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Important Herbs For Postpartum Health |
Herbal Support
Ayurveda recommends that postpartum mothers favor these ingredients in their foods and teas to support your recovery & rejuvenation after birth.
AyurDoulas are trained to use the following herbs, foods, and delicious special preparations for their clients. Best to use daily for the first 6 weeks, or 8 weeks after surgery. If you would like to order any of these preparations, you can call or e-mail me.
If you have special needs, consult your primary health provider, AyurDoula or an Ayurvedic Practioner for a properly personalized formula of rejuvenative, antidepressant, or other compatible herbal support. Ayurvedic rejuvenative herbology includes some wonderful herbal roots for nutrition and support we have not found in western herbology.
SweetWater Lactation Tea
2 parts Fennel: Supports lactation, digestion, gas, good urinary function. (use seed)
1 part Fenugreek: Supports lactation, rejuvenation, respiratory, & digestion. Can help throw out placental fragments when used in a stronger tea, boiled tsp/cup 3 – 5 minutes for appropriate time. (use seeds)
Boil water then add1 tsp.of mix in 2 quarts water, keep 1/2 in thermos and warm the rest later in the day. Make fresh daily.
Cell Rejuvenative Tea
Dashamoula or Cedrus Deodar
These herbs help calm & rejuvenate the pelvic area. Best prepared by your life partner or doula. This decoction gets cooked down from 2 cups to 1/2 cup. 2 cups water to 2 tsp.herb, ¼ cup is taken warm, twice a day before breakfast & dinner. Make fresh daily.
Almond Herbal Rejuvenative Snack
This preparation, made in several stages, supports the ligaments and tendons as well as lactation. You can use most of these ingredients in your own way if desired, but about 10 – 12 almonds (soaked) a day is enough, and chew well. If you don’t try this snack mix or the digestive chewing herbs once, you won’t know what you are missing!
Ingredients:
Blanched Almonds: rejuvenative tonic, nourishing
Coconut: soothing, nourishing, rebuilding, sweet
Gum Acacia: connective tissue strengthening/toning
Succanat: Mineral rich raw sugar (Iron!). In India/Nepal a very dark brown "Jaggery" sugar is favored
Cardamom: Fresh to heart, respiratory, digestive for heavier herbs
Ginger: Digestive, & respiratory support. Fresh ginger is balancing.
Nutmeg: Digestive, adrenals, thyroid, absorption, anti-diarrhea
Ghee: rejuvenating, soothing, integrating, carrier of nutrients, ushers wastes out into the seat of elimination, enhances properties of herbs warmed in it, alkalizing by absorption
Saffron: catalyze other herbals & reproductive rejuvenation; liver, spleen, heart, emotions support. Good for daily postpartum use in milk, sweets or rice. Not recommended for most other times of our life to use daily.
Non-homogenized Cow Milk:
Contains a small amount organic boiled, for hydrating saffron. Milk, properly used is the most rejuvenative food. Boil with chai type spices, cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric, honey (please don’t cook honey, it creates a slow accumulating, but toxic coating around the nerves) helps cut phlegm or use other natural sweetener and add 1 tsp or more ghee or unsalted butter. Good antidepressant - hot cup as desired.
Fennel Digestive Chewing Herb
Ayurvedically cooked and blended into a delicious after meal supplement. Chew well. One teaspoon after lunch and dinner.
Ingredients:
Fennel & Coconut: digestive, rebuilding, nourishing
Black Salt: Strong Digestive, anti-gas
White Sesame Seed : Nourishing, high calcium/protein/mineral (always roast)
Licorice: Harmonizes other herbs, adrenal support, soothes. (Avoid with high blood pressure)
Clove: strong digestive, initially heats, then cools, aphrodisiac
Please use these too:
Cumin: Digestive, gentle hormonal balancing, lactation supportive.
Garlic: Browned in ghee or oil only: Immune, grounding, digestive, circulatory, rejuvenative, lactation
Flax Oil, high lignan : Use raw only; EFA 3’s source, estrogenic. This is especially beneficial with fresh unfermented cheeses (cottage, ricotta, panir) for hormones, antidepressant, lactation supportive. Also when eaten with the cheese it is antitumoral and anti-arthritic support (per Dr. Johanna Budwig)
Coconut Oil: Cook with ghee or this for no trans fats. Note that the commonly reported bad for cholesterol information is based upon research on hydrogenated coconut oil. Avoid all hydrogenated fats. Some antiviral, antibacterial, anti-candida. Very cooling, minimize in wintertime or increase heating spices.
Fresh Ginger: Digestive, balancing to all three humors.
Basil, Anise: These and occasional caraway also support lactation & digestion
Note on general principles of herbal use
Ayurveda finds it best after childbirth to minimize or to balance the use of the cooling and drying herbs with bitter and astringent tastes (such as hibiscus, mints, chamomile, catnip, nettle, raspberry) with warming and moistening influences (such as ginger, clove, cardamom, licorice, slippery elm). This is because of the special postpartum needs for rejuvenation and, in Ayurvedic terms, for reducing the drying, ungrounded weak digestive fires and other irregularities of functioning of the vitiated "vata dosha" common to all women at this time.
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