C.E. Flores's Blog, page 42

Herbs and Essential Oils Ultimate Bundle 2019

I have been waiting all year for the 2019 Herbs and Essential Oils Super Bundle! And as I mentioned last week, my own herb book, Exploring Traditional Herbal Remedies in Mexico is included! Can you tell how excited I am?

That’s me! Top right.

From June 5 to 10, you can get your copy of this incredible bundle for $37. That’s 29 eBooks, 7 eCourses & membership sites and 4 printable packs with a grand total of over $760 dollars for less than the price that my herb book costs on Amazon.

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There I am again–bottom row next to last!

Let me also mention that Herbal Academy’s Herbs for ADHD, Cognition, and Focus: 6 Month Intensive Course is also in the bundle. You KNOW how I love Herbal Academy! You just can’t beat the price!

You also get these amazing products!

FREE Summer Bundle from Puro co, $24.00 value

**Get a free bug repellent and skin relief salve

FREE 3 Color Gelatinized Maca from The Maca Team, $15.12 value

FREE Perfume Rollerball from MadeOn Skin Care, $16.75 value

FREE Essential Oil Diffuser Earrings from The Oil Collection, $24.00 value

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Plus, with just a few dollars more you can get the Self-Care Mini-bundle too! Two workbooks, four ebooks, two ecourses, a webinar, and a free membership to Alison LUmbati’s SAHM Casual Wardrobe Basics Builder site.

I’m positive you will just ADORE this latest Herbal Bundle! I know I do!

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Natural Healing — Papaya

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Native to Mexico, the papaya (Carica papaya) gets its name from the Maya páapay-ya which roughly translates as “mottled fruit.” The papaya is yet another staple food in the Mexico diet. Rich in papain, leaves and seeds are used to tenderize meat. The fruit is eaten raw, cooked and blended in fruit juices. The sap from the unripe fruit makes latex.

It is anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory. High in lycopene, papaya juice is often applied to sunburn and skin irritations to reduce inflammation. Papaya also is effective in reducing cancerous breast tumor growth.

Papaya seeds are natural antifungal agents. Dried seeds are often eaten to help in digestion. The seeds have a spicy flavor and are sometimes ground and used to season food as you would black pepper.  They have found to be useful in the treatment of IBS and stomach ulcers.

The leaves are used to treat liver damage caused by dengue in some areas as an antiviral agent. Extracts from the leaves are hypoglycemic and antioxidant and have been shown to improve liver and pancreas function.

The papaya is often prescribed in Mexico to treat parasites and is anti-protozoal. There are several remedies to expel internal parasites. One recipe calls for a mixture of juice, honey and coffee drank before breakfast. Another treatment is a tea made from the leaves drank 3 times a day for three days while ingesting a steady diet of the fruit. Yet a third remedy is to eat poached seeds with sap from an unripe fruit.

If your face is starting to wrinkle, eat more papaya and try a mashed papaya fruit mask! Papaya has been shown to reduce the depth of facial wrinkles

Note: The ripe fruit is safe for pregnant women to eat, however, the green fruit should be cooked first as it may cause contractions.

June is National Papaya Month! Have you had your papaya today?

 

El Dia de la Marina–National Maritime Day

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National Maritime Day (Día de la Marina) is a Mexican holiday celebrated on June 1 each year. Mexico has two huge coastlines measuring 11,122 km (6,911 mi) and as such, commands a naval forces known as the Armada de México which includes 189 ships and about 130 aircraft.

June 1 was chosen because on that day in 1917, the merchant ship “Tabasco” left Veracruz for the first time with a crew made up entirely of native-born Mexicans. Marine day was first observed in 1942 in honor of two ships that were sunk by German submarines, the Potrero del Llano and Faja de Oro.

The Mexican Navy is divided into three main units:

Gulf and Caribbean Sea Naval Force
Pacific Naval Force
Naval Infantry Force

And two smaller units:

Naval Aviation
Search and Rescue

Marine Day celebrations include simulated maneuvers such as defusing hijacking and terrorist situations, drug busts on the open waters and so on, followed by civic events at designated naval facilities.

