what to do when getting off of many allopathic meds ...

[Guest guest]

Darla,

 

OF COURSE, the drug companies want to keep you on drugs for the rest of your

life!! They want us to think it is normal to be on drugs which, of course,

it isn't.

 

If you want a safe herb diuretic, try marshmallow. I use a tiny amount in

my daily herbal water. It brings nutrients and other good things with it, in

contrast to a drug diuretic which brings no nutrients. Coriander is another.

I don't take them as diuretics. I take them as adaptogens and balancers.

Katy

[Guest guest]

probably the safest diuretic commonly available in north america is plain old dandelion leaf

the french name is "piss on lit", or "pee in bed", and a good indicator of its virtue in this regard

it is a potassium rich herb, and essentially functions as a potassium-sparing diuretic

 

dandelion is one of those under-rated herbs that has so many benefits: diuretic (leaf), promotes bile flow and treats constipation (root), a entire body cleanser (root/leaf), good antidepressant (flowers, as tincture in drop dosages), etc. etc.

 

from an ayurvedic perspective, dandelion is an excellent antipittakapha herb, but rarely will aggravate vata - almost tridoshic

 

just think what a wonderful world it would be if folks gathered dandelion as a medicine instead of using pesticides to kill it

 

in herbal medicine, we often view these "weeds" as natural indicators of how to restore balance, so if dandelion grows in abundance your yard, it might be a wake up call to take a look at how your liver and kidneys are functioning, and if maybe you could benefit from

the loving, detoxification activity of mrs. dandelion...

 

as follows, a little tale about the virtues of dandelion, and taking responsibility for your own health (originally published in the newsletter for the Canadian Association of Herbal Practitioners, (1994):

 

In the early days of my training I worked at the front desk of the college I was studying at as a night monitor, directing people to the rooms in which the evening classes were held, vacuuming the carpets and locking up after everyone had left. One evening an older woman came into the college in obvious distress, looking for a practitioner to help her with her condition. When I told her that college's clinic hours were only during the day she became quite agitated, and proceeded to tell me about her illness. She described in a

noticeable European accent how she had been through almost every route, from medical doctors, chiropractors, naturopaths, reflexologists - you name it. She had spent thousands of dollars without any relief. I can't even remember what her condition was, but I remember that I suggested dandelion root might be a good choice.

"Where can I buy some?" she asked.

"No need to buy it," I said, 'do you have a backyard with some dandelion growing?"

"Oh for sure," she smiled, 'my yard is covered in them."

I suggested that every morning she walk barefoot in her backyard, harvest a little dandelion root, wash it off, and boil it up to drink throughout the day. When I said this her face lit up as she remembered that she used to dig for the roots of various plants with

her grandmother in Poland. She thanked me and left, and I thought no more about it.

Later on the next week the college administrator came up to me in the hallway and asked if it was I who had given someone advice during the evening hours the week before. When I replied in the affirmative, he told me that a woman had called several times that day, wanting to speak to the young man who "cured" her. Her symptoms, which had

debilitated her for months, suddenly disappeared. But how?

 

There is field of science called Semantics, the study of the way words and their meanings develop in language. Semantics tells us that as we develop as humans the conceptual restrictions of language limit our awareness of our environment, relationships and our

own being. These limitations are instilled in us as infants and children to maintain our health and safety, and to integrate us within the culture we live. A young child for example, needs to understand the limitations of crossing the street; otherwise she puts

herself in danger. In the same vein however, the value mainstream society places on a certain style of education severely limits and puts enormous restrictions on children who learn and think in different ways. So, while these limitations exist to protect us, they also impose restrictions on how we experience phenomena, and thus think and behave.

 

With the advent of the Enlightenment in the 18th century, Science was held up as a new evolution of human consciousness, in which society would be free to examine the question of existence without bias or preconception. Everything, including the influence of the Church was subject to dissection and examination. And as a result, human society underwent an enormous period of development and upheaval. The days of the philosopher-scientist, typified by the ancient Greeks, were gone. No longer could one person be an authority on more than one subject. New branches of science grew quickly

and became increasingly specialized. It became impossible for a chemist to sit down with a biologist to discuss what they knew about the human body: the language they used had become so highly specialized. The same fragmentation that occurred in science began to mirror itself in society. Extended families disintegrated, workplaces were removed from home and into factories, and huge bureaucracies developed to govern an increasingly complex society. Body became separate from mind, and mind from spirit. The limitations of perception that Science claimed would be broken it's methods, merely shifted to a place undetectable by rationalization and instrumentation. The whole had become subservient to the sum of its parts.

 

When we are diagnosed with a given condition, that diagnosis is an assessment of only part of our being. By its very nature, a medical diagnosis fragments us into little pieces:

blood, bones, organs, nervous tissue, etc. The resultant effect however is that we often buy into it with our heart and soul. We invest in these semantic limitations which then become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and the "treatment" the only answer. We become

trapped and helpless, having been referred to "specialists" who seemingly know more about our bodies than we ourselves do.

 

When this woman went out into her backyard and pried the dandelion roots out of the soil, she became responsible for her own treatment. The criteria that so narrowly defined her as a diseased person became obsolete. We forget that we have an intimate and inseparable link to our environment. Our body is part of the earth, like the helpful and

essential bacteria that inhabit our intestines: we are interdependent with the whole of Creation. In the simple act of harvesting her own medicine she integrated her consciousness with the Earth, and the inflexible boundaries of her disease became permeable with an expanded body-consciousness. She was no longer the personification

of disease. It's a simple lesson, but with profound implications.

 

Caldecott

 

> If you want a safe herb diuretic, try marshmallow.

> I use a tiny amount in my daily herbal water.

> It brings nutrients and other good things with it, in contrast to a drug diuretic which brings no nutrients. Coriander is another.