The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Chamomile

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey y'all, welcome to this week's show. Now today we are going to talk about probably, well, one of the most common herbs, probably one of the herbs that is the first one most people encounter. And I mean as infants. And it's chamomile. Chamomile is probably the best herb and certainly the most popular and traditional herb for calming fussy babies and easing colic. There are two types of chamomile.

Starting point is 00:00:30 There's German chamomile and Roman chamomile. Roman chamomile may also be called English chamomile or garden chamomile. They're pretty much interchangeable. Both are calming to the stomach and mildly sedative. And it's actually an effective sedative for adults as well. But small children are far more effective by the sedative properties of chamomile because they haven't really been exposed to any stimulants or sedatives yet. You know, as we go on through life, we're just having our morning cup of coffee

Starting point is 00:01:03 or a soda or something stronger, we build up a tolerance to mildly sedative herbs like chamomile. But if you were raised on chamomile and you learned, well I guess you would say your brain kind of developed uh... a pattern there's there's a good way of putting it it we've starting out as an infant before you even aware of things in this world the taste of chamomile

Starting point is 00:01:35 caused a calming reaction in your body your brain develops that pattern so if you uh... were were raised on camille later in life you may still experience were raised on chamomile later in life, you may still experience the set effect of chamomile even from just a cup of tea. Now, we'll make stronger tinctures of this and such, but never look down on a cup of chamomile tea. It's really excellent for just if you need something mild to help you sleep, but dealing with stress, but even better than that, it's one of the best things for upset stomach and diarrhea. Very anti-spasmodic to the intestinal tract.

Starting point is 00:02:14 So we'll get into all that, but the only thing I really need to point out is that most adults have never been exposed to fresh chamomile. If you go to the grocery store or your neighborhood health food store or herb shop or whatever and you buy some, you know, a box of tea, pre-made tea, it's most likely very stale. Fresh chamomile is so easy to tell and this is the most remarkable quality of the plant in my opinion. It is one of my favorite smelling plants because it smells like apples. So I always know when I've wandered into a patch of wild chamomile because I start smelling apples all around

Starting point is 00:02:59 me. Fresh chamomile tea, it should be dried properly, it should be stored properly and it will still smell like you just bit into a green apple that you found in some old tree out on an old farmstead or something, an old heirloom apple that's got that just really amazing scent to it. Except that the chamomile smells like more appley. It almost smells like, you know, Jolly Rancher's apple candy or something because it's got the aromatics of a flower that's bringing that scent to your nose. That scent in the chamomile is an oil, whereas in the apple it's a liquid.

Starting point is 00:03:37 So you can imagine the scent of fresh chamomile as being like apples times a hundred. And it's really remarkable. And one of the common names that people used to call it was ground apple because it smells so much like apples. Just absolutely wonderful. If you open some chamomile tea and you don't smell fresh green apples, throw it away, it's no good. It's lost all its potency.

Starting point is 00:04:03 And the difference is night and day between the two. Between a stale chamomile and a fresh chamomile. A fresh chamomile is far more sedative. It's far more soothing to diarrhea. It has a lot of good qualities that we'll start to get into now. Let's get started to get into them. So, D.S. Corides wrote about chamomile centuries ago, about 2000 years ago or so, and he describes it. Now, you've probably seen chamomile before. It's a white flower with a yellow center. It's very attractive, very pretty. You can put it in your window box or your, even if you live in a HOA or POA, you can plant chamomile

Starting point is 00:04:44 in your garden and people will just see it as an ornamental flower. They won't know that you have a very nice medicinal herb in there. But he says the roots and flowers have a warming quality, relieving strength. I think by that he means stopping cramping he says taken as a drink our dickard coxon or by bathing in it that's a reuse we don't really use anymore uh... actually very good

Starting point is 00:05:14 it says it helps uh... bring on menses uh... and expel kidney and uh... your urinary stones and uh... induces urine it has a diuretic effect. Says it's taken as a drink for gassiness, gaseousness, and for those suffering intestinal obstruction. They clean away the jaundice. It's a good liver herb. It's a very good liver herb, in fact.

