Body & beauty

The beauty benefits of commonplace Christmas plants

Tap into the healing powers of seasonal plants with our youth guru Jayney Goddard

Tap into the healing powers of seasonal plants with our youth guru Jayney Goddard

As we draw closer to Christmas, I thought that it would be fascinating to take a look at some of the plants that we are traditionally surrounded by at this time of year and examine how they can be used medicinally. A lot of them can be incorporated into our own health and wellbeing regimes, easily and safely.

HOLLY
This is most often used in complementary medicine in the form of a Bach (correctly pronounced ‘batch”) flower remedy. I find that these helpful remedies are extremely useful in my practice and have seen great results with my patients. These are gentle, fast-acting and easy to use.

Holly is often thought of as the flower remedy for anger – but this isn’t always accurate. In the Bach system, anger is considered to be a secondary emotion and we need to look more closely at the underlying cause of the anger. For example, anger based on impatience needs another remedy, as do those angers based on feelings of personal unfairness or impersonal injustice, or where there is a simple loss of control.

So, Holly is actually the remedy for very negative, aggressive feelings directed at others – feelings such as hatred, suspicion, envy and spite. Destructive emotions such as these poison us on every level and destroy health – mentally, physically and emotionally. The underlying problem is an absence of love, and the remedy works to encourage our generosity of spirit and an openness towards others.

IVY
Ivy is used in herbal medicine. It is a bitter aromatic herb which has an emetic effect and a nauseating taste. Over the millennia, it has been used as a handy folk remedy – particularly in the treatment of rheumatism and also as an external application to skin eruptions, swollen and painful joints, burns and suppurating cuts.

Recent studies have shown that the leaves contain the compound ‘emetine’, which is an alkaloid that has amoeba killing properties. It also contains ‘triterpene saponins’, which have been shown to treat liver flukes (a parasite) and fungal infections. Taken internally, ivy is used for the relief of gout, rheumatic pain, whooping cough, bronchitis and as a parasiticide. An infusion of the twigs in oil is recommended for the treatment of sunburn. However as the plant is mildly toxic it is imperative that it should be used under supervision of a qualified herbalist.

CRANBERRY
An infusion of the berries has been used traditionally to treat pleurisy. They can help with urinary tract infections (although recent research shows that you have to drink a lot of it over a protracted length of time). The jury is still out on precisely how cranberries actually work in this respect. Hypotheses include the idea that cranberry juice acidifies urine to such an extent that bacteria in the urinary tract are unable to cling onto the bladder walls and are therefore more easily flushed out.

MISTLETOE
We all love a kiss under the mistletoe – but this extraordinary plant has a fascinating history and a valuable role in medicine and healing. Mistletoe was greatly revered by the druids. They gathered mistletoe with great ceremony, by climbing an oak tree and severing the mistletoe with a golden knife. It was always cut at a particular phase of the moon, right at the beginning of the year and the druids only sought the mistletoe following dreams and revelations instructing them to hunt for it.

As early as 1961, laboratory studies demonstrated that mistletoe, along with other immunostimulant plants (such as eupatorium, astragalus, echinacea, acathopanax, chamomilla, and sabal), inhibited tumours in mice, mistletoe continues to be studied for its anti-cancer properties. In addition, a range of conditions including convulsions, delirium, menopausal symptoms, neuralgia, urinary disorders, and heart conditions have benefited from the activity of mistletoe. It has also been used to temper the spasms of epilepsy.

Article by

Jayney Goddard

President of the Complementary Medical Association

is the president of the Complementary Medical Association

Discover more

Article by

Jayney Goddard

President of the Complementary Medical Association

is the president of the Complementary Medical Association

Discover more