This super-berry can be found wild in the Western part of North America. It cannot be found in the supermarket yet that I know of.  It They are a bit too soft when ripe, too difficult to pick and too mealy/seedy to be commercially viable. I share salal with you because it has not been cultivated for its sweetness, convenience of picking, pleasing appearance, texture or hardiness. It has been growing pretty much the same way, wild in the forests as it has been for thousands of years and making up an important part of the diet of people who walked these forests.  If you are harvesting berries, please learn to do so responsibly and ensure there will be more there next year than there are this one.

You may not have Salal growing in your area but you will no doubt have some local berries that were growing wild in your area that have since been cultivated, sold as a superfood or ignored while they continued growing as they always have because they weren’t quite yummy enough or productive enough to make the supermarket. This is the case with Salal.

This berry grows all over the forests here of the West coast of the USA and Canada. It is part of the Heath family, the Ericaceae. The fruits are sometimes a bit bland and sometimes quite sweet it depends on the season, sun, temperature, soil or other growing conditions. The fruits are quite easy to pick so i’m not sure why it never caught on as a commercial berry, must just not be sweet enough.  I like salal the way it is.

What makes a food a “superfood”?  This word gets thrown around lately a lot.  Here are some examples of berries around the world that have been considered “superfoods” or “superberries”. Goji, Camu Camu, Aronia, Amla, Acai, Maqui, Acerola Cherry… What do these berries have in common? They have been largely wild until they recently received super food status. The plants have not been very changed yet by agriculture and selective breeding. The fruits are really not that sweet.

I compare the blueberries sold in the store to the ones I find in the wild here. The wild ones are smaller, darker and usually tarter.  It seems the varieties closest to the wild berries have the most anthocyanin, the flavonoid antioxidant that we rave about in blue foods like blue corn, blueberries and other popular health foods.

The sugar content in commercial berries is higher and the anthocyanin content lower. What makes the purple/dark blue colour is when the sugars in these berries are combined with anthocyanin molecules. When they have more sugar and less anthocyanin, they’re less blue. This is why I like those wild Salal and Aronia type berries because their colours are so dark and I can “see” that nutrient with my bare eyes.

There are other nutrients that we cannot “see” as easily. These include vitamin C which can be thousands of times more abundant in some wild foods per gram for example than it is in oranges. I know this sounds like an exaggeration and it is funny to write because it sounds sensationalist but it is true. Vitamin C content and all the other antioxidant contents are so dependent on the quality of the soil, the ripeness of the fruit and the storage of the food after it is picked that most of the oranges we find in the stores are quite low in this vital nutrient. As humans (and guinnea pigs have this problem too) we are the only animals that cannot synthesize vitamin C in and need to consume it every day in reasonable quantities. Deficiencies in C can cause bone, immune and anemia related problems in our bodies. It can be wonderful to include some superfoods like Camu Camu or Acerola Cherries but also to find some berries that are local to you that may not yet have super-star status that are most likely higher in most nutrients, not just vitamin C.

Salal is available as a garden plant in North America and in the UK, often as a shrub or garden cover. You may be able to find it even in city parks or in your own garden.

Please consider the unsung berries in your local area as superfoods and maybe look for some in the wild or in your garden.

Black Currants!

In this article you will learn three unsung benefits of black currants.

Black currants taken over 30 days have been found to decrease an important risk factor for colon cancer by modulating the bacteria in the large intestine. There is an enzyme produced by some opportunistic bacteria called Beta Glucuronidase. Beta Glucoronidase breaks down complex carbohydrates which of course is what all bacteria want to eat in the end.  This enzyme has been shown to have links to colon cancer and presence of this enzyme has been shown to increase the risk of colon cancer.  Beta glucoronidase activity can be 1.5 to 12 times higher in colon cancer bacteria than in “healthy” colonic bacteria.

