Sometimes we have to share. When you plan to share, that’s okay. It’s a little tougher to handle sharing when you aren’t expecting to, though. For instance, when I buy an ice cream cone I’m not thinking I’ll have to share it. It’s pretty great to have a whole ice cream cone all for yourself, it’s less great if you have to share it. The same thing is true for some garden goodies. I know the birds will share my raspberries. I expect it so I let the raspberries get a little bushier in order to have enough for the humans and the birds.
A different case is cabbage. One year I planted cabbage (my first and only attempt to date), which grew into beautiful gorgeous light green cabbage heads. When I picked them and cut into them they had already been claimed by some sort of cabbage worm. Such a drag, I was so excited to harvest my very own cabbage and NOT excited to share.
cabbage that the worms got to before I did
Writing about it reminds me of a lady I know that planted a beautiful set of raised beds in her backyard one year. She had 6 tall beds and many beautiful ornamental gardens all around her home. They were so impressive and beautifully tended that she opened them for a garden tour one year. On the night before the tour a family of groundhogs found her vegetable garden and absolutely razed every single plant in her boxes down to their nubbins. Completely down to the dirt.
When we garden tourists arrived to her home the next day we were all confused – why did she have all of those empty boxes in her backyard? Oh, well, we said. The rest of the gardens were glorious! …
Well, yeah. Groundhogs like tomatoes, too, it turns out.
I am not sure whether we have groundhogs here… I’ll find out this year I’m sure. In the meantime, though, I’ll be planning my tomato patch with basil to repel flies and hornworms. Rosemary with carrots and green beans to repel root flies and bean beetles, and thyme near my peppers to repel spider mites and white flies… in years past I’ve put some herbs into the vegetable garden but mostly I had an herb garden near the kitchen and veggies out back on a bigger site. I’m changing that now. The kitchen garden will have herbs, flowers and vegetables mixed in together.
yellow pear tomatoes, green beans and peppers from the garden
Tomatoes with basil and marigolds, broccoli with beets and chamomile, radishes with spinach, lettuce, calendula, and beans, cauliflower with garlic, onions and chives … I’m getting hungry just thinking about it!
Over the years it seems like I’ve heard about cholesterol continually. My first husband was always avoiding eggs and butter because cholesterol ran in his family, and my current husband Jon is locked in mortal battle with the matter of whether to take statins, which give him muscle weakness.
Historically I’ve avoided medical literature because … well, it’s pretty dry. Recently, though, I sat down and read about cholesterol because I want to help Jon deal with it. I’m an herbalist and feel confident that if I help him modify his diet and supplement with supportive herbs and relevant lifestyle changes we can ward off his doctor’s requests that he take statins. The proof will be in the pudding of his next cholesterol screening, but in the meantime we’re on this train.
So, here’s what I learned about cholesterol, which turns out to have an actual purpose in our bodies:
“Stress, toxins, alcohol, and many other substances create free radicals in the body by catabolizing (breaking down) oxygen molecules into reactive oxygen species, which are single atoms of oxygen that have extra “unpaired” electrons. These “excited” electrons cleave onto other electrons in body tissues and walls of arteries, creating micro-wounds. This is the same process that causes metal to rust – aka oxidation…
… In order to repair damaged tissue, hormones signal the liver to release cholesterol, which is a life-saving endogenous antioxidant. Cholesterol repairs the wound. But when this type of oxidation is continual, day in and day out, the excessive wounding creates an immune response, which generates more tissue irritability and more cholesterol, and that builds up into plaque…
Paradoxically, “… the discovery of cholesterol plaque build up in arteries led to a misconception that high cholesterol is a cause of heart disease. In fact, one cause of heart disease is the inflammation that triggers the release of cholesterol…” (Maier, from Energetic Herbalism)
So, cholesterol serves a function in the body – it tries to protect the heart. And, heat and inflammation are healed by cholesterol. We are treating elevated cholesterol levels with statins, but we aren’t treating heat and inflammation with them. So we’re treating a symptom, not the cause of the problem.
… And statins can cause liver damage and the breakdown of muscle tissue. Maier says it is important to check liver function every 3-6 months when taking statins. I’ll ask if liver function tests have come up during Jon’s odyssey with statins – he hasn’t mentioned it.
So what are the recommendations for lowering cholesterol production/reduction of inflammation and heat of oxidation?
Lower Sugar Intake – sugar causes cell to make its own cholesterol, which isn’t taken up and contributes to ldl levels. (it’s such a bummer about sugar. it’s so tasty)
Consume antioxidants: red, blue, and purple berries, including aronia berries, blueberries, pomegranates, elderberries, and dark green vegetables
Sedative sour herbs: sumac (Rhus spp) and hibiscus help clear inflammation, also Roselle (H. Sabdariffa) has antioxidant effects, esp related to cholesterol.
1 clove of garlic daily
25 g of oatbran on breakfast cereal
1-2 tsp of oolong (especially Pu erh tea/day (from Ody, Complete Medicinal Herbal)
To treat high ldl cholesterol levels: Consume red yeast rice extract and CoQ10. Standardized extract, 600 mg., 2-4 times daily or we use Red Yeast Rice powder following package dosage instructions.
The traditional herb blend Guggul treats cholesterol in veins. Recommended: 25 mg 3x/day for 12-24 weeks
Some other interesting things to know aboutcholesterol and how it functions in your body:
Production of sex hormones, adrenal hormones including cortisol, corticosterone, and aldosterone
Production of bile
Necessary for production of vitamin D in the body
Important for the metabolism of fat-soluble vitamins
Insulating material for nerve fibers
Regulation of serotonin
Maintenance of cell membrane permeability
Essential role in preservation of memory
And about Red yeast rice extract - it is made from fermentation of rice with Monascus purpureus yeast. This is the substance statin drugs have been produced from and is as effective as statins but takes longer (~6 months) to have an effect on cholesterol levels and must be taken with CoQ10. CoQ10 is a hormone (called ubiquonone) which is found in every cell of the body and is stored in the mitochondria (organelles that power our cells). It also acts as an antioxidant. Statins cause so much damage because they severely diminish natural production of CoQ10. Red yeast rice does, too, but at a much lower rate.
It’s important to know that red yeast rices is a symptomatic treatment in that is lowers cholesterol levels but is does not treat inflammation, which is the cause of the elevated cholesterol production. (above from Maier, Energetic Herbalism)
Backyard Botanics 