Balanced Flora Botanicals

06/30/2023

Come on out to Big Rail Brewing in Grove City, PA for this happening event tomorrow evening. I am honored to be sharing my herbal product line, Herbal Appalachia, with all the folks who come out to this event! I’m excited to see all the other artisans and their goods and the amazing music. If you’re looking for an excuse to go to Grove City, listen to some lovely tunes and/or do some shopping, this is it!

✨Welcoming Herbal Appalachia (Balanced Flora Botanicals)✨

EVENT PAGE 👇👇
Tunes, Brews & A Shopping Excuse @ Big Rail Brewing w/ Dan Bubien & The Delta Struts + C&T

July 1, 2023
4p-9p
Big Rail Brewing

01/05/2023

One thing I have encountered in my years of working as a clinical herbalist is that the majority of folks don't yet understand how working with an herbalist could help them in their journey to achieving more health and well being, This article touches on the subject, though there is always more to say around this topic.

Here is to greater understanding and an expanding knowledge base around the possibilities for healing that Mother Nature holds for us!

In order to answer to this question, we first need to talk about what an herbalist does and how herbal medicines differ from pharmaceutical drugs. Herbalists use herbs to address different kinds of conditions, injuries, ailments, and imbalances in the body. What herbalists bring to the table that is...

12/01/2022

Once again, Mark Hyman speaks to what is always on my mind. There are so many sources of potential contamination throughout our day, and not just in the kitchen. The more we are aware of these things, the more we can do to reduce these exposures.

There’s one really important aspect of healthy home cooking that I find many people are missing: creating a clean, nontoxic kitchen.⁣
⁣
Even if you’re dedicated to making a healthy meal—something like grass-fed beef, tons of colorful veggies, nourishing fats like olives and avocado oil— it could be ruined by the chemicals hiding in the pots, pans, utensils, and storage containers you’re using.⁣
⁣
Nonstick cookware (think Teflon) is one of the biggest offenders because it often contains poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances, also called PFAS, which releases a harmful carcinogenic compound called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) when exposed to heat. PFOA poses many threats to our health, from increased risk of cancer to thyroid dysfunction, immune disorders, hormonal imbalances, and more. ⁣
⁣
To make matters worse, pots and pans with nonstick or ceramic coatings can also leach dangerous heavy metals like cadmium or lead, especially if they are old, which can lead to an increased toxic burden, inflammation, and chronic diseases.⁣
⁣
Then there is the issue of plastics. They’re everywhere, from the packaging our food comes in, to the containers we store leftovers in and the many types of cutting boards, spatulas, and serving utensils we stock the kitchen with. This is a big problem since they leach harmful chemicals into our food and beverages. Endocrine disruption, birth defects, developmental issues, and cancer are just some of the many problems that can occur from exposure to compounds like BPA and DEHP found in plastics. ⁣
⁣
Now, I know this might all seem scary, but there are so many ways you can be proactive to clean up your kitchen and prepare the healthiest meals possible at home. ⁣
⁣
I get so many questions about creating a safer kitchen that I included an entire section about it in my cookbook, Food: What the Heck Should I Cook? This book was a way for me to share all my favorite recipes, ingredients, and kitchen hacks with you, including everything you need to know about nontoxic meal prep.⁣

11/12/2022

Tomorrow morning is clinic day for the month. Come on in to Fusion Cafe to grab a spot. We start up at 9 AM and will be available until 1 PM!!!

11/03/2022

Herbal tinctures can be useful for so much more than just physical healing.

During this phase of the year when we remember, honor, and connect with our ancestors, certain herbal allies can enhance this connection and have been used to do so for many generations.

I formulated this Dia de los Mu***os tincture based on these historical uses. It contains herbs for remembrance, for deepening meditative states, and for calling in the ancestors.

10/29/2022

Everyone in the general Brookville, PA area is invited to attend our first Free Herbal Clinic at Fusion Cafe, Saturday 10/29 (tomorrow morning).

This is your chance to meet with a practicing herbalist about your most important health concern and receive personalized education about herbs that can be helpful for you!

The consultation is free.
Please shoot me an email with any questions.

See you there!

10/24/2022

What a beautiful fall day it has been! I’m so grateful for these warm fall days after seeing some snow mid-week!

I just had to make the most of it by taking some time to honor these medicinal plants who offer us so much throughout the year. The process of harvesting and preparing these herbs for storage to be used throughout the year fills me with reverence for these plant allies. Every time.

Late season harvests are such a blessing, filled with appreciation and joy.

10/11/2022

On Indigenous Peoples Day, I feel moved to recognize and honor the contribution North American Indigenous cultures have made to current folk and western herbalism here on this continent. Long before any Europeans arrived here, the indigenous peoples were practicing herbalism. They gleaned much of their knowledge by being in intimate connection with the land and wildlife around them. They experienced deep relationships with the plants. They believed that the plants exchanged healing knowledge that helped guide them to the right medicinal plant for any given circumstance or condition. They grew a vast knowledge base of well over 500 wild herbs over many, many years. This knowledge has melded with western herbalism (and its plants) brought here from Europe and other regions to create the beautiful tapestry of herbal practice that we have on this continent today, in spite of the rocky road that has been and continues to be traveled as the integration of the Seventh Generation continues.

10/10/2022

I was pretty disappointed earlier this summer when it seemed none of my planted rutabaga seeds germinated. Then about a month later, one solitary rutabaga plant appeared. Needless to say, I was happy to see it.

