By Cat Gina Cole
Today as I open my journal, I find an entry that is dated 4/26/13 and it reads, “For two months now, I have been taking “’The Brew’ (A herbal blend I made). Dose is 2tsp herbal blend to a large cup of water and steeped for ten minutes. I have lost five pounds and note it is not wise to make the brew too strong because the senna in the mix will make your bowels loose quickly and the gotu kola will sedate you at higher concentrated doses.”
Note: Keep this information in the sections for these herbs for when those results are desired.
In all, I find the brew does soften the skin and keeps your bowels regular, and helps to shed some water weight. While the brew was originally for health and beauty results, I find some components work very well for ADHD.
I am currently taking Strattera for ADHD and this brew assists the medication in calming the body and further enhances clarity for the mind. Using the brew with no medication in place has not been explored at this time.
Note: I will not be making the brew again as it was presented to me. It was a recipe I found for health and beauty online I wanted to try. In its place. I will be making an ADHD-specific blend of brew of gotu kola, ginkgo, yerba, Siberian ginseng, and see how that responds.
The Brew Recipe
First a note about “Parts” this means whatever device you are using for measuring, like a one-cup measuring cup, or one tablespoon, one part means you will want one of those and 2 parts means you want two of those types of measurements. If you are using a teaspoon, and it says 2 parts, you will want 2 teaspoons of herb and so on.
3 parts gotu kola,
2 parts nettle leaf
2 parts siberian ginseng Note: Siberian Ginseng has been renamed Eleuthero root
1-part senna leaf
1- part marshmallow root
1-part slippery elm bark
1- part orange peel dried
1 part ginger root
1- part fennel seed, bruised.
Bring the water to a boil, then remove from heat. Add the herb and let steep for 10 minutes.
My notes indicate that I used a 2 oz measure as 1 part.
Drink one cup per day for 3 weeks.
With the brew, I found the following recipe.
Use equal parts of
Marjoram- not sweet marjoram
Ginko
Gotu kola
Orange peel
This makes a nice calmative tea that aids digestion, enhances mental focus, and makes a great tea to drink while studying or working.
And that is the end of the herbal journal for this week. I am sure there will be more notes on the ADHD tea in the journal as I did take that for some time, as well as a California poppy tincture for anxiety and I recall the tincture being more of a calmative and the tea more of a stimulant for the brain.
It is interesting to me to see my notes from ten years ago. If you are enjoying them feel free to leave a comment below, and many blessings to all!
Cat Gina Cole is a Hereditary Witch and author of Psychic Skills for Magic and Witchcraft (Llewellyn, 2022). She is the founder of The Coven of the Rising Phoenix and Staff Coordinator for “Green Egg Magazine.” You can reach her at www.catginacole.com