Ulcer Tea

Mariah had been having some pretty bad pains in her stomach. We've figured that it's an ulcer so we devised a plan to get it under control. We started by changing her diet. Mariah loves coffee but every single time she drank it her stomach would hurt, so we cut it out. I also toned down some of the spices in my cooking. Anytime a food seemed to bother her, we cut it out. None of these changes are permanent yet, I'm going to leave that up to her.

Another thing I did was develop an ulcer tea. She has said that as long as she drinks this tea a couple of times a week her stomach feels good. It's kind of a tummy-soother. It's cheap to make and super easy.

Just a warning though, licorice root can increase your blood pressure even if you don't have to worry about your blood pressure normally. Mariah only drinks this tea 4-6x a month, and she has no adverse effects. Please be cautious. Another thing, if you smoke weed, do not drink this tea and smoke weed at the same time. Since weed increases your heart rate and the tea could possibly increase your blood pressure, it seems like it could potentially become a bad situation. 30% of our population smokes marijuana and I will not neglect to mention their health when it comes to herbs.

Ulcer Tea

What you need:
Cooking pot
Tea ball

Herbs:
Licorice Root (dried)
Marshmallow Root (dried)

To make this tea, use 1 tsp. licorice root per 1 cup water. Place the tea ball in the water and heat gently on low or medium-low for a couple minutes (do not bring to a boil or even a simmer). When the tea becomes dark, take the tea ball out, and add in 1/2 tsp. marshmallow root per 1 cup of water. Let this steep about 30 seconds to a minute, then taste the tea. If the tea is to your desired sweetness, it's ready to drink. If you'd like it a little sweeter, let the marshmallow root steep a little longer. Serve hot.

Note: The longer the marshmallow root steeps, the sweeter your tea will be. It won't take long before the tea becomes undrinkable!

Dosage:
2 cups a day, a couple times a week, until your symptoms subside. When your stomach starts acting up again, start the tea regime.

You could also take a deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL) supplement to avoid the blood pressure risk.

Closing:
PEPPERMINT - although good for nausea, has no effect on ulcers
GARLIC - once thought to be bad, is actually quite good for ulcers. It's antibacterial properties have been shown in labs to kill H. pylori (the cause of most ulcers... yes, it's a bacterial infection!). Eat a couple cloves of roasted garlic a day.
RHUBARB - the supplements are very good for treating ulcers
MILK - VERY BAD. Once thought to neutralize the ulcer, it actually aggravates it. A lot. Besides, most adults can't digest milk anyway, so by leaving it out of your diet you're doing yourself a favor!