But Does It Really Work? Yah’s Easy Herbal Cures

Backstory

Every story has a beginning, and mine is no different. I was a typical 90’s kid—drinking Kool-Aid, eating bologna sandwiches, experiencing dial-up internet, and going to the doctor regularly. Crazy emergency room visits aside (I had a few of those), I remember getting ear infections and strep throat a lot. Doctors would prescribe me antibiotics to cure the ear infection or strep, and like clockwork, I always seemed to get a yeast infection afterward.

I also had asthma as a kid (that’s what I was told, but I have no recollection of difficulty breathing), taking breathing treatments and carrying an inhaler. I was a sickly child, being on antibiotics several times a year. My momma grew up in the age of “doctors knew best,” and she truly did believe she was helping me—bless her. Any time I had a fever or didn’t feel good, to the doctors I’d go.

Very vividly, I remember being 11 and contracting the measles (how? Beats the heck out of me). Clear as day, I remember the doctor telling my momma that because I had a weak immune system, there was a possibility that I wouldn’t make it—that I would die from it. That five-minute conversation that the doctor had with my momma stuck with me my entire life and shaped how I would parent and handle illnesses.

“That five-minute conversation… stuck with me my entire life and shaped how I would parent and handle illnesses.”

Avoiding Doctors at All Cost

When I moved out, my momma still had me under her health insurance. I would see a doctor for emergencies only, and I was grateful. I had my tonsils removed and had to go to the ER a time or two. But once I moved out, I no longer ran to the doctor every time I got sick. I would allow my body to go through that illness, often with over-the-counter medicine but never antibiotics.

As I grew into an adult, the doctor was the last resort. Unless something had to be cut out of me, I stayed at home. Over time, I was no longer a sickly individual, and I recognized this change.

Being a Mom but Not Yet a Crunchy One

As one can imagine from my past, I was extremely hesitant to rush my children to the doctor. If they had a fever, I let the fever run its course. If there was a cold going around, I would let them rest and just give over-the-counter meds sparingly. I wasn’t into natural medicine or even on my Walk with Yah yet, but I knew that our body was powerful if given the opportunity to heal itself.

Genesis 1:27 — And Elohim created the man in His image; in the image of Elohim He created him—male and female He created them.

Still, early on, I took them to the doctor for all appointments, and they received every age-recommended shot. Though I have hesitancy with doctors, I do not lump emergency medicine into this category.

Ellie (my daughter) had about a year stint on and off in the hospital when she was about 18 months old. She was born with duplicated kidneys, meaning she has an upper and lower pole to each kidney, and a ureter is connecting each pole to her bladder. Though it is more common than one would think, she would get UTIs often due to reflux in one ureter, and surgery was required to rectify the situation.

I am forever grateful for the children’s hospital and how fantastic they were during such a hard period in her life and mine. So, I am thankful for and believe in emergency medicine.

“I am forever grateful… So, I am thankful for and believe in emergency medicine.”

I’m Putting WHAT in My Body?!

After Covid and my baptism, I started waking up to all the harmful side effects in pharmaceutical medication, the harmful ingredients in our food, how we treat our bodies, and how these things are connected.

As far as medicine and the overuse of it, I witnessed firsthand that while the antibiotics did cure my strep and ear infections, it killed my gut biome, caused yeast infections, and weakened my immune system to the point that my body couldn’t fight off illness on its own. This is where medicinal medicine came into play in my life.

2 Peter 1:3 — His mighty-like power has given us all we need for life and reverence, through the knowledge of Him who called us to esteem and uprightness.

Yah has created and given us everything we need to not only survive but to thrive. Diligently walking in the Truth, Yah has given me the gift of His knowledge. He has opened my eyes through documentaries, books, and classes to the power of herbs, fasting, and eating foods that He created. I am constantly learning and gaining knowledge. This will never stop if I continue to search.

Food Matters

Switching to the food portion of this article for a moment, most people are aware that one cannot eat McDonald’s every day of their life and feel the greatest. But some don’t recognize that through clever marketing and societal norms, “convenience food” is terribly unhealthy and sold to us as an alternative to home-cooked meals—but the facts are, it doesn’t compare.

