Thank You Weather Beings! Postscript.

After writing my last post the sky completely cleared and I went out for a walk with my dogs through the fields and woods around my house like I do most days in the late afternoon or early evening. Everything was wet and seemed to be covered in jewels wherever the late afternoon sun came streaming through the forest canopy. The sigh of relief was palpable all around me, as was the incredible beauty of the moment: the mists rising in the rays of the sun; the smell of fresh rain and wet soil; the coolness of the air; the deep greens of the foliage; the songs of the birds; the flying insects; the toads and salamanders hopping and scurrying along the ground...it doesn't get any better than this! These are the moments when every sensation, every experience is a constant reminder of how incredibly awesome it is to be alive!

The happy forest!

When I got back with my dogs I decided to write this postscript. First, I went back out with my camera to take a few photos. On the way back the next bank of clouds started floating in.

Here they come again!

As I write these words I can hear and see out my window the rain beginning to fall once more...

Thank You Weather Beings!

I am sitting here at my computer listening to the rain. The sound of thunder from a storm that just passed is fading off towards the east. I can also hear a new storm approaching from the west. In my heart I feel incredibly grateful. This past winter was the warmest and driest winter that I can remember. The temperature was above freezing during the day most of the winter and we had virtually no snow or precipitation of any kind. March and the first half of April were very warm for this region. Consequently, when I was walking in the woods in late April, the level of dryness was more like early to mid July.

Fortunately, it did cool down for a few weeks and we got some rain from mid April to mid May. But it wasn't enough. The level of moisture in the soil and in wetlands and rivers was already at a deficit because of the lack of snow melt. I was up at Lake Superior in May. I have never seen the water level so low. Not even in mid summer! In June the water level of Georgian Bay (Lake Huron) was also as low as I can remember except once a number of years ago in July after we had experienced a few dry years in a row.

The region where I live has been experiencing a fairly bad drought. Thankfully, it hasn't been nearly as bad as what they are experiencing in the central States and my heart goes out to all of the plant, animal and human people who live there. It seems to be part of human nature that we tend to take the many blessings of life for granted. We love to complain about the rain when it happens at an inconvenient time. But when we really need it, at least some people take notice. Farmers notice. On the other hand, some city folk are too self-absorbed in their artificial world. Maybe they get a bit annoyed at having to water their lawn more often.

Last week we finally got some relief. For about a day and a half we had pretty steady soaking rain. Later in the week we had a decent amount for another evening. Needless to say I was very happy, and so were all of the plants and animals that live around here. Today, since early afternoon, we have been getting a fair amount of rain again. The meteorologists are predicting it will continue well into the evening. I haven't had much faith in them for many years. Our weather patterns have become too changeable and unpredictable in the last few decades. I don't trust their weather predictions more than a few hours in advance. Since mid June they have predicted about 20 days of rain (40-60% chance) for this immediate area. We got a little bit of rain on one of them. That is, until last week and today. All I can say is I am very thankful to hear the voices of the Weather Beings echoing through the sky right now. Any amount of rain that they leave us will be greatly appreciated.

The view of a storm from my bedroom window very early in the morning on July 27th.

As an herbalist, I have always been very in tune with the cycles of nature and how they affect the plants and ecosystem where I live. The weather we have been having has a profound affect on the world around us. There are many things that are different this year. There are a lot more butterflies, but less flies, bees and wasps. It was so warm in March and early April that many trees bloomed much earlier than normal. Insects also emerged early. Then in April there were a couple of weeks where the temperature was below normal and there were some bad frosts that killed a lot of the flowers and pollinating insects. The trees and shrubs that managed to get through it and produce a decent amount of fruit then had to deal with the drought. We got some rain in April and May, but there was almost none in June and July and it was consistently hotter than normal. Many plants that produce fleshy fruits allowed them to dry up before they matured. They couldn't spare the water necessary for their fruits to develop. Where I live, the hawthorns (Crataegus spp.) actually produced a lot of fruit initially, but they dried up in early July and the few that continued to mature were affected by some kind of fungus.

