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During the festive season, those of us who lack a little self discipline can tend to overindulge. Fortunately nature does provide us with herbs for extra support.
With the frequency of parties and the temptation to consume alcohol amounts you may not normally, your liver needs to be supported and protected. St Marys Thistle (Silybum marinanum) but in the Northern Hemisphere commonly known as Milk Thistle. This herb is not one for long term use, but if you know there is the likelihood of drinking alcohol to excess or the possibility of a hangover, a dose before leaving for the party, and have a further dose on return. This may reduce the symptoms of a possible hangover.
Another complaint suffered during this time of indulgence is the tendency to enjoy culinary delights that add extra padding. Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) has been labelled as the dieters herb for many centuries. This time of year is not the time to be policing our intake and missing out when everyone else is enjoying the feast, so adding a cup of fennel tea to your day will assist with the digestion of rich food your gut is not used to breaking down and utilising.
It is the herb in teaspoon doses helps cresty ponies when they need to shed an excess kilo or two or need to be confined to the bare paddock or a muzzle to help limit the calorie intake.
The Christmas break is also a time for rejuvenation and regeneration. It’s a time for relaxation and a good opportunity to assist your joint health while exercise is not high on the social calendar. A joint supplement containing glucosamine is worth putting on the shopping list, or for the horse who is having a break from his training routine a blend of herbs including ones that feed the muscles and joints such as frankincense (Boswelia carterii), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) and celery seeds (Apium graveolens). It is good practice to maintain athletic ability by nourishing the muscles and joints when the body routine is resting or in a low impact phase of training.
With the festive season being a time of excess, keep your herbal approach simple. To help your digestion after an overindulge or to cool down on a hot day have a cup of peppermint (Mentha piperita) or lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) tea. With Christmas eve excitement, a cup of chamomile (Matricaria recutita) tea will help sleep if opening presents in the morning is on young minds. If you have a household that is not receptive to a cup of herbal tea during the festivities, you can diffuse digestive essential oils in the background – basil, orange, fennel and peppermint- these will keep the mood at a family occasion light and make it easy to fill tummies with all the delights on offer.
Please do not put your horse's body through the sort of stress a detox would inflict!.
When I first studying herbalism and other natural therapies over twenty years ago, the fashionable thing to do was to 'detox'. This had been a twist on the traditional physiomedical approach to cleanse the system and restore tone, and if done with the correct approach, then you do achieve and restore health.
However to 'detox' is a bastardisation of what is a sound principle. I am getting a little peeved lately as this practice is being promoted again, and locally to client's horses by people who are not trained, but just jumped on a thought which is a huge misrepresentation of a sound idea and then misleading to people who trust them.
These people have told clients that issues that may actually relate to a serious disease or syndrome is a sign their horse needs a 'detox'. Firstly, these people are diagnosing an issue and misrepresenting their ability to do so, and placing these horse's health in danger.
The Channel 9 program “Whats Good for You” and they ran tests on 'detox' diets with medical assistance on a recent program. I watched this with interest and finally I had something I had known for a long time to support an explanation to my poor misled clients. These practices encouraged by quacks, who present with some kind of credibility unfortunately, is indeed dangerous.
“The blood tests showed decreased liver function in all members of the detox group. Their livers were shocked by the strict diet and weren't functioning very well. The blood tests also showed an increase in triglycerides (the bad blood fats that predict our risk to heart disease) and a decrease in the protective cholesterol.
Conclusion:
Within our group of six people the liquid detox diet did not help the body eliminate toxins. In fact, the diet did them more harm than good! The body is fantastically designed to eliminate by-products without needing any assistance at all. If you have overindulged, Professor Samaras recommends a light healthy diet for one or two days to let your body recover. “
When I was studying a nutritional course in the early 1990s when this sort of diet was very popular, I put my own body through this idiocy many times. I finally stopped and reviewed my approach to health when a psychic friend looked at my energy field and asked what I had been doing to put my energy bodies into such a state of shock. This particular time, I had only been 'detoxing' for two days.
So if you care about your horse and if you really think your horse need's a little assistance with their health you can gently cleanse the system with gentle herbs but without the need of to be a lunatic with detoxing. You can then follow up with restoring tone and health to the tissue, but for goodness sake make sure you do it with the advice of a qualified herbalist or naturopath who understands the traditional philosophy of such an approach, and not some clever talking 'self professed expert' purporting to be knowledgeable and endangering your horse's wellbeing with 'bullshit”.
Rant over, but today was the last straw, some poor person with a horse with a serious endocrine issue contacting me because her trainer had said her horse needs a detox, but if she had followed this person's advice her horse could have become very ill. The liver is a major endocrine gland, so the last thing the owner wanted to be doing is putting it into shock.
So if anyone suggests your horse needs "detoxing" really question them. I have heard thickening of the horse's coat around the legs given as one reason ... for goodness sake .... no matter how convincing such an argument may sound, it is not worth hurting your horse with such fantasies.
Perry after his bath
Perry is a little Newtown lad who was kind enough to trial a sample of Champet's Aromatic shampoo.
I have to thank Perry's owner as it was a brave move, as with some animal products he will get very itchy after a wash. This time, no reaction. He fluffed up and he looked 'clean' for over a week. So Perry has stamped his paw on this product, it is designed for animals with sensitive skin and it passed Perry's sensitive markers.
The product didn't lather up too much and it washed out without effort. You can see in the pic above Perry came out with a gorgeous cuddly fluff.
If you do have a dog with a sensitive skin, this product is worth testing your self.
Perry before his bath (not so fluffy)
Another bonus is Champet is Australian Made and Australian Owned.
pic from: http://www.tatazadiamonds.com.au (hint hint)
Horses for me taught me to love again, and this time without fear. My work with spiritual kinesiology has opened me up to how trusting any horse can be when layers of abuse are peeled away. They continually present themselves again and again to work with us, and if lucky they find a human being willing to learn.
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Spring is that time of year to get a spring back into your feet. The change of seasons brings a fresh energy in this yearly cycle and to our plants. If the body is not ‘clean’ of cluttered negative thoughts generated through the less inspirational winter months new ideas find it hard to blossom
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September 22nd 2009 04:35
As the days get longer, hormones and body clocks in all species start to respond to more daylight. This time of year can be distracting and in this present economic climate our minds need to be on work or study.
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Comment by Catherine
on I am smitten and happy!
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