Last week I discussed the use and benefits of gemmotherapy in addressing acute symptoms. In my practice I nearly always give gemmotherapy as the first protocol for acute symptoms and only when it is clear that further support is needed for healing do I add the correctly matched homeopathic remedy.

So why gemmotherapy first?

An acute gemmo protocol cleans and fortifies the organs expressing symptoms as well as the immune system organs. This combination provides exactly what the body needs in the early stages of illness. If, however, the individual being treated has a weak vitality (whether from lifestyle and eating habits, a period of intense stress, childbirth, post surgery, inherited traits or chronic disease) then a well matched homeopathic remedy will be needed to complete the healing process.

What does homeopathy do differently?

The action of homeopathy occurs in the vital force of an individual. The homeopathic remedy itself can not directly heal a condition, BUT the correct match of remedy will initiate the natural healing process of the body. In an acute virus this requires for the most part only one dose and the individual should experience a 50% improvement in energy and mental clarity within 24 hours, physical symptoms improving over the following days. The improvement process follows one of the original laws of healing observed by Constantine Hering in the 1800’s, basically that healing occurs from the inside out. So with that in mind you will notice that mental and emotional improvement always comes ahead of physical improvements and is a great sign the remedy is working.

When homeopathy is used to treat chronic conditions it is addressing the constitution of a person and the healing process will unfold over months and sometimes years. The process for this constitutional treatment is more involved as is the course of healing.

How to know you need a remedy in addition to your acute gemmotherapy protocol?

Whether you are treating yourself with an acute gemmo protocol or are taking one under the supervision of your health care practitioner, you will want to pay close attention to the return or the decline in your energy. Sometimes it seems your energy and your symptoms are improving over the first 24-48 hours and then suddenly you become exhausted again. This is a clear indication your body needs further support. Pushing yourself at this point will only drain your already weak vitality, put undue stress on your adrenals and kidneys, and lead to weeks of illness rather than days.

There is much more to say about both homeopathy and gemmotherapy so check back next week and I will help bring some clarity to how they compare with naturopathic and allopathic treatments for acute conditions.

“…Imagine what the world would be like if we could come to see our likes and dislikes as merely likes and dislikes, and what we take to be intrinsically true as just our personal viewpoint.”  

—Pema Chodron

Consider: how we can get in our way when it comes to good health. We become stuck within our own preferences that are based on one viewpoint, ours. When we begin loosening our grip on our likes and dislikes and accept this one viewpoint is like looking at the world through a keyhole we may be able accept that there are other ways to heal.

What viewpoint might you hold tightly, is it your dislike to move or your strong like of a certain food you cannot part with? Use this mindful pause and the week ahead to play with the idea that there are a multitude of viewpoints on that one subject and you can grasp yours with all your might or create space enough to bring others into your sight.

Do: Start each morning this week considering that view and using ten cleansing breaths to create some space around it. Commit to doing this exercise with curiosity and just see what develops within.

My plan today was to be posting a series of my favorite salad dressings that I make in batches but look at this weather! While I hope you are eating plenty of salad it’s still clearly soup season and thankfully Jessica Nadel, author of Greens 24/7, offers up this great way to get your daily greens. Fitting them into you or your family’s daily diet can require some imagination and wonderful recipes help.

I gave this one a test drive over the weekend and it’s a winner. Here are the ingredients I subbed in: coconut oil, leeks over the shallots, basil, parsley and oregano, romanesco rather than broccoli florets and dino kale instead of collards and red pepper flakes. And with a growing 13 year old in my home I tripled this recipe and still there were no leftovers!

The dish is pack with alkalizing veggies to balance your pH and encourage lymphatic drainage and white beans offer a healthy serving of plant based protein.

White Bean and Three Green Soup, Greens 24/7

• 1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil
• 2 shallots, diced
• 19-oz (540-mL) can white beans (such as kidney or cannellini), drained, rinsed
• 3 cups (750 mL) vegetable broth or water
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp (5 mL) chopped fresh herbs (such as rosemary, thyme, oregano)
• 2 large collard green leaves, chopped
• 1 cup (250 mL) chopped or baby spinach
• 1 cup (250 mL) chopped broccoli florets
• Sea salt + freshly ground black pepper

In a large pot over medium-high, heat oil. Add shallots. Cook, stirring, 3 minutes to soften. Add beans, broth or water, nutritional yeast and herbs. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer 7 minutes.