1 Corinthians 3:16–17 — Do you not know that you are a Mishkan of Elohim and that the Ruach of Elohim dwells in you? If anyone destroys the Mishkan of Elohim, Elohim shall destroy him. For the Mishkan of Elohim is qodesh, which you are.

I like to ponder the “daily bread” eaten by disciples. They didn’t use bleached white flour that has been whitened with chlorine, stripped of its natural nutrients, only for them to add synthetic vitamins back to it. This is for the sole purpose of keeping it shelf-stable for months or years on end.

Our bodies are fighting back—against all the unnatural things we are putting into them. My husband is a perfect example. He became celiac at 29 and is very intolerant to even the smallest amount of processed wheat, but he can consume the ancient grain Einkorn with no side effects.

Twenty years ago, you rarely heard of a food allergy, but now everyone is allergic to something. Yah didn’t create unnatural food or pesticides for our food to be drenched in. Yah’s creation was altered and changed by man to create something new that was never meant to nourish us.

I started using the Yuka app at the grocery store, scanning everything I thought about putting in my cart, and was shocked at what I read.

• Uncrustables sandwiches — 9 additives; 1 high risk (mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids). Can increase the risk of developing cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Suspected of disrupting gut flora, which can lead to increased risk of autoimmune, allergic, and inflammatory diseases.
• Pop-Tarts — 18 additives; 9 high risk. Yellow 5 dye (just one of the harmful ingredients) is suspected of contributing to hyperactivity and ADD in children. It can disrupt gut microbiota and trigger intolerance reactions. Overconsumption may affect the liver, kidneys, and reproduction.

“These are just two examples of the ingredients… being marketed toward our babies.”

These are just two examples of the ingredients in the products being sold to us under the title of “food” that are being marketed toward our babies.

I made a conscious choice to cut out ultra-processed foods and cook at home with single-ingredient foods that Yah made. I started caring about where my meat came from and began shopping organic (when I can) and at local farm stands.

Transitioning to whole, real food, I noticed a drastic difference in Ellie. Dye made her crazy, and it seemed like she couldn’t control her behavior. I also noticed how much better I felt—slight weight loss, and I no longer felt sluggish after eating.

Don’t get me wrong—this is a hard transition, and some things are hard to avoid, especially when you are on vacation or at a feast. So I give myself grace like Yah does, and I follow an 80/20 rule. If I eat 80% good, I can have 20% not so good.

Fasting… Why Don’t We Do It Anymore?

Ezra 8:23 — So we fasted and prayed to our Elohim for this, and He answered our prayer.

Luke 18:12 — I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I possess.

Matthew 17:21 — But this kind (demon) does not go out except through prayer and fasting.

Our bodies use between 10–30% of our daily energy to digest food. After watching a free documentary called Fasting on YouTube and seeing all the scriptures on fasting, I began to see the picture even further of Yah’s perfect creation and how He made our bodies with the ability to correct themselves through fasting.

If our bodies aren’t spending so much energy digesting food, they take that energy and use it to repair and heal damaged cells and attack bad cells or bacteria. I’ve read stories and heard accounts of people fasting or juicing for extended periods of time who cured type 2 diabetes, Lyme disease, autoimmune diseases, etc.

There are several other documentaries on fasting, Facebook groups, and books written on the subject. Intermittent fasting is a great segue to start your fasting journey.

Start in Your Spice Cabinet… Yes, I’m Serious

Most people don’t realize that many spices have healing properties—not to be confused with oils.

• Thyme — antifungal, antimicrobial, supports respiratory health, improves immune function
• Garlic — boosts immune system, heart health, antiviral, antifungal, antimicrobial

“To this day, if I am starting to feel not great… I take a few cloves with honey… and nom nom away.”

Garlic honey was one of the first creations I made in my herbal medicine walk. To this day, if I am starting to feel not great, I grab my wooden spoon (metal will react with the honey), take a few cloves with honey on the spoon, and nom nom away. The garlic soaks in more honey over time, making them sweeter with age (honey never goes bad, and the garlic won’t either as long as it stays submerged).

