natural Healing.  She loves taking care of her children naturally at home.

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We had an interesting dinner the other evening–I had prepared a fabulous cashew sauce for our zucchini noodles and was excited for the kids to try it out.  My three year old took her first bite, said “Yum!” and then immediately had a look of horror cross her face.  Being the mom that I am, I thought, “Oh no you don’t - not tonight!” and immediately gave her another bite.  She cried and complained while I tried to enjoy some of my own dinner.  As I often do, I gathered my wits, force fed her another bite and ate some more.  But this was not the usual whining about something new for dinner.

Her cries got louder, her face turned red and all of a sudden she had big white bumps around her eyes.  The bumps multiplied, her eyes starting swelling shut, her stomach hurt and I sprang to action.  I grabbed a cold wash cloth for her eyes, held her in my arms and took a moment to think.  It seemed like her body was having a major reaction, that her immune system was just going crazy.  Best thing to calm the immune system?  Marshmallow and Astragalus.

So I had my son grab a bottle of Kid-e-Soothe and immediately gave her three droppersful.  I checked the washcloth, it was burning up, so I cooled that down and gave her three more droppersful of Kid-e-Soothe.  The swelling in her eyes and white bumps started decreasing, so I kept changing the cloth on her eyes and giving Kid-e-Soothe while I flipped through my homeopathic book (that I keep in the kitchen, specifically for times like this!) and finally found what I was looking for - Apis, a specific for hives, reactions, allergies, etc.  I gave her some immediately, and started alternating it with the Kid-e-Soothe.

She was able to lie on the couch while I started some Raspberry/Spearmint/Catnip Tea a favorite at our house for any sickness.  A few minutes later she was done with the cloth on her eyes - and they looked A LOT better.  The cloth wasn’t pulling out heat anymore.  I slowed down the Kid-e-Soothe and Apis because she wouldn’t take it.  And then (about ½ hour into the experience) she threw up.  She would only take one sip of the tea, which was fine, but she did want more Kid-e-Soothe and Apis.  I also put some Apis in a water cup and she sipped on that intermittently.

She threw up twice more that evening, each about an hour apart, and then slept soundly the rest of the night.  The next morning she was back to her old self, playing and laughing with her brothers–and completely starving for breakfast!  She had a few red areas on her face so I gave her more Kid-e-Soothe and Apis and it cleared up within an hour.  She was fine the rest of the day.

As I took care of my little sweetheart I let my mind put the pieces together that caused this experience and realized that she is definitely allergic to cashews.  The only other time she has eaten cashews is when I chopped them up in a homemade energy bar.  She threw up a ½ hour after eating those and again about an hour later.  I don’t remember any swelling or hives during that experience, but maybe it’s because she only had a little bit of the energy bar, not a concentrated amount like the cashew sauce.  The other thing that I realized is that she always refuses cashews when I offer them to her.  Somehow she knows that those aren’t good for her and stays away from them.  What amazing bodies we have!  She was listening to her body all along - it just took an experience like this one for me to understand!

I also felt so thankful for my upbringing and the School of Natural Healing course I am completing.  I was able to keep my wits about me, understand what my daughter’s symptoms were telling me, and act accordingly.  What a blessing!  No trip to the emergency room, no Benadryl, just the safe herbs and homeopathics I had in my kitchen.  What a fabulous dinner!

Tara Eyre is a busy mother of three fabulous children.  She grew up with herbs and is finishing up her Master Herbalist course through The School of Natural Healing.  She loves taking care of her children naturally at home.   

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Fall is the perfect time to can and preserve or prepare what the summer has abundantly blessed us with. More specifically, as fall approaches, I find myself taking a mental inventory of the herbal preparations I have on hand, and the ones I will most likely need to restock as the cold winter months approach. Here are a few herbs/ herbal formulas my home surely would not want to be without this upcoming season and a few of the many ways in which we use them:

Dr. Christopher’s Kid-E-Mune: Echinacea Angustifolia prepared in a glycerine tincture. I like to use this whenever I feel a child’s immune system could use a boost and when we travel (via airplane) for the holidays. Is especially effective at the very first signs of irritation such as a sore throat or runny nose.

Echinacea Tincture (Alcohol or Glycerin Extract): I like to use this formula with the adults for the same reason of boosting the immune system when needed. Is especially effective at the very first signs of irritation such as a sore throat or runny nose.

Garlic oil: Easy to make yourself and great to use at the first hints/signs of ear infection. Worth it’s weight in gold when applied to the soles of the feet of sick little ones at night (make sure to cover with cotton socks).  Can also be applied on the chest of little ones (and anyone) with coughs.

Dr. Christopher’s Super Garlic Immune Formula: With fresh garlic juice, mullein, wormwood, lobelia, marshmallow root, white oak bark, black walnut, skull cap, gravel goot, plantain, aloe vera, pure apple cider vinegar and raw honey, using this formula is like bringing out the “big guns” in a battle with any cold and flu.

Dr. Christopher’s Kid-E-Well: A combination of yarrow flower, elder flower, peppermint leaf and echinacea angustifolia makes a great formula to help children work through and overcome the cold and flu.

Dr. Christopher’s Respiratory Massage Oil: A preparation of mullein leaf in oil and very effective in helping the body work through colds that have gone to the chest, especially with little ones. Rub on the chest at night combined with garlic oil and you have a great infection fighting formula that will also help the body expel mucus from the lungs/chest.

