Tornado outbreaks are getting worse; not the number of tornadoes, but their intensity and strength, which makes them more dangerous. Whether this has anything to do with global climate change or not is anyone’s guess, but my money says it is. I can definitely see the changes in the weather, and of tornadoes in particular, and I’ve lived with tornadoes my whole life.
The United States leads the world in the number of annual tornadoes, numbering about 1,000. In 2011, the super-outbreak across the Midwest and the South resulted in 362 tornados across the United States; 218 occurred in one day, and 55 of those tornadoes were recorded in the state of Alabama, where they caused about 248 deaths, more than 2,200 injuries, and massive property damage.
Just around breakfast time, my brother Joey heard a sound like a freight train and felt the hairs on his arms stand straight up. He grabbed the kids and put them in the bathtub and covered them with his body. When the tornado had passed, in the bed where six-year-old Michael had been sleeping, a tree now rested. Later in the day, some of Joey’s chicken houses were hit, and in the next series of tornadoes, his other chicken houses were hit. He was lucky that all were safe and alive, but it was a hard and stressful time for him and his family, as well as for many families across the country as people worked to recover and rebuild. There are too many stories from that outbreak to tell, some heartbreaking and some miraculous.
During the 2011 outbreak, Scott, an herb student and friend, heard the tornado and ushered his family out of the house to the lowest-lying area, which was a small creek that cut behind the back of their house. All five children were with them, and Scott covered his five-year-old and six-month-old children with his body. His wife Angela did the same with their two- and seven-year-old sons. The eleven-year-old son hunkered between them. When the tornado had passed, their house was fully demolished, and if they had stayed inside, it’s a good chance that all would have died. But they were missing one child, the five-year-old daughter who had been ripped from under Scott by the force of the winds. She was later found wrapped in a blanket in a tree, safe and sound, but scared.
The devastation that results from the meeting of the elements that create a tornado doesn’t only affect humans and their property. It also affects the natural landscape and the animals that live there. Hundreds and thousands of acres of trees and forests are lost each year to these massive rotating storms. The fibers in the wood of a tree can only bend and give so much before they succumb to the powerful forces of nature.
There is no tree that is tornado-proof. It will suck an oak right out of the ground, root ball and all. A tornado will snap pine trees and lay them on the ground like thrown matchsticks. Of all the trees, the longleaf pine seems to survive the best. These trees bend and sway in the wind, and a young sapling will bend almost to the ground. The frequent thunderstorms and tornados that are common in the Southeast don’t affect them like it does their cousins, the loblolly and slash pines. Tornadoes will snap a loblolly into halves and break a slash pine quite easily. But not the longleaf. No sir. This pine bends and sways in the wind, holding onto the ground with all its might with a deep taproot nearly as large in diameter as the trunk. The broad taproot burrows about fifteen feet into the soil, while the lateral roots will radiate between thirty-five and seventy-five feet from the trunk. Grounded to say the least.
There is no rhyme or reason for the randomness of a tornado’s selection of destruction or of life. The chaos is the meeting of the natural forces of hot/cold and wet/dry, and it seems that natural law is suspended as the Earth tries to find balance. The result is pressure, irritation, and chaos as the elements try to find equilibrium again, as the Earth tries to find homeostasis. This is true on the land or in the body. When these forces meet in the body, the chaos that prevails is irritation, inflammation, and pain, pretty much the hallmark of chronic disease. That’s the meeting of hot/cold and wet/dry.
Hot/cold and wet/dry—these are the properties that can be used to describe the weather, the body, and herbal remedies. Let’s explore these concepts in relation to Southern Folk Medicine.
Hot
Hot is associated with blood. Heat denotes the presence of life; cold, its absence. A warm body is a live body: Blood is moving through the vessels, and the chest rises and falls with each breath.
You can observe a feverish child with bright red cheeks and a sweaty brow and know that the blood is involved. It is a fairly simple deduction whether we speak of humoral medicine, Native American medicine, or conventional medicine. Heat can be carried by the air, wind, water, and the rain and dew or food. It can present as hot and damp or hot and dry, both on the land and in the body.
