Red ginseng, white ginseng and ginseng capsules

@Mandy- Ginseng is the ultimate stress management herb. Herbalists call this type of herb an "adaptogen", because it helps you adapt to stress. Adaptogens have a body and mind balancing effect. The help your body regulate its functions. For example, if your blood pressure runs high, an adaptogen, such as ginseng, will help lower it, and vice versa. Ginseng is the ultimate adaptogen, and the Jack-of-all-trades of herbalism. Because it does so many things for so many people, and is so safe, it is one of the most consumed herbs in the world.
Ginseng has a bitter note, but is mainly neutral or a little sweet. In Asia, it is the most common herb added to prepared foods. People there enjoy consuming ginseng as an ingredient in soup, beverages, stir fry, candy and they even deep fry it for a snack.

@Donna- Blue ginger is a tropical plant that resembles the ginger plant and grows in a similar climate, but is actually a relative of the Wandering Jew plant. Blue ginger flourishes in Brazil and is cultivated for its handsome spotted stems, large shiny foliage and striking blue flowers.
Galangal, sometimes also called blue ginger, is closely related to ginger, and is widely used in medicine and cooking throughout South Asia, especially in Thai and Vietnamese cooking, where you may have enjoyed it in a classic spicy soup. Galangal has an earthy taste, but is much less pungent than ginger. Its healing properties are essentially the same as ginger.

The are many, many varieties of rice in the world. We are familiar with brown, white and Basmati, but there are so many more. One of my favorites is black rice, which is used mainly in Asian food to make noodles, sushi, and pudding, Now scientists have found some serious health benefits in this dark, delicious graiin.

Black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants, fiber and vitamin E than are found in blueberries. Black rice is rich in anthocyanin antioxidants, substances that show promise for fighting cancer and heart disease.

Black rice contains high levels of one of the vitamin E compounds known as "gamma-tocotrienol" as well as "gamma-oryzanol" antioxidants, even more than brown rice. These antioxidants can reduce blood levels of LDL "bad" cholesterol and may fight heart disease.

Black rice, sometimes called purple rice, has a delicious, nutty flavor. It needs to be cooked a little differently than you might be used to. You might like it prepared as as black sticky rice.

If you use black rice already, congratulations! Let us know how you enjoy it.

It's that time of year again. Summer flew by, and the school year, with all its activities, is upon us. As few simple lifestyle adjustments can go a long toward keeping your precocious kids healthy and strong during the big transition.

The fall season is a good time to fortify the kids' immune systems. Get ready for the winter colds and flu by stabilizing the transition to winter. Set up a solid routine for the children and stick to it. To avoid aggravating their energy balance in the fall, help them avoid loud noise, intense emotions and chaotic activities. Get them to bed at a healthy time, so they can get a good night's sleep.

Depending on where you live, it might still be hot in autumn, so remain cautious about the kids getting too hot, and avoid too much of the spicy, sour and salty foods until the weather cools down.

During the fall, have the kids get up early, or at least early enough to avoid a rush, when the world is calm, to prepare their minds for the day. After going through their wake up routine and cleansing procedures, have them brush their teeth and rinse their mouths with a warm mouth rinse. If fall is dry where you live, massage their skin daily with oil to prevent dryness and keep them mentally grounded during the school day. Good massage oils for the fall are sesame and almond.

For all of us, including children, fall can be a time of stimulating new projects and a time to get serious and, maybe, artistic, as vata dosha ramps up. Enjoy your fall and make the most of the season with your healthy routine.

Do you have any special routines for the fall? How do you get through the big back-to-school transition and stay sane?

