Hi'iaka's Healing Herb Garden

New Year's Resolutions You Can Keep

It's easy to overindulge during the holidays. That's why they made New Year's Resolutions: to enable us to seek redemption for our excesses. Whether it's dropping a few pounds, quitting smoking, breaking a chocolate habit, or any other of a long list of December sins, the New Year gives us hope for a fresh start and a better life.

Why Do We Make Resolutions?

The origin of many traditions is shrouded in history, which leaves us guessing about why we do certain things or behave in certain ways. It's believed that the making of resolutions dates back to the Babylonians, before the time of Christ (see "funmunch" site below). Their most popular resolution was returning borrowed farm equipment.

Weight Loss Hints and Tips

Many of us are not happy with our bodies. The media does not make us feel better, with skinny models and beautiful actors and actresses bombarding us every day. I have been on all the diets: Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, injections, pills, herbs, you name it. The only thing that works is portion control. That means, don't eat so much! It has been helpful for me to understand what my food cravings are. When you're feeling stressed, or tired, or angry, or lonely, what does your mind tell you to eat? Is it chocolate, potato chips, or carrot sticks? (I'll bet it isn't carrot sticks!) I tend to crave fats as my comfort food. Nuts, cheese, Hollandaise sauce, sour cream.... The list is long. When I reach for the fatty snacks, I go one step further and ask myself, "What's going on?" Am I stressed out because of a writing deadline, a guest who won't seem to leave, money worries, or what? Understanding my emotional state doesn't necessarily make me want the fattening foods less, but at least I understand why I am craving them.

Exercise is also important, as we all know. It doesn't take a lot. Most of us can manage to walk a little bit every day, perhaps during our lunch breaks. Every little bit helps. You don't need to turn into a compulsive workout person: just try to do a little every day and the benefits will soon start to show.

Don't make unrealistic demands of yourself. Keep your weight loss goals simple and realistic. If you have always been heavy, like me, perhaps it's not possible to fit into a size 5. We don't all have to look like Vogue models! Give yourself a break and learn to love and accept your body, whatever shape it's in.

Herbs to Help Quit Smoking

I smoked cigarettes for many years, until 1995, when quitting was the hardest thing I've ever done. After I learned that the tobacco companies add ingredients to their products that cause smokers to become addicted, I was angry enough to tell them, in my way, to take their cancer sticks and shove them! Motivation is very important: you must WANT to quit, for yourself and your health, not because someone wants you to.

According to the BBC (below), cigarettes are "engineered for addiction," and tobacco manufacturers have been accused of adding substances to cigarettes to increase their addictiveness. Research has uncovered a "scandal in which tobacco companies deliberately use additives to make their bad products even worse."

At the time I quit, I had not yet developed the herbal smoking blend I now recommend as an aid to quitting. Cold turkey is a tough way to go, and I don't suggest it. If you can gradually reduce your tobacco intake with the help of herbs that are good for your lungs, it will make your job a little easier.

Useful herbs, available in bulk at natural foods stores, include coltsfoot, mullein, mugwort, rosemary, Chinese licorice, and I often add dried kava (`awa) leaves, for a relaxing effect and to reduce anxiety.

Here's the formula: mix the herbs together and blend with tobacco. Gradually increase the herbs, according to this 4-week program:
* Week 1: Mix 75% tobacco with 25% herbs.
* Week 2: Mix 50% tobacco with 50% herbs.
* Week 3: Mix 25% tobacco with 75% herbs.
* Week 4: Smoke only 100% herbs.
CAUTION: Do not take any medication or herb while pregnant or nursing without first consulting with your health care provider.

Cleaning Up Our Bad Eating Habits

Perhaps you want to stop eating fast food, in the hope that it will help you to feel better. I encourage people to get back into the kitchen because cooking and preparing beautiful local fruits and vegetables, making your own muffins, and eating less red meat and more fish is not a hardship but a joy.

The main reason I like to cook is that I then know exactly what I'm consuming. As with cigarettes, there are many additives in prepared foods, even if they are labeled "natural" or "organic." Artificial flavors and colors, preservatives, etc. are so common it's hard to find foods without them. And what about pesticides and herbicides that are used to control insects and weeds around your veggies?

The use of chemical fertilizers, which often contain toxic byproducts as inert ingredients, is widespread. Heavy metals such as lead, mercury and aluminum are commonly added, as well as other dangerous chemicals such as arsenic and dioxins. (See the Safe Food and Fertilizer link, below). These fertilizers are used on the potatoes that end up as your French fries at McDonald's. The web site states that "The most recently released Food and Drug Administration's Total Diet Study for 1991-96 supports cause for concern, recording a 50% rise in dietary arsenic since 1986 for both toddlers (2 year olds) and adults age 60-65."

Again, like the tobacco companies, this kind of sneaky, dishonest practice on the part of the companies pushing these products to an unsuspecting public is enough for me to say "no thanks" to their foods. It makes my resolution to eat healthier, home-cooked food easy.

ON THE WEB:
www.funmunch.com/events/new_year/new_year_traditions.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/393075.stm
www.safefoodandfertilizer.org