During hot dry years, many plants accelerate their life cycle. They try to flower and produce seed before it gets so dry that they die or are forced to die back to preserve moisture. This year most of the plants in the areas that I have visited have been two to three weeks ahead of schedule, sometimes more. For example, I harvest wild peppermint (Mentha x piperita) a week or two after it goes into flower. This year it was ready for harvesting last week. In the areas where I harvest peppermint it is usually ready around the second or third week of August.

Wild peppermint (Mentha x piperita) on August 5, 2009.

It is still a few weeks away from flowering.

Drought doesn't just speed up the life cycle of plants and reduce production of fleshy fruits. When the soil is too dry, plants lose more moisture through respiration than they can replenish. At that point it is better to allow their aerial parts to die in hope of being able to preserve enough moisture in their roots and rhizomes until the soil is moist again. Unfortunately, if they die back too soon they may not have produced enough of a store of carbohydrates to keep them alive until the following spring. Plants with shallow roots are particularly susceptible. You can see that by looking at people's lawns. Grasses tend to have very shallow roots. Consequently, during a drought they tend to die back first. People accelerate this process by cutting their lawn. It isn't good to cut the lawn during a drought. The soil becomes more exposed to the drying effect of the sun. Taller grasses and other plants also tend to trap moisture and create a cooler micro climate close to the soil. If we do cut the grass, it shouldn't be cut shorter than 10-12 cm (4-5 inches). It is best not to cut it much shorter than that even when it isn't so dry. Nevertheless, most people cut their lawn way too short. During drought conditions, the grass will turn brown pretty quick, but plants with deeper roots like white clover (Trifolium repens), birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus) and dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) will stay green much longer. Driving around in the rural areas near where I live last week it was obvious how much of any given lawn was made up of these plants because the grass was brown but they were still green.

Plants in woodland areas are particularly sensitive to drought conditions. Woodland plants generally need rich, moist soils. The shade of the tree canopy tends to keep the soil more moist than in other ecosystems (except wetlands), but prolonged heat and lack of rain will eventually result in dry woodland soils. Once more, plants with shallow roots and rhizomes will tend to die back early. In the woods where I live, many of the shallow rooted species have begun to or have already died back, such as mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum), blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) and Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum). Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) also has a shallow rhizome, but because it is fleshy and tuberous, it holds more moisture and can resist the dry conditions for a bit longer. However, even the bloodroot is now showing signs of stress. One interesting anomaly is wild ginger (Asarum canadense). It has very shallow rhizomes that mostly sit on the surface of the soil, but it is even more drought resistant than bloodrood. This is because its rhizomes are a bit on the fleshy side; its leaves are very hairy, which helps prevent evaporation during the day and trap moisture at night; and its rhizomes, which mostly rest on the surface, can also take advantage of the dew at night.

Blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) looking more like what it should look like in September or October.

Note the wild ginger (Asarum canadense) in the bottom left corner is still green.

When a plant species shows signs of drought stress we don't want to harvest it. We only harvest from plant populations that are strong and healthy. Many plants can live in a range of conditions, particularly with regard to the amount of sunlight that they receive. For instance, dandelion is particularly versatile. It can live in open woodlands where it gets diffuse light all the way to open fields where it receives direct sunlight 80-100% of the day. What is more common are plants that can live in a slightly narrower range of conditions such as transition areas where they receive as little as 20-30% direct sunlight, as well as in open fields. For these plants, during drier years it is better to harvest them in areas where they receive more shade. During cool, wet summers it is best to harvest them in full sun. It is usually easy to tell which ones are the healthiest during any given set of conditions because they will look it. Similarly, this year it will be better to harvest blue cohosh in low lying moister woodland areas where it isn't showing signs of drought stress and dies back no earlier than mid September.

The rain has now stopped and the sun is streaming through. I hope we get some more rain tonight as predicted. In the mean time, I am very grateful for what we have received.

Awe is Awesome

Here's a couple of interesting links that relate to some recent research:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120719161901.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

and...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-awe-stops-the-clock

Once more, this is basically common sense. But when it is "verified" by research, it gives it a level of credibility in the minds of much of our population.

