232 The Complete Home Guide to Herbs, Natural Healing, and Nutrition
- Eat sensibly and cut out tea, coffee, salt, alcohol, sugar, chocolate, fats,
and cigarettes. - Avoid hot cooked spices except for cayenne capsules, and take large
amounts of garlic with cool herbs like thyme, chives, marjoram,
coriander, fennel, and cumin. - Search out potassium-rich foods, such as bananas, dried fruit, nectar-
ines, melons, potatoes (with skins), broccoli, pumpkins, and potas-
sium broth (see chapter 5).
f Good oils to take internally are those rich in omega-3 and omega-6
fatty acids. These can be found in the form of fl axseed oil capsules,
GLA capsules, and olive oil.
f Good basic herbs to support, buffer, elasticize, dilate, and clear block-
ages in the veins and arteries are ginkgo leaf, lime tree (Tilia) fl ower,
and hawthorn fl ower, leaf, and berry.
f If your high blood pressure is known to be emotionally based, then
learn to relax and breathe. Consider valerian root in the short term,
and oat straw and skullcap leaf in the long term, in order to feed the
nervous system.
f If the body is physically tense, use three parts cramp bark accompa-
nied by one part lobelia leaf.
~ Exercise and hydrotherapy are vital for increasing circulation.
hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
Low blood sugar is currently a very prevalent problem, especially among
women, and is often at its worst when a woman is premenstrual. Men can
also suffer, but they are in a minority. Sugar cravings can take the form of
outright sugar bingeing with the consumption of unusual amounts of
chocolate, or more discreet searches for dried fruit around the kitchen.
Like diabetes, hypoglycemia is an imbalance of blood sugar levels, which
often stems from imbalanced glycogen levels in the liver. To treat this
problem, the liver and the pancreas will both need balancing and
fortifying. It shows as a defi ciency of sugar in the blood owing to
overproduction of the hormone insulin in an attempt to provide much-
needed supplies of energy. Excess insulin causes too much sugar to be
driven into the cells, resulting in a sudden blood sugar drop. The brain is
particularly affected; normal thinking will become diffi cult, as will talking,
driving, or making sense. Never leave low blood sugar untreated, because
when brain function is inhibited and therefore poor, the nervous system
will deplete. The need to stop and sleep can be overpowering, should
chocolate, coffee, cigarettes, or alcohol not be available to prop the
diseases 232