Starting point is 00:05:38 It's included in the Swedish bitters. And it says, and Dioscordia says it cures liver ailments, and the coxoction of them is used in warm packs for the bladder. So in that case you would basically take a hot decoction, strong root tea, and we can put the whole plant in there, it doesn't just have to be the roots. Reduce it down so it's real strong and dip a towel in it and put it over your bladder area if you're having bladder issues. And that's also true for colicky babies.

Starting point is 00:06:11 The word actually has several meanings. In older times, it was often used for coughs and congestion. And now we think of it more as intestinal, essentially cramping because the baby's digestive tract isn't fully developed. And putting chamomile on as a warm decoction, a warm pack as he says, it will soak into the skin. It will absorb it that way and it will do more to relieve that cramping in infants than just about anything. And you know it's just a period they have to get through

Starting point is 00:06:45 as the body continues to develop. Some people never actually get past that. There's a certain percentage of people where those nerves in the intestines never fully connected. It's very dangerous, very dangerous actually, because you think about how you know the food waste matter whatever you will call it moves through your digestive system

Starting point is 00:07:09 through your intestinal tract there are I think because of peristaltic contractions in the intestines that move that waste matter through, right? Those are involuntary contractions that your body does naturally when the nerves in that area are stimulated by, you know, some matter entering that part of the intestine. Depending on how large the gap is between those nerves, you may have an area of your intestine that doesn't contract and help move things through. So you're relying entirely on the nerves beforehand to push it through an area that's essentially not unresponsive. And it's going to be painful, it's going to cause cramping and everything, bloating, I mean it's going to cause issues, but it can also cause intestinal blockages depending

Starting point is 00:08:03 on how large that gap is. So that's one thing you need to be aware of if you have digestive issues where you've experienced a lot of cramping. It could be a number of things, but if this has been happening your entire life, it may not be irritable bowel syndrome or anything like that, which is the label they want to put on everything these days, you know, because they've come out with a lot of nice new drugs to treat it. If you're having to use laxatives frequently and you have for your entire life, I mean from the time you were a child up to the present day, you may have that condition, and I cannot

Starting point is 00:08:39 recall the name of it, where the nerves just don't go through. They just did not connect in a certain segment of your bowel and in that case you got to be real careful about it. Be sure to get plenty of fiber. Be sure to stay very hydrated. You know I am real bad for not drinking enough water when I'm away from my home in the mountains. The reason is the water where I live in the mountains comes from a deep well and I have a backup source for a spring. This is a deep spring.

Starting point is 00:09:15 It is the most wonderful taste. It tastes better than any bottled spring water you've ever tasted. It doesn't, you know, sometimes you drink water and it'll put like gas on your stomach or make you a little nauseous. It doesn't do that. Of course, it's like almost ice cold coming down the deep mountain and it just, the water just plain tastes good and it's full of good minerals. It's really good for your health. It's invigorating. I love the water from the mountains and when I'm off the mountain and I'm in especially an urban area where I'm drinking city tap water it's been treated with chlorine and

Starting point is 00:09:48 chloramine and who knows what else. It's full of pharmaceuticals from other people's waste. I mean you know people take their their pills and then they go you know pee or poop them out And that water just gets filtered and treated and put right back into the reservoir. It's full of PCBs, it's full of microplastics and everything that's in municipal water. It upsets my stomach. I mean, it makes me burp, it just makes me nauseous.

Starting point is 00:10:22 Sometimes I'll drink a glass of water when I'm at my mother's house down in More County and drink a glass of water and just swirl up immediately. I mean, it smells like a pool and my stomach's just not used to that. And so a lot of times when I'm spending time away from home, I will get very dehydrated. Not even thinking about it. I'm thinking, you know, I'm drinking water when I'm spending time away from home I will get very dehydrated. Not even thinking about it. I'm thinking you know I'm drinking water when I'm thirsty or

Starting point is 00:10:47 I'm drinking something alternative to water but because the water doesn't taste good I don't drink enough of it and especially of course true in hot weather you know you sweat a lot and everything. If you have that issue with your bowel you got to be sure to get those you glasses of water a day, plus your coffee and tea and if you drink a couple of beers or something. Got to get those eight glasses of water a day. Would definitely recommend kefir or kefir as I call it because that sounds better to my ear.