Being smack dab in the middle of the country, we haven’t had the occasion to watch any of these events. How is el Día de la Marina observed in your area?

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Do you want to learn more about Mexican holidays and traditions?
Then check out A Woman’s Survival Guide to Holidays in Mexico!

 

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FREE Natural Summer Care Kit

I don’t know about you, but it sure has been HOT this month in Mexico. I’ve been sheltering indoors in the afternoons and lazing about in front of a fan in the evenings. Even then, the heat is getting to me.

In the mornings, I’ve been feverishly working on getting my ebook Exploring Herbal Remedies in Mexico ready for release next week with the next Herbs and Essential Oils Super Bundle from Ultimate Bundles so stay tuned for that!

This week, Ultimate Bundles teamed up with Stacy Karen, the founder of NoFussNatural to bring you the Natural Summer Care Kit to help you manage this summertime weather.

Here’s what you’ll get when you register for this free kit:

5 summer-friendly recipes using herbs and essential oils
a simple checklist for all your ingredients
a tutorial video where Stacy will demonstrate exactly how to make each recipe

This summer kit has recipes for after-sun spray, bug bite balm, cucumber cooling mist, summer lotion bars, and fresh berry facial masks.

It’s FREE so go ahead and pick up Your Natural Summer Care Kit right here. And keep your eyes peeled for the Herbs and Essential Oils Super Bundle coming next week!

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Natural Healing — Manzanilla

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Matricaria chamomilla (German Chamomile) has long been used to treat menstrual cramps. In fact, Matricaria comes from the Latin word for womb (matriz). It is an herb that didn’t originate in Mexico but has become a fast favorite since it was brought from Europe by the Spanish in the 1500s.

In Spanish, manzana means “apple,” so it’s only natural that chamomile (which also means apple), is called “little apple” in Mexico, not for its appearance but its apple-like scent.

Manzanilla is digestive, sedative, anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic. Breast pain associated with premenstrual syndrome (mastalgia) has been effectively treated with regular doses of chamomile extract. To make a traditional Mexican PMS tea, use 10 grams of manzanilla (flowers and leaves) for every half liter 3 times a day as needed.

Matricaria chamomilla has antifungal properties as well. To treat a yeast infection in the Mexican way, use 20 grams of flowers for every half liter of water for a vaginal wash. Allow to the infusion to steep for 15 minutes before use.

Manzanilla is given to laboring mothers as well as prescribed after delivery in Mexico. Some midwives (parteras) use an ointment from manzanilla leaves and onions fried in manteca (lard) to lessen labor pains. For postpartum discomfort, an infusion of canela (cinnamon) rosa de castilla (Rosa gallica) and manzanilla is made from equal parts of each herb.

Studies have shown that manzanilla has been helpful for women in returning to regular digestive patterns after a cesarean section. It has also been used successfully to treat parasitic infections of the stomach.

Manzanilla is often used to treat eye infections. To make an eyewash, add a pinch of salt before boiling the herb. Make sure the infusion is freshly made for each application. Although care should be taken with topical application. Some people have a sensitivity to manzanilla on the skin. Applying it to the skin may cause a rash or allergic reaction.

Colicky babies are often given a weak tea made with manzanilla in Mexico. Young children are given manzanilla to help with dehydration caused by diarrhea. The Tzeltal Maya of Chiapas, Mexico make a manzanilla tea with an orange and lime leaf added to improve the drinker’s mood.

Additionally, it has anticancer properties and can be used in the treatment of lung cancer. The chamomile flower heads and leaves have antioxidant properties. This pretty little flower has been shown to be memory enhancing and useful in the prevention of cell death in the hippocampal region of the brain too.

Apparently, regular ingestion of manzanilla will help you live longer if you a woman according to one study, so bottoms up ladies.

