Shave Grass

    The stems of a botanically ancient plant known as horsetail or pewter grass (it is said to be an efficient pewter cleanser) are used to make shave grass tea. It is a kidney and bladder remedy, aids in dissolving kidney stones, and is useful in treating arthritis pain. Shave grass is available as tea or tincture.
    
    Horsetail (Equisetum) plants in large quantities can cause poisoning in livestock.


Please click in the labels below for more foods with related medicinal/supplements benefits.

Nettle Tea

            If you have ever been stung by the prickly leaves of this wild herb, you may be reluctant to think of the nettle as a food. However, when dried or boiled, nettles completely lose their sting; pick them with gloves and scissors, and you will be master of the situation. Boiled, they become a spinachlike vegetable, tasty and high in vitamin A, iron, and a wide variety of minerals.

            Either the leaves or the roots of the common stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) may be used to brew tea that has valuable powers as a tonic and blood cleaner, and it is extremely effective against kidney problems. When using dry nettle leaves, note that the greener they are, the more healthful.

            A strong nettle tea, made by boiling a teaspoon of dried leaves in 2 cups water (or vinegar) for 30 minutes, is a very good hair rinse and is said to reinvigorate the hair and restore waning color. Slightly more obscure uses of nettle: beat rheumatic or paralytic limbs with nettle branches to restore vigor and circulation (this may also call for masochistic tendencies!); spin thread from nettle stems and weave table linen, as did the Scandinavians and Scottish in times of yore.