Rachel Shackleton's blog

When looking at the word “bitter” there are many uses in the English language – to be bitter about something, to have a bitter taste, or to refer to the weather – It was bitter on top of the mountain.  Humans are not exempt from this word “bitter” as it can also be used to describe an attitude or emotion of a particular type of person or a person’s feelings on a situation  – “he is very bitter about…. “.

Reported in the BBC news headlines this morning is the fact that antidepressant use, based on a doctor’s prescription is increasing dramatically in school children. The UK has seen the fastest rise in the prescribing of antidepressants and other mind-altering drugs to children, a new study of nine countries shows. In total, there were 950,000 prescriptions issued between April 2015 and March 2018.

German Chamomile (Chamomila recucita) - we all know this flower as Chamomile tea, drunk before going to bed to relax body and mind from infusing the flowers in boiled water.  Known to calm the spirit.  This herb flowers profusely at this time of year creating a yellow and white carpet.  Not only good for calming and relaxing, Chamomile is very effective in addressing gut issues and skin disorders.

Earlier this week, I received a call from a lady who was frantically trying to find a cure for her son’s hay fever (allergic rhinitis). His main symptoms were streaming eyes, sneezing, mucous, thick head and the inability to sleep well. Nothing from the chemist was touching it.  This call spurred me to share some ideas for treating hay fever naturally.

Most of us can relate to the Nettle as mostly an unpleasant experience when inadvertently coming in contact and receiving a tingling, itching sensation to the skin for hours to come. The more nettles that manage to sting you the longer it lasts and the more intensive the tingling.  The humble and prolific nettle is also very nutritious containing vitamins A, B, C, E, and K, as well as being packed with minerals including iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorous and selenium.  The high iron content makes it useful for treatment of anemia when mixed with molasses.