As it turns out, this is the largest rutabaga I have ever harvested without any splitting, weighing in at over 5 lbs!!!

Rutabaga is a great root vegetable for anyone dealing with a fungal overgrowth in the gut, like Candida. It is well known for its anti fungal properties, and it contains far less carbohydrates than some other root vegetables, like potatoes.
They contain a ton of fiber, making the carb concentration low comparatively and giving rutabaga a low glycemic load score of around 7. They also contain a lot of vitamin C (over 50% of the recommended daily value) in addition to other important vitamins and minerals.

If you are left scratching your head saying “don’t carbs just feed a Candida overgrowth???”, don’t worry. I will discuss why some level of carb intake can be so important when dealing with long standing gut dysbiosis in another post, so look for that in future. 💜🧄🍠🧄💜

10/08/2022

Calendula is a glorious, sunny bloom. I love it for so many reasons.

Best of all, it is easy to grow yourself in the garden, with blooms that will keep coming for months if you continually harvest! I am still harvesting calendula today and I’m so grateful for it.

I have spent this entire season deepening my relationship with calendula. One thing I have perfected is how to tell when the flower is fully open and ideal for harvesting. Swipe to see the progressive stages approaching the full, fluffy, open middle of the flower. The last photo is fully open.

I discuss all of this and more in my upcoming blog post on calendula.

09/26/2022

Sometimes greens aren’t only green! The purplish color of this Red Russian Kale tells us that there are higher levels of carotenoids and anthocyanins present, indicating even more antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties than a green that is green.

This Red Russian kale seems to be more resistant to cabbage worms than other types I have grown in the past as well.

09/25/2022

Have you ever known someone going through an intense healing process who felt really run down, discouraged, or even a bit depressed? Calendula can be just the thing to help bring some sun, warmth, and cheer into their life.

When people start to feel stuck and think that things may never improve, calendula can add that cheerful connection to the sun for a little pick me up on those tougher days.

Calendula transfers the warmth of the sun to our tissues as well, which helps alleviate the coldness and dampness in the gut that goes along with gut dysbiosis.

Not sure whether you are cold, damp, hot, dry, or any combination of the above, then come in and see me, and I can help you figure this out.

09/22/2022

A big part of the reason why people are experiencing so much inflammation these days in the US is the rampant use of inflammatory oils and the consumption of processed foods laden with these oils.

Dr Mark Hyman gives a great explanation yet again.

When you consume these subpar fats, your cell walls also become subpar. Instead of being flexible and responsive to intercellular communication, cell walls become stiff and rigid. The more rigid the walls, the slower the cell functions and more vulnerable it becomes to inflammation.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Most people label all fats as bad and lump them all together in a box. The truth is that all fats are not created equal. There are good fats, questionable fats and bad fats. Our government, media, scientists and doctors have advised us to eat the wrong types of fats for too long.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
You want to ensure your body has the fats it needs to construct high-quality cell walls. That means eating more omega-3 fats. Cell walls made from omega-3 fats are more flexible, which allows cells to respond more quickly to messages.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
These “good” fats also help your body produce prostaglandins otherwise known as the hormones that cool off inflammation.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Optimal sources of omega-3 fats include small cold-water fish like wild-caught salmon, sardines and herring, organic flax and h**p seed oils, walnuts, Brazil nuts and sea vegetables.⁣⁣
Scientists suspect that early humans ate almost equal amounts of omega-6 and omega-3 fats. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Our hunter-gatherer human ancestors got healthy omega-6 fats from seeds and nuts. They got their omega-3s from eating wild game and fish as well as foraging for wild plants.⁣⁣
⁣
As people began to refine oils from plants, the ratio became skewed more toward omega-6 fats. This created a drastic imbalance in the modern diet, making us more vulnerable to diseases such as cancer and heart disease.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
The more omega-3 fats you eat, the easier your body can cool off, which means less inflammation that forms the root of nearly every chronic disease, especially those impacting the brain and the heart.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Besides eating plenty of wild, fatty fish, optimize your fat intake with nuts and seeds, grass-fed butter (or ghee if you’re dairy sensitive), avocados, grass-fed meats, extra-virgin olive oil and olives.⁣

09/20/2022

Diets high in greens have been shown to reduce oxidative damage in patients with colorectal cancer. They are high in antioxidants and have been shown to have an anti-inflammatory action in the gut.

They also contain a unique sugar compound called sulfoquinovose, which feeds the good bacteria in your gut as well.

09/19/2022

Calendula is one of my favorite herbs to use for people who have leaky gut and/or are going through the healing process. It helps heal wounds, even those that we find in leaky gut, and it helps move the lymph around the intestines as well. Moving the lymph helps to prevent any sluggishness and tissue depression in the area, which is really common in a lot of people who have a leaky gut.

#

09/15/2022

In any gut healing regimen, you want to to have lots of greens! My preferred method for stocking up is to grow them myself!

Rainbow chard is probably my favorite of the greens to grow because it’s beautiful and tastes amazing when sautéed or steamed. I’m craving some right now!
any gut healing regimen, you want to to have lots of greens! My preferred method for stocking up is to grow them myself!

Rainbow chard is probably my favorite of the greens to grow because it’s beautiful and tastes amazing when sautéed or steamed. I’m craving some right now!
eatyourgreensdaily