Today someone reading my post about cinnamon and honey weight loss tea asked whether it would be safe to use during pregnancy. I looked through my herbals and found a recipe for easing pregnancy, which uses cinnamon, so that indicates to me that cinnamon could be safe for pregnant women (and their unborn dear ones.)
From John Lust’s herbal, The Herb Book: The Complete and Authoritative Guide to More Than 500 Herbs: This is said to prevent nausea and miscarriage. It is also for reducing labor pains and increasing milk production.
1 part cinnamon
5 parts blackberry leaves
5 parts milfoil
10 parts raspberry leaves Steep 1 teaspoon in 1/2 cup boiling water. Take 1/2 to 1 cup daily in mouthful doses.
Note that there’s to be NO OVERDOSING… which is what I need to address concerning the cinnamon and honey diet. Though the cinnamon may be safe in normal amounts, drinking large amounts might not be safe during pregnancy. Plus, I wonder about the wisdom of trying to diet during pregnancy. This is something a pregnant woman should definitely discuss with her physician.
In addition, you should be aware that there are certain herbs intentionally used (by some) to terminate pregnancies. Here’s the list of common herbs a pregnant woman should avoid:
Angelica
Birthroot
Blue Cohosh
Brooklime
Bugloss
Cotton Root Bark
Ergot
Golden Seal
Ground Pine
Juniper
Male Fern
Motherwort
Mayapple
Pennyroyal
Potassium Permanganate
Rue
St. Johns Wort
Savin
Tansy
Thyme
Valerian
Yarrow This information is derived from two sources, Herbs & Things - Jeanne Rose’s herbal, and Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs.
All these are likely to cause abortion to occur. DON’T try this at home! I’m against abortion in general so I’m hoping this won’t be taken by anyone as a way to terminate a life. I put the list here for the benefit of herb-using women who want to preserve their pregnancies.
This list of herbs said to ease childbirth comes from John Lust’s The Herb Book:
Althea
American Spikenard
Bennet
Birthwort
Black Cohosh
Blind Nettle
Blue Cohosh
Cannabis
Columbine
Comfrey
Common Groundsel
Cotton
European Ragwort
Flax
Garden Raspberry
Garden Violet
Goat’s Rue
Horehound
Iceland Moss
Lady’s Mantle
Pansy
Primrose
Ragwort
Shepherd’s Purse
Silverweed
Spikenard
Squaw Vine
Wild Red Raspberry
Wormwood
And about the Wormwood - I wouldn’t use that either. I know that too much of that is a danger.
Personally, I’d stick to something simple like Raspberry Leaf Tea which is well-known to be good for pregnancies.
Jeanne Rose wrote: “Raspberry leaf tea has been used for hundreds of years by women throughout their pregnancy to ease the pains of labor, to prevent miscarriage, and to increase the milk supply. It was mentioned by Pliny in his medical botany books. For the tea: one ounce of the leaves is steeped in twenty ounces of water for fifteen minutes, strained, and drunk - at least two cups per day. The leaves are also used as an astringent for diarrhea, as a gargle for sore mouths, and as an infusion to wash external ulcers and wounds. The berries are excellent eaten during a bout of diarrhea.” - Herbs & Things, page 100.
Also, note on the list of herbs that ease pregnancy, Cannabis is listed. This is Marijuana.. which is, in my opinion, a miracle healing herb… but I recommend that mothers do NOT use it during pregnancy or at any other time. The reason is that use of Marijuana is cause for child welfare agents (CPS or DHS social workers) to take children from their mothers. Especially during pregnancy, this is a real danger. I have met a young woman who used Marijuana to ease birth pains, who never got to take her child home from the hospital because THC was found in her baby’s urine. You will notice, if you give birth in a hospital, one of the first things they do is slap a urine sack on the infant to collect urine for drug testing. YES, this is true! And babies with any kind of drugs in their system are taken away from their parents. So DON’T use Cannabis/Marijuana while you’re pregnant. It just isn’t safe. If you use it you might need my other site: Fighting Child Protective Services CPS False Accusations, and I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone.
One more very important thing! Use moderation, no matter what herb you choose, whether you’re pregnant or not. Too much of any herb can be dangerous. If you’re not certain a herb is safe, ask your obstetrician or (if you’re breastfeeding) your pediatrician.