I tend to preach this like a broken record (CD?) and have probably already stated it in at least one other posting in this blog, but a major cause of what is out of balance in our life, both individually and as a society, is our disconnection from ourselves and Nature. These are really two sides of the same coin because we are part of Nature and intimately connected to all things, whether we acknowledge it or not. Connecting with Nature isn't just something that is cool to do occasionally when we have some spare time. It is a basic human need!

Herbs have their place in the healing process, but if healing is what we seek, they must be used within the context of a healthy life. Connecting with Nature is an essential part of a healthy life. Most people would benefit immensely if they got out into a natural environment on a regular basis. That means getting out there and connecting, not racing through, listening to music on headphones, or chit chatting with another person or on a cell phone. We need to learn how to really be present in Nature. This is an important stepping stone to being fully present in our life as a whole. It is an essential part of being in harmony within ourselves. It's important that we learn how to be in the moment and not experience life through our daily ruts, but like we are experiencing it for the first time. That includes not just the great vistas, sunsets and rainbows, but everything. We live in a world of such immense beauty! It's all around us but we usually don't perceive it. We need to come back into that place of awe. If we choose to, with a bit of effort to break out of our old ways of experiencing things, we can potentially be in awe all of the time. That is a major part of the path to a healthier, happier, more rewarding life. In order to get there, we need to stop racing around collecting endless stuff and doing endless things, and spend more time just being. This requires some major readjustments and reprioritizing in our lives in order to make the space and time available; to recognize that the quality of our experiences is vastly more important than the quantity. One of the best ways to begin this process is to get out into Nature and fully embrace and experience life: no goals; no time limits; and leave the damn cell phone behind!

Winter sunset, Lake Huron.

Making Medicine, Part 2 of 5: Preparing Blue Vervain to Make a Tincture

This is the second in a series of five posts in which I am using the process of wild harvesting and making a fresh herb tincture of blue vervain (Verbena hastata) as an example to explain in detail the process of making medicine. Part 1 in this series was posted on July 9th.

In my practice I primarily use tinctures made from fresh herbs, so the next step is to use the blue vervain that we harvested to make a tincture. When you make as much tinctures as I do, you appreciate good equipment. I have experimented with a variety of tools over the years and will discuss some of them here. I am also going to use the process of preparing blue vervain tincture as an example to explain some of the important details regarding making tinctures.

The basic idea is that we want to separate the more potent from the less potent parts of the portion of the plant that we harvested, chop it up and put it in a bottle with the appropriate menstruum (pronounced MEN-strew-um: the liquid that we use to absorb and preserve the constituents of the herb). As an herbalist, it is important to me that the way I prepare a tincture is consistent so that I know that the tincture of any particular herb that I make from year to year is very similar in potency. There are factors that affect the potency of the herb, like weather conditions, that I can't control. However, if the weather conditions are particularly incompatible with the requirements of a particular herb in a particular year, I won't harvest that herb. What I can control is how I prepare the tincture. In order to accomplish this, the portion of the plant that I use needs to be consistent as must the amount of herb that I use for any given volume of menstruum.

When using fresh herbs, I recommend a 1:5 potency. This means that 1 g of herb is used for every 5 ml of menstruum. There are herbalists who recommend a higher potency for various reasons. However, I disagree with using a higher potency than 1:5 for fresh herb tinctures. I will do a detailed post explaining why I prepare tinctures the way I do at some point in the future, but the bottom line is that 1:5 fresh herb tinctures work and a higher potency isn't necessary. Also, the greater the potency that we use above 1:5, the greater the amount of herb we end up using in order to get the same results. For reasons related to the chemical characteristics of the constituents of an herb, using twice as much herb doesn't make a tincture that is twice as strong therapeutically. For example, a 1:2.5 potency tincture should be twice as strong as a 1:5 tincture because we are adding the same amount of herb to half as much menstruum (2.5 ml instead of 5 ml). If this were true, then when we use a 1:2.5 tincture we should get the same results using a dosage that is half as much as the dosage we use for a 1:5 tincture. However, it doesn't work out that way. We need to use more than half as much of a 1:2.5 tincture to get the same results. This is because as we add more herb to the same volume of menstruum, at some point the percentage of constituents that actually dissolves in the menstruum starts to drop off. In addition, for most herbs it is physically impossible to get enough herb into a given volume of menstruum above a 1:5 or 1:4 potency. This necessitates methodologies such as grinding the herbs, percolation or macerating tinctures more than once, which are more time and energy intensive, often require the use of expensive equipment, and lead to a greater level of degradation of the constituents of the herb. Therefore higher potencies are unnecessary and wasteful. For home use, you don't need to be as accurate with your measurements as I am recommending here, but the more accurate the better.