Heat in the body can be caused by too much sun. In a climate where summer temperatures easily reach 100°ree;F for days on end, without the benefit of air conditioning this was a tremendous matter of concern. People could die working out in the fields from sunstroke. Signs of sunstroke include headache, followed by light-headedness and a downward progression from there. Too much sun can touch the mind, cloud the thoughts, and cause stumbling and stuttering. Everyone knew that if you became overheated, you stopped sweating and your body would go into chills. This is dangerous indeed. Nausea, vomiting, and rapid heartbeat followed—at the extreme, death.
Summer’s heat can lead to excess sweating and dehydration, which can lead to stroke. Extreme electrolyte imbalance from loss of minerals can lead to heart attack and nervous system disorders.
Heat in the body could also be a sign of infection or illness. A slight fever engages the immune system and kills pathogens. It’s the body’s natural defense against illness. Children are more prone to fever than adults, and care should be taken to ensure that appropriate fever temperatures are maintained. Caution if the temperature is above 102°ree;F, as children’s fevers can spike pretty fast. Bathing a child in lukewarm water can often bring down a fever. In any situation, appropriate fever management should be initiated.
Heat is also symbolic for inflammation. Normally, inflammation, swelling, and white blood cell release are other protective mechanisms of the immune system. When an area becomes inflamed, blood flow increases to that area and may cause redness, a feeling of heat, and pain. Increased swelling is a sign that the body is doing its job to protect the tissues. If you roll your ankle, the increased swelling and inflammation and accompanying pain are present to make sure that you immobilize the injured joint and stop putting weight on it.
Sometimes, heat in the body, the inflammatory process, gets out of control, for example, with fibromyalgia, which causes pain and stiffness in the muscles. Sometimes, inflammation is present because the body is attacking itself, such as in rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, and other autoimmune disorders. Other causes of heat in the body include excess thyroid activity, hives, chronic illnesses, and physical injury or surgery.
Water is an excellent medium to cool down the body’s heat. As tissues become dry and blood thickens, water is needed to moisten and cool the body and thin and move the blood. This can include both drinking water and bathing it in. Too much heat in the body creates dryness that affects the kidneys, heart, mucous membrane tissues, and the lungs. In the nervous system, heat is reflected as tremors and twitches, zings, and buzzes.
When the body is hot or when the climate is hot, the appetite is diminished. In the hot summer months, folk’s caloric intact is greatly decreased. “It’s just too hot to eat,” they say. The same is true of fever, inflammation, and other heating of the body. It’s best to reduce the intake of food and let the body do its job. As the old saying goes, “Feed a cold and starve a fever.” This is good advice whether it’s the fever of illness or the elevation of body heat due to the environment.
In hyperthyroidism, the appetite may either increase or decrease as the body searches to balance energy output. In extreme heating conditions such as high fever, the body consumes itself for the nutritional resources required to fight off the infection and lower the fever. This is the pri
mary reason that you can be several pounds lighter after an illness. This is a deficiency state, and the body will require rebuilding.
Matthew Wood, author of The Practice of Traditional Western Herbalism, recommends herbal sedatives to reduce the heat of excited tissues, and suggests peach leaf and lemon balm. Personally, I would also add chickweed, passionflower, Solomon’s seal, marshmallow, and slippery elm. Extreme heat can cause dryness and atrophy of tissues. Wood suggests nutritive tonics such as milky oats and cleavers.
Interestingly, in European folk medicine, which developed in a cool and damp climate, the danger was making the body too cold because cold meant death. Here in the South, which is a hot and damp climate, it was more important to reduce the heat by any means possible. This is an important point: Folk medicines developed with the geography and climate of the land. While the principles from one folk medicine practice may be applicable to other areas of the world, we must always keep in mind that climate changes from location to location must be taken into account.
The body produces sweat to stay cool. With a hot and humid climate, the increased moisture in the air slows down the evaporative, cooling process. This is known as the heat index. The outside temperature may be 95°ree;F, but the humidity makes it feel like 101°ree;F. When your body can’t evaporate the sweat to stay cool, the body temperature rises and heat exhaustion and heat stroke result.