The kids are heading back to school soon; this time of year is often one of the most stressful for kids and parents. More on stress reduction for Mom and Dad to come soon in another post... For now, let's concentrate on helping the kids to remain in one piece until that first week of school is over.
Chamomile is a wonderful children's herb. Very gentle yet very effective, this herb is traditionally known for its calming effect on the nerves and generally relaxing effects. It is used for restlessness, irritability, insomnia, anxiety and agitation. Because it is antispasmodic, it can be useful in all types of muscle cramps and spasms, like the queasy nervous tummy on the first day of school. Children like the taste, so it makes a great herbal tea.
A chamomile bath can help to calm a nervous or restless child.
Lemon balm is well known for helping with anxiety. It's mild, so use it as an herbal tea.
A little more potent, valerian root is quite effective for children's anxiety. Studies have shown valerian to be remarkably safe and effective. This European herb is a standby in the medicine cabinets of parents with nervous children there.
Share your secrets for keeping the kids on an even keel during back-to-school.

You may all know that turmeric is my favorite herb. It's so versatile, and boy, does it excel in healing potential. As little as one quarter teaspoon per day has measurable health enhancing effects. Turmeric is the hottest topic in Alzheimer's research these days.
Turmeric's cousin, ginger, is the universal medicine in Asian healing traditions. It is used for, literally, every condition, for every type of person.
WebMD has a very good overview of these roots (technically, rhizomes), along with their close cousin, galangal, which you may have had in Thai food. Check out the herbal uses and some exciting recipes.
These are tasty ways to get some serious healing in every day while enjoying a delicious break from the ordinary.
Are you using ginger or turmeric regularly? How do you make them tasty for your family?

Black pepper, premier detox herb

@Roland- glad you like Breathe Deep. The main active ingredients are all lung support remedies in the traditions they come from. Eucalyptus, basil, thyme and elecampane are all warming remedies that nourish lung tissue, bring circulation to the lungs and loosen mucus. Mullein is a cooling, lung-soothing herb that slowly heals respiratory tissue.
The herbs in Breath Deep come from all over the world, and each is a classic:
• Eucalyptus- famous lung opener from Australia
• Basil- originally from India, cultivated for 5,000 years, and made famous in Italy
• Thyme- Mediterranean herb with a long history as food and medicine
• Elecampane- one of Europe's oldest herbal medicines, it is named for Helen of Troy
• Mullein- a European plant that has conquered the world, now found around the globe
@Lori- black pepper in a tea drink? We are used to tasting black pepper on baked potatoes, but in fact it is a preeminent medicinal herb. Ayurveda considers it the best tissue detoxifier. Along with long pepper and dried ginger, black pepper makes up the formula that's probably the most widely used detoxifying compound in the world - trikatu, which translates as "the three pungents".

With more to think about each day, who wouldn't like to grab a dollop of extra brain juice?
The Telegraph, a prominent British newspaper, recently listed several things that have been scientifically proven to add a few IQ points.

One of the items I particularly like was the suggestion to increase magnesium in the diet. After vitamin D, magnesium is the next most common nutritional deficiency, which is unfortunate, because magnesium is abundant in soil, and a surfeit could be easily be consumed with enough whole grains and green vegetables. Ah, and what foods do many people not eat enough of? More whole grains and green vegetables and we might be thinking a little more clearly.

Don't forget herbal tea. Gotu kola is my favorite herb to boost brainpower. What's yours?

Mr. Kapha has a sturdy, heavy frame, and he has a good reserve of physical strength and stamina. He enjoys a natural disease resistance and a generally positive outlook.

Oh, yeah, and Mr. Kapha is slow. Slow eater. Slow digestion. Slow speech. Slow in romance and slow to commit. But once he does commit, he's a solid, lifelong partner.

Mr. Kapha loves to sleep, and often has a hard time waking up in the morning. He needs stimulation to bring out his vitality, so shake him up! He needs to sleep deeply to rejuvenate, but he should get in the habit of getting up early.

Mr. Kapha is naturally calm, thoughtful, and affectionate. He has an inborn ability to enjoy life, and he's built for comfort, not for speed. When in healthy balance, he is strong, loyal, patient, steady, and supportive, but, when out of balance, can become stubborn and lazy, and he can even become  depressed and attached to his surroundings and possessions.