The equipment I use for preparing fresh blue vervain tincture.

In preparing a tincture we need to be able to measure the amount of herb that we put into each bottle. For this I use a triple beam balance, but digital scales will do as long as they are calibrated to 1 g increments or smaller. We also need to know how much herb to use per bottle. Traditionally the way we calculate this is to first measure how much fluid the bottles we are using contain when they are filled to 0.5 cm (1/4 inch) from the top. It is necessary to measure this because the volume indicated for the bottle is usually not based on filling it this close to the top. Beakers and measuring cups are not accurate enough for this. It is necessary to use something that is calibrated in 1 ml increments. This usually necessitates the use of a graduated cylinder.

Once we have an accurate read on how much fluid our bottles contain, to approximate how much herb we will need for a 1:5 tincture we divide the total by 6, that is for 1 part herb plus 5 parts menstruum. This is not 100% accurate because herbs are usually less dense than water and not all herbs are of equal density. However, although this is an approximation, it is surprisingly accurate. It is sufficient for most situations. The key is to get as accurate a measurement as possible of the volume of the bottles we are using. I have done extremely detailed calculations for all of the tinctures that I make and, with only a couple of exceptions, this approximation is accurate to within 1-2%, which is good enough.

The harvested portion of one plant.

Once we know how much herb we need per bottle, it is necessary to separate the usable from non-usable parts of the portion of the herb that we harvested. When harvesting the aerial parts of plants (the parts that grow above the ground), this usually means that a portion of the stalk isn't used. This is because the primary purpose of the stalk is to hold up the leaves and flowers. As a result, the stalk tends to contain mostly dense fibrous tissue and a much lower proportion of the therapeutically active constituents. The amount of stalk that has to be removed can be anywhere from 0-100%, depending on the plant and the portion of the plant that is harvested. For most plants from which we harvest the aerial parts we harvest the terminal 25-40%  of the plant and remove 80-90% of the primary stalk and 60-75% of any well-developed secondary stalks. The specifics depend on the species of plant and at what stage we are harvesting it. The portion of the stalk that is usable tends to be the new growth that is less stiff and more succulent. To determine the usable portion for a particular species, we start at the lowest part of the stalk, cut off a small section and taste it. Then cut a similar sized section about 20% further up the stalk, then at 40%, 60%, 80%, and finally the top portion. Finally, we taste a piece of a leaf. The point on the stalk where the flavour of the stalk is about 2/3 to 3/4 as strong as the flavour of the leaf is the point at which the potency of the stalk is strong enough to use. We remove all of the stalk below that point and use all of the stalk above that point. The reason that the taste of the stalk can be used to determine its potency is because its flavour corresponds to the concentration of many of its active chemical constituents. For plants that are relatively bland in flavour because they have little to no aromatic, bitter or pungent constituents, there isn't much difference in the flavour of the different aerial parts of the plant. Therefore we just use the portion of stalk that is less stiff and more succulent.

Blue vervain is unusual in that the flavour of the entire stalk is pretty strong. This is because its flavour is primarily due to chemical constituents called iridoids and the iridoids are in a fairly high concentration in all of the aerial parts of the plant. Nevertheless, for the most part I still only use the less stiff and more succulent parts of the stalk. Overall I remove a little bit less stalk than is typical for most herbs. However, with this herb, if the amount that I harvested is a bit short, I can just use a bit more stalk rather than having to harvest more plants.

