Congo Blended Herbs A/L Rice.
Ginger Hot Infusion.
Cold infusion. 
Echinacea Tincture.
Labiatae Cold Infusion Cayenne Percolation/Salve.
Astragalus/licorice Decoction Elderberry Elixir.
Astragalus rice.
Mamajuana.
Soy milk/soy protein.

Procedure: Blend one part each of the following herb powders (best if ground fresh from a pepper mill). Shelf life 6 months:

Benefits: 

Cayenne Benefits: 1t provides 32% of beta carotene needs; U.Quebec research: reduces appetite, boost metabolism; slows aging; helps prevent heart disease.

Black Pepper Benefits: Annamalai U., research India: protects against colon cancer; antioxidant; piperine in pepper slows aging; protects you from heart disease.

Garlic Benefits: lowers cholesterol; protects from heart disease; anti-stroke; lowers blood pressure; prevents atherosclerosis (prevents clots).

Turmeric Benefits: anti-cancer, helps prevent heart disease.

Ginger Benefits: anti-cancer; heart disease; anti-nausea; nausea of early pregnancy (morning sickness).

Nutmeg Benefits: anti-diabetes; anti-stroke (anti-platelet aggregating).

Allspice Benefits: boost insulin activity; helps body process sugar efficiently.

OPTIONAL: Sea salt. If you would like this to be a salt; 1 part.

Dr. Corson's Comments: An excellent, daily detoxifying drink that is very economical, is ginger-root tea, made simply by steeping 2 teaspoons of fresh, grated (or chopped) ginger root in 4 cups (1 quart) of hot water. (Bring the water to a boil first, then let it steep at least 20 minutes ; do not boil the ginger, as you will lose some of the valuable aromatic components). Drink throughout the day, hot, cold, or room temperature.

GINGER SOUP: Ginger is also good in most soups: add about three T fresh chopped or grated ginger to two quarts of soup (plus or minus to taste).  Cook in the soup (corn, bean, vegetable, chicken, chicken noodle) add lime juice (two to three T), 1/3 cup white wine, 2 T soy, oregano, dill, pinch of Rosemary...

Herb to Water Ratio: Typical infusion is 1t dried herb to 1 cup of water and 2-4t fresh herb to a cup of water.

Benefit: Health enhancer, meant to be used as a daily detoxifying tea.

It is very helpful to many people and is both safe for most situations, and economical.

Substituting this for coffee or soda pop (and even decaffeinated coffee) can enhance health dramatically (e.g. allow resolution and healing of many cases of gastro-esophageal reflux). After all, no coffee substitute really tastes as good as coffee to most folks, so you might as well try a big change that can really give you something in return... like feeling better.

Known as "the universal medicine" in Ayurveda (one of the oldest systems of medical care in the world, about 6,000 years old), ginger has multiple documented biochemical effects

 

Anti-nausea; Anti emetic; Anti-inflammatory;Digestive stimulant/helps digestion/stimulates bile (use after consultation with physician if gallstones are a problem); Heart toner (positive inotrope); Anti-oxidant; No known drug interactions

Procedure: 4 cups (1 quart) pure water, bring to boil (on stove or in a 4-cup Pyrex glass measuring cup in microwave). Add 2 teaspoons fresh ginger (about 1/4 - 1/2 inch of root, peeled and chopped or grated). Steep for at least 20 minutes and drink it warm or cold.

Sip throughout the day (strained or unstrained, your preference). If going to work, just add the hot water and ginger to thermos (non-plastic). It’s ready to drink by the time you get to work. This gives you half the daily goal of 8 cups a day of pure water intake, to supply the body’s need for enough water for detoxifying purposes (we are made of 70% water and we need to recycle daily for good health). At least these 4 cups of ginger tea will give you more water intake than most patients I encounter, even if you’re too busy to drink more, or too hassled by work to make the needed bathroom stops.

CAUTION: The only people for whom I don’t recommend this are those who truly hate the taste of ginger or are allergic to it. We are trying to reduce stress on the body, not add stress! I have had very positive feedback from virtually everyone who has tried this on a regular basis.

Sources: Natural Health, Natural Medicine - by Andrew Weil, M.D., 1995 Publisher: Houghton Miflin

The Healing Power of Herbs - by Michael Murray, N.D., 1995 Publisher: Prima Publishing

The Natural Pharmacy - Ed. Skye Lininger, D.C., J. Wright, M.D., S. Austin, N.D., D. Brown, N.D., A. Gaby, M.D.

 

Rationale: Cold infusion slows the loss of essential oils, aromatic compounds that are physiologically active and should be preserved in your tea. In China tea is steeped in a closed pot, and served in a covered mug. Essential oils often accumulate on the lid and are poured back into the tea.

