Hello guys

I suffer a lot of inflammatory ailments...crohns disease, astham, hayfever, itchy skin, and a healing broken collar bone that is inflammed.

I would like to tailor all aspects of my diet to be anti inflammatory so would like to include a herbal regime.

Can you wise folk point me in the right direction

Many thanks and kindest regards

Hi Clutha

If you are in the UK, your best bet is to find a qualified medical herbalist near you and ask for a consultation to discuss your particular issues. This can be done by putting your postcode into the National Institute of Medical Herbalist's Find a Herbalist search engine. This will give you the six nearest herbalists to you.

If you look on their webpage for herbal training clinics, they will give you the addresses. There are four in London and there used to be one in Bristol and one in Preston, but I'm not sure if they are still running. There should be something in Lincoln too. The training clinics are generally cheaper than a private consultation.

Once you know which herbs you will need on a regular basis, you can then start to grow or wildcraft so you have herbs which are exposed to the same stresses you live with geographically.

Best wishes

Sarah

thanks for you reply

i wasnt enquiring about consultants though (dont have the money for it, for one thing)

also, im not interested in going down that road, as I wish to learn myself as an interested amateur, as i would like to grow my own herbs and makes my own teas etc.

hence the thread hoping to share your experience.
(im also studying books).

can anyone give me advise re the herbs best known for having the best anti inflammatory properties?

many thanks

Hi Clutha

I've suffered with UC for more than 10 years, and arthritis and eczema, I've found Aloe Vera gel helps a lot. (not the juice or capsules as they are very diluted)

As a result all my all of my conditions are so much improved, I had my colon removed in 2003, and since then I've had to drink a lot of fluids to stay hydrated, but now I can get away with drinking a lot less, I think its helping my body to retain the minerals that help keep me hydrated.

Also you might find this website useful:http://www.abherbz.com/herbal-actions/anti-inflammatory

many many thanx for your help

If you are looking to teach yourself and grow your own anti-inflammatory herbs, you may find the list of books I recommend to my apprentices helpful. You can find it at http://kitchenherbwife.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-to-read-when.html. I also have a blog post about healing broken bones which people have found useful. http://kitchenherbwife.blogspot.com/2010/02/herbal-support-for-broken-bones.html.

If you're looking for herbs to grow and make friends with for your many conditions, you may like to consider plantain, calendula, chamomile and marshmallow as four to start with. Plantain you can wildcraft and the other three are very easy to grow yourself. Aloe vera is a wonderful herb, but it does have to be grown indoors in our climate and it takes several years for a plant to grow large enough for you to start harvesting from.

I would still urge you to seek support in treating yourself from someone who is knowledgable. It's easier if you can talk to someone face to face (and it doesn't have to include money changing hands) but failing that, join one of the many useful internet forums such as Henriette Kress's medicinal herb email list, Susan Weed's Wisewoman Forum or Rebecca Hartmann's Herbwifery Forum.

Best wishes

Sarah

thanks sarah

thats brill

your links dont work though

they say your blogs dont exist

Links do not work, and thread comes to a sudden end,after the other person posted that the links did not work. can webmistress make links clickable? [referring to sarah head's 30 may 2011 post, kitchenherbwife blogspot.] I thought if the address was underlined like that, it was meant to be clickable. am I wrong? or does the address really not exist any more, like the browser says? I tried both links,neither worked. thanks, Flarswort.[a guest? I guess.]