Starting point is 00:11:20 If it's my accent, better K-E-F-I-R. I make water kefir. You can make milk kefir, doesn't matter. It's a probiotic beverage that's been around for thousands of years. Kombucha, learn to make your own kombucha. I think I've done a whole show on that. You know, if you need some info on kombucha, well, you can Google it, but I mean,

Starting point is 00:11:42 it's far better to make your own because a lot of the store-bought kombucha has been pasteurized, which means they killed off all the good stuff in there. You know, that's a good idea. Those are probably the two best things, kefir and kombucha. Of course, yogurt, but again, you've got to make your own or buy it from a specialty source because it's been pasteurized otherwise.

Starting point is 00:12:02 Sauerkraut, and ditto on that. If you don't make your own sauerkraut, what you buy from the store has's been pasteurized otherwise, sauerkraut, and ditto on that. If you don't make your own sauerkraut, what you buy from the store's probably been pasteurized. Real, you know, super easy to make your own fermented foods and that will help a lot. That'll help a whole lot. In fact, there has been some research to indicate that the probiotic, the good gut bacteria and fungi that will, if

Starting point is 00:12:29 you eat this stuff and drink those beverages every day, will then be living in your intestines will kind of compensate for that lack of nerve connection. They will actually help move things through. It's almost like if you think of the mycelium in the soil, like when you pull back some pine straw or something, you see all those like little white spider webby looking things going everywhere. Those are mushrooms. That's the mycelium of the mushroom, which you see on top of the ground is the fruiting body.

Starting point is 00:12:58 Those actually intertwine and kind of communicate with each other, moving nutrients from one area to another to support the entire mushroom colony. The good gut fungi and bacteria that work together that are in kombucha and kefir and all that do basically the same thing in your intestines. So even if you have that almost like you know deadened gap in your intestines, get enough formative foods, those fungi begin kind of helping move things along from one end of their mycelium to the other. And also, of course, very good for your immune system. About 80% of your immune system is in the gut and it works in cooperation with those good gut fungi and bacteria. Whenever we take antibiotics, it kills off most of them.

Starting point is 00:13:47 We have to get it back by getting more affirmative food. And if we only live on pasteurized food and we're not making firmments at home, we end up with heart disease and diabetes and kidney disease and all the ills of the modern American diet. and all the ills of the modern American diet. And you know, it's absolutely essential that we have fermented foods in our diet. And the only way you're gonna get, be assured of getting the best quality

Starting point is 00:14:17 is to learn to make them yourself. And if you don't know how, my cookbook, The Omnivore's Guide to Home Cooking, walks you through it from the most basic step-by-step. I mean, people have gotten in touch with me and they're like, I just made my first batch of sauerkraut. I'm like, oh, that's great. Where'd you get the recipe? I got it from your book. I couldn't believe it was that easy. It's the best sauerkraut I've ever had. I can't tell you how many people have done that.

Starting point is 00:14:41 If you like kimchi, which I do, definitely give it a try. I even have my recipe in there for redneck kimchi, which is like the best thing you'll ever have at a hot dog, let me tell you. It is so good. It is spicy, funky, hot. It's not just spicy, it's hot. It's funky, it's pickly, it's a little sweet, it's like the best relish you can imagine. It's a little mustard funky, it's pickly, it's a little sweet, it's like the best relish you can imagine. It's a little mustardy, it's just horse radish-y. I mean it's just it was a punch in the face. I like it a lot. Now if you have a more mild taste, I have you know just basic cucumber pickles and such is added there as well. So definitely check that out.

Starting point is 00:15:26 And if not my book, get somebody else's book or go on YouTube and watch videos of people making sauerkraut or pickles or something. Just make sure it's fermented. Real fermented food, not using vinegar. Now vinegar is a fermented product, but what we get in the store is like distilled white vinegar, it's dead. It's dead vinegar. That's actually more of an industrial product than a natural vinegar.