Remove pot from heat. Using immersion blender (or in a blender in batches), purée until smooth (or mostly smooth). Enjoy!

If you need stitches or a bone set, I’ll have to admit I don’t have a Gemmotherapy protocol to help, BUT if you have an attack of seasonal allergies, a stomach bug, a headache, a staph infection or similar malady, then Gemmotherapy provides the cure you need and more.

Why more? Over the counter medications and herbal supplements for acute symptoms may offer symptomatic relief, but they don’t even come close to what Gemmotherapy can provide the body during an acute episode. While each Gemmotherapy remedy provides organ specific support, each also cleans AND feeds that organ’s cells and tissues. So when you are taking an acute Gemmotherapy protocol you are not only helping your body for the moment, but also strengthening it for the future. That is why it is important to continue the acute protocol until all symptoms are gone and in some cases even longer to help with recuperation. Now that is just smart medicine – and not possible with any allopathic or other plant based medicines at this time.

So what does this look like practically? Let’s take a case of an acute virus with vomiting. To settle the digestive tract the Gemmotherapy best applied would be Common Fig (Ficus carica) because of its ability to normalize gastric secretions, heal mucus membranes, and calm spasmodic conditions. While normally Gemmo extracts are diluted in a glass of water this is especially problematic with a vomiting child or adult, so I recommend 12 drops in a teaspoon with a few drops of water every 15 minutes. In most cases the action is immediate and by the second dose the vomiting has subsided. Keeping up with the dosing of Fig every few hours will extend the benefit by utilizing the unique Gemmotherapeutic actions of cleaning and feeding the affected organ tissues, in this case the digestive tract.

Should a fever follow this episode, the Gemmo to utilize would be Black Currant (Ribes nigrum). As a powerful immune system stimulator, Black Currant’s effect on the adrenal gland and anti-inflammatory properties make it ideal for supporting the body in a feverish state. While fever is part of the body’s natural healing process and should not be suppressed, the use of Black Currant will help maintain the fever in a safe range, reduce the aches and pains associated with fever, and feed the adrenal glands which produce the hormone that regulate immune system vital to fight infection.

Black Currant should be dosed every fifteen minutes in the case of an escalating fever (5 drops in 4 ounces of water for children under 2 years, 12 drops for those 2-8 years, 25 drops for all others)

Once reduced to 102 degrees the dosing can be reduced to every 1-2 hours while awake until the fever has subsided.

If you are interested in more specific acute care protocols please consider my newly released book, Gemmotherapy for Everyone: An Introduction to Acute Care. Written for both home users of natural therapies and as a desktop companion for practitioners, this beautifully illustrated guide will be your go-to resource for 36 acute symptoms. Additionally, you will gain a glimpse into what Gemmotherapy offers those with chronic symptoms as well as learn a bit of history.

While Gemmotherapy alone can take on most acute situations, I often add a Homeopathic remedy to the protocol. Why is that needed? Gemmotherapy is a master at cleaning and feeding organ cells and tissues, but it is Homeopathy that supports the vital force of an individual. When the vital force is depleted, then Gemmotherapy is just not enough on it’s own. Next week I’ll share more on why Homeopathy and Gemmotherapy are wonderful complementary medicines and the differences between the two.

 
“The work of meditative thinking is a collaboration between these two natures—the seer that remembers and the seen that always forgets. As in rowing, if you pull more on one oar than the other, you go round in circles, and, as in rowing, all I can see is what I have passed as I press forward toward a point that is hidden behind me.” 

— Carl Lehmann-Haupt, “The Path of Writing”

Consider: What a beautiful analogy a rower can be for our lives. Finding balance in your movements to keep moving forward and avoiding moving in circles. Might there be an area of your life that you feel that you are going round in circles?  While it may feel safe there is no possibility for freedom until you can break through the fear of moving toward a point that cannot be seen .

Do: Close your eyes and find your breath, following your natural pattern bringing to mind a situation or relationship that feels stuck. What is needed to allow you to press into what you cannot see? Stay with your breath now and continue to move deeper into that collaborative space, between the known and the unknown.