• Turmeric — antioxidant, aids digestion, heart health, anti-inflammatory
• Cayenne — pain relief, boosts metabolism, supports cardiovascular health, improves digestion, stops bleeding (not arterial)
• Cinnamon — lowers blood sugar levels and improves insulin sensitivity, anti-inflammatory, protects neurons in the brain, reduces the risk of heart disease, antibacterial, antifungal

Turmeric, cayenne, and black pepper capsules are taken daily by my family and more for Ray to help with inflammation and arthritis in his knee. Black pepper significantly boosts your body’s absorption of curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, by up to 2000%.

This is a very small sample of spices, but I urge you to do some research to discover the full extent of your spice cabinet.

I’m Healing Myself with Weeds?

There are so many useful plants that grow in your area that we grew up thinking were weeds that messed up our perfect manicured lawns—dandelions, goldenrod, mullein, wild lettuce. All these plants have fantastic healing properties.

You don’t have to go into an endangered ancient forest to find what Yah has made for healing. Yah made herbal medicine for everyone with easy access; you just have to know what you are looking for.

At the very end of this article, I have put my top four herbal books I use the most, and they show pictures and go into detail of many herbs and plants used for medicine and how to use them.

BEWARE: When you are foraging for medicinal plants, make sure the area you are gathering from isn’t being sprayed with pesticides or is next to environmental toxic areas—such as runoff from a clothing factory or pig farm, nuclear facilities nearby, or dumps in the area.

Why Don’t More People Use Herbal Medicine?

Simply—greed and misrepresented information. All these natural remedies have been tried and tested for generations, but through the pharmaceutical industry, they’ve become “less-than” or “dangerous.”

These companies can’t patent cayenne, ginger, dandelions, or toothache plant (this plant numbs the mouth similarly to Orajel). Over the past several generations, we’ve been sold the idea of a “magic” pill that we can only get through Western medicine by taking petrol-based products.

While herbal medicine may take longer in some cases and some require consistency, the benefit is that it is gentler, has no crazy side effects, and can often be found or purchased easily with no prescription or high doctor bill.

Have you ever seen a commercial for a new drug where at the very end it says something like, “This medicine may cause nausea, diarrhea, dry eyes, arthritic pain, muscle spasms, and in rare cases paralysis of your left foot and possible death. Stop taking right away and contact your doctor if you experience any of these symptoms”?

“Trying to cure an ailment shouldn’t come with new ailments.”

Trying to cure an ailment shouldn’t come with new ailments.

Penicillin comes from mold. Many other antibiotics come from isolating soil-dwelling bacteria. Before penicillin was invented, ancient cultures used moldy bread or other molds and applied it to wounds or made poultices to consume.

Another example is QuikClot. The main ingredient is kaolin clay. While they sell QuikClot for $18.95 for ONE bandage, you can buy a 2 lb bag of kaolin clay for $15.99. That is a whole lot of boo-boo repair for a fraction of the cost.

This has been firsthand tested in my home for many cuts (as recent as this week), and it works! Pack some kaolin clay into your bleeding wound (NOT for an arterial nick or cut), and voilà—your blood clots and stops the bleeding.

Mental Health and Being Nowhere Without Faith

The mind is extremely powerful. Stress, unhealthy living environments, being overwhelmed, or unhappiness in your life—all of this can contribute to your physical health.

When I found Yah, I finally found true shalom. No more did I make myself sick with worry or stress myself out to the point of getting cold sores. Your shalom through Yahuah is the center and start of this whole process, which is why I wanted to end with it.

Hebrews 13:5 — In manner, be without covetousness, and be satisfied with what you have. For He Himself has said, “I shall never leave you nor forsake you.”

Trust and shalom in Him is always going to be the very first step, and after that, He will give you the knowledge you ask for. What a loving and merciful Elohim we have. HalleluYahuah!!

My Go-To Herbal Books

• The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies — Nicole Apelian, Ph.D. & Claude Davis
• The Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine — Andrew Chevallier
• The Holistic Guide to Wellness — Nicole Apelian, Ph.D.
• The Beekeeper’s Apothecary — Kaylee Richardson