The part that is used (above) and the amount of stalk that is not used (below).
This is the same plant that was shown in the previous picture

The next step is removing the unused stalk from all of the plants that we harvested. This can be done with a knife or scissors, but since we tend to cut the stalk at the point where it becomes softer and less fibrous, for most herbs the stalks can be easily torn with our fingers, which takes less time. Once we've separated all of the usable portions of the plants that we harvested, we need to weigh them to make sure that we put the right amount in each bottle. I use four standard sizes of bottles. The blue vervain that I harvested was intended to prepare the largest size, which is a 950 ml bottle. However, the volume of bottles that are narrower at the top than the full width of the bottle are usually calculated to about the top of the shoulder. When the bottles I use are filled to 0.5 cm from the top, they actually hold 990 ml. To determine how much of the usable portion of the herb that we need to use for a bottle this size, we divide 990 by 6 (for a 1:5 tincture), which is 165 g. Although our proportions are made up of 1 part herb, which is measured in grams, and 5 parts menstruum, which is measured in millilitres, this conversion works because the density of menstruum is almost the same as for water. The density of water is 1 g/ml, so 5 ml of water is the same as 5 g of water.

The amount of herb material that is used to prepare one bottle
(990 ml) of tincture with the removed stalks below.

When I am harvesting any herb, it is important for me to determine in advance how much that I am going to need. That means the number and size of the bottles of tincture that I need to prepare, how much of the usable portion of the herb I need per bottle, and approximately how much extra that I need to harvest to account for the unused portion of the plant. I don't want to be short or I might have to go out again to harvest the same herb. In some cases, due to the number of herbs that I need to harvest, weather conditions, etc., harvesting an herb a second time might not be possible. So I might run short before I am able to prepare it again the following year. The flip side is that I don't want to over-harvest because it is wasteful and disrespectful to the medicine. When I'm out harvesting I bring a small spring scale that is accurate to within 10 g, so I can make sure I harvest the right amount. I will always harvest just a bit more than I need so that I don't accidentally run short. Any small amounts of extra herb I dry and use for teas.

After I processed 165 g of the usable portion of the blue vervain to make my bottle of tincture, the amount of stalk that I had removed was 51 g. That means that I had to harvest an extra 31% of the herb to get the amount that I needed. If I had harvested the blue vervain a bit later, the proportion of unused stalk would have increased because as the plants mature the stalk gets stiffer and the amount of stalk between the nodes (the points where the leaves join the stem) gets longer.

Once we have measured the appropriate amount of the usable parts of an herb, we need to chop it up. For this we need a fairly large hardwood cutting board and some kind of knife. Over the years I have experimented with just about every kind of knife for chopping the many herbs that I use. Some herbs are best chopped using a cleaver, a few require a serrated knife, but for most herbs the best knife by far is the mezzaluna. This is a curved knife with a handle at each end (see the first photograph in this post). When used correctly, it can finely chop herbs much more quickly than other knives. This is important because the process of chopping our herbs requires finding a balance between two opposing requirements. On the one hand, the more finely we chop the herb, the greater the surface area that we create that allows its constituents to dissolve in our menstruum. On the other hand, the more finely chopped our herb and the longer it takes to do it, the more it is exposed to air which results in greater oxidation of its chemical constituents. Most constituents are less potent when oxidized and in some cases it may even change their properties. It is true that a few constituents are more potent when oxidized, but this is not the case for the vast majority of them. In addition, they will have plenty of opportunity to oxidize after we press the herb, the final stage in making a tincture. For the best results, we want to minimize the amount of oxidation that takes place before and while the herbs are macerating. Maceration is the process of soaking the herbs in our menstruum. With the mezzaluna, I can chop an herb a little bit finer than I would with other kinds of knives in about half the time. It doesn't get any better than that! I really love those special tools that significantly increase the efficiency of the work that I do. The mezzaluna is one of those special tools. In choosing a mezzaluna, it is important that it be a larger one, 25-30 cm (10-12 inches) wide. Do not skimp on quality. Purchase one that is professional quality. The best ones are made in Italy or Portugal using high quality molybdenum vanadium steel. The ones made in China are not good. Also, only use the ones that have a single blade. One of my students once bought one with a double blade. She though this would make it easier. All it did was slow things down because the herbs kept getting caught between the blades. I don't believe they even make double bladed models in Europe.