We are in that changeable weather season that calls out for having some fresh comfort food recipes on hand. One minute it’s glorious spring-like and then arrives a day or two of dreary cold (Austin-cold, mind you). Nothing beats the gray wet weather in my house like a steaming bowl of soup. Having a bag full of fresh baby spinach from my Friday Boggy Creek shopping trip and red lentils always in my pantry this was an easy decision. Red lentil Soup with Spinach = No regrets. Try it out for yourself.

Gemmotherapy is a cleansing protocol for the body that utilizes extracts from individual trees and shrubs. Because the extracts are made each spring from the first buds and shoots of the season, this botanical medicine has a potency and healing capability that far exceeds any current phytotherapy. The meristems within each bud or shoot contain tremendous regenerative properties much like human stem cells.

The power of Gemmotherapy lies in the fact that it’s the only medicine which simultaneously nourishes and cleans cells. Each Gemmotherapy extract is based on a single tree or shrub and addresses individual organ systems. Some extracts are polychrests and have multiple actions while others have very specific uses.

As the youngest researched and practiced plant-based medicine, the full potential is still emerging. I am fortunate as a practitioner to benefit from the results of international laboratory, university level and clinical research that is being conducted daily.

What we know now is this gentle yet powerful medicine can be used on newborns to geriatric patients. It provides immediate support for acute illness and infections, leaving the affected organs clean and fortified at the end of treatment.

Our knowledge of treating chronic conditions with Gemmotherapy is quickly expanding as a clear linear process takes shape.

We have found that the body heals best from chronic conditions when specific Gemmotherapy protocols are applied in a sequential order to address each of the following stages:

1. Opening elimination

2. Resolving acidosis and inflammation

3. Restoring and harmonizing normal organ function

Particular Gemmotherapy extracts are best applied at different stages in the process. By watching for very specific signs the body produces the practitioner can adjust the protocols gradually, preventing symptom aggravations and/or setbacks and creating at the end a lasting cure of chronic conditions.

The most effective and efficient results can only occur when the Gemmotherapy protocols are complemented by a diet that is whole food and plant based and is combined with a well matched Homeopathic remedy.

Check back next Friday to learn more about acute care protocols using Gemmotherapy.

“The chains of desire pull us into a life of frustration and suffering, while renunciation cuts those chains. Renunciation, though often understood to mean ‘giving up,’ is, more accurately, the willingness to experience things as they are, not as we want them to be. Here you discover true freedom, the deep, quiet joy that has always been present in you.” 

— Ken McLeod
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want”

Consider: The desires you have now that may be causing you to suffer. What might you be longing for that is keeping you from the experiences of the moment? There is a freedom that can only be achieved by loosening our grip a bit on what we yearn for and relaxing into the present time.

Do: Take a quiet moment and reflect on your deepest desire. Without bidding it farewell, simply move your attention to this moment. With each breath come closer to what you are experiencing right here and now. Stay with your breath, taking in this moment with all of your senses, until you can feel the joy in being that is always within.

If you are done with baby greens and your salad plate needs something more to pique your interest, this is especially for you. Lucky for me, I happened upon this recipe while I was in Germany where cabbage is the national veggie. Jess Nadel’s Shredded Rainbow Salad was a hit with the family and it kept well for a second round at lunch which made everyone happy. If you enjoy this you may also want to check out Jess’ recent book, Greens 24/7.

“The peace that we’re looking for is not peace that crumbles as soon as there is difficulty or chaos. Peace isn’t an experience free of challenges, free of rough and smooth, it’s an experience that’s expansive enough to include all that arises without feeling threatened.” 

— Pema Chödrön, Practicing Peace

Consider: How when rushed and pressed for time we only allow a teeny-tiny space for change of plan. It is exactly in this narrow space that we feel threatened. What if you made that space just a bit wider?

Do: Today when the day you thought you were going to have disintegrates before you have stepped out the door, take a deep breath, again and once again. Do this until you can touch the space inside of yourself that is expansive and big enough to take on the bumps and disappointments that make up real life. Then go ahead and head out that door.

It may not be spring quite yet but you will sure feel it’s approach with this citrus-y salad from foodiecrush. Chock full of spring flavors, this blend of crunchy fennel, creamy avocados and juicy sliced citrus makes a great pack along lunch or the perfect first course. Look for locally grown fennel available now at Wheatsville, Boggy Creek Farms or your neighborhood farmer’s market.