Heat is irritating on the body, mind, and spirit. In cold weather, we can always add another layer of clothing to keep us warm, but in the heat, there are only so many clothes we can take off and still be socially acceptable. Heat zaps our energy and drains us dry. It can cause heart palpitations and electrolyte loss. We can’t get enough water, but oddly don’t feel like drinking. Tempers are short and the murder rate climbs. In the heat of the moment, people make rash decisions and may have a prickly heat rash on their body. Sex drive drops, activity level drops, and in the middle of the afternoon, folks just sit around and do nothing or nap. Of course, the controlled environment of air conditioning has changed much of this, but not all. I do encourage that if a person works outdoors in the heat, not to have their air conditioning set too low at home. Let the body adjust and give it time to do so by having a little higher indoor temperature, say 76 to 80°ree;F degrees.
Women suffer more in the heat than men, the reverse of winter. Women’s bodies are less able to disperse the heat or to cool down as quickly at night due to their subcutaneous layer of fat. Night cooling during the hot summer is important for recuperation, and without it, heat exhaustion and death can occur. Historically, more women have died in heat waves than men, and women are more susceptible to exhaustion, headaches, and fainting in the heat. The summer pulse is not too different from the winter pulse; it is strong and somewhat fast. But in the summer, the pulse is closer to the surface and not as deep.
You’ll notice that some of the herbs that were mentioned as heating the body are also included in the cooling section. Herbs that make you sweat can have the effect of cooling the body, depending upon the method of application. For example, in the winter if you take cayenne, it will increase circulation and warm the body, but will not make you sweat due to the relative environmental temperature. A little trick for cold weather is to put cayenne powder in your shoes. It will warm the feet and improve circulation without taking it internally. On the other hand, in the summer when the relative temperature is much, much warmer, taking or eating cayenne will cause you to sweat; the sweat evaporates, creating a cooling effect.
Another little herbal trick: If you drink peppermint, spearmint, or sage tea hot, it warms the body and increases circulation. If you drink the tea at room temperature, it cools the body. So, warm drinks in winter and room temperature drinks in the summer.
Foods may carry heat or cause heat when eaten. Foods that carry heat include any cooked foods or hot beverages. Just a cup of hot water can heat the body and stimulate the digestion and blood. This makes warm drinks good in the winter, but too heating in the summer.
Herbs that reduce fever include blue vervain, black cohosh, skullcap, lobelia, plantain, slippery elm, elder, peppermint, yarrow, boneset, cornsilk, bilberry, and dandelion, to name a few.
Herbs that cool the body, taken as a room-temperature tea, include sumac, sourwood, red raspberry leaves and fruit, ground ivy, peppermint, black cohosh, spearmint, cayenne, blue vervain, catnip, sage, thyme, and all traditional fruits and berries such as peaches, citrus fruits, watermelons, muskmelons, cantaloupe, and other melons.
Cold
Cold is associated with mucus. When it’s cold outside, there is a tendency for the body to produce mucus as protection from the irritation. Like heat, cold can be carried by the air, wind, water, and the rain and dew or food. It can be cold and damp or cold and dry; both on the land or in the body. It is associated with an over-relaxed tissue state.
Moving the mucus is of vital importance; mucus that doesn’t move causes congestion of an area. Stagnant, constricted, unmoving mucus reduces the flow of blood and lymph, which further perpetuates the stagnation and the ensuing inflammation. Stagnant mucus is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, whether in the nose, lungs, or gut. Keep that mucus moving!
A cold temperature forces the body to work harder to maintain its core temperature, including shivering to generate heat. Folks will also stamp their feet, flail their arms, and bounce up and down in place to generate heat. Wind chill, a combination of air temperature and wind speed, causes heat to leave the body more rapidly. As the body loses heat, a person may experience confusion, shallow breathing, clumsiness, tiredness, and sleepiness, and ultimately loss of consciousness. The pulse may be weak and irregular, and the heart rate slows. This is an extreme relaxed state. In the early stages, stimulating and heating herbs such as cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, ginger, angelica, smartweed, and prickly ash can help keep the blood moving and warm the body.