What does this mean? There are opportunistic bacteria that can become overgrown for reasons of diet and exposure. These bacteria produce something that has been causally linked to colon cancer. Eating blackcurrant extract over 30 days was shown to increase the numbers of lactobacillus and bifidobacteria in the large intestine and decrease the opportunistic bacteria. This lowered the levels of Beta Glucuronidase and over time could reduce the risk of developing colon cancer.

The implications of this are more than the reduction of risk factors for certain types of cancers though. Having the right amount of beneficial bacteria in the large intestine can also enable intestinal repair, improve fatty acid balance and nutrient absorption among many other things.

Another constituent of black currants, Cassis Polysaccharides have been found to reduce the symptoms of allergies! This is very exciting and also slightly confusing because the wild black currants have actually been shown to induce allergies in some.  Plants are weird.  However if black currants are not something you are sensitive to and if you wash off the pollen from grasses and trees pollinating in the summer, you could have a potent allergy ally in currants.

This antihistamine effect was shown in several studies

Anthocyanin, an antioxidant (a flavonoid) derived from black currants was used in a 12 week double-blind study in which it was found to increase insulin sensitivity and improve markers of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. This is good news, a fruit that can help to increase insulin sensitivity and decrease insulin resistance! You may recall that blueberries have similar effects and I hope you have the chance to enjoy both together.

See this week’s recipe HERE for a fermented syrup that you can make out of any berry including some black currants. With their ability to selectively increase bifidobacteria in the human digestive tract and reduce insulin resistance it will be a winner.

Cayenne Peppers can be quite spicy and can even be downright painful so it stands to reason that they would be antibacterial and also stimulating for digestion. They have been traditionally used in Eastern and Western medicine for what is known as “cold” digestion… but cayenne has three very different properties beyond this that we will cover here.

One of the first interesting and very useful things to know about cayenne is that it is used for stopping bleeding both topically and by taking it internally for wounds on the skin, including our digestive skin. Interestingly while cayenne is a circulatory stimulant it can also equalize blood pressure either way and it is thought this is how it is able to slow the flow of blood to a wound and help the blood to naturally clot there.

Many say that cayenne is a good blood coagulant and although this seems to work topically I haven’t yet seen enough evidence to make me 100% certain that this is the way it is working internally. Also it is hard to say whether it is simply sprinkling a powdery substance on the wound that is helping it in just the same way as any powdery substance would… Nonetheless so many people that I deeply trust have used cayenne in this way I would not hesitate to use it on myself should I ever find myself accident prone and in a bind. Most suggest using 1/2-1 tsp in a half cup of hot water (warning: You WILL feel this). One or two situations come to mind where this may not be the best idea such as ulcerative bowel disease and stomach or duodenal ulcers.  Ironically cayenne taken internally has been shown to improve both.

A second use for cayenne is as a delivery service for other herbs that you may be taking. you may have heard of black pepper helping turmeric to be more easily absorbed in the body. The study that I remember found curcumin was absorbed 2000 times better with the addition of black pepper… but here’s the rub: Black pepper increases the permeability of several parts of our bodies including the digestive tract and this is how it delivers herbs more effectively to the body. As long as there are no toxins, bacterial infections or actual leaky gut going on this is a great idea… but if you are dealing with candida or a bacterial imbalance you will be potentially releasing other unwanted items into your blood stream along with the herbs and constituents you were hoping for. Cayenne is remarkably good as a delivery system for herbs by increasing circulation (only works on things that can actually be absorbed prior to circulating :)) So in this case adding it to a tincture of something like curcumin will help to bring its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties to different parts of the body and will help it to be absorbed without having to go through the digestive tract (as tinctures are usually absorbed before reaching the small intestine because of the alcohol content).