Herb to Water Ratio: With fresh herbs I loosely fill the container to 3/4 full then top off with clean water.

TIP: Best made with fresh herbs.

Procedure: First time take equal amounts of herbs for example: a fist full of mountain mint; and equal amount of lemon balm; likewise with lemon verbena; ditto peppermint.

Squeeze in a half lime as an antioxidant and flavoring agent.

Rinse and shake herbs, stuff then in a gallon tea jug and cover with water. Let steep in the refrigerator overnight.

Makes an elegant clear tea when filtered through a coffee filter.

Serve cold.

Mildly stimulating, carminative tea, with cancer fighting bioflavonoids. May relieve allergy symptoms (SEE DATABASE FOR DETAILS).

A decoction is the simmering of herbs for a prescribed period of time to extract the water soluble fraction of a herb.

Chinese medicine provides us with an excellent combination to help combat and relieve stomach upset; pre-ulcerative conditions; gastritis and related digestive complaints due to stress and the invasion of micro-organisms.

Herb to Water Ratio: 6 Astragalus tongue depressors to 2 cups water, 1 ounce dried licorice root

Procedure: Starting with cool water put six astragalus tongue depressors in with three small pieced of licorice root (approximately: 1 or 2 ounces of licorice).

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until you have reduced the water by at least 25%.

Decoction of licorice and astragalus water may be used as a soup base. Add your favorite stock, meat and vegetables, season to taste and serve. Good health protection in November when weather changes and our bodies are vulnerable.

Continuation: Use the decoction to make rice when deadlines have your nervous stomach aching here’s help. Rice soaks up the polysaccharides, glycerizin, flavonoids and other physiologically active compounds. It is a soothing, healing, nutritive dish. Makes enough for three or four days; keep refrigerated.

NOTE: There are two different extractions to be performed and blended to make a potent Echinacea tincture.

Extraction One: Echinacea Aerial Parts Extraction of Flowers and Leaves.

Herb to Alcohol Ratio: 1:1 fresh herb to 100 proof alcohol.

Echinacea Tincture: For a fresh flower, leaf extraction of Echinacea: Use 100 proof alcohol for extracting akylamides, cichoric acid and polysaccharides from flower heads. Blend equal weight to volume (1:1) of flower heads and leaves (fresh) to alcohol in blender. Blend thoroughly.

Here is where experience plays a hand. For many years the macerate of alcohol, water and Echinacea was then set aside for up to 14 days before it was filtered. Later research by Wagner and Bauer (Germany) suggests that the macerate should sit a substantially shorter amount of time. Experts vary, but only 3 to 6 hours in a refrigerator has become more common. My experience has been that 6 hours appears to be satisfactory.

After setting the Echinacea macerate in the refrigerator for six hous, pour off macerate (plant material and alcohol) through a pair of clean panty hose into a storage vessel. This provides approximately 30% * water to alcohol tincture which is ideal for extracting polysaccharides (water soluble), cichoric acid (alcohol soluble) and akylamides (alcohol soluble).

Use immediately, will store easily in refrigerator until next seasons harvest. After the extraction I often add a little more alcohol (5%) to this tincture to improve its shelf life.

*Discussion: 100 proof alcohol is 50% alcohol.. When you add an equal weight of Echinacea flowers and leaves, in effect you reduce the alcohol percentage to about 30% because the Echinacea flowers and leaves contain about 85% water. Thirty percent alcohol is adequate to preserve the tincture.

Extraction Two: Echinacea Root Extraction

To improve the above flower and leaf extraction and get more polysaccharides into your tincture dig up an Echinacea root, chop the roots, then mix in water at one to one weight to volume. That is, if you have and three ounces of chopped root add that to three ounces of distilled water. Blend (puree) root in water. Store in refrigerator and shake bottle every time you open refrigerator Leave in refrigerator for at least 12 hours. Then strain off this water extraction through a filter (panty hose for example).

Add the water extraction of the root to your alcohol extraction of the aerial parts at a 1:2 ration: root extraction to alcohol extraction. This will reduce your overall alcohol content to 20%. Add alcohol to the blend to make a 30% alcohol/water blend.*

*For example: Your original 30% alcohol extraction of aerial parts was 20 ounces. Then you add 10 ounces of water root extraction, giving you a total of 30 ounces of combined extraction. This combination reduces your alcohol content to 20% alcohol. Add three more ounces of alcohol to raise your alcohol percentage to approximately 30%.

Apple cider vinegar, rice wine vinegar and glycerin.