The mood enhancing tea recipe, with manzanilla, orange and lime leaf, sounded so delicious, I decided to make my own cup. And it was.

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Pepé Le Pew

It seems Kitty is in heat. She has had a nightly caller who serenades her with love songs. Only Kitty believes she is human and is horrified at the attention. She looks exactly like that cat who endlessly tried to escape Pepé Le Pew’s amorous advances.

She hides in the deepest recesses of my garden when her would-be-suitor comes calling. Sometimes she comes right up to the screen door and mews piteously to be let in.

We’ve had Kitty three years now and although we think she has been pregnant, we’ve never found any kittens. Maybe, believing she is human, she just abandons them since they don’t resemble her. Who knows?

Only time will tell if Monsieur Pepé Le Pew will steal her heart this year and we’ll have kittens. I think I’m probably the only one excited by the prospect. Meanwhile, the caterwauling continues.

Natural Healing — Jacaranda

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In April, the jacaranda blooms in Mexico announcing spring’s arrival. Originating in Bolivia and Argentina, the jacaranda can be found as an ornamental plant in most of the world these days. In fact, in some areas, it has been elevated to an invasive species. 

The purple flowers cluster in bunches which later are replaced by woody seed pods that resembles a crab shell that has flat seeds inside. The leaves are fern-like and resemble the mimosa which is where the jacaranda mimosifolia gets its second name.

The tree is exceptionally hardy. It with drought-resistant (a must for La Yacata), has very few pests or disease issues and even flourish in areas of extremely high pollution, like Mexico City where the jacaranda is iconic. These lovely trees can live up to 200 years.

Surprisingly, the leaves, bark, and root are the components used medicinally most often rather than the flowers. The bark has a higher antioxidant composition than the leaves and may be useful in the prevention of oxidative stress induced and neurodegenerative diseases.

Extracts from these sections of the jacaranda have a high antimicrobial effect against Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Extracts from the jacaranda mimosifolia have also shown to lower blood pressure.

The flowers from the jacaranda have the potential for use in the fight against cancer.

In Mexico, not only are extracts from different parts of the jacaranda used to treat wounds but in traditional medicine,  the jacaranda mimosifolia is used for dysentery and diarrhea as well as throat infections.

For sore throats or sores in the mouth, an infusion made from the roots is gargled. For the treatment of venereal diseases, a root infusion is drunk for 4 days in 4-ounce dosages. To make the infusion, soak a section of the bark for 10 hours, discard the bark and dilute the essential oil with water.

Infected wounds, acne, and skin sores can be washed with a jacaranda leaf infusion. Treatment for arthritis and rheumatism uses the same infusion as a muscle rub. To make the leaf infusion, use 30 grams of leaves per liter. Wounds can also be treated with a poultice of crushed leaves placed directly on the infected area.

Parasitic infections can be treated by combining spearmint and jacaranda leaves for a medicinal tea drunk for 7 days. Another tea concoction can be made with spearmint, epazote and jacaranda bark.

Although I found several forums where gardeners claimed that the jacaranda mimosifolia was toxic, I wasn’t able to verify that information with any botanical sources. The worst issue with this plant is the mess that the falling flowers create which when wet might cause treacherous road conditions.

Now, next time you are admiring your blooming jacaranda with your neighbor, you’ll be able to talk about its medicinal value too!

 

Gimping Around

We have two males gimping around the place this week, my husband and Puppy. So here’s what happened.

Puppy barks at everyone as they go by the house, even if they are on the other road. That’s what he does. He’s gotten better about chasing motorcycles since he was run over, but if a motorcyclist kicks out at him or throws rocks, he goes ballistic.

We let the puppies out in the morning for a romp and walk around the block with me. About noon, the shade is gone and it isn’t fun to be out anymore, so we let them in the back. They enjoy the time outdoors but the barking is non-stop unless they find something dead to roll around in. That’s always a treat.

This particular morning, some jerk on a motorcycle decided to go down our road. Our road is the center road and he actually had to go out of his way to come down our road. In fact, the opposite road that is a straight shot to the main road is in much better condition. So it was with evil intent that this guy went down our road.

