The Green Pharmacy
I started spazzing out like a Japanese schoolgirl let loose in a Sanrio store when I saw The Green Pharmacy on a high shelf at a second-hand bookstore. (Used = zero environmental footprint, baby!) The book had already wheedled its way into my good graces when I used Amazon’s Search Inside function to surreptitiously look up specific ailments and their corresponding herbal cures, and the author’s level tone and judiciously doled out advice had such a warm, grandfatherly nip I found reassuring.
Pharmacy suggests cayenne pepper as a possible way of alleviating migraines (p. 287-288), but it was Care2.com’s recipe for a detoxifying tea that made the spice really pop on my radar. I’ve been adding a few dashes of cayenne pepper to my twice-daily tincture of apple cider vinegar and water (occasionally I put a few drops of echinacea extract for an immune-system boost). I can’t vouch for the myriad health claims a good many sources have made—though cayenne and its phytochemical compound capsaicin can be found in prescription-strength pain medications such as Zostrix and Dolorac—but I’ve been feeling more energized, along with a general sense of increased wellbeing, even after the initial fiery flush has receded. The purported antioxidant and free-radical-fighting properties couldn’t hurt either.
Wheatgrass, which is also rich in phytonutrients and antioxidants, is something I’m considering taking again, even though the taste makes me want to throw up a grassy knoll or two. My mother juices her own wheatgrass every morning, and although she turns 60 next year, she looks like a woman at least 10 to 15 years younger. Coinkydink?
Brianne said,
July 1, 2006 at 1:53 am
This is probably a dumb question but what’s the vinegar for? I’m more than well acquainted with herbal beauty goodness but not medicine.
The Worsted Witch » The Healthy Living Bookshelf said,
July 14, 2006 at 7:07 pm
[...] I just stumbled upon this right now: Rodale Publishing and MotherNature.com have supplied more than 20 titles in their entirety online, including The Green Pharmacy I previously enthused about. [...]