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Journal of an Herbalist
By Karima Burns, MH, ND 28/06/2001
Client: Selwa
Complaint: Allergies and Fatigue
Journal: First I asked Selwa about all the lifestyle changes she had made in the two years since her allergies started. She seemed to think that her allergies were related to these lifestyle changes, so we decided to explore that option first. Two years ago she had started drinking distilled water on the advice of a health food magazine. Around the same time she purchased a second hand hot tub and started using it as a daily relaxing routine. She started cutting out the fat in her diet in order to lose weight and also cut down on sugar. She also started taking various vitamins that she felt she needed.
Her situation sounded all too familiar. Many people, in their pursuit of a healthier lifestyle, are often misled by magazines and advertising that encourage them to start drinking or eating things that may not be beneficial. Although Allah says, "Ye people: eat of what is on earth, lawful and wholesome" (2:168), they are still convinced by advertisements and magazine articles that claim they can benefit from those things that man has altered or created. Furthermore, in pursuit of these products, people often self-prescribe vitamins and therapies for themselves without consulting any professionals.
I asked Selwa how she came to the decision that she needed to take the vitamins and she told me that she had seen an article about vitamin E and so she started to take it. Her friend had been taking Ginkgo and said it made her feel better so she started taking that too. By the end of the year she was taking ten different vitamins and supplements including a super multi-vitamin with herbs and minerals. She had not consulted a professional about any of them.
I explained to Selwa that our bodies are so bombarded with toxins, disease, stress, bowel problems, absorption problems, synthetic nutrients, and allergies that we have a hard time getting any nutrients into our systems. Many of the vitamins we ingest are not absorbed, and much of the food we eat is not assimilated due to our bad chewing and eliminative habits. Allergies can also cause us to reject food instead of absorbing it. She was probably feeling fatigued because of her allergies and because of some of the nutrients that were being leached from her system through the distilled water and the supplements she was taking. Furthermore, a leaching of nutrients can also cause a person to experience allergic reactions they have never had before. So the entire process of depletion and allergies had become, for Selwa, a vicious circle. The health-food industry has tried hard to find more and more ways of getting those nutrients back into our bodies - mineral drinks, better and more natural vitamins and superfoods. Allah has told us that we will be healthy if we
"Eat of the good foods We have provided for you" (7:160). Selwa had chosen to follow the recommendations of the Western advertising industry instead.
I gave Selwa some simple recommendations to improve her nutrient level, decrease her exposure to allergens and strengthen her body. Her three-step program was to:
1. Avoid leaching her body of nutrients she already has.
2. Add back the nutrients she has lost through herbs and super foods.
3. To eat foods that will help her absorb her nutrients better.
To stop leaching minerals and vitamins from her system I advised Selwa to stop drinking the unnatural distilled water every day. I suggested that drinking it once a month for a week would be fine as a cleansing routine, but on a daily basis, distilled water would, over time, leach the body of minerals and electrolytes - especially potassium and sodium. This is because distilled water creates an osmotic gradient, which draws out electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium, from tissues. This can cause symptoms of mineral deficiency that could show up as "allergic reactions to things" and disease symptoms that are inconclusive. Companies selling distilled water claim that they have evidence that the opposite is true and that distilled water helps the body absorb its nutrients better. They state that minerals are not leached from the body in their studies, but they never counter-argue the potassium-sodium link or support their evidence.
I also explained to Selwa how taking multiple vitamins can also deplete the body of nutrients. Taking a pre-packaged multi-vitamin, no matter how high quality, is the same as eating foods that were made for someone else's type, or following a "universal diet." Each person's nutrient needs are personal and chances are that one multi-vitamin will not fit everyone's needs. When this occurs, rather than help a person, the vitamin throws the body off balance. Furthermore, vitamins should be varied with need and not taken "forever." Companies selling these vitamins say there is no harm in taking a "multi" as "insurance." But, every mineral and vitamin a person consumes needs another mineral or vitamin to be assimilated into the body. So if a person takes an excess of one or two nutrients they do not need, they are at the same time depleting their body of nutrients it may need! Many vitamins and minerals need sodium and potassium to assimilate into the body. So by taking a multi-vitamin, Selwa was once again depleting her potassium and sodium sources, which are supposed to help protect her against allergies. Vitamin therapy should be a highly personal and continuously updated. I recommended that she continue the B, C, and E-vitamins, but discontinue the multi-vitamin.
The third thing that was depleting her body of nutrients was…her daily soak in the hot tub. Soaking for just ten minutes causes chlorine to be absorbed through the pores in the skin and leaches - once again - potassium and sodium from the body, causing electrolyte depletion. Many people cannot swim in public pools because of this "allergy" they have to chlorine. In fact, chlorine is one of the most allergenic substances on the market. I advised that she change her hot tub to a "sea salt" pool and soak only twice a week instead of daily. We also talked about other methods of relaxation she could use.
