going back to basics

My first attempt at making absinthe ended in putting the finish herbs of hyssop and melissa in the wrong container, resulting in a gallon of 150 proof green alcohol that tasted like fresh mowed hay.  Although I successfully created a rather fine absinthe by putting the finish herbs in the proper jar, I was still stuck with a gallon of green alcohol that was neither here nor there and not knowing what to do with it, decided to store it out if sight in quart jars and wait for inspiration.

Well, this Easter morning the inspiration struck and I decided to make a quart of cough syrup from the green fluid.  It suddenly occurred to me that before the FDA deemed natural medicines illegal, every cough syrup and cough drop contained Coltsfoot to suppress coughs.  I know where to find Coltsfoot but since it's too early in the season, I opted to use a combination of Comfrey and Yerba Santa to soak in the green, 150 proof solution for about a week.

The Yerba Santa has been used by native Americans to clear bronchial passages and to relieve asthma.  Smoking or drinking it in a tea works equally well, so infusing it in an alcohol based solution should be a no-brainer.  The Comfrey just seemed to stick to my hands as I was going through my herbs, searching for my bag of Coltsfoot.  I always knew Comfrey was good for skin problems, healing broken bones, and was primarily a topical medication but most herbalists don't recommend using it internally.   I figured Comfrey was the ingredient I needed and the fact that it stayed in my left hand while searching for something else only proved my higher self had already done my thinking for me.  Seems some research is in order.

"The FDA advises against taking Comfrey internally, due to the presence of trace amounts of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA's).  In contrast, data published in the journal, Science, by noted biochemist Bruce Ames, Ph.D., of U.C. Berkeley, would indicate that Comfrey taken internally is less toxic or carcinogenic than an equivalent amount of beer.  It is probably NOT wise to make Comfrey, or beer, a significant part of your regular diet for an extended period of time."

Call me a contrary, but if the FDA says the sky is blue I'll assume they're full of shit.  These are the same people who say 35mg of vitamin C is enough for a day and Prozac is harmless.  Besides, I drank enough beer in my life to send Scranton to rehab and beer isn't a significant part of my diet.  It'll take more than the opinions of a bunch of bureaucratic, big pharma whores to throw a wet blanket on my inspiration campfire.  The FDA mission statement is to ensure no natural substance shall have any credibility in the health care fields and they'd outlaw sunshine if they could get away with it.   I'll get my information from sources in the know, thank you very much.

A little more research revealed the ancient Greeks used Comfrey internally as a digestive aid and Pliny the Elder praised it's use.  At this point, I figured if a Greek can do it, I can do it.  As it turns out, the Greeks were only the first to document the medicinal qualities of this amazing plant.  Comfrey has been around for thousands of years as an internal as well as external curative and lots of guys through history, much smarter than the combined intelligence of the FDA, extolled the virtues of this marvelous plant.  If it's good enough for Culpeper, it's good enough for me.

Perhaps the reason there's such a tremendous increase of respiratory illnesses, as well as every other illness known to man, is because the only medications on the market come from a test tube as low grade poisons that only provide temporary symptom relief instead of curing the problem.

I'll perform a few clinical trials next week.

Stay tuned.