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Dr. Oz and the Lemon Balm Fiasco

Natural Remedies Deserve More Respect Than Dr. Oz Gives Them

You hear and read a lot about natural and herbal cures these days. Dr. Oz raves them on his show, including lemon balm for cold sores, passionflower, valerian and lemon balm for anxiety, and sage as an expectorant to help calm your cough.
You read about herbal and natural treatments in women's magazines, and they are all over the internet. One might think that natural cures are a new thing, but only a new trend. Herbal remedies date back to the the Middle Ages, and the Chinese were using it as far back as 500 B.C.
The things that Dr Oz and everyone else seems to not write or talk about is that just because herbs are natural, they are still medicine, and thus should be treated with care and respect. You have to know how, and when to use the herbs, and whether or not there is a contraindication with prescribed medication. You should know which method should be used, and the correct dosage.
Let's take Valerian for anxiety as our first example. Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) is a good choice as an herb for anxiety. It is considered an herbal nervine. A nervine works to calm the nervous system. Other nervines would include passionflower, lemon balm and to a lesser degree chamomile. Valerian is in fact nature's Valium. With that said, Valerian is an herb to be used with care. A person who is taking Valium or any other sleep inducing, or anxiety medication should not combine herb and drug. It could actually cause an overdose. Combining nervines should only be done by an herbal practitioner. Dr. Oz never states any cautions on valerian, lemon balm or other herbs he speaks about.
So, now we will move onto lemon balm. Dr Oz has spoken about lemon balm on a couple different occasions for anxiety, but has never stated how to really use it correctly. In March of 2011, he actually told his audience to take “lemon balm oil” for anxiety, when in fact he should have stated lemon balm tincture. He gave a woman on the set “lemon balm oil” and in reality, he gave her too much and led the audience to believe it was okay to just keep adding more to your glass. This is in fact not true. A tincture is an herbal medicine, and should be used as medicine. You can overdose on herbs. More, does not equal better results.
Just last month, he stated lemon balm ointment is great for cold sores. While he is correct about this, and lemon balm for anxiety, he never discussed that people taking drugs for thyroid conditions should stay clear of lemon balm completely. No tea, tincture, oil, or ointment. Lemon balm can inhibit the absorption of the thyroid medications Synthroid, and Levothyroxine.
Herbs are a wonderful way to heal many illnesses naturally. Herbs have been used for thousands of years, but one must know the ins and outs of the herbs being recommended to them. If not, you could be doing more harm than good to your body.

Dr. Oz's Miracle Cure For Herpes

Lemon balm is a natural anti viral herb. It's Latin name is Melissa officinalis, and comes from the Greek word for bee. Not to be confused with Bee Balm, Lemon Balm is a member of the mint family.

Dr. Oz recommends using lemon balm for herpes and cold sores, and he is right. It is the best, and fastest way to get those flair ups under control.

The eugenol, and other active natural chemicals are what provides this herb with the wonderful healing benefit. It normally clears up herpes cold sores within 3-4 days. Half the time of other medications. If used regularly, Lemon Balm lip Relief, can actually reduce outbreaks. If they aren't completely gone, the syptoms will be reduced to half the time.

Melissa Cream (Lemon Balm) for Healing Herpes

Melissa Cream (Melissa officinalis) is one of the top choices for natural herbal healing of herpes and herpes cold sores. In German scientific studies, Melissa officinalis (lemon balm) has been shown to contain the active herbal properties of tannins. It is the tannins in the herb that contain certain polyphenols.

Melissa also contains the healing power of terpenes. These active herbal ingredient are what gives Melissa Cream it’s antiviral, anti-septic, and anti-fungal healing properties. In particular, the polyphenols and terpenes help to combat and heal cold sores due to the herpes simples virus.

When applied to the affected area, Melissa Ointment helps heal the cold sores in about 2-4 days. The ointment also helps to double the time between outbreaks.
Apply a small amount of cream to affected area 3-4 x a day during out breaks. Be sure to cover entire sore. Dab on, and rub in gently so the sores do not break open.
Ointment should be used 1-2 x a day during non break outs to keep the herpes virus at bay.
Cloverleaf Farm’s Melissa Cream can be used on all forms of the herpes virus to help naturally heal the lesions more quickly.
Make sure not to get it in the eyes. It is meant for skin application only.
Use it daily to keep flare ups at bay.
Be sure to wash hands before applying cream. Be sure to not “double dip” into the jar. This can contaminate the cream.
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) should not be used by people who are taking medicine for thyroid problems.

