Slippery Elm

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Slippery Elm - Ulmus fulva: Re-establish harmony in inflamed intestines

Slippery Elm - Ulmus fulva http://eatmoreherbs.com/zine/14_slippery_elm.html PERSONALITY PROFILE - SLIPPERY ELM

 

Have you ever been through a period where the stress level is so high that your intestines give up trying to make any sense of things and go to one extreme or the other - becoming too loose or way too tight? Taking a heaping teaspoon of Slippery Elm powder every two to five hours can soothe the worst digestive inflammation of nervous diarrhea.

 

Slippery Elm can re-establish harmony in inflamed intestines within the day, and I have personally seen it do even more marvelous and seemingly miraculous things than that. These are some of the reasons, among many others, that I have included Slippery Elm among my Ten Essentials. And besides, it tastes good too. Most people enjoy the taste, finding it somewhat nutty.

 

TASOLE:

 

Hilary, a fifteen-year-old girl, came to see me on the advice of her mother. The girl had battled such severe intestinal difficulties since birth that between malformations of the colon and chronic intestinal inflammations, she had finally ended up having surgery in which several inches of her colon were removed. Her doctors had explained to her that she should never expect to have normal bowel movements again and indeed she dealt with fairly constant diarrhea. As you can imagine, this was a big drawback to her social life and she felt extremely discouraged in having to look forward to a lifetime of embarrassment.

 

I had used Slippery Elm before in cases involving rejuvenation after digestive surgery-including intestinal surgery for colitis and hemorrhoids. But I had never encountered these problems in anyone so young.

 

I suggested to Hilary that she start using Slippery Elm powder, drinking 1 tsp. in juice or tea, four or five times a day. l suggested using the powder without capsules whenever possible since capsules cause some people digestive trouble, which slows down the body's use of the herb. As often happens, Hilary thought my idea was too simple to have any real effect on her overwhelming and long-term difficulty, yet she said she "would probably try it". Her hopelessness affected me too. It seemed unrealistic to hope for much relief in her case even though my other similar stories had happy endings.

 

One month later I received a call from Hilary's mother to say that her daughter had begun at first, to tentatively try the herb in small amounts each day. When she discovered that the taste of Slippery Elm was not going to be an additional torture, she started the suggested dosage. Within three days of doing that, she had a "normal" bowel movement of soft yet "formed" consistency for the first time in many years. (She literally could not remember any bowel movement experience that was unstressful.) The results had continued. At the time of the call, Hilary had often been having unstressful bowel movements of average consistency for three weeks. Several months later I learned that the progress was still excellent. Hilary was able to decrease the dosage to three or less times a day except during times of extreme "teenage stress" where she needed more to balance things out.

 

The bottom-line is that her self-confidence soared and her social life began to shine.

 

After my experience with Hilary I had other opportunities over the years to assist people recovering from similar surgeries. The Slippery Elm always had some, and often dramatic, effect. After a while I sometimes suggested mixing I part Cornfrey root powder with 2 or 3 parts Slippery Elm to speed new tissue growth and enhance the anti-inflammatory action. This is a wonderful partnership of herbs, although not as tasty as the plain Slippery Elm.

 

Slippery Elm is a mucilaginous herb with many properties similar to Comfey root yet enough differences that I include it with no worry about repeating herbal actions unnecessarily.

 

Mucilaginous means that a plant contains significant amounts of mucilage, a slippery, sticky and soothing substance, often of high nutritional value (as is the case with Slippery Elm) that coats, protects, and rejuvenates an area from infection, inflammation and other irritants.

 

At the same time it acts as a further deterrent to many toxic substances through its ability to absorb and help them pass harmlessly out of the body. This mucilaginous property is especially useful in any case of inflammation or congestion, such as inflamed mucous membranes of the lungs, digestive tract, or urinary tract including kidneys, and in any ulcerous situation either internal or external.

 

Mucilage is soothing to burns, colitis, lungs, stomach, and skin rashes of all sorts. It helps counter-balance either diarrhea or constipation. Slippery Elm soothes the inflammations associated with diarrhea and protects the intestinal linings from further inflammation, and the fiber it provides helps soften fecal matter and move it easily out of the body.

 

Whenever you are dealing with what I call an "itis" situation, the mucilaginous and nutritional action of Slippery Elm comes more into play. "itis" conditions include: arthritis, tendonitis prostatitis, bronchitis, colitis, conjunctivitis, etc. The "itis" means that the area or organ is inflamed and irritated. The mucilaginous and anti-inflammatory attributes of Slippery Elm definitely come into play here.

 

Mucilage does not break down or disappear quickly when put to use, which means that you can usually get continuous results from one dosage to the next. Take 1 tsp. Slippery Elm powder with a glass of water or juice (lukewarm liquid makes it work fastest), and it will stir up and start activating the mucilage immediately. This "slippery help" will extend itself to the bowels so that subsequent bowel movements show effects of the mucilaginous quality of Slippery Elm.