VINEGAR: Use vinegar full strength. With dried herb mix at a 1:4 weight to volume strength.

Combine and blend completely. Store and shake for two weeks. Pour and squeeze off through a cheese cloth. Siphon into amber bottles for therapeutic use.

I don't recommend using vinegar in live (fresh) plant extractions. With the water content from the plant, the vinegar may not be at an adequate ph to preserve the tincture. I like to keep vinegar tinctures refrigerated for added safety. Also, you may want to squirt in half juice of a lime (to one pint) as a preservative.

GLYCERIN: First mix water with glycerin at a 1:1 ratio.

Then, combine the water/glycerin mixture at a 1:4 (Chevallier recommends a 1:5 ratio) weight to volume ratio with the dried herb. Blend completely in a blender. Store in a refrigerator and shake for two weeks. Pour off into amber bottle for use. Keep refrigerated.

NOTE: When making a glycerin extraction from fresh plant material, do not add water. The water in the fresh plant will be adequate. Mix the herb of a fresh plant extraction at a 1:1 weight to volume ratio. Blend. Store in refrigerator and shake often (daily). Strain. Store in refrigerator.

Percolation: This is a drip by drip method of extracting phytochemistry similar to percolating coffee.

Materials: coffee filter; quart jar funnel; spring loaded clothes pins; measuring cup; cayenne powder; 86 proof vodka.(you may substitute hot water).

Percolate 100 grams of cayenne powder with 50 ml 43 percent ethanol.

Homemade percolator: Cut the above recipe in half or less, realizing it is a 2 to 1 ration of herb to menstruum (alcohol). Fold a large coffee filter in half and then in half again. This forms a funnel. Open the coffee filter to form a funnel. Fasten the coffee filter funnel with clothes pins to the inside of a canning jar funnel. The clothes pins hold the coffee filter funnel in place.

Procedure: Moisten cayenne powder in alcohol, let sit for about one hour.

Put wet powder in coffee funnel and make a 1/4 inch depression in the center of the packed herb.

Begin dripping (percolating) alcohol through it.

After all the alcohol has percolated through, begin the drip process again.

The more times you percolate the alcohol through the cayenne the more capsaicin you will extract, the more potent your percolation.

 

You may apply this percolation directly to the skin around the joint, or make it into a salve.

The area around the joint will redden and burn, especially if it is a hot day and you are exercising.

To ease the pain you may make a salve out of the percolation.

Melt lard in double boiler. Then pour in alcohol percolation and cook until alcohol is almost completely evaporated (boiling will diminish). What liquid is left is probably water gone. Stir vigorously to incorporate the percolation with the lard.. Add one drop of tincture of benzoin for every ounce of lard (oil) base. This is a stabilizer. You may also add up to 4000 mg Vitamin E (ten count 400mg capsules). You may soften the salve by adding almond oil if necessary, or your favorite non-scented natural ingredient hand lotion. Add the stabilizers and oils, lotions while the lard is hot and fluid....Mix thoroughly.

An syrup/elixir to me is an excellent way to make a sauce for cooking. For example the following syrup is fine for flavoring soups and sweet and sour stir fry. You get a medicinal benefit to boot.

Ingredients: maple syrup (substitute honey, or unrefined sugar for maple syrup), elderberry and Blend one part syrup to one part elderberry extract.

Herb to Water Ratio: 1part juice to 1 part syrup. If using sugar or honey, mix 500 grams of honey to 500 ml of water (1:1 ratio; weight to volume). Ditto for sugar.

.

Pick about a pound of elderberries (about 2 quarts). Wash. Comb off berries with your fingers into a pan. Mash berries with a potato masher as you heat them. Bring to a simmer, turn off burner and let cool When cool pour the juice and mash through a fine screen sieve. Pour the once strained juice through a coffee filter. Add the same amount of maple syrup into the juice. Simmer for 30 minutes to reduce the syrup/elderberry combination.

Benefits: Use as a flavoring agent, for coughs due to colds, bronchitis, prophylactic to acute infections.

Making syrup from a Tincture: One part of tincture to three parts of syrup.

End Product: Soy Milk/Vegetated Protein

Benefits: Soy isoflavones, genistein, daidzein, may help prevent heart disease, cancer and osteoporosis. To get more soy isoflavones in your diet make your own soy milk and soy vegetated protein.

Ingredients: soy beans; water.

Preparation: Soak beans over night in refrigerator. One cup of beans to about two cups of water. You may have to add water as beans absorb and swell.

Next day put about a cup in a blender (this will be about 1/3 of the beans after they have swollen). Add two and one half or up to three cups of quality water to the blender. Less water, richer soy milk. Blend thoroughly.

