Occasionally medical science catches up with herbal remedies, which is the case in today's article (be sure to notice the researcher's shock when the herb actually worked, though!).  You will see that, once again, herbs have been shown to be safe and effective.

We also have some updated news and local classes (including an herb walk) and the Centennial Celebration.

Earlier this week a story broke from the University of Rochester Medical Center that people with cancer can reduce post-chemotherapy nausea by 40 percent by using ginger supplements before undergoing treatment.  This was an unexpected find for the researchers: "We were slightly beside ourselves to see how much it helped" said study leader Julie Ryan.

The study involved 644 cancer patients, and the ginger worked best when taken three days before chemotherapy started (to read the entire study visit http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/05/14/ginger.quells.cancer.patients.nausea.chemotherapy).

While the researchers were surprised at the finding, it is no surprise to herbalists, who have used ginger for nausea, stomach pain, cramps, indigestion and more for hundreds of years.

Dr. Christopher tells a story about when a lady called from Salt Lake to his home in Cottonwood at three o'clock in the morning.  He had just finished his night calls and had barely retired to bed; the woman insisted that he come help her daughter, who was screaming in the background with terrible stomach pain.  He said, "Take some Ginger and baking soda.  The pain will stop.  You will be able to go back to bed."  But the lady insisted that he come.

Dr. Christopher pulled on his clothes and wearily set out for the lady's house.  The daughter's pain had become so acute that the mother finally decided to follow Dr. Christopher's counsel.  When he arrived the daughter herself opened the door, all smiles.  She had no pain.

Dr. Christopher gave the following recipe for making ginger tea: Grate one ounce of the fresh root in a pint of boiling water.  Add honey and lemon if desired to make a nice drink.  This tea is also helpful if you have a cold or the flu.

If you don't have time to make the tea he reported that two capsules every few hours will help relieve nausea.

This recipe was given by Dr. Christopher as a tasty recipe that the whole family will enjoy and is especially helpful for morning sickness or relief of nausea in general.

Ingredients:

·         2 gallons distilled water

·         1 Tablespoon ground Ginger

·         2 cups honey

·         Juice of 4 lemons

·         ¼ teaspoon dry baking yeast

Directions: