Slippery Elm
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 (as in the
TASOLE above), 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.)
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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."
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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 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
from 10 Essential Herbs Copyright 1992 Lalitha Thomas,
Published by Hohm Press, used by permission.
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