Strain off soy milk, squeeze the last ounce from the cheese cloth, and heat the milk to 180 degrees Fahrenheit and hold this temperature for 15 minutes (use double boiler. Protein rich makes for messy pan). This temperature and time makes the milk more palatable breaking down much of the protease inhibitors and phytate.

Vegetated protein: The left over bean pulp may be heated in an oven on baking paper at 400 degrees for 20 or 25 minutes to make vegetated soy protein. This also is an excellent dog food. Use the crisp protein in spaghetti sauces, soups and the like.

To Make Tofu:  Rinse, then soak 5 cups soy beans overnight in refrigerator.

Rinse soy beans in colander. In a blender, add 3 cups of water for every cup of soybeans. Blend to a fine slurry of soy milk.

In double boiler (or directly over burner) bring to a simmer or low boil and cook for at least 15 minutes.

Strain off the soy milk with a cheese cloth, squeeze out as much as possible from the pulp.

Now you must curd the milk:

1. Add 3-4 teaspoons of Epsom salts or Nigari (special sea salts available from health food stores) to two cups of water.

2. While the soy milk is still hot 185 degrees F stir it in slow circular motion. Stop wooden paddle upright to create a turbulence, then immediately pour in 1 3/4 cups of Nigari water blend.

3. Cover soy milk and let sit for 5 or 6 minutes.

Upon inspection the soy milk has formed curds and whey. If some soy milk remains pour in last quarter cup of salt blend and gently push the curds to finish the setting process. Carefully, dip out the whey from the curds. You can use a strainer pushed into the pot to separate whey from curds, then dip with a ladle the whey from the strainer. Finally, remove the curds with a ladle to a colander double or triple lined with cheesecloth, better yet, line it with nylon mesh.

Under the colander is a collecting pot for the whey. Fold the cloth over the gathered curds and place a plate over the folds, weight the plate with a brick or whatever and let sit for 30 minutes to squeeze out a bit more whey and press form the tofu. Pour water over the tofu and refrigerate.

Tofu has been under study for its anti cancer, cholesterol lowering properties. It is an excellent dietary choice for health conscious consumers.

Tofu Preparation: A simple preparation for tofu is to dissolve a vegetarian bullion cube in a half cup of water, then simmer thin slices of firm tofu in the bullion until the water is boiled off or absorbed. Store in refrigerator as a nutritious appetite quenching snack.

REFERENCES.

(1) Handbook of Ayurvedic Medicinal Plants, L.D. Kapoor, CRC Press, 1990.

(2) Phytochemical Constituents of GRAS Herbs and Other Economic Plants, James A. Duke; CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. 1992.

(3) Oriental Materia Medica, Hong-yen Hsu, Ph.D.; Keats Publishing; New Canaan, CT. 1986.

(4) Color Atlas of Chinese Traditional Drugs, National Institute for the Control of Pharmaceutical and Biological Products; Science Press, Beijing, China 1987.

(5) Handbook of Proximate Analysis Tables of Higher Plants; Duke, Atchley, CRC Press; 1986.

(6) Handbook of Medicinal Herbs, James A. Duke CRC Press, 1985.

(7) Encyclopedia of Herbs and Their Uses, Demi Brown; Dorling Kindersley Publishing, NY,NY. 1995.

(8) The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants, Andrew Chevallier, Reader's Digest, 1996.

(9) Handbook of Proximate Analysis tables of Higher Plants, James A. Duke and Alan A. Atchley, CRC Press; 1986.

(10) Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants, Brill and Dean, Hearst Books, 1994.

(11) Visual Food Encyclopedia, MacMillan.1996.

(12) Understanding Nutrition; Whitney and Rolfes, 7th Edition West 1996.

(13) Antiviral Compounds from Plants, Hudson CRC Press. 1990.

(14) Principles of Neuropsychophramacology; Feldman, Meyer, et al; Sinauer Associates 1997.

(15) Medical Immunology 9th Edition; Stites, Terr, Parslow; Simon and Schuster 1997.

(16) Horticulture and Human Health, American Horticultural Science. Prentice Hall. 1987.

(17) American Indian Medicine, Vogel; Oklahoma Press. 1970.

(18) The Green Pharmacy; Duke. Rodale Press, 1997.

(19) Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West; Moore; Red Crane Books 1993.

(20) Chinese Herbal Medicine, Reid; Shambhala. 1986.

(21) Traditional Plant Foods of Canadian Indigenous Peoples. Kuhnlein, Turner; Gordon and Breach Science Publishers. 1991.

(22) Protein Power. Eades and Eades; Bantam Press. 1996.