Anyway, this guy goes down the road, slows down in front of the house and kicks out at Puppy, sure to get a reaction. He then drives further and turns and starts chucking rocks. Rocks that he had already collected and had ready to throw, mind you. Puppy naturally gives chase and the guy runs over his foot, probably with the idea of squashing Puppy.

Now Puppy’s poor little foot is injured. He’ll be fine, but he is sure milking his injury for everything its worth. Maybe he’ll learn not to chase jerks on motorcycles, but probably not. My son had a stern talk with Puppy about chasing motorcycles and he just moaned and sighed with big sad puppy eyes. Then we accidentally got the wrong dog food, the ones with the green pieces, and his day was totally ruined.

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Now for my husband. He is currently working on a remodeling job. The owners are going to put a new floor in. Before that can be done, the old floor needs to have a myriad of holes hammered into it so that the new floor can be installed. My husband figured he’d speed up the process by using a drill with a disc on it.

For two days, this was working well. Then that morning, the disc broke off, flew up and sliced his knee. When he looked down, he could see all the way to the bone, so he decided he needed some medical attention.

He came all the way home for me because it’s mid-week and he didn’t have any money. We went to one of the consultation offices next to Farmacias Similares. We could have gone to CAISES and been covered by Seguro Popular, but you know how long that takes, and the blood from the gash was flowing.

We waiting about 10 minutes until the doctor could attend him. The first thing he said was that to stitch up the wound, the cost was $250. Ok, fine. A little steep, but not impossibly so.

The doctor went next door to the pharmacy for his supplies. As he was cleaning the wound, cutting the pant leg off and then stitching and wrapping the injury, he regaled us with all sorts of medical stories.

First, there was this guy who had gotten hit with a baseball. The area swelled. Someone told the guy to put warm water on it (which goes against everything I ever learned in first aid classes, but what do I know?). Anyway, the guy figured the warmer the better. So he boiled a pot of water and then poured it over the swollen area giving himself third-degree burns in the process. That’s when he decided it would be best to go see a doctor.

Then there was the accident that happened just a few weeks ago during Semana Santa. We have a shrine in a little town called Soledad to the Virgin de Soledad that people make pilgrimages to during Holy Week. So a mother and her three children, ages 3, 6 and 10, were returning home after visiting La Virgin. It was just starting to get dark.

A driver who had been in Huandacareo all day, lounging by the pool and drinking, was also returning home. He didn’t see the family. The mother managed to get her children out of the way but was hit by the car and killed. Our doctor at the clinic was the attending physician.

Then there was the little boy who had to have his fingers amputated. He was playing at Los Areas Verdes, a park with a small zoo. Apparently, there was a slide where one of the metal plates was bent up, fairly common on playgrounds here. The little guy was unattended because his parents were arguing. He was zipping down the slide too fast and tried to stop himself but sliced his hand. There was no way to save two of his fingers.

My husband has a huge fear of needles, so these stories distracted him while the anesthesia was administered and the wound sewn up. He needed 5 stitches. The doctor then wrote out a prescription for an antibiotic, antibiotic topical cream and some ibuprofen. Altogether, the medicines were nearly $200 pesos.

For comparative purposes, my husband makes $250 pesos per day. This minor injury cost us (or rather me since I paid from the grocery money) $450 pesos. He didn’t feel well enough to return to work that day and took the next day off as well. The stitches are right at the bend of his knee and the job he was doing meant he was all day on his knees. So he rested up.

He returned to work on the third day. He says he’s been “taking it easy” but his leg is red and swollen when he gets home every night. He needs to go back en 8 días (next week) to have the stitches removed. That will be another expense. He’ll be fine, but he is sure milking his injury for everything its worth. Maybe he’ll learn to take more safety precautions at work, but probably not. I had a stern talk with him about that while he just moaned and sighed with big sad eyes.

