Natural Muscle Relaxant

Before I knew anything about teas, I had heard of Chamomile tea; that it was good for relaxing is all I knew.  Chamomile tea is made from daisy-like plants that have been used as a traditional medicine for thousands of years.    The flowers have a somewhat apple scent.  Chamomile tea has been used for centuries in teas as a mild, relaxing sleep aid, treatment for fevers, colds, stomach ailments, and as an anti-inflammatory. 

Chamomile has therapeutic activities including antispasmodic, antibacterial, anti-fungal and anti-allergenic.  Another one of its properties, anti-peptic cause me some concern.  Anti-peptic means to inhibit the action of pepsin.  Pepsin is a digestive enzyme that degrades food (bigger) proteins into peptides(smaller proteins).  Peptides are digested better since they are smaller.  Glutamine and creatine peptides are very popular as supplements to end up with quicker (nutrition) absorption.  I was taking L-Glutamine for a few weeks when being treated for leaky gut syndrome.  With all of that said, I believe, for me, it is best to drink Chamomile at least 3 hours after a meal so as not to inhibit any nutrition absorption.  Coming to this conclusion is very good timing because as I began to write this article, I took this pretty picture of my chamomile buds right after dinner (fish salad soup).  Fish Salad Soup was made from Honey Bear’s left over grilled tilapia with herbs – yummy!

Organic Chamomile Flower Buds

Salad Soup was a salad with “gravy”…  a combination of water, vinegar, salad dressing and spices.

Healthy and Savory Meal

Chamomile relaxes muscles by increasing certain amino acids that signal the brain to tell the muscle to relax. Of course the old stand-by of using warmth (if swelling, then cold) to relax the muscle still applies, but if that fails or if you want an alternative, Chamomile is a safe choice.

Chamomile may be used internally or externally. Internally, it reduces gas and has a mild flavor.   A Chamomile enema helps to calm the body and has a soothing effect on the liver and digestive system.  To make a chamomile enema, add 1 tablespoon of chamomile flower heads to a jug.  Pour ½ litre (2 cups) of boiling filtered water onto the flower heads.  Leave to infuse for 20-30 minutes.  Strain the mixture and add water to make a 1 litre (4 cups/quart) solution.  Make sure the mixture is body temperature before using enema accessories and enema technique to retain the liquid for 15-30 minutes and expel.

I am used to doing the coffee enema at home and purchased the Gerson Therapy starter kit from http://www.newlifesupplies.com/  This kit came with Organic Chamomile Flowers (pictured above).  I also really like bagged Chamomile and mint tea that I got from Whole Foods.  

Until today, I did not realize Chamomile was used as a muscle relaxant. The right side of my abdomen is hurting from falling forward onto a foot stool that I was carrying and this tea should help with those spasms.