(23) Dr. Bob Arnot's Revolutionary Weight Control Program. Robert Arnot; Little Brown. 1997.

(24) Exercise Physiology, Energy, Nutrition and Human Performance, McArdle, Katch & Katch..Williams and Wilkins 1996.

(25) Foods that Harm Foods That Heal, Reader's Digest Books 1997.

(26) The Review of Natural Products, Facts and Comparisons (800) 223-0554.

(27) Guide to Popular Natural Products, facts and Comparisons (see above).

(28) Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America, Keats Publishing. Couplan; 1998.

(29) The Merck Index, for discovering phytochemistry of medicinal plants. Merck $ Co. Inc. Rahway, NJ.

(30) PDR of Herbal Medicines, Medical Economics Co. (515) 284-6714.

(31) Herbal Medicine, Expanded Commission E Monographs, Blumenthal, et al., (519) 926-4900.

Personally produced Resources: Discover more uses of these plants and others as food and medicine in the Jim Meuninck's videos:

- Natural Health with Medicinal Herbs and Healing Foods (1hour) Protecting and nourishing your immune system with herbs and healing foods to prevent degenerative diseases of aging.

- Edible Wild Plants, One Hundred Useful Wild Herbs (1 hour) Dr. Jim Duke and Jim Meuninck take you foraging for edible wild plants and explain their Native American, Chineses and modern pharmaceutical uses.

- Trees, Shrubs, Nuts & Berries, Video Field Guide(edibility and medicine resource) (1hour) Dr. Jim Duke and Jim Meuninck take you afield to discover the food and medicine used of trees, shrubs, nuts, fruit, leaves, berries, roots and bark.

- Cooking with Edible Flowers and Culinary Herbs (1 hour) Travel coast to coast to the best restaurants that cook with flowers and herbs. Discover their recipes and how to grow and harvest edible wild flowers.

- Little Medicine, The Wisdom to Avoid Big Medicine (1 hour) This ancient Navajo concept makes sense today. Discover first-aid from plants. My favorite video!

-Native American Medicine (1hour) Three Native American healers share their ancient healing secrets: sweat lodge, sweeping, smudging, sun dance, massage, first-aid and indigenous American nutrition.

-Herbal Preparations and Nutritional Therapies (1hour) Learn how to prepare your own healing recipes: infusions, tinctures, salves, decoctions, fomentations, poultices and percolations.

-Diet for Natural Health, One Diet for Weight Control and Disease Prevention. (1hour) Two medical doctors, an oncology dietician and Jim Meuninck identify the universal truths about dieting. Here is a diet that is fun, easy and it works. It is base on modern medical and nutritional research and considers individual differences.

These tapes are available from Jim Meuninck 24097 North Shore Drive, Edwardsburg, MI 49112. 

Orders (800) 487 0522 (Please do not call for information on our toll free line. Tel. (616) 699-7061; FAX (616) 699 6023 Web site: www.herbvideos.com Email: jim @herbvideos.com Additional print media resources are in the resource file of this disk.

-cayenne

-black pepper

-garlic

-turmeric

-ginger

-nutmeg

-allspice

TIMELINE:

Welcome, thanks, story on who I am. Video rusty and me. Herbal Odyssey (15)

What is phytotherapy and how does it work (15)

plant with wheels

physiological responses to plant foods

Roots and polysaccharides-immunity, diabetes, cholesterol and sugar control.

Leaves vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, folate, anticancer

Fruit energy, antioxidants (anticancer), arthritis (cayenne)

Flowers bioflavonoids immune response, anti-allergy

Bitters+digestion; assimilation; elimination.

Polysaccharides+blood sugar; cholesterol reduction; immune response.

Bioflavonoids+anti-allergy; immune enhancing; anti cancer; capillary strengthening; improve peripheral circulation; anti microbial.

Anthocyanidins+anti macular degeneration; anti cancer; anti acute infections.

Carotenoids: lycopene in tomatoes anti cancer.

Tannins+anti diarrheal, anti infective

Catechins and bioflavonoids in tea anti cancer

Raspberries ellagic acid anti cancer, nananone (antifungal)

Broccoli and other cruciferous plants Isothiocyanate (sulforephane)

Herbal Preparations (40)

Congo (cayenne, blk pepper, garlic, turmeric, ginger, nutmeg, allspice).

Infusions (cold and hot: labiatae and ginger).

Decoction (astragalus, licorice, brown rice, curry)

Echinacea (show flower and video)

Cayenne Percolation

Yarrow Salve

Elderberry Elixir on Paleo waffles

Soy milk, soy protein

Wrap up Questions and closing comments.

Food: Paleo waffle; syrup; paw paw; acorn elderberry bread.