Waiting For Their Response

After watching the Dr. Oz segment on the internet, I felt I had to contact both Dr. Oz, and Terri Trespicio. I am now waiting to see if they respond. As a clinical herbalist, it is scary to be watching uninformed people give out advice on national television. Especially advice that is wrong. I have had several clients contact me about the segment, and I have had to tell them that both Dr. Oz and Ms. Trespicio were wrong. Lemon balm oil is not for stress. Lemon balm tincture is. I can just imagine how many people out there that saw the show and are now ordering lemon balm oil and drinking it. Luckily, with my clients I can talk to them, but I can not reach the thousands ordering lemon balm oil from another company. It also scares me to think that someone would buy lemon balm essential oil, not knowing the difference and take that internally. Essential oils should never be taken internally. Doctors should not be giving out advice on herbal medicine, unless they know what they are talking about. I wonder if they realize, that they could be in for some very expensive law suits.

Is Dr. Oz For Real?

Dr. Oz had a segment on television called Dr Oz Middle Age Cures. During a brief segment, he mentions using lemon balm oil to reduce stress. What they were actually using on the show was lemon balm tincture, not lemon balm oil. Lemon Balm Oil is used topically for skin conditions and should not be taken internally. Lemon balm tincture is used for stress, but it is medicine, and you can’t start putting droppers full of it into your mouth willy nilly like they did on the show. Nor should you squirt dropper fulls into your glass of water. What are these people thinking? Herbs are medicine and Dr. Oz should treat them as such. It was totally irresponsible for him to start adding dropperfuls of lemon balm into a glass, and then putting more right into her mouth. A normal dosage of lemon balm tincture would be 1 dropperful in a glass of water or tea 3-4 times a day. Dr. Oz overdosed this woman on national television, and made a joke of it. Yes, lemon balm is used for stress and anxiety. Lemon balm is a sedative herb. All you need is lemon balm herb and a cup of hot water to drink it as a medicinal tea. Tinctures are made from alcohol, and they never even mentioned this. People who are sensitve to alcohol should not be taking tincures. Lemon balm can be drank as a tea, 3-4 times a day. You don’t want to mix it with other sedative herbs like valerian as Terri Trespicio stated. Valerian is nature’s Valium. It isn’t necessary to mix Valerian with other sedative herbs. When you start mixing herbs, you have to know what you are doing. Too many sedative herbs can harm you. An important aspect not mentioned on the show by Dr. Oz or Ms. Trespicio are side effects nor interaction with other drugs. Remember that herbal medicine is medicine. Just like prescription drugs, you shouldn’t mix them without consulting someone who understands interactions. For example, if you are taking medication for thyroid issues, you shouldn’t even touch lemon balm much less inject it. Know what you are doing before taking any medicine including herbs. You can read more about lemon balm herb here: Lemon Balm Herbal Information. Since doctors normally don't study herbal medicine, why are they doling out advice on national television. Wrong advice at that! So, who is Terri Trespicio, and why is she giving out that kind of advice? According to her bio, she does not have a background in herbal medicine. She has a degree in fine arts and creative writing but there is no mention of any training to discuss herbalism or treatments using herbs. We are concerned that people setting themselves up as experts throw out advice with no mention that individuals should do their homework before taking herbs as medicine. It is unprofessional to have such a light hearted approach to herbal medicine. It is totally irresponsible for Dr. Oz or Terry Trespicio to be doling out herbal advice in a playful manner as they did on this show.

Mother Nature...Give It Up

I awoke this morning to gray clouds. I couldn't believe it when I opened the curtain and peeked out with my sleepy eyes. It's snowing...again. I could have sworn the weather called for sunny skies today. I was hoping to get some more laundry done.

We've had such nice warm weather the past few days, I was starting to enjoy not having to wear a coat. Sixty degrees in the sun. I even saw fresh green grass growing. It was heaven.
I am not sure what Mother Nature is doing. There is only a couple days away. What's up with the snow? I'm pretty sure we have had enough of it for this winter.
Mother Nature, you need to give up the snow and let Spring take it's rightful place.

New Products

We have been busy all winter finishing up our new website, getting our new packaging on the shelves, and debuting our line of new baby products. It has been a whirlwind of a winter.

We still have two more new products coming soon. Herbal Eye Cream and Autumn's Baby Body Wash. They are both all ready, we just have to wait for packaging to arrive. Herbal Eye Cream is formulated for the sensitive eye area. This cream is loaded with herbal antioxidants and will help reduce lines, wrinkles and puffiness around the eye area.

Autumns' Baby Body Wash is a gentle herbal body wash for baby's and adults with sensitive skin. The base is castile soap, and includes extracts of calendula and oatstraw to help heal the skin.

We work hard to give you all the information you need to make the correct purchase for your herbal healing needs. If you ever have any questions, please feel free to contact us. We would be happy to help you.

Looking Forward to Sunshine

Lately, we have been very busy finishing up our new products, getting them on the website, and getting things ready for our new wholesale customers.
The days are a bit longer, and a bit warmer, but I still spend most of the days in the kitchen by the woodstove packaging and shipping our products. There is still two more products to debut before the planting season hits us.
There is still a couple more months before we will lose enough snow to be able to get into the gardens, but I look forward to those days in the sunshine. The warm sun on my back and the cool spring earth under my bare feet...it's a feeling that can't be beat. I wait 6 long months to be barefoot again. I never did really like shoes.