When the weather is cold, our appetite increases and we tend to eat more. Calories are heat, and when we are cold, whether from the external temperature or internal processes, we’ll automatically take in more calories or conserve energy and calories to increase heat. This is why we gravitate toward high-calorie, nutritionally poor food when we are cold or in a nutritionally deficient state; it is quick heat and energy. Eating high-calorie simple carbohydrates to increase heat can also increase an already deficient state. Ideally, we should train ourselves to reach for the nutritionally dense foods such as good protein sources, root vegetables, whole grains, green vegetables, and fruits to help stay healthy and avoid illness. Unfortunately, it’s easier to reach for the mashed potatoes, pasta, cakes, pies, and cookies.
Cold can be created in the body as a result of deficiency. The aftereffects and recovery from acute illness, injury, or surgery can drain the body of vital nutrients and vital energy, creating coolness and a deficiency state. As the person begins recovery from the acute condition and regains strength, the blood moves and warmth returns to the limbs and energy to the body.
Cold denotes the absence of life, and this can occur in stages beginning with coolness. Chronic illness, such as hypothyroidism, and other deficiency diseases deplete the body of strength, vitality, and nutrients, leading to cold. The hands are cold, the feet are cold, and the back shivers. Energy is extremely low. The blood isn’t moving or is nutritionally poor. The lymph thickens and moves slowly around the body, creating dampness and congestion in vessels and nodes. Blood pressure may be low in the beginning but higher as the heart works to move the blood. The body needs heat, movement, and nutrients for recovery. A warm sweater, a tweak of the thermostat, a walk around the block, or an extra blanket in the evenings are all warranted in this situation. If you are cold, create an artificial warmth until your body can produce its own heat. Continuing to feel cold will only drain you further and create more deficiency.
Cold is sedating on the body, mind, and spirit. The heart and the brain struggle to operate at peak efficiency during cold
weather. Cold weather can create isolation as people tend to stay indoors or limit time outdoors. Winter is the traditional time to recharge, reflect, and rest. While humans don’t actually hibernate, cold temperatures and shorter days encourage us to stay in and reduce socialization (except for holidays). You may have noticed that during the winter when the days are shorter, you want to sleep longer and require more rest. At 8 p.m. in the winter, you might feel that you are ready for a good night’s sleep, while at 8 p.m. in the summer, you are still full of energy. Energy levels are down in winter, the thyroid is busy keeping us warm, and we have little energy to spare for robust activity.
In the winter, men suffer more than women. Men feel the cold less readily than women but can’t maintain a constant core temperature quite as easily. Women feel colder sooner but it is a surface cold, a skin cold, and women shiver sooner than men. Women have the ability to maintain a more constant core temperature due to a thicker layer of subcutaneous fat. This difference in how men and women experience cold will be reflected in the pulse. Here, the male pulse may feel strong and somewhat faster as the circulatory system shifts blood flow patterns to accommodate the colder weather by constricting blood vessels. A woman’s pulse will feel deeper, but still somewhat fast.
There are more heart attacks in winter. Cold weather makes the heart work harder. It’s a good idea, if you work out, to exercise in a heated environment. The heart has to work extra hard to exercise and keep the circulation moving in the winter temperatures. Shoveling snow is not your best form of exercise and is a known trigger for heart attack. Nor is jogging in the freezing cold a good idea either.
Elderly people, who already have sluggish circulation, may feel a slight strain as the heart beats faster to reduce the effects of the cold. Older folks tend to compensate for the cold, on both the brain and the heart, by increasing the temperature in their homes and wearing extra layers of clothes. The blood is a bit thicker due to the cold and age which tends to increase the strain on the heart. Traditionally, winter was the time of eating stored grains and meats, foods high in fat and salt. Circulating fats in the blood also make for thicker blood. Thick blood slows down blood flow and makes the heart work harder. One of the reasons for the traditional spring cleanse was to thin the blood and move the accumulated winter fats.
Southern Folk Medicine Page 19
