Slippery Elm – the innocent powder to regulate your body

The medical name for Slippery Elm is Ulmus Rubra. This is a fantastic herb for digestion and the digestive tract and although it may not look great it has amazing qualities. Slippery Elm comes from the inner bark of a certain species of the elm tree. These species are found in Europe and North America. Slippery Elm is called a mucilage because it is able to trap water which then causes it to swell. This is why it looks like a gel when you go to drink it.

 

Health Benefits

 

Slippery Elm is a great nutrient as it contains calcium, iron, Vitamin C, zinc, magnesium and potassium. These nutrients mean it is great for a variety of health issues. One of which is for the treatment of heartburn, also known as acid reflux. It is also a good herbal remedy for gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. This is a chronic disease that causes stomach acid to flow back into oesophagus irritating the lining. It is also good for inflammation and gastrointestinal conditions, such as gastric reflux, peptic ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome and Inflammatory Bowel Disease. It helps as it forms a physical barrier that protects the esophagus and stomach walls from damage caused by stomach acid and irritating foods. It also acts as an anti-inflammatory.

Slippery Elm creates a soothing action and has fibre content to help with the treatment of diarrhea by slowing down bowel transit time. It is sometimes used when people experience unexplained inflammation of the urinary tract. The powder is known to soothe the lining of the urinary tract. This then helps with the painful symptoms associated with urinary tract infections. It can also help increase the flow of urine and help to eliminate waste from the body.

Slippery Elm contains mucilage. This is a sticky mixture of sugars that our digestive tract cannot break down. It coats the throat. Slippery elm is sometimes found in some brands of throat lozenges.

Slippery Elm can also be used to soothe irritated and inflamed skin conditions, including wounds and burns, it can help to draw out boils and abscesses. It helps with these conditions by forming a protective gel-like layer.

How to use Slippery Elm

You can drink Slippery Elm powder by adding one teaspoon or ½ tsp for children, to one cup of warm or room temperature water and stir well. This mixture should thicken up slightly. To help with the flavour you can add a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg. Alternatively you can put it in juice – apple is pretty neutral. If you don’t like the taste just put it in less juice or water (like ¼ glass) and stir. Then swallow it while it’s all mixed in. The qualities it has are well worth the somewhat bland, dry taste.

 

If you’re using it for stomach and upper intestinal problems like reflux or stomach ulcers, it is best to take it after meals. However, for lower intestinal/bowel problems it is better to take it 1-2 hours before your meals.

When taking it for a dry cough you can take it up to 3 times per day and it is best taken in-between your meals.

 

Slippery Elm is not known to have any adverse side effects. However, as it coats the digestive tract, it could slow down the absorption of other drugs or herbs. It is best to have it two hours before or after other herbs or medication.

Why you need to meditate at least 20 minutes a day

Meditation is important for anyone that has a busy, hectic lifestyle, is under lots of physical, mental, and emotional stress, is feeling tired, weak, and overwhelmed. These kinds of stressors can lead to anxiety, depression and excess inflammation. Meditation and mindfulness can help reduce stress and improve the way you feel, increase focus and concentration, clear a foggy head, improve your productivity and most of all teach you how to chill out when you need it.

Health benefits

Meditation can also give you a sense of peace, increase your confidence with achieving your goals, improve your energy levels and give you a better quality of sleep. It can give you positive self-reinforcement and empowerment.

Mindfulness which is akin to meditation can be used to guide you through most challenges that life bring you. If you meditate regularly, you may find that most of your stress goes away or seems smaller, takes up less of your time and attention. Bringing meditation into your daily life in the form of mindfulness can help your moods to also improve. Just that lift you may need. Meditation can be practised on your own or in a group. It helps you to respond consciously and reflectively, instead of reacting instantly to your circumstances.

When you meditate your oxygen consumption drops automatically by 10 to 20% giving your entire physical body a rest. This creates increased physical energy. It also creates a drop in blood lactate, which is a toxic substance that builds up in your muscles. These build ups can cause you pain and fatigue. It helps decrease heart and respiration rates, increases melatonin and decreases cortisol. This is why it helps your sleeping habits.

Meditation for a busy Lifestyle – how to do it

You may be thinking that there isn’t enough time in your day to meditate but no matter what skills you use to achieve mindfulness, it should fit your daily routine and make you feel incredible. Meditation cannot be done in less than twenty minutes no matter what people tell you.

Reasons for this is that to start meditating you first need to find a place to sit comfortably. Rest your hands on your legs with palms totally separated to let the energy flow through. This is not the classic hand positions for meditation you see in pictures. Those pictures you see are not for beginners and hand positions are important in terms of what type of meditation you are doing and why you are doing it. Be sure your spine is straight and your chin down a bit. Remember to put on a guided meditation on your phone or IPad. Don’t just listen to music and don‘t just sit and listen to your breathing. For beginners it is not enough to capture your restless mind. You need a trained therapist guiding you as to how your specific mind works if you want to do this properly. So don’t just download anything on the internet and go for it. That’s not how it works despite what you may read elsewhere. You will also find the first five minutes is spent working out if you are too hot, too cold, does your toe twitch or your knee hurt etc. Then another few minutes goes pulling your mind in away from what stresses you. If you are just meditating for five minutes your time is up – totally wasted. So the ancient sages teach that minimum 20 minutes is a must.  

Once you have got you position just focus on what the download you are listening to from your therapist is telling you to do and breathe. Once you have practiced a bit you can focus on your breathing or if you are stressed out at work or in a public place then count each inhalation and exhalation and be slightly aware of the action of breathing. Inhale to a count of one, but exhale for a count of two. If you are already a meditator in most situations this action will calm you down somewhat.

If your mind does wander in meditation don’t worry just re-focus on your download and see where it is guiding you. You will have thoughts and feelings flooding your mind but don't hold on to them, just let them go. The more you practice, the better you're going to get at controlling your thoughts when you aren't meditating. The skill you are now learning will be with you the rest of your life as a wonderful tool for you to use when life starts to get on top of you. Over time, you'll begin to notice you have less stress, more focus, and a younger, healthier, and stronger body just to name a few things.

Need help? We are here

We teach meditation and mindfulness at the clinic here. With a course you can pick up the knack in a few weeks and give it 6 months and you will be an expert. Practice makes perfect so to speak. Give us a call today to find out how you can start with just a few short lessons for an hour a week and practice at home. We do online and face to face.