Healing Lemon Balm

Lemon balm, also known as Melissa because of its botanical name Melissa officinalis, is an essential herb for calming the nerves—in particular, those involved with digestion. Many people suffer from various sensitivities in the gut, with complicated and confusing misdiagnoses involved. What’s often behind these problems are nerve endings that have become hypersensitive around the digestive organs. Nerves play a role in much of the digestive distress we experience in this day and age. For instance, inflamed phrenic nerves (which control the diaphragm and therefore influence the stomach) and vagus nerves (which run through the diaphragm and govern the stomach and digestion) are sometimes behind digestive sensitivities, as are nerves that connect the spine and digestive tract.

If someone’s stomach or intestines are irritated for no identifiable reason, it’s usually due to sensitive nerves. One common occurrence is that a food (even something very easy to digest) rubs against the lining of the intestinal tract, which causes someone with sensitive nerves to feel discomfort. Nerve sensitivities can also trigger symptoms such as nausea, loss of appetite, and a sudden urgency to eliminate when nervous. Lemon balm is a gift from God and Mother Nature to deal with our frazzling world; it’s wonderful for addressing all of these situations with its soothing properties, which come from bioactive phytochemicals such as undiscovered alkaloids that calm the nerve receptors at the digestive tract so that the nerves become less sensitized and inflammation reduces. This makes lemon balm a valuable herb for stress assistance.

And lemon balm doesn’t stop there. It is a heal-all, with a high contribution factor to almost every part of the body. Extremely high in trace minerals such as boron, manganese, copper, chromium, molybdenum, selenium, and iron, lemon balm also has large amounts of the macromineral silica. Plus it’s a B12-conserving herb—which means that it monitors your stores of this vitamin and keeps your body from using it all up. Anti parasitic, antiviral, and antibacterial throughout the body, lemon balm fights the Epstein-Barr virus, shingles, and other herpetic viruses such as HHV-6. It’s an amazing herb for tonsillitis, which is inflammation caused by strep bacteria. Plus, lemon balm detoxifies the liver, spleen, and kidneys, and helps reduce bladder inflammation, which makes it a star for alleviating interstitial cystitis and urinary tract infections (UTIs).

CONDITIONS

If you have any of the following conditions, try bringing lemon balm into your life:

Nutrient absorption issues, laryngitis, interstitial cystitis, yeast infections, urinary tract infections (UTIs) such as bladder infections and kidney infections, tonsillitis, hypertension, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)/mononucleosis, shingles, HHV-6, transient ischemic attack (TIA), staph infections, H. pylori infection, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), ear infections and other ear problems, hiatal hernia, neuropathy, ringworm, anxiety, depression, thyroid disease, adrenal fatigue, migraines, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), strep throat, autism, nodules on bones and glands, Lyme disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), herpes simplex 1 (HSV-1), herpes simplex 2 (HSV-2), tonsillitis, rosacea, osteopenia, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), Meniere’s disease

SYMPTOMS

If you have any of the following symptoms, try bringing lemon balm into your life:

Loss of appetite, trouble sleeping, anxiousness, nervous stomach, sensitive stomach, heart palpitations, hot flashes, night sweats, frozen shoulder, stomachaches, gastritis, abdominal pain, bloating, gas, nervousness, fatigue, diarrhea, urinary urgency, urinary frequency, weight gain, weakness of the limbs, weak digestion, trace mineral deficiencies, tooth pain, fever, seizures, nosebleeds, inflammation, histamine reactions, brain inflammation

EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

Stress and insecurities often cause us to feel fearful about what’s around the bend. We find ourselves lying in bed at night, wondering what will happen to us and our families. If you’re worried about what the future holds for yourself and others, lemon balm can take the worry away and replace it with a sense of peace.

SPIRITUAL LESSON

Lemon balm is practically an all-purpose plant, and it teaches us that we are just as wellrounded. We’re not each here for just one reason. Within one lifetime, we have many different lives. We don’t have to live with singular focus; we have many chances to explore different gifts and serve diverse purposes—some of which we’ll discover along the way and some of which we’ll live out without ever knowing how we’re effecting change.

TIPS

* Make a sun tea with fresh lemon balm by steeping it in a pitcher of water for a few hours in bright, direct sunlight. The sun extracts and upgrades lemon balm’s therapeutic properties, enhancing its nutrient profile to help you heal.

* Try using lemon balm leaves in small amounts as a culinary herb. Grow it in a pot on your windowsill so you always have some nearby to mince and add to salads for flavor and good medicine.

* Having lemon balm before bed will help calm your nerves and give you a better night’s sleep.

LEMON BALM TEA

This lemon balm tea is soothing and mild. The lemon doesn’t overpower the herbs’ subtle beauty, though if you want a stronger kick of lemon, go ahead and add more juice or zest to take the flavor to another level.

• 2 tablespoons lemon balm
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Mix the lemon balm, lemon zest, and thyme together in a small bowl. Boil 4 cups of water. For each serving of tea, use 1 teaspoon of the blend per 1 cup of hot water. Steep for 5 minutes or more. Just prior to serving, add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice to each cup.

*If a stronger, more medicinal tea is desired, use 2 teaspoons or up to 1 tablespoon of the tea blend per serving.

Makes 2 to 4 cups

Excerpt from the #1 New York Times Bestselling book Life-Changing Foods

This item posted: 13-Apr-2017

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