Timeless Beauty

To honor and celebrate our neighbor's 100th birthday, we developed a gentle moisturizer for delicate and sensitve skin.
Timeless Beauty was developed using herbs and oils that are wonderful for healing and softening sensitive or delicate skin . It is a great way to heal winter itches.

Timeless Beauty skin cream is a light creamy blend of apricot, rosehip & jojoba oils, all soothing to delicate and sensitive skin.

The oils are solar infused with rose, hibiscus, elderflower and calendula. The oils steep for 8 weeks to soak up the herbs natural healing properties. We whip it with shea & cocoa butters then add hibiscus & rose extracts. Pure organic lavender, vetiver & palmarosa essential oils are add along with natural beeswax and aloe.

Makes a great gift, as it can be used on all skin types

Herbal Healing Goes Global At Cloverleaf Farm

Cloverleaf Farm, a cottage industry natural body care company based in Effingham, NH, has taken their products to the world market. They are now shipping to the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Canada and several other countries. Cloverleaf Farm has been in business for over 10 years. “The timing was right for us” said Kathy Lambert, Clinical Herbalist and Herbal Educator. Kathy has been a medical herbalist for 15 years, and has written several articles for newspapers, magazines and online health websites. She is now in the process of working on her first book on herbal medicine. She along with her husband Michael Davidson own Cloverleaf Farm. “Over the years, we have had several inquires about shipping to England, and Canada, but never really took advantage of it.” said Michael. It can be risky shipping overseas, but with our new credit card processing company, it made it easier to detect fraudulent orders. This gave us the gateway to expand our market. In just one month, it accounts for a quarter of our sales, and we anticipate it to grow steadily. Kathy is right, the timing was perfect.” Cloverleaf Farm specializes in medicinal herbal ointments and oils, but also carries aromatherapy merchandise as well as natural organic skin care beauty products. While Kathy formulates all the herbal blends for their products, Michael is in charge of marketing and shipping. Family and friends happily take the part of being product testers. Cloverleaf Farm, is located on Route 153 in Effingham, is open to the public mid April through December. Their products are made right on the farm, and you can stop by to watch the manufacturing process. You can contact Kathy Lambert or Michael Davidson of Cloverleaf Farm at info@cloverleaffarmnh.com or visit their website Cloverleaf Farm.

Infant Massage

Touch is very important to an infant baby. Touching helps babies bond to their parents. A soft touch from Mom or Dad can help baby relax.
Massage can be very helpful to a baby. It seems like it is a new idea, but it is not. It is just the Western world that is behind again.
Infant massage benefits the infant, by feeling that caring touch. An infant needs to be assured that they are being taken care of and someone will be there to help them. Infant massage is also good for the caregiver giving the massage. It allows them to start the bonding process with their baby.

You may think that they are just babies, and there isn’t much going on for them. This is far from true. Everything in a baby’s world is so very new. Besides eating and sleeping, a baby is learning so much in just a few months time. They go from being in the womb; a nice warm, quiet place to be, to being thrown into a world filled with all sorts of stimuli. They don’t get much time to adjust to this big world.

The benefits of massage are relaxation, stress relief, and bonding.
I know what you are thinking “What does a baby need stress relief for?” Think about all the new things babies are taking in everyday. From the time they wake up in the morning, until the time they go to bed at night, they have seen all new and exciting things. This can cause them a bit of stress. Not like the stress an adult might face, but it’s stress just the same.
Massage will help your baby to relax, get relief from stress, and help it to bond to you.

Autumn's Infant Massage Oil is heaven in a bottle for babies and for Mom's (and Dad’s too). Help your baby to learn to relax, by using gentle strokes along arms, legs, back and torso. Autumn’s Infant Massage Oil is unscented, as babies products that are for infant -6 months old should not have essential oils in them. Essential oils are too strong for their developing nervous system.
If you baby is older, you can use Autumn’s Baby Massage Oil. This oil is for babies 6 months and up, and it lightly scented with lavender.
Be sure to try all the Autumn’s Baby Products for your baby.