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The Complete Home Guide ltiofeHesrtbasg, eNsatural Healing, and Nutrition
142
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Make up a tea that is especially good for premenstrual and menstrual
symptoms, containing dandelion (for liver health and water balance)
along with red raspberry and nettles, both of which are rich in iron
and calcium.
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•
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General hormone balancers include blessed thistle leaf and flower,
chaste tree berry, sarsaparilla root, and red raspberry leaf.
Liver health is important; therefore consider liver cleansing and sup-
portive herbs.
Bowel health is important (especially if you are generally consti-
pated). Therefore bowel herbs and colon cleansing may be neces-
sary — refer to “The Colon (Bowel) or Large Intestine” in chapter 9
and “A Three-Stage Herbal Colon Cleanse” in chapter 6.
•
For menstrual cramps, use equal parts of cramp bark and black co-
hosh. Also ensure that you have sufficient calcium and magnesium
intake.
Infertility
The current infertility figures for both men and women are very
distressing. Findings show that 25 percent of infertility cases now relate
to men, compared to 10 percent a few years ago. Much blame is laid on
chemical pollution, including the widespread use of organophosphate
pesticides, along with dioxins in meat and dairy products and PCBs
(
polychlorinated biphenyls). Nevertheless, good food and a few herbs can
go a long way to redressing the problem.
For more detailed ideas on how to treat infertility, see the book list at
the end of this chapter. Some hormone tests are helpful for both sexes,
though they may not be able to pinpoint the exact problem in men. Be
warned, however, of possible side effects of some hormonal treatments.
Patients of mine have told of cysts and fibroids developing at the same
time that they were taking drugs used to stimulate egg production. The
Lancet has published studies of ovarian cell tumors occurring in women
undergoing fertility treatment. The scientific director of an infertility
clinic at Nottingham University estimates that one cycle of fertility drugs
may be the equivalent of up to two years’ natural egg production.
Men should take male hormonal tonics like saw palmetto berries,
nettle root, damiana leaf, and squaw vine leaf. Adaptogenic herbs like
Siberian ginseng root will feed the adrenal glands, which are the masters
of all hormones. Women should use female hormone balancers like chaste
tree berry, which helps by increasing luteinizing hormone levels and
prolactin secretion and decreasing follicle-stimulating hormone secretion,
as well as squaw vine leaf (and other aerial parts) and black cohosh root.
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