Here are the links to the herbals I used for this post:
I’ve been making variations of this for over thirty years - since the time I lived in San Francisco and was eating fanatically well in order to nurture my first pregnancy.
Two cups of short-grain brown rice
Four cups of water
1 tablespoon salt
Heat the above ingredients until boiling, then stir once with a wooden spoon and cover. Turn the heat down very low. Continue to let this cook for twenty-five or thirty minutes then turn it off but keep it covered so it can steam. Don’t be tempted to look inside for at least ten or fifteen minutes.
While that’s cooking heat a bit of vegetable oil in a skillet and add spices. Typically I’ll add any spices I can find in my cupboard that look like they’ll fit. I smell them to decide if I want them. I always use salt and pepper.
Then chop some onion and garlic and toss that into the pan. Chop some fresh vegetables and toss them in too. I like to use carrots and celery, and whatever else I have on hand that looks good.
Keep stirring and warming these gently on a low to medium heat. If you get impatient like I usually do, add 1/4 cup water and cover the skillet to let the vegetables steam a while. Stir often.
When the vegetables are tender and the rice is cooked, serve by putting the rice on the plate, then veggies on top. If you like cheese, put grated cheddar or monterey jack on top.
This recipe feeds my soul.
Brown Rice Burritos
A way to use leftovers from the recipe above.
Warm up a big flour tortilla. If you have a gas stove just turn on the burner and toss the tortilla onto it… no pan needed. Wait until it wilts a bit then turn it over. Repeat until little air pockets start to rise inside the tortilla.
On the tortilla place some brown rice with your cooked veggies. Add spices, jalapenos, or whatever makes you happy, along with a lot of cheddar cheese. Then wrap it up.
Since I usually get cold rice leftovers out of the fridge I then put this burrito in the microwave and warm it up… or at least I would if it were not for the fact that my microwave broke and my dear boyfriend won’t agree to buying another one - he points out the certain dangers - so now I’m warming these in my cast iron skillet.
My favorite taco sauce is La Victoria Salsa Brava, HOT.
This makes a quick, easy but filling snack so I can get right back into my writing without losing my train of thought too much.
Eczema hit me during my first pregnancy. I went from having wonderful, clear skin to having dry scaly itchy patches all over my arms and legs. My obstetrician told me, “Pregnancy brings on all sorts of unexpected changes.” Fortunately this dreadful skin condition went away and didn’t return again until my next pregnancy, six years later. After that, it never quite went away completely until recently.
I believe my recovery is mainly due to taking high quality multi-vitamins and a hair and skin supplement. This is a great start toward better skin health, but in the meantime an essential oil blend may help ease the discomfort of itchy, dry skin.
To make an essential oil blend for eczema skin care start with a nourishing carrier oil such as:
Avocado Oil
Evening Primrose Oil
Hazelnut Oil
Jojoba Oil
Wheatgerm Oil
If these aren’t available, you could try Almond Oil, or even Olive Oil.
The carrier oil should be 97% of the solution, at least.
Add a few drops of one of the oils listed below. You may have to experiment to see what works well for you.
Balsam Oil
*Bergamot Oil
Cade Oil
Carrot Seed Oil
Cedarwood Oil
*Chamomile Oil (German Chamomile or Roman Chamomile)
[Note: There are creams that doctors can prescribe to alleviate eczema symptoms. Nothing in this article is meant to discourage treatment by a qualified medical doctor. I am not a doctor - I'm a self-trained herbal practitioner.]
Hi, my name is Linda. This is my personal home and hearth journal.
I am a self-trained herbal practitioner. I became a vegetarian when I was a teenager in the 1960s. I was a San Francisco Bay Area hippie in the 60s and early 70s. Then I became a mom - the most important job I've ever had.
Now I live in a very small mountain community. The nearest fast food restaurant is more than forty miles during summer, and more than seventy miles in winter when the pass is snowed under. I've never owned a cell phone, but I talked on one once.
I've started using FriendFeed to keep in touch with people. It is a wonderful site where you can combine all your feeds and connect with friends. You're invited to join me there. For more information - see How To Use FriendFeed.
by Julia Lawless
