Raw Food Explained: Life Science
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Article #3: Herbal Myths
Juniper berry tea is “healthful, adding fluorine to the diet, increasing functional activity and increasing the secretion and flow of urine”—all of this means that it is a stimulant and that the kidneys are forced to expel it quickly.
Parsley tea has a “purifying action” and is a “diuretic” and “mild sedative.”
Papaya tea is a “fine tonic,” has a “rebuilding effect on the stomach and digestive tract,” and contains a “digestant” that is “capable of digesting many times its weight in protein food.” If you could find other “digestants” to take care of the other food factors, you could dispense with the secretion of digestive enzymes.
A delicious combination of lime leaves and papaya that you will always use, once you have tasted it, is sold to the public.
Then there is red clover tea which is “beneficial to the bloodstream” (a “blood purifier”) and “cleansing to wounds, boils and ulcers.”
Chamomile tea has a “soothing effect on the nerves and stomach” and is regarded as excellent for children.
Just plain lime tea, without the addition of papaya, “acts on the nervous system, allaying nervous excitement, invigorating and strengthening, and also soothing and relieving inflammation.”
Horse tail herb tea is “invigorating and strengthening.” It is an “alterative” and an “astringent.”
In spasms, mistletoe tea is said to “relieve nervous excitement.” (MISTLETOE IS ALSO POISON—See Article “Plant Products And Effects” in Lesson 33).
Then there is blueberry tea, an “exciting beverage with delicate fragrance,” made from the leaves of the blueberry, which “purifies.” It is an “antiseptic, a blood purifier and it soothes.”
Strawberry tea, made from the leaves of the strawberry, “provides many benefits to the urinary organs.” It is “astringent, tonic, diuretic, a bitter alterative.”
Sassafras tea, an “old favorite,” is described as a “wonder drug.” It is a “blood purifier” and an “aid to the skin”—at least, it is said to be.
Fenugreek tea seems to be one of the present day favorites. If we are to believe the advertising, great and increasing numbers of people are drinking this mild poison regularly. This tea “soothes minor irritations of the stomach and intestines, softens and soothes inflamed parts and relieves inflammaton. It is also good for those with excess mucus due to dietary errors.” I presume that you take this tea instead of correcting your dietary errors.
Mate, a caffeine-containing tea from South America, is highly praised because it “gives a pick-up like coffee.” Why not? It contains the same poison.
Desert herb is an old Indian tonic, often called squaw tea. Although almost all the medicinal virtues are attributed to this tea, it is listed only as “alterative, depurative and diuretic.”
Hop tea is both a “tonic” and a “sedative”—stimulates and inhibits—and is used for “relieving pain, allaying nervous excitement, and to abate fever.”
Flaxseed tea “relieves coughs and sore throats, painful urination and bladder inflammation. It is also good in dysentery.”
Sarsaparilla tea, an old-fashioned favorite, “purifies the blood and is used for affections of the chest.” Used for coughs for countless generations, it is “aromatic, depurative and alterative.”
Alfalfa tea is said to be especially valuable in rheumatism and arthritis. It is chiefly recommended for its “richness in minerals.” When mint is added to the alfalfa, this provides a delicious tea that gives all the “advantages” of the alfalfa plus the “sedative effects” of the peppermint leaves and the “aid” they give to digestion.
Nettle tea is a “diuretic” that has varied “properties.” Besides “increasing the secretion and flow of urine” (meaning the kidneys hurriedly eliminate it) it is “excellent for the circulation,” is a “tonic” and “relieves infections of the chest.”
For your constipation here is a “pleasant” herbal laxative that should be every bit as good as Inner Clean, Hood Lax, All-Lax, NR Tablets, Black Draught, or anything that grandmother used to brew. It is a curious combination of “freshly cut senna, mandrake root, boneset leaves and tops, elder flowers, sassafras bark, peppermint leaves and Mexican saffron.” Use this compound and “keep free from annoying symptoms arising from a constipated condition.”
Finally, here is a “tasty tea” made of a blend of alfalfa, peppermint and desert herb, which you are sure to like, once you have tried.
Dock root “purifies the blood and strengthens in a permanent manner, both allaying and preventing scurvy.” It is also an “astringent.”
Certainly from this list of drugs with their astringent, alterative, tonic, diuretic, digestant, soothing, sedative, purifying, emetic, laxative, etc. “actions,” you can find one or more that “will help you back to good health, even assist you in retaining good health.” If you read over the classifications of the alleged actions of these teas and fail to recognize the fact that they are drugs and are “recommended” as such, this is because you are unaquainted with so-called pharmacology and the herbal materia medica. They employ the technical jargon of allopathic medicine in describing the “effects” of their teas. What is a depurative, for example? It is “a drug for aiding a cleansing process.” An alterative is a “medicine” that “alters the processes of nutrition and excretion.” Such a drug is supposed to be capable of “restoring the normal body-functions.” A diuretic is a “medicine” that “increases the flow of urine.” How does it increase the flow of urine? Does it assist the kidneys? Does it add to the functioning power of the kidneys? It does neither of these things. It is a poison that is hurriedly eliminated by the kidneys.
Herbs are nature’s own products, we are assured. We could reply that rattlesnakes and cobras are also nature’s own products. They come to you “entirely natural.” I can hear the hiss of the rattlesnake as he strikes: “My venom comes to you entirely natural.”
Teas are made in two general ways. They are prepared as infusions and as decoctions. An infusion is the solution obtained when a substance is steeped in water to obtain its soluble principles. It is an old medical device used to extract the “medicinal” qualities of herbs. A decoction is a substance derived by the process of boiling. This is also an old medical device used to extract the “medicinal” qualities (the poisons) from herbs. Infusions are made by pouring hot water over the tea and permitting it to steep. Leaves, flowers and thin materials are prepared as infusions. Decoctions are made of the harder materials, such as barks, roots, chips, seeds, etc. These are boiled to extract their “soluble principles.” An aromatic is a substance with a spicy fragrance. Such substances are said to be “stimulating,” but they are often added to infusions and decoctions to make them acceptable to the sense of smell.
I shall not, at this time, consider all the alleged actions of these various teas. Enough has been said to reveal that they are recommended to the public as drugs and because they are supposed to have therapeutic actions. All such actions are actions of the body and are employed as means of freeing the body of offensive substances. An herbal laxative is laxative because of the laxative action of the bowels in expelling the herbs or the tea made from these. These are expelled because they are poisonous. It does not matter that there may be minerals and vitamins in the herb or tea; the very hurry to expel them from the body prevents their digestion and absorption. Nonpoisonous herbs are foods; poisonous herbs are supposed to be “medicine.” Do not permit yourself to be misled by the assertion that “current research is proving the value of teas, herbs and berries used in Grandma’s day.” Research seems to be able to prove anything it is paid to prove.
Review the Articles in Lesson 33: Natural Foods—They refer to them as “healthy,” but some are actually hazardous and Plant Products and Effects.
Raw Food Explained: Life Science
Today only $37 (discounted from $197)