Kapha folks tend to hold on to things, jobs, and relationships long after they are no longer healthy. Excess mental kapha in the mind creates resistance to change. When stressed, Mr. Kapha's response is, "I don't want to deal with it." Kaphas are the ones who have one lifelong marriage, six kids and a station wagon, and who work 50 years for the same company and retire with a gold watch.

He is comfortable with routine, but can become a stick-in the-mud if you don't rouse him often. His recliner may be his castle, but if his buttocks are gradually taking on the shape of the chair, he needs some enticement to get up and get out and about.

Mr. Kapha may be quite intelligent, but he learns slowly, with a methodical approach. He retains information well with a good understanding, and has a very good, long memory.

Our low-energy Mr. Kapha needs to get regular exercise, preferably every day, with the focus on building endurance.

How do you help your Kapha sweetie use his gift of stamina as a benefit, and keep him from sinking even deeper into the recliner?

The herbs and spices we enjoy every day in our food and herbal teas may help protect against certain chronic conditions, such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease, says a prominent researcher at the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition.

For example, cinnamon has one of the highest levels of antioxidants, while chilie peppers boost fat burning.

Mr. Pitta is steaming hot, but that's not always such a good thing. Pitta dosha creates the heat we need to live, but if it gets excessive, Mr. Pitta can blow like a volcano.

Sure, he's ambitious and productive. He's intelligent, with a sharp wit and a good ability to concentrate. He sure can get things done, and is focused on his goals like a laser beam. Remember those good qualities and help Mr. Pitta cultivate them. He is ambitious by nature but can be demanding and abrasive, so he may need gentle reminders to cool off and stay centered. Sometimes calling a break in an intense conversation is just the thing when Mr. Pitta is getting too riled up. Giving him the time to cool down will often solve the problem.

Midday, from around 10 am to 2 pm is the challenging time for Mr. Pitta. Pitta dosha tends to be at its highest during that time, and he can get physically and mentally overheated. Also, he is likely drawn to hot spices, including chilies, onion and garlic, which are exactly the wrong thing for him. Instead, encourage him to concentrate on cooling food and herbs.

Mr. Pitta works hard and plays hard. He works at full blast all day and sometimes has trouble turning off his active mind to go to sleep, so he needs some time between work and sleep to really wind down. A cool shower or bath also helps him get restful night's sleep.

Pitta dosha has another time of activity from 10 pm to 2 am, so bedtime should be at the same time each night, preferably before 10:00 P.M.

Pitta types can experience health and emotional effects with overexposure to the sun, and their eyes are sensitive to light. Take cooling evening strolls to balance his heat and enjoy the coziness when you get back home.

Mr. Pitta does better if he avoids
• Spicy, sour, salty food
• Recreational drugs and alcohol
• Hot weather
• Emotional intensity
• Competition

What do you do to keep your Mr. Pitta cool and collected?

@Mary- Glad to hear you are using Woman's Moon Cycle herbal tea.
This tea uses a formula based on Dong Quai, a very popular and effective Chinese herb. Dong Quai is consumed by more people on planet earth than any other, because Asian women use it almost universally to keep their hormonal cycles balanced and comfortable.
Chaste berry also finds its way into the formula. Over the last several years, this European herb has become very well known for helping with PMS symptoms.
Using these two herbs together, along with a number of digestion enhancing remedies (fennel, ginger, cinnamon), creates a dynamic combination that helps you stay comfortable and relaxed.

