spicy benefits

Here i am with baby in DENIAL about summer ending!!
Bike Ride with the Girls!!

My husband drawing me some flowers for our anniversary along with some corny quotes!!

Our Girls Bible Study at the Lake......

Our 19th Wedding Anniversary Dinner Date

Bringing in the winter wood supply

My life has been a blur. All I can remember is processing apples, constructing fat laden feasts for company and a special anniversary dinner involving a heavenly experience at a Mexican Restaurant featuring bacon wrapped prawns in a Mexican sauce topped with Monterrey Jack Cheese. The week before wasn't much better because a huckleberry cheese cake lurked in my refrigerator. In short, I notice I am being stalked by a fat gutt with co-horting love handles. I saw them spying on me from behind the couch. Just when I started to snooze instead of going running they went in for the kill. It was about then that I noticed my jeans were feeling tight and I changed into some pj bottoms. Oh the agony!! Well, I suppose this means that I need to get back out running on a more than semi-regular basis. Yesterday was a start - I ran 4 miles.

Recently, I've been studying herbal medicine. I'm planning to continue my studies and share what I learn with you every so often. You may want to try what I did today and dig some herbs up out of your garden for a window sill this fall. Here's a few fun facts I learned about the power of some simple household spices :

Though allspice should not be ingested in large quantities, in herbal medicine allspice is used in indigestion, flatulence and as a purgative. Topically it can be used as an analgesic for muscle pain or toothache and as an antiseptic for teeth and gums.

Basil should not be ingested in large quantities but it has been used as an anticarcinogenic, antiinflammatory, antihypertensive, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiseptic, diuretic and as an insect repellent. Besides all that it has been used to stimulate digestion, to treat halitosis and for hypoglycemia.

Bay helps lower blood glucose by helping the body use insulin more effectively. Essential oil has bactericidal and fungicidal properties. It has been used for muscle spasm relief, rheumatic conditions, for anti dandruff effect topically.

Garlic has been used to decrease cholesterol, triglyceride levels and to increase high density lipoprotein level. It can help prevent atherosclerosis because of effect on blood pressure and platelet aggregation. Decreases the risk of cancer (especially GI tract), as well as risks of CVA and MI. Used to treat cough, cold, fever and sore throats. It is used orally and topically to fight infection due to antibacterial and anti fungal effects. One adverse reaction I noticed was that it can decrease contraceptive effectiveness - bet you didn't know that!!

Okay one more!! Nutmeg can be used to treat diarrhea, indigestion, loss of appetite, colic, flatulence and insomnia. Its also used as a larvacidal and aphrodisiac. Be careful!! If you take too much it is also hallucinogenic!! Malcolm X wrote about his ability to get high with it. Prisons eventually had to bar its use due to inmates using it for recreational purposes.
* Almost all the spices and herbs I've been researching can become toxic and detrimental if used in large quantities so please use moderation.

************* info taken from "Nursing Drug and Herbal Handbook" along with some supplementary websites