Healthy herb adventures

I suffer from periodic bouts of gastritis. And as much as I like natural stuff, I’m all for taking a pill to make things better. Except, as with most medicines, the cure can kill you as much as the ailment. So I have been on a quest to find a more natural way to heal. I’ve done all the “easy” stuff, like changing my diet and not taking NSAIDS, but things only got so much better.

I happened to go out to lunch with a neighbor and we got to talking about natural cures. Thus, my interest in special tea and herbs came to fruition.

Here’s my latest project:

1. Kukicha twig tea.

Yes, you read that label correctly, it is tea made from twigs. It is supposed to soothe your stomach and help restore your body’s pH balance. And believe it or not, the tea tastes pretty good. It kind of tastes like coffee.

2. Herbs.

Marshmallow root and slippery elm bark are supposed to help soothe your stomach. It is too bad that marshmallow root tastes nothing like marshmallows though. These herbs may work, but they don’t taste very good. My first attempt was stirring them into a glass of water. The only way I could drink the water was to hold my nose and gulp it down. The second attempt was putting the herbs into my tea. This was marginally better. Perhaps if I add a lot of sugar to the tea, it would help. Although that would probably negate the effects of the herbs.

3. Fennel seeds.

This cute little seeds smell a little bit like celery seeds, so they are palatable. You are supposed to crush the seeds and make a tea out of them. I can do that, although it may feel like I am drinking celery stalks. This would not be so palatable.

4. Tea ball.

No leaf or twig or seed tea would be complete without a cute little strainer. I like this ball because it stays put at the bottom of your cup, unlike other strainers which seem to float to the top.

5. Getting organized.

Because I am cheap, er frugal, I ordered rather large amounts of this stuff. The shipping was the same so why not? Except the large bags are hard to use on a daily basis. So, I put stuff into some cute little storage containers. It’s too bad, I couldn’t color code them. Mmmm, do I see a trip to Ocean State Job Lot in my future to get some new cute and colorful containers?

The stuff came via UPS in a big box. I was very excited. Mr. Ken was less so, especially when I told him what was in the box. He took one look at all the herb stuff and literally ran from the room. All the while, he was muttering, “I thought only insects ate twigs and bark. . .” I guess he won’t be trying my new concoctions anytime soon. 🙂

All pictures taken with my trusty little smartphone.