Starting point is 00:15:47 If you buy apple cider vinegar or wine vinegar, ideally get something like Bragg's for apple cider vinegar. It will have this little jelly-like thing in there that's called the vinegar mother that's actually the bacteria and yeast that colonize the vinegar and turn apple cider into vinegar. Same thing is true of good wine vinegars. Even like Pompeian, I mean, I think it's the brand if I'm not mistaken. That's one of the most widely available commercial red wine vinegars there is. Bottle, bottle one time, it had a nice big vinegar mother just sitting

Starting point is 00:16:22 in the bottom of it. So when I finished that vinegar, I poured in some red wine and let it make another batch of vinegar. Excellent! It was the best red wine vinegar I've ever had. And literally just using the mother in the bottom of the bottle, add some fresh wine, let it sit for a couple of months, and I mean that was superior to the store bought vinegar. I mean it had a more complex flavor. It had a balance of sweetness and acid. Really good. So either, you know, you can get into vinegar making

Starting point is 00:16:52 but if you buy vinegar pickles from the store, they have no probiotic benefit. They've been pasteurized in the jar. So anyway, learn to make that stuff yourself. So anyway, So, anyway, learn to make that stuff yourself. So anyway, um, uh, Discority said that for people who had urinary gravel that had a purplish color to it, chamomile was the absolute best and it could be used externally and internally. And he said that, um, smeared on, they would cure the ulcers of the eyelids.

Starting point is 00:17:28 And he's specifically talking about like ulcerated areas on the rim of the eyelid. See good for thrush. Even used as a suppository for fevers. Chamomile does have a fever-lowering quality. It works as a tea too, which is probably better. But for an emergency. In that case you would want to use a cold. By the way, you don't want to put hot tea up your butt. I hope I don't have to tell you that. It makes an excellent tea combined with honey. Two thousand years ago they were drinking it the same way we do now

Starting point is 00:18:05 and chamomile and honey i mean that is just such a great combination it really is just like one of the few herbal teas i really actually do enjoy i'm not uh... if i'm gonna drink tea i drink black tea caffeinated tea i don't drink a lot of herbal teas which i know is odd for herbalists but

Starting point is 00:18:22 that's you know chamomile is one I do like with honey anyway so moving up about a thousand years we get to St. Huligard von Bingen and of course she wrote German chamomile whereas DS Cordes would have been writing at the Roman chamomile she says German chamomile is has a pleasant is a pleasant has a pleasant juice let's see if I can get that out and it's like an ointment for painful intestines. If one has pains in the intestines, he should cook German chamomile with water and lard or oil.

Starting point is 00:18:53 And he should add the whole, oh, some fine whole wheat flour, thus making a porridge. He should eat it and it will heal his intestines. When women menstruate, they should eat or drink that same porridge. It will greatly provide a prugation of mucus and internal fetid matter and bring on menses. However, a person who suffers with a stitch in the side, a pain in the side, should mix the juice of German chamomile with cow butter and rub it on the area which hurts and he'll be cured. As I mentioned before,

Starting point is 00:19:21 you know, when you run and you get that stitch in your side, that's actually sort of a friction between the lining around the lungs and the liver, essentially. If you have a constant stitch in the side, it may be because you have lung inflammation. That's very common and that happens to me when asthma flares up. It was very worrisome when it first happened and then found out it was my lungs causing it, not an inflamed liver. You never want an inflamed liver. But if it's happening without lung issues, it can be an inflamed liver. And chamomile is very good for soothing the liver, bringing down liver inflammation, whether taken as a tea or applied externally. And we'll continue the German tradition. I'm going to sip of water here. And Father Nape writing in the

Starting point is 00:20:12 late 1800s said, KMLT used for colds and cataracts congestion especially when these are attended by fever for stomach pain, cramps, violent congestion, toothache, etc. It's a well-known and trusty friend in every German house. Less familiar to the English public will probably be the little muslin bags filled with dried camomile flowers which will relieve pain when applied warm on the stomach or abdomen. And yeah, that's how you want to use it with babies who have colic. In fact, Brother Alwisius was his proj. He goes on to say it

Starting point is 00:20:45 release cramps and is one of the best remedies for colic, stomach cramps, and swelling from wind, that's gaseousness. It is also recommended for indigestion, heavy bleeding, liver complaints, and nerves for the hysteria, kidney and bladder stones, and dropsy. In this case he's talking hysteria. Well, it's hard to say. Hysteria can actually be pleurisy, which makes you short of breath and would cause people to faint and swoon. Or it can be basically PMS.