Our third secret of cayenne is that it is an analgesic. And no this is not because the pain of accidentally putting cayenne in your eye is so  distracting that you forget about the other pain! Cayenne inhibits something called substance P. Substance P is a chain of 11 amino acids that was discovered in the 30s. It is thought to communicate pain throughout the nervous system. This information along with the anecdotal information of people who have actually used this for pain is comforting for me to know. I hope this inspires you to keep some dried in your herbal medicine cabinet or at least the spice cabinet. Keep it fresh, maybe even in your freezer.  Cayenne does also contain salicylic acid, the constituent in willow that inspired aspirin.

All this, a beautiful colour and a versatile condiment. Yes a girl can have it all…

As with any herb I do recommend keeping it fresh or buying in small enough amounts that you will always have a potent source on hand.

How have you used cayenne medicinally? I look forward to your comments below.

If there is one thing that scares me more than losing the function and appearance of my healthy body… it is losing the function of my most treasured organ, my mind. I have learned that food and nutrition choices, stress management, blood sugar regulation and sleep are essential for good brain function but it can sure be helpful to have some herbs in your back pocket. Let’s talk about 5 important benefits of Ginkgo!

1. Stress – Ginkgo can help ease the effects of stress by helping our bodies to make more ATP (energy) on a cellular level. This means more in-the-moment energy and clarity. Ginkgo can also help with our bodies’ abilities to turn the amino acids that we are taking in into proteins and utilize those aminos for building things like neurotransmitters for us, helping not only with our brains but any sort of tissue repair and enzyme production in the body.

2. Circulation – Through improving circulation Ginkgo delivers many powerful benefits. Ginkgo has been shown to tone veins and dilate arteries and has been used as a circulatory tonic in asia for thousands of years. Ginkgo can also work to prevent the clumping of red blood cells which can contribute to heart problems. Consider Ginkgo in Reynaud’s phenomenon or other circulatory struggles that would benefit from a vasodilator.

3. Tinnitus and Hearing Loss – Ginkgo has been found to be effective in the treatment of tinnitus due to decreased circulation (basically compromised blood flow to the ears…) and has even been used in situations with more acute hearing loss with success. My feeling is that this would really depend on how much of the herb you decided to take and your ability to address the root cause of the tinnitus (like WHY is there a lack of circulation in the first place) but Ginkgo yay!

4. Colds and Respiratory Bacteria – In one study by Dr. Volkner published in a German report he encouraged participants to breathe in the essence of the ginkgo biloba plant and this was done with dramatic effect. The herb seemed to restore moisture to the cells in the mucous membranes resulting in the unwanted bacteria in these areas being destroyed and the inflammation in these areas being significantly reduced. I think more studies need to be done but this is hopeful… for those of us with a history of sinus infections, allergic rhinitis and more.  I believe the “essence” would be the essential oil or CO2 extraction although at time of writing I am not sure where this can be purchased.

Our digestive systems also have mucosa that keep our microbiomes balanced, protect our skin and our digestive immunity, help us absorb nutrients and so much more.  Properly prepared Ginkgo tea ingested between meals can contain some of the volatile oils found effective in the study above and along with Ginkgo’s other digestive benefits, can benefit the mucosa in the digestive system.

5. Cholesterol and Triglycerides – This is a two-in-one benefit but it’s worth it! Ginkgo has been found to reduce cholesterol levels and also triglycerides, two important measurements for insulin resistance and muffin top!

Ginkgo is often found in teas, capsules and tinctures so your use depends on your lifestyle and what is easier for you.

So how does Ginkgo Biloba do this? It interferes with something called the Platelet Activating Factor in the blood which contributes to inflammation. Interestingly cancer cells have a large amount of receptors for Platelet Activating Factor and several studies that I have read strongly point to the possibility that when these receptors or the Platelet Activating Factor are reduced the cancers stop growing.

One of the hidden dangers (other than being allergic) to Ginkgo Biloba is that the user may be dealing with the inflammation itself rather than the root causes of inflammation which are important to discover and transcend.  Many herbs and nutrients are still being used allopathically (this is really an allopathic article).  Make sure that while you are using herbs and nutrients to feel better that you keep on digging to the root cause, including especially digestion.