Herbal Survival Medicine by KLS in Ohio

Here in the U.S. we have grown up in an age where hospitals and family clinics are an accepted, common place necessity. Our medical professionals with their full range of antibiotics have the best triage training in the world. If you're in a car accident in the U.S. you are most likely to survive if you make it to a hospital. They'll fix you right up! But they aren't well equipped in preventing disease. As in Jim's novel "Patriots" when the character 'Mary' used herbs such as Comfrey to treat their wounded, we may not have access to modern medicines in a TEOTWAWKI situation. I have been studying herbal treatments for my family in my spare time for 15 or so years and have discovered I've only scratched the surface of an abundant resource given by Our Creator.

Modern American Pharmaceuticals only utilize a little over 500 herbs as a base to synthesize medicines, but cultures older than ours have found a vast array of restorative remedies from plants. Chinese medicine utilizes over 5,700 herbs. Traditional Ayervedic (religious) medicine of India uses about 2,000 plant species. Arabic medicine uses over 2,000 herbs. Current U.S. medical treatments are based on the idea that "the absence of symptoms is health". Conversely, Chinese medicine has a 3,000 year history and is based on the idea that "the absence of disease is health." Arab herbalists developed effective remedies using the practice of combining three or more complementary herbs to treat many diseases and illnesses while Europe was in the Dark Ages. Even Native American Tribal cultures developed many remedies using the indigenous plants of our continent.

How sad it would be if we were to loose the work of thousands of years of herbal medical knowledge in a SHTF moment. Granted, there have been those charlatans, weird hocus-pocus and "snake-oil" traders of the past. But have hope! Modern science has confirmed volumes of effective herbal remedies that have been used for thousands of years in many cultures around the world.

Did you know that your kitchen spice cabinet holds many powerful remedies for common ailments and very few herbal remedies have dangerous side effects when used properly? For example; Black Pepper, garlic, cloves, parsley and ginger are powerful partners for digestive tract disorders. Fresh blue spruce tips steeped in hot water for 15-20 minutes suppresses chronic coughing. Chickweed provides a dose of salt in a difficult wilderness situation. Raw pumpkin seeds crushed and followed by 12 ounces of water 30 minutes before each meal for 7 days will expel worms. Black Cumin, Garlic and All-heal Herb have natural antibiotic/ antiviral properties. And this is just the start!

There is no reason to fear remedies that look like something from the spice cabinet rather than a Colorfully labelled, hermetically sealed package. Get some books and start reading. Cross-reference between a few books for any remedy before using it and with the more dangerous stuff. PLEASE CONSULT A PROFESSIONAL/TRAINED HERBAL PRACTITIONER. There is no substitute for genuinely knowledgeable people to teach us and help us to be and do our best in this life. Don't guess - either know it or find someone who does.

Books that I can recommend are: Natural Health Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine by Andrew Chevallier, FNIMH; Growing 101 Herbs That Heal by Tammi Hartung; Wilderness Medicine, by Paul Aurbach; Peterson Field Guides-Edible Wild Plants, by Lee Allen Peterson; What the Bible Says About Healthy Living by Rex Russell, M.D.; The Ultimate Survival Guide by John Wiseman.

For further training you could do Home Study with "East West School of Herbology." I'm sure Mr. Rawles and the Memsahib have excellent recommendations as well. - KLS in Ohio