@Christine- Yogi makes several teas that help people get to sleep at night and stay asleep through the night.
Remember, you can brew a cup of tea with more than one tea bag for a more potent effect, a trick that many of our Facebook Fans are wise to.
Here are some herbal teas you could consider with main herbs that are relaxing:
Bedtime (Skullcap, St. John's Wort)
Calming (Chamomile)
Kava Stress Relief (Kava)
Relaxed Mind (Lavender, Skullcap, Shank Pushpi)

Solid as a rock. That's Ms. Kapha. In the body and mind, kapha dosha provides stability and solidity, and this stable, consistent energy can do the same for relationships.
Ms. Kapha's strong points are loyalty, calmness and stability. She might take a long time to warm up to you, but, when she does, you have a partner for life. Kapha people tend to stick it out through thick and thin, and they will have your back, once you have gained their trust.
In conversation, she will be placid, calm and receptive. You won't get fiery arguments from her, and she sure isn't flighty or spontaneous. Solid, practical and consistent, that's her motto. You can depend on her.
She has a good long term memory and likes to come to well considered conclusions, so don't rush her when making decisions.
The flip side of her stable temperament, though, is that lethargy sometimes gets in the way of healthy relationships. The solid, slow kapha energy can lead to depression, greed and attachment, so she has to make a point of staying optimistic and energetic. Ms. Kapha tends toward the heavier side, and she will find that the more weight she gains, the more mentally stuck she feels. In the long run, even though it's a challenge, she will do much better if she maintains a healthy weight.
To stay energized, she should wake up early, before 6:00 a.m.; eat a light, Kapha-pacifying diet and exercise every day. If she stays invigorated, balancing her kapha dosha will infuse new life into your relationship.
Kaphas are usually not passionate, but they are dependable. Plus, Ms. Kapha is sentimental and romantic. Ms. Kapha is likely to be quite fertile, and she often ends up with a big family and has a stable, cozy, lifelong relationship. Quality relationships are very important to her; superficial relationships are depressing and draining.
To keep your Kapa sweetheart happy, cook her a nice dinner from time to time. Also, family activities are a good way to get her out of her house and into the fresh air.
If your sweetie is a kapha type, how do you keep her happy and energized?

A recent study in the Journal of Nutrition indicates that nearly the entire US population consumes a diet with fewer vegetables and whole grains than recommended and that a large majority underconsume fruits, milk and oils.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute evaluated data from 16,338 individuals.
Almost all the study subjects failed to consume enough dark green vegetables, orange vegetables, legumes and whole grains.
Ninety percent of those aged 70 and younger overconsumed empty calories, including solid fats, added sugars and alcoholic beverages.

Hopefully you folks do not fall into those categories. What do you do to keep your diet healthy?

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Remember, the constitution reflects not only tendencies of the body but also the personality characteristics. The fire type, pitta, tends to be a leader, passionate, colorful, argumentative, competitive, decisive and convincing-fiery!

Ms. Pitta is intelligent, organized, and practical. She has a medium, compact, muscular build, and likely to be athletic. She is ambitious, makes a good leader and likes being in charge. Often it's better to just let her take charge. She will do a great job, and you will enjoy the results.

Pitta dosha provides the heat source for the body, and tends to create inflammatory problems if it is allowed to become excessive in the body or mind. In relationships, that extra heat can come out as anger, rage, intensity and ambition.. When it comes to disputes, arguing is not advisable, diplomacy works much better.

Ms. Pitta's most difficult time of life tends to be midlife, when pitta is the highest. Look for temper attacks to become more frequent from ages of 30 to 50. During midlife, give Ms. Pitta some extra space. She will cool down in her later years.

Pittas tend to run hot, so they need to make sure that they find ways to cool off, especially during the summer days. Pittas can also be intense, so they need to set aside some time to relax, away from work.

Treat Ms. Pitta with a demeanor that's cool as a cucumber. Using too much intensity with Ms. Pitta will almost always backfire. Activities that help Ms. Pitta stay balanced are walks in the moonlight, taking in the cool breezes and romantic poetry.

Ms. Pitta does best with cooling food and drink. Herbal tea with rose petal is always a great choice. Of, course, Ms. Pitta should concentrate on a cooling diet to control her inner fire.

Acupuncturist Karen Vaughan gives us some additional good ideas for herbs to beat the heat.

She reminds us that bitter taste is cooling, so herbs like dandelion top the list.

Check out her suggestions for black tea, with rose petals and vanilla. Of course, she recommends peppermint herbal tea, a classic cooler..