Since Selwa was already practicing Yoga, one method we talked about was an exercise called
agni sara, or "Strengthening the fire." This exercise helps improve digestion, especially in cases of indigestion caused by allergies (or eating wrong foods). To perform the exercise, one must stand with their feet about three feet apart, toes pointed slightly outward. Then, bend the knees slightly and place the right hand the right thigh, and the left hand on the left thigh. The fingers should be pointing inward, towards the opposite leg. They should then bend their neck, so that they are looking down at their stomach and breathe out completely. They should then suck in and lift their abdomen without taking a breath and pump their stomach muscles, pushing their abdomen in and out without breathing. One should pump this way 10-15 times, then relax and stand up straight, breathing regularly. This exercise should be repeated three times a day.
Lastly, Selwa wondered why her husband was not experiencing the same severe problems. I explained to her that this was because she was a different physiological "type." She was the Phlegmatic type, which roughly corresponds to the Chinese "water type." The water type person is dominated by the kidney-adrenals, which means that this is the organ team most likely to show excess or deficiency. The kidney-adrenals are the system in the body that controls the reproductive system, allergic responses, stress management, and mood or energy levels. This is also the system that relies most heavily on the potassium/levels of the body. I explained to Selwa that although her new habits had been damaging to her body, she was more susceptible to the depletion because of her type. Furthermore, her husband did not soak every night in the tub, did not drink distilled water at work, and did not take as many vitamins as she did.
To add back in the nutrients she had lost from her system I created a nutrient rich herbal tea for Selwa. Many people do not realize that fresh herbal teas (not capsules and tinctures) are very rich in minerals and vitamins in their natural form. Every vitamin and mineral - known and unknown to man - can be found in herbal teas. Selwa's tea had four parts of alfalfa, which is very rich in potassium and sodium, one part cinnamon twig, two parts angelica root, one part ginger, one part cloves, two parts fennel seeds, two parts kelp or parsley and two parts oat straw. I instructed her to take all the herbs, mix them in the correct proportions and store them in a glass jar in a cool, dry, place. She was to make the tea by pouring one cup of boiling water over each teaspoon of herb mix, let the tea sit for 20 minutes before straining it. I advised that she drink three cups a day.
I also told her about some super-foods that are very nutrient dense such as: kelp, Irish moss, dulse, celery, and seaweed. I further recommended that she add some more foods that were high in sodium to her diet such as: carrots, okra, strawberries, apples, asparagus, beets, cucumbers, plums, radishes, Swiss chard and turnips as well as other dark, leafy greens. I explained that a lack of potassium can also cause milk and milk product allergies and that eating red meat and milk products interferes with one's uptake of potassium. I recommend that she limit her intake of milk and red meat and consume more foods with potassium. Food sources of potassium are: potatoes (the peelings mostly), oranges, tomatoes, bananas, dulse, kelp, soybeans, parsley, rice bran, apricots and dates. Juice sources of potassium are: carrots, dandelion leaves, beet tops, blueberries, cabbage, coconut, endive, lettuce, mint leaves, parsley, spinach, green peppers, pineapple (fresh only), Swiss chard and wild black cherry.
Selwa went home with her program and called me three days later. She just did not have the motivation to start, she told me. She knew what she was doing but she was so lethargic that she just could not "snap out of it" to start. She asked if I had any herbs to inspire her. I told her to stop by in a few days, but while she was waiting to add some more orange to her life. Sometimes a color change is a good catalyst for people to make changes in other areas of their life and Selwa needed something to motivate her. Orange is also a good color to strengthen the adrenals and kidney area. I told her to use the color in a candle or as decoration; eat from an orange plate or cup; wear orange clothing or anything else she liked.
She called back the next day to tell me that the bright orange she had surrounded herself with seemed to have some effect on her and that she had started her program. The next time I saw Selwa, she looked radiant. Her allergies were gone and she felt better and more energetic than she had in years. She had followed the program perfectly, taken her tea for six weeks and told me that she started to see results in only two weeks. She also told me that in the course of the program she discovered that she was very allergic to chlorine and she felt this was probably the main factor in her previous complaints. She stopped using chlorine in the hot tub and has not had a reoccurrence of her allergies.
Karima Burns is a naturopath and herbalist. She has published her own
newsletter about natural healing for four years and has studied many aspects of
natural healing from herbs to homeopathy to aromatherapy for the past 12 years.
She is an herbal consultant and teaches people about natural healing from her
home in Saudi Arabia. This is a journal of her experiences with her clients.
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