 

There is one note of caution about this mucilaginous action of Slippery Elm. If you find it necessary to use this herb daily for a period of three weeks or more, it would be wise to take a day off from its use once a week. This herb does its job so well that a prolonged use of 2 tsp. or more per day of the plain root powder (herbal mixtures which include Slippery Elm are exempt) could, in especially sluggish systems, overcoat the digestive tract and temporarily lessen assimilation of some nutrients. If it is helping you, and you want to keep using it for longer periods, simply take a day off once a week or mix it with another herb such as Ginger.

 

In cases of severe colitis or intestinal surgery however, the benefits of using it may far outweigh the small benefits of being without it for a day, and in these cases you may continue as usual without a "day-off" break.

 

I mentioned that Ginger is a good herb to mix with Slippery Elm to insure against an unusual overcoating of the intestines. In fact, Ginger is a good addition anytime because it significantly increases the focus and action of Slippery Elm in every way. I would mix 1/4 to 1/2 part Ginger for each one part Slippery Elm. Most often the powdered form works best for these mixtures, yet chunks of each herb, simmered together, make a potent tea or decoction.

 

Another word associated with Slippery Elm is "demulcent," which, describes the soothing, softening, buffering and (for this herb) poison- drawing qualities that Slippery Elm brings to any herbal formulation. It is often mixed with herbs that otherwise have potent volatile oils or attributes that may act harshly in the system. These include Chaparral, Cloves, Peppermint, Garlic and Ginger.

 

Slippery Elm buffers these strong herbs, binds them together and adds the healing qualities unique to itself.

 

You may remember that I called Cayenne and Ginger "carrier herbs." Their special function is to help carry the herbal effects of a formula deeply into the body tissues and organs. Slippery Elm, then, could be called a "buffer/binder" herb. By analogy, if we were speaking of a group of people, Slippery Elm would be the diplomat, interperting even the harshest statements in a tactful and usable fashion so the most aggressive elements in the group could work smoothly together without irritating each other or innocent bystanders.

 

Slippery Elm also has strong nutritional value (see Nutrition application) and can be used as an addition to oatmeal to increase its protein and give a pudding-like consistency to the cereal while lending its light nutty flavor. When used for making cough syrup, cough lozenges or sore-throat lozenges it is so soothing and tasty that children and other finicky eaters usually like using them. (See Cough application below and Lozenge instruction p. 17.)

 

 

 

 

 

This is brought to you by Lalitha Thomas and is from her book 10 Essential Herbs.

 

Lalitha Thomas is an educator and consultant who began her practice with herbs as a child, caring for sick and wounded animals. For over thirty years she has studied and tested her applications with clients and friends, and trained hundreds of students in her herbal "magic."

 

COUGH SYRUP: Slippery Elm makes great cough syrup used either alone or as a base for additional herbs. Since it helps to collect and expel mucus, acts against inflammation, and serves to soothe and nourish, Slippery Elm really shines as a cough syrup. Here are a few recipes which can be cooked up when needed and/or stored fairly well in the refrigerator for a few weeks. After a few weeks, to insure potency, it is best to start with a fresh batch when another need arises. An older syrup often still tastes OK and usually wouldn't hurt, however.

 

RECIPE #1: In a saucepan, mix 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp.) Slippery Elm powder or Slippery Elm small chunks with 1 cup raw honey or light organic unsulphured molasses. Simmer and stir gently for 20 minutes. That's it! If you want it thinner, feel free to add a little water.

 

If you started with powder it will be a thicker brew as you do not (cannot) strain it out. If you started with the herbal chunks, you will get a juicier brew as the chunks are strained out after simmering. Some people really like having the herb powder left in for extra potency, while others don't like the texture and so prefer to strain the herb out. It's your choice. This recipe is meant as a basic starting place. I encourage you to experiment freely with proportions to suit your needs.

 

RECIPE #2: Use basic Recipe #1 but substitute an additional herb such as chopped raw Onion (yummy), Comfrey, Ginger, Clove or another herb of your choosing for part of the Slippery Elm. If you are flexible about the flavor, you can really have fun experimenting with your mixtures.

 

RECIPE #3: To any finished syrup add a few drops of an essential oil to supplement healing action and taste. Peppermint oil is refreshing when added to Recipe #1. Clove oil would be a fine choice for its antiseptic and pain-numbing qualities.

 

DOSAGE: For children up to about six years, most syrups should be taken 1 tsp. at a time every two hours or as needed. For older children or adults, up to 1 Tbsp. per dose is not uncommon. Take as needed.

 

How to make Slippery Elm Cough Lozenges

 

The Slippery Elm Slider mixed with juice just last week, For bowels too loose, or colitis relief. He can soothe, be nutritional, build strength, what a guy! Skin troubles? Inflammation? He'll spit in their eye!

 

from 10 Essential Herbs Copyright 1992 Lalitha Thomas, Published by Hohm Press, used by permission.

 

 

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public".

 

Theodore Roosevelt