A Natural Herbal Remedy That’s So Versatile You Won’t Believe It!

I just have to share this great recipe with you!

And the greatest natural herbal remedies for a weaver, painter, a herbalist, hairstylist and the cook using the same herb for all. Isn’t that great?

This little seed is used to spin linen, make paint and linoleum, use for colds and coughs, make a styling gel for hair, make twine and rope, its used to make fine papers for banknote (money) and rolling papers.

It helps to lower cholesterol and blood sugar (diabetes), and lowering the risk of breast, prostate, and colon cancers, and reducing inflammation of arthritis and the inflammation that accompanies certain illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease and asthma. And…

You can use it to make cereal, breads and drink is as a tea to help with stomach problems. Now, how’s that for a fantastic natural herbal remedy?

This little seed is flax. Flax has been used since before the beginning of recorded history by the Swiss Lake Dwellers , who are the earliest Europeans whose remains still exist.

The history of flax goes back over 4000 years where it was used as the primary source of clothing. The Egyptians used flax linen to wrap their mummies and in Bartholomew’s Herbal, the medieval herbalist, describes how to make the linen from flax. Flax’s mention in the Bible tells us flax linen was the source of clothing during that time.

If that’s not all, flax’s history as a natural herbal remedies goes back even further than its history for clothing. It’s used as a tea for colds, coughs, poultice for cuts and sores and irritations of the urinary tract. I can testify that it works for bladder infections. I recently had one and used flax seed tea six times a day and the next day I felt better and the pain was gone. I can also testify to its laxative properties as well.

Too much and it will clean you out but I’ve been taking it once a day since then and haven’t had any problems. To make the tea: use 2 tablespoons flax seed to 1 cup of water. Put in pan and boil gently for 10 to 15 minutes. Drink with honey or sugar however, I found it tastes pretty good without either. Kind of like a nutty taste.

Also in my research I came across a Herbal (book of recipes) from the Victorian era where they used flax seed as a styling gel. So I gave that a try….

To make the styling gel—Use 2 tablespoons to 1 cup of water and simmer until half of the water is gone. Cool and put into a jar or bottle and refrigerate. It will spoil in two days if it’s not kept refrigerated.

After washing my hair I used the flax gel (its texture is like egg whites) and massaged it into my hair and styled it in a different way than I normal do. I wanted to see if it really worked. I let it dry and brushed it out and it held the style until I washed it the next day. It didn’t have to use any hair spray or anything to keep it the way I styled it. So it does works very well as a styling gel. One thing I did notice the next day was my hair looked and felt more oily than normal. Other than that, it works!

One more detail about this amazing little seed that’s so versatile then I’ll stop so you can try some of these things. I found a recipe for muffins that sounded good and made it up. Oh man, they are out of this world! Try this recipe and I don’t think you’ll ever make any other type of muffin again.

Flax Seed and Raisin Muffins
Preparation time: 25 minutes. Cooking time: 23 minutes (including 5 minutes to toast the seeds)

Ingredients:
1/3 cup flax seeds
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup Splenda brown sugar blend
3 Tbsp. canola oil
2 large eggs
1/2 cup golden raisin

Directions
1. Preheat the over to 375degrees F. Coat a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray. Spread the flax seeds on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for five minutes. Remove the flax seeds from the baking sheet, place in a food processor or grinder, and process until ground.
2. In a large bowl, combine the ground flax seed, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, brown sugar, oil, and eggs and beat well.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the buttermilk mixture. Stir until just combined. Fold in the raisins.
4. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared muffin cups and bake for 18 to 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.
5. Let the muffins stand for 5 minutes and then turn the muffins out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Oh, one more piece of information (there’s no stopping the things you can use flax for) if you don’t have any eggs for a recipe then make up some flax seed gel and use is as a substitute for the egg in any recipe. Use ¼ a cup for each egg. Be sure to add a little more baking power otherwise it’s a little “gummy”.

And the last fact about flax seed is the omega-3 essential fatty acids it contains. Since our bodies can’t produce omega oils, flax is the best source other than fish.

In a research study at the University of Toronto reported in the American Institute for Cancer Research newsletter (1998), postmenopausal women with breast cancer ate either a plain muffin or a muffin containing 25 grams of flaxseed oil every day for about five-and-a-half weeks. Of the 29 out of the 39 women who ate both muffins, researchers found decreases in the growth of their tumors.

So they are doing studies on flax seed and the apparent benefits for a host of medical conditions. Personally, I think they take too much “stuff” out of our food supply and replace it with sugars, gluten and other chemicals that aren’t good for us.

When using flax try to use the seeds and not the oil capsules. It only takes a few minutes to make any tea or gel you need to use. You can get flax seed at just about any grocery store or health food store.

Well, that’s it for this amazing little seed. What a terrific source for a natural herbal remedy. I don’t think I’ve covered half the “things” flax can do for us but I’ll keep researching and pass on any of my leanings, especial the recipes.

Enjoy!