Starting point is 00:21:13 You never know what the old herbalists are referring, but actually chamomile would help with both. He said, good for kidney stones and bladder stones and dropsy. When applied externally in the form of warm bags, chamomile relieves cramps, inflammations, et cetera. Burns should be constantly bathed with the decoction of chamomile.

Starting point is 00:21:33 Austrian herbalist Maria Trebin, writing in the 80s, well 70s or 80s, somewhere around there, said, it is no exaggeration that I cite chamomile as a cure-all, especially for babies. In any case, a child should be given chamomile as a cure-all, especially for babies? In any case, the child should be given chamomile tea if it suffers from cramps and stomach aches. The tea is of help in flatulence, diarrhea, eruptions, stomach troubles, gastritis, menstrual

Starting point is 00:21:54 disorders, cessation of menstrual flow, and all abdominal disorders, insomnia, inflammation of the testicles, fevers, wounds, and toothache. Chamomile produces perspiration, is soothing and anti-spasmodic. It is antiseptic and anti-inflammatory, especially in cases of the inflammation of the mucous membranes. Externally chamomile is used as a compress and washed from flame dyes, conjunctivitis, moist and isching eruptions, wounds, and as a gargle for toothache. Anyone who starts to feel aggravated should drink a cup of chamomile tea and soon the wonderful soothing effect, a sensitive

Starting point is 00:22:29 effect is felt. Very much recommended is a warm chamomile pillow applied to aching parts. Chamomile baths and washings are much beneficial to the whole nervous system. After a severe illness or for states of exhaustion, soothing and quieting effects are soon felt. Even as a beauty aid, chamomile has merit. The face wash for the decoction of chamomile once a week will soon show a healthier and softer glow. A decoction is used as a hair conditioner, especially on blonde hair, where it makes it more manageable and gives it a beautiful shine.

Starting point is 00:23:03 Chamomile helps with the movement of the bowels without purging and is therefore indirectly beneficial for hemorrhoids, to which a chamomile ointment can also be applied externally. This ointment may also be used to promote the healing of wounds. Colds and maxillary sinusitis are soon better if chamomile steam is inhaled. After such treatment, one must understandably remain warm to make you sweat or she goes on quite a bit let's see what else she said uh... the well if i can't get

Starting point is 00:23:35 there we go to the next page smear okay so she says the ancient egyptians dedicated camel to the sun god because it's fever reducing effect and the oil camomile was used as a rub for neuralgia and rheumatic pains. The name matricaria comes from the Latin mother or mater or mother and as the name applies it was used for female disorders. In old herbals one reads that chamomile takes away the tiredness of the limbs and the boiled flowers applied to an ill bladder ease the pain.

Starting point is 00:24:07 The Swiss Abbey Kunzel, that's Father Kunzel, you know I wrote the English translation of his book, tells of a village where a woman was known as the chamomile witch to whom people came in their distresses. The people regained their hearing when she fried green field onion in chamomile oil and was dropped into the ear frequently. The chamomile witch gave movement back to paralyzed limbs through chamomile oil massagers. Against eye pain chamomile boiled in milk was applied as a compress or a clodice eyes and they were healed in a short short time. Abhikunzal goes on, Oh, Weaver could only sleep sitting up because he felt as if

Starting point is 00:24:46 he would suffocate. The herb woman took a look at him and said he was not passing water, which he acknowledged. Immediately he had a drink from a large bottle of wine in which chamomile had been boiled, a glass full given every morning and evening, and an unbelievable amount of urine was passed. First dark and turgid, then cleaner and clearer, and after eight days he was helped. Yeah, and consider these are German speakers. You know, Germans don't tend to be the most effusive of people. When a German praises something, you know it's really, really good.