Using a mezzaluna takes a bit of practice. Basically we hold the handles and rotate the blade back and forth over the herbs. Each time we do that we twist the blade to change the angle very slightly, first one way and then the opposite way on the next stroke. This allows it to move forward across the cutting board. What works best is to cut moving forward down the board, then begin at one of the front corners and cut diagonally in one direction, then cut diagonally in the other direction from the other front corner. Keep rotating between cutting in these three directions until the herb is chopped the right amount. It is very important that the cutting board is oriented so that the grain of the wood is running down the board away from us. Never use a mezzaluna to cut parallel to the grain of the board. This is because when we slightly twist the blade at the end of each stroke, if we are cutting with the blade parallel to the grain, it digs between the layers of wood. Over time it will start cutting out thin slivers of wood which will significantly reduce the life of the cutting board.

This is the what the herb should look like when it is sufficiently chopped.

This is the end of Part 2 of this series. In Part 3 I'll discuss making a blue vervain maceration.

Some Helpful Suggestions for Losing Weight

Here's some recent research concerning weight-loss strategies:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120713080029.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

These tips can be helpful to many people who are trying to lose weight. The growing number of people who are obese in Western society, especially North America, is a major concern. Keeping our weight within the ideal weight range for our body (which is different for different people) is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle. In spite of the growing body of literature and media attention on the subject, obesity is on the rise as are the many chronic health conditions to which it is a contributing factor.

Along with the growth of obesity within our population there has been a parallel growth of a whole industry of fad diets and dieting products that prey upon a population who are always looking for quick fixes. When it comes to weight management, there are no quick fixes. Losing weight requires work consisting primarily of educating ourselves about diet and health and changing the unhealthy diet and lifestyle patterns that we have been practicing. When it comes to losing weight, there are three principles that need to be kept in mind:

1. It is best to lose weight slowly and consistently.
2. It is essential to reduce our calorie consumption and eat a good, healthy, natural diet.
3. It is essential to increase our activity level.
4. A "diet" is not some extreme eating regimen that we follow in order to lose weight and then go back to eating as we were before. A diet is simply what we eat. Any diet that we need to follow in order to lose weight is going to have to be the diet that we continue to follow (or something similar) in order to keep the weight off. Therefore it must be doable in the long run.

A lot more can be said on this complex subject. For those who are interested, here is a link to an article that I wrote on weight loss a few years ago for Vitality Magazine:

http://vitalitymagazine.com/article/healthy-weight-loss/

More Bad News Concerning Phthalates

Here's another interesting link from the recent research literature:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120713083103.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

According to a recent study, phthalates may be associated with an increased risk of diabetes in women. This in a new addition to the growing list of negative health consequences associated with the consumption of phthalates, which are one of the many synthetic environmental toxins that are hormone disruptors.

Phthalates are found in plastics, especially in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) such as plastics designated with the number "3". They are also found in many commercial cosmetics and household products. Phthalates accumulate in the fatty tissues of animals and can also be found in significant amounts in dairy products and meats. Eating less dairy products and meats, which is a good practice for many reasons, and only eating those that are certified organic when they are consumed is one way to reduce consumption of phthalates. Also, it is best not to consume any food or beverage that is packaged in a #3 plastic, and to avoid the use of cosmetics that contain them. The more "natural" cosmetics that are available may contain less or none, but many of these products aren't very natural even if they are marketed as such. Also, although there is a growing trend to list ingredients on these kinds of products, regulations in most jurisdictions do not require full disclosure of ingredients on cosmetic products. So it's best to do some research and make sure that the products are being manufactured by a reputable company that does disclose all of the ingredients on product labels.

A good herbal detox and juice fasting can help to eliminate toxins like phthalates that accumulate in our body tissues. However, this needs to be accompanied by appropriate dietary and lifestyle changes to reduce our exposure to toxicity on a daily basis, as well as an increase in aerobic exercise for those who don't get enough. These are two sides of the same coin. As always, herbs will only work efficiently if we address the dietary and lifestyle patterns that contribute to the development of our health concerns as much as possible.

For anyone interested in a bit more information on herbal detoxification, here's a link to an article that I wrote a couple of years ago for Vitality Magazine:

http://vitalitymagazine.com/article/spring-detox/