Natural Healing–Corn Silk Tea

Corn (Zea mays)is high in fiber thus helpful for proper digestion. It is also high in B vitamins and we all know how good those are for you. It is especially high in niacin, pantothenic acid, and thiamin.  

Zinc, magnesium, copper, iron, and manganese are found in corn. Corn is a good source for antioxidants including carotenoids, lutein, and zeaxanthin which are good for your eyes. The kernels are rich in vitamin E which helps protect the body from illness and disease.

Corn oil and corn husk oil used for cooking have been shown to reduce cholesterol with regular use. A return to the traditional three sisters, (corn, beans, and squash) diet has been shown to reduce hyperglycemia-induced pathogenesis and associated complications linked to cellular oxidation stress and hypertension.

Some version of maíz can be found in nearly every meal of the day in Mexico. Atole for breakfast. Tortillas for lunch. Pozole, enchiladas, quesadillas, and tacos for dinner. Even snacks are corn. Elotes (corn on the cob) on a stick smothered in mayonnaise and chili powder are common evening edibles. A cup of maizena (corn starch) is just the thing before bed. Tortillas left over from lunch might be toasted into tostadas and enjoyed with any number of toppings.

It comes as no surprise that even the corn silk has value in Mexican culture. The caballitos de elote (little hairs of corn), also known as barbas de maíz (corn beard), are considered especially good for renal ailments.

My little green herb book, Antiguo Recetario Medicinal Azteca, provides a recipe for a tea to be drunk at room temperature. Boil 15 grams of caballitos de elote in one liter of water, adding alfalfa or barley if desired. Drink three to four glasses throughout the day.

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Corn silk tea functions as an anti-inflammatory and diuretic, which of course supports the use of it in treatments for kidney issues. It also helps with water retention during PMS and is often given to the elderly to help with incontinence. PMS tea is made with dandelion leaves, barbas de maíz, and uva ursi.

Corn silk can be used topically to treat spider bites or other insect stings as an infusion to bring down the inflammation. This is for common bites or stings only. Poisonous spider bites or scorpion stings should be treated by a professional healthcare provider.

Corn silk tea is thicker than you might think and for all intents and purposes tastes like diluted corn starch. If your body is already low on potassium, drinking corn silk tea could make the problem worse since it primarily works as a diuretic.

Another precaution you should take is to ensure that the caballitos de elote should come from non-GMO, organically grown corn. Mexico has prohibited the planting of GMO corn but pesticide use is alive and well.

Book Review — Why We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats compiled and edited by Janet Blaser

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Why We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats is a collection of 27 essays written by women who relocated to Mexico. Some of the women may be familiar names. Roxana Bangura from the Bangura Chronicles wrote about raising her daughter as a polyglot in Mexico. Holly Hunter, the better half of Dan Gair, wrote about her side of the Mexico Diaries adventures. Dianne Hofner Saphiere from VidaMaz wrote about not being in Kansas anymore.

The women were honest about the struggles they had to create the life they love in Mexico. All of the women told their stories from the “other side” after prevailing against discrimination, income loss, relationship challenges, and just plain ol’ culture shock. All in all, it’s an inspiring “happy expat” read.

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So why did these women leave their home countries? Some left because of the current political climate. Others left to provide life experiences for their children they would not otherwise have. Some women came for the culture, others for the cost of living. Some lost their marriages to Mexico, others found love and stayed.

What did these women find in Mexico? Purpose. Simplicity. Patience. Confidence. Seem like pretty good trade-offs to me.

I would have liked to have seen more stories from women who chose voluntary exile after their spouses were deported, but then perhaps they don’t fit the criteria of “expats”. Most of the women in this anthology were also living in areas full of gringos or small towns near those epicenters, San Miguel de Allende, Mazatlan, Lake Chapala, Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, Cozumel and so on. Perhaps that’s the book I need to write…

Regardless, Why We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats is an interesting collection and I’m sure you’ll love reading about the process of crafting a life you love in Mexico as told by these 27 brave women.

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