Starting point is 00:25:22 And they really like their chamomile. So English chamomile, which is, yeah, I believe that's the Roman. The English loved their chamomile as well, and Gerard wrote in the 1500s, chamomile is good against the colic and stone, it provoketh urine, and oil chamomile good against all matter of aches of joints, bruising, shrinking of sinews, hardness, and cold swellings.

Starting point is 00:25:49 So another thing we haven't mentioned, chamomile oil can be used, it's more like a mild, milder form of St. John's Wort oil or arnica. It's good for swellings and bruises. It's another one to keep around. And you can combine those plants without a doubt to use externally in oil. Let's see. Dacoccin, made in wine and drunk,

Starting point is 00:26:12 is good against coldness in the stomach, belching, and voideth the wind. That means it gets rid of flatulence and bloating, and bringeth down the monthly courses. It stimulates menstruation. The Egyptians have used it for a remedy against all cold agus, its fevers, and decoctioned white wine would help expel the afterbirth and such. The herb boiled in ale and given a drink easeth the pain of the chest coming from wind and

Starting point is 00:26:43 expeleth tough clammy phlegm, and helpeth children of the ague. Yes, the English used to give their children beer. Everybody drank beer all the time. Ale, really, because the water wasn't good. And Western civilization was essentially built on beer, you know. Anyway, and wine in France, but beer in England and Germany, but anyway. The orb used in baths provoceth sweat, rarifeth the skin, that means cleanses, makes your skin a little whiter and healthier. It actually can be used to remove freckles even in some cases. Openeth the pores, mitigateth the grippings and gnawwing of the belly, allayeth the pains of the sides, mollifyeth hard swellings,

Starting point is 00:27:27 I mean softens, and wasteth away raw and undigested humors. The oil compounded in the flowers performeth the same, and is a remedy against all wearisomeness, and is with good success mixed with all those things that are applied to mitigate pain." Alright, a hundred years later they had moved away from the Elizabethan English, thank goodness, and Culpepper said

Starting point is 00:27:47 that a coxswain made of chamomile and drank take away all pains and stitches of the side, the flowers of the chamomile beaten and made up into balls with oil, drive away all sorts of agus or fevers. And, oh, let's see, is there anything we haven't covered? Oh, it could be the oil applied externally applied to the the credit head of the feet

Starting point is 00:28:11 covered up with a new sweating that help break a fever uh... see there's nothing more profitable to the side of the liver and spleen than it bathing with the car shouldction of chamomile, taking with away weariness and ease pains, what part soever they be applied. Eggs and pains, yeah we covered most of this. Yeah we talked about it being taken for bladder issues and all that. Miss Grieve writing in the 30s said, she gave a little poem from the middle ages, like a camel mill bed, the more it is trodden, the more it will spread.

Starting point is 00:28:55 That's nice. And yeah, you do want to walk through it. It smells phenomenal, really, especially first thing in the morning when you're going out to your garden. A little patch of camel milk could just be one of the nicest things to have around. The, let's see, she said that chamomile used in the olden days used to be looked upon as the plant physician. It has been stated that nothing contributes so much to the health of a garden as a number of chamomile herbs dispersed about it. So

Starting point is 00:29:23 it probably has some companion plant qualities, probably helps keep some bugs away with that strong scent. Let's see if she gives anything we haven't covered before. She talks about where it was cultivated at the time, we don't really need to know that. No, she pretty much covers the same thing. We'll stop with plants for future modern use. Additional use of German chamomile. German chamomile is well known herbal remedy and is much used in the West. In particular is an excellent herb for treating various digestive disorders, nervous tension, and irritability. It is also used externally to treat skin problems. Infusion of the flowers is taken internally as an anodyne, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic anti-spasmodic carmenicotid, coliogog, diaphoretic, aminogog, febri-fuge, sedative,

