It’s Not Just the Hibiscus…

 Last weekend, when I was trying to find the source of my cough, I came up with hibiscus as the culprit. It was a large part of the problem, but not the only one.

Back about 8 weeks ago, I started regularly using a lip-smacking delicious seasoning called Anchor Original Chicken Chippy Salt. The stuff is freaking addict-ta-licious. I was putting it on almost everything except cereal.

Since my cough mostly (but not completely) went away when I stopped drinking hibiscus flower tea, I started to look at other things. I eliminated another med for one day and that wasn't the problem. The newest part of my diet was the Chippy Salt. As much as I hated to, I gave that up - just for one single day. And that was when my cough - itchy throat and all - dissipated. 

I do have a slight head cold, with some sneezing and chest congestion, but the whole itchy-throat situation that I couldn't relieve with anything - not honey, cough drops, juice, etc. - that was gone. Almost immediately.

By the way, to let you know how tasty that Chippy salt is - especially on burgers or fries - I had to think for a moment about how to just live with an itchy throat and irritating cough. I feel this dude here:

The seasoning is amazing. But its effect is so powerful that I had to scour and re-season my cast iron skillet. Just the residue of the salt (from where I'd seasoned my ground beef) was enough to cause a reaction.

It's just as well. There are a lot of ingredients in the Chippy Salt I was using:

Salt (70%), Wheat Flour, Flavour Enhancers (621, 635, 327), Wheat Starch, Onion Powder, Sugar, Maltodextrin (from corn and tapioca), Food Acids (330), Anticaking Agent (341), Flavours, Spice, Beef Fat, Bell Pepper Powder, Herbs, Soy Sauce Powder, Seasoning, Caramel Colour (150c).

I have since gone back to using Celtic sea salt as my primary seasoning for meat and fish. Sometimes, I use a blend of that with some Old Bay, onion flakes, garlic powder, black pepper, red pepper, and a bit of Liquid Smoke. 

When I get my teeth, I will be able to eat from a more varied menu, and I'm sure I will really miss the Chippy Salt then...

But I listen to my body and, as much as my taste buds love the Chippy Salt, the rest of my body disagrees. So majority rules.

As far as finding tea to replace hibiscus, one of my brothers and I spent hours searching ones that I can drink. I have to take into account that I have CKD and sarc so it wasn't easy. What I ended up with is the Butterfly Pea tea (which I love), my good old chamomile, and Hydrangea. I wanted to try astralagus (or milkvetch), but information about its effects are conflicting. Some sources claim it's good for kidneys, while others claim the opposite. I have a tiny bag, so I will finish that off in very tiny servings over the next several months. It's said to be good at lowering blood pressure, but possibly overworking the kidneys. I do wish that doctors knew more about herbal remedies... In the meantime, I have to be really careful.

Peace

--Free

DISCLAIMERS:

I am no medical, herbal or nutrition expertise at all. Do not use anything based on what I blog about. Talk to your own care team before you do or use anything you see online.

I am not/will not be compensated for anything linked to or mentioned in this post.

**REVIEW** Super Enriched Honey

My brother and I were having a discussion about this one the other night:

We both like honey, but he is allergic to bee stings. I know that he eats honey, but I wanted to ask if he knew about any of the other by-products (?) of honey and if he uses them. He told me that he still loves and eats honey (and even has a friend who is a hobbyist beekeeper!). He did not know about any of the stuff that is in this product: pollen, propolis, and royal jelly.

Ingredients

Each of those things is in this enriched honey, but I wanted to break down what they are and how I could use them so I did some online research:

pollen

• Bee Pollen (according to WebMD) is basically pollen that collects on the bodies of bees and might also include bee saliva. I was surprised to learn that honey, honeycomb, royal jelly, and bee venom don't contain bee pollen. It is known to be used in skin-softening products and dietary supplements. It's not safe for pregnant or nursing women and, of course, could cause severe problems for people with pollen allergies. (I'm going to mention something about that in a bit.) Other sources mention that bee pollen is rich in amino acids and protein. (Here are some more claimed benefits.) 

propolis

• Bee Propolis (and, again, I'm going to steal straight from the info source) "is a resinous material that bees use to seal small cracks and gaps in the hive (beeswax seals the larger gaps). It’s made when bees collect resin from trees and other sources and mix it with a little bit of honey." Wow. I recently saw something about propolis being used to "accelerate" hair growth.

royal jelly

• Royal Jelly, according to WebMD, "is a milky secretion produced by worker honey bees." The "royalty" comes from the fact that it's used for the queen bee.

I find all that very interesting. One thing that alarms me a little is that I hear so many people talking about treating their pollen allergies with these bee products. I'm all about going natural and earth-central for healing and sustenance, but I also believe in caution and common sense. 

My brother is going to be checking this blog and doing some of his own research, but I have no known allergies, so...

Since I do care lots about my health, I budget out each month to purchase things that might be good for me. This enriched honey was one such purchase, but I almost got this one too:

The reason I decided not to get that one is because I can manage with the enriched honey for now. Maybe I will try that extract later. This is a comparison of nutrition labels:

propolis
extract

enriched
honey

Taste

Of course, nothing good for you will work if you can't stand using it. Good thing that I like the taste of this. 

mix of smooth and gritty

It's sweet, but not sugary-sweet. I'd say it's a nutty-flavored sweetness. The texture is a bit rough and gritty-like at first contact. Not bad, just not smooth like plain honey normally is. 

In general, I try to take in at least 1 tsp, three times a day. I'll generally do this just before I drink a lot of water.

Effects

Honestly, I thought that it would be a week or so before I would feel any of the energy I've heard other people talk about. That energy came on the first time I tried it. Maybe because I was a little bit tired when I took it? I probably wouldn't have noticed the added energy, but I was tired and dragging. I took about a teaspoon and a half, then drank some water. I'm not sure exactly how long it was - maybe half an hour - before I noticed that I was back up to speed. Actually, regular honey will give me a little boost, but this was a bit more intense. A nice surprise. 

I'm only on Day 3 with this, so I'll have to come back and update on whether or not the longer term effects are different. 

Because I have used honey on my skin (as a rinse-off mask) and hair (to heal damage), I want to try this out that way. I'm still debating with myself on that. The jar cost me about $11 at the local store. I'm not sure how much of this it would take to treat my face and neck. If I do try this out as a topical beauty treatment, I will sure post about it! LOL

I think I've hit my limit for honey products. I've tried it all at this point. Well, I haven't tried the Manuka honey and probably won't be able to afford to for a while, so... Maybe I will check to see if I can find the Manuka sold in tiny quantities. Oh well.

Peace

-Free

Disclaimer: I am not, of course, a medical professional of any sort. You should communicate with your healthcare providers and practice common sense and safety when using natural products.