Mullein: Amazing herb for helping the body rid moisture/mucus from the lungs. This is especially effective for the cough that seems to linger.

Dr. Christopher’s Lower Bowel Formula: A formula of cascara sagrada bark, barberry bark, cayenne pepper, ginger root, lobelia herb, red raspberry leaf, turkey rhubarb root, fennel seed and goldenseal root. When dealing with illness it’s always a first priority to make sure the bowels are functioning properly. Most often blocked eliminatory channels are the tipping point of a virus/bacteria winning in the first responses of our immune system’s attempts to fight them off. Open/regular elimination channels allow the body to function optimally and are generally a sign of a good diet.

Dr. Christopher’s Kid-E-Reg: With slippery elm bark, licorice root, fennel seed, anise seed and fig syrup, you get a kid-friendly version of the lower bowel formula; helping children’s bowels eliminate properly so that the body can more effectively heal. Also effective in helping alleviating the source of post-holiday-stinky-behavior in children who have been eating a less-than optimal diet due to holiday indulgence - not that any of our children do that (sure :-).

Noell Larsen is a Holistic Nutritionist and Master Herbalist/ Masters of Science graduate of The School of Natural Healing. Together with her husband (a current Medical Student) and as a mother of two children… speaking, writing and tutoring others in health has become a family passion.

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“The time we start preparing for an anti-disease susceptibility is many months before conception. If, however, that is too late and the child is here and sick at this time, we will have to work on the present cause, but this effort could be eliminated if we had started a few generations back.”

Recently published in Time Magazine, January 2010, is an article on “Why Your DNA Isn’t Your Destiny.” A preventive-health specialist, Dr. Lars Olov Bygren from northern Sweden, was testing the long standing idea that whatever health choices we make during our life affects only our own health and does not change our DNA, thus having no effect on our children. However,

what Dr. Bygren and his team found is that environmental conditions and what we do to our bodies can somehow leave an imprint on the genetic material in eggs and sperm and these genetic imprints can pass along a new trait in a single generation. The poor health choices that we make can predispose our children even before the are conceived. This science is called Epigenetics of which Dr. Lars Olov Bygren comments,

“At the most basic, epigenetics is the study of the changes in gene activity that do not involve alterations to the genetic code but still get passed down to at least one successive generation. These patterns of gene expression are governed by the cellular material — the epigenome — that sits on top of the genome, just outside it (hence the prefix epi-, which means above). It is these epigenetic “marks” that tell your genes to switch on or off, to speak loudly or whisper. It is through epigenetic marks that environmental factors like diet, stress and prenatal nutrition can make an imprint on genes that is passed from one generation to the next.”

This once again proves the importance of the health choices we make. What current research is discovering today was understood by Dr. Christopher more than 35 years ago. Let’s commit to making healthier choices - not just for our well being, but for our children and grandchildren as well.

Mishelle Knuteson is certified in Rapid Eye Technology (RET) an emotional release therapy, an Iridologist, teaches classes in The Art of Feminine Presence and a Master Herbalist ~ graduate of The School of Natural Healing. Mishelle currently works as an Educative Master Herbalist (MH) for The School of Natural Healing and as Office Manager of Christopher Publications.

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Elderberries have been used for hundreds of years, especially in England, for the treatment of colds, fevers, flu and other maladies. Elderberry has been found to inhibit the replication of both type A and type B flu viruses.  Researchers found that elderberry inhibited the enzyme that attaches the virus to human cells preventing the virus from invading cells.  They also showed that elderberry activates the immune system by increasing inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine production (Barak, 2002). Another study showed that 93% of flu patients given extract were completely symptom-free within two days; those taking a placebo recovered in about six days.

I made a batch of tincture by soaking some dried elderberries in a quart jar with vodka, it only takes 2 weeks, but I left them in my fridge for a year. When my family caught a nasty virus recently, I decided to make syrup with my extract, per Dr. Christopher’s instructions. I gave my children half-tablespoon doses of the syrup several times a day, along with Dr. Christopher’s Kid-e-Well tincture. Their illness lasted a few days, compared to our friends who were sick for a couple weeks. I kept giving it to them to help dry up the lingering cough and runny noses. I also used the elderberry syrup and Kid-e-Well for my 2 month-old baby, who manifested RSV-like symptoms. This treatment worked well, along with suctioning mucus out of his nose a few times a day.

Brigitte Mars tells us about tinctures in her book entitled Elder, “For these constituents, alcohol will make the most effective tincture, which should last several years.  If one cannot use alcohol, apple cider vinegar or vegetable glycerin may be used instead.  The shelf life of the latter two, however, will be shorter.  Use these within a year or two.”

According to the USDA Plant Guide, “Only the blue or purple berries of elderberry are edible… the active alkaloids in elderberry plants are hydrocyanic acid and sambucine.  Both alkaloids will cause nausea so care should be observed with this plant.  Elderberries are high in Vitamin C.  The red berries of other species are toxic and should not be gathered.”It is common knowledge that Antibiotics are not very effective against viruses. My neighbor just lost her sister to the H1N1 virus. This makes me so sad, since there are many effective natural medicines that are anti-viral; Elderberry is one of them. I’ve planted several Elderberry bushes in my garden so I’ll have my own source of Elderberries and flowers for future use.

Jenni is a do-it-yourself, happily- married, mother of seven energetic kids and a master herbalist - graduate of The School of Natural Healing! Visit her personal website at: http://www.momessentials.net.

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