Starting point is 00:30:10 stomatic, tonic, and basiodilator. What does all that mean? Well okay soothing anti-inflammatory antiseptic you got all that. Antisplasmotic means it helps cramping. Carmenidine means it helps settle, get the gas off the stomach essentially. Coliogog, very similar, diaphoretic, breaks the fever, a meningog brings on menses, febri-fuge breaks the fever. Sedative, stomatic, tonic, vasodilator means it dilates the blood vessels

Starting point is 00:30:40 and can help lower blood pressure. Infusion is particularly useful as stomatic, nerve vines, sedative for young children children especially when they're teething. Absolutely. And especially with... I lost my place. There we go. Especially when you're teething. It is also useful in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. Crohn's disease, peptic ulcers, and hiatal hernia. In large doses or when it is taken regularly for several times each day, the tea can be a medic,

Starting point is 00:31:12 means enough and it'll make you throw up, and can also cure the symptoms it's intended to cure, cause the symptoms it's intended to cure. So if you drink too much of it too often, you could throw up and probably have cramping and diarrhea. The flowers are also used externally to treat wounds, sunburns, burns, hemorrhoids, mastitis and leg ulcers.

Starting point is 00:31:33 The flowers are harvested when fully open and dried for later use. The flowers contain various volatile oils. Upon steam distillation, the volatile oils become the essential oil okay this is basically what they're saying and become remarkably anti allergenic and is useful the treatment of asthma and hay fever. The flowers are sometimes added to cosmetics as an anti allergenic agent. The whole plant harvested with a flower is used to make homeopathic remedies especially good for children. And let's see, let's see, we just, that was the German.

Starting point is 00:32:14 Now let's get the, yeah. Now this is the Roman. It says that chamomile is a common herb with a long history of safe and effective medicinal use. It is widely used as a household remedy. It is particularly useful as a remedy for various problems with the digestive system as a sedative and nerve vine. It is especially suited for young children.

Starting point is 00:32:37 A tea is made for the flowers and should be prepared in a closed vessel to prevent the loss of essential oils. Flowers are anodyne, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, nerve-dry, stomatic, tonic, vasodilator, everything we just said about the German, this is the Roman. The single flowered form is most potent, additionally, though it can, in large doses,

Starting point is 00:32:59 damage the lining of the stomach and bowel. So don't, you know, again, stay away from large doses. For this reason, the double-flowered form is preferred because it contains less of the alkali that causes the problem. Flowers gather in summer when they are fully open and distilled for their oil or dried for later use. Should not be stored longer than 12 months. The whole herb is used to make a lotion for external application, the treatment of toothache, earache, neurology, etc. The essential oil is used in aromatherapy and is considered to be soothing. So in closing, what do I say? This is one of the most pleasant and useful of all herbs.

Starting point is 00:33:40 It smells great. It's a pretty sunny looking little flower and it's one of those that people take for granted because you probably had chamomile tea when you were a child and never really thought about it after the age of five or so, right? Do yourself a favor and start growing your own chamomile and you'll find many, many uses for this herb and it's one of those I would put in the essentials. I mean, if I was going to pick like my top 10 or 20 herbs, a chamomile would absolutely be in there. So y'all, now I'll wrap this one up.

Starting point is 00:34:11 Have a great week, and I will talk to you next time. The information in this podcast is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease or condition. Nothing I say or write has been evaluated or approved by the FDA. I'm not a doctor. The US government does not recognize the practice of herbal medicine and there is no governing body regulating herbalists. Therefore I'm really just a guy who

Starting point is 00:34:33 studies herbs. I'm not offering any advice. I won't even claim that anything I write or say is accurate or true. I can tell you what herbs have been traditionally used for. I can tell you my own experience and if if I believe in herbs, help me. I cannot nor would I tell you to do the same. If you use an herb anyone recommends, you are treating yourself. You take full responsibility for your health. Humans are individuals and no two are identical. What works for me may not work for you.

Starting point is 00:35:00 You may have an allergy, a sensitivity, an underlying condition that no one else even shares and you don't even know about. Be careful with your health. By continuing to listen to my podcast or read my blog, you agree to be responsible for yourself, do your own research, make your own choices, and not to blame me for anything ever.

The Prepper Broadcasting Network - Herbal Medicine for Preppers: Chamomile

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