Raspberry leaf is just what it sounds like - the dried leaves of raspberry. I'm not sure of the species but apparently they all have a similar effect. This herb tones the uterus and is especially useful during menstruation. It's also got a nice load of vitamins and minerals. So this month I mixed up some Moon Tea. I had a few teabags leftover of the Yogi Tea kind (which is good) so I threw those in with a handful of dried raspberry leaves. (The dryness is an important factor for using raspberry leaves, they develop a toxic chemical during the drying process. While it won't kill you, it sounds like an unpleasant experience nonetheless. http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/andal76.html)
I can't find any websites that I REALLY trust on raspberry leaf but I read that it has a noteable amount of iron, which would be another great reason to use it during the moon cycle. Also high in other vitamins like C, E, and A - I didn't know all that! Excellent. I bought my raspberry leaf from mountainroseherbs.com which is a cool company out here in Oregon that uses organic herbs and uses some great sustainable business practices.
Anyway, when I get my period I usually have really horrific cramps. I typically start taking ibuprofen regularly two days before my period starts and continue to take it throughout the first three days of menstruation. That makes for a good 4 or 5 days taking at least 5 ibuprofen a day. I don't imagine that's good for my liver or stomach, but if you could understand the kind of pain I experience with cramps, you'd think nothing of it. As you can imagine, I hate taking that much medication and have been wanting to find alternative ways to relax the cramps. Using marijuana helps ease the mental tension but doesn't do much for the intense discomfort. I occasionally drink a cup or two of raspberry leaf tea, but this month I decided to try out some serious dosage of the herb. Most herbal remedies, from what I understand, need to be taken regularly over long periods to have any real effects.
So I took out my little steeper, threw a handful of raspberry leaf in there and covered it with boiling water. Fifteen minutes later I poured that into a jug with ice and re-covered the leaves with more water. When that had steeped I put it into the jug and topped it off with water. I put a little less than a quarter cup of agave nectar in for sweetener (agave doesn't make your blood sugar spike like sugar does so I've been using it instead). I think the container I use is around half a gallon or a little less. A couple days before I was due for my period I started taking a bottle to work with me every day and having a cup or two at night. It seems like as soon as I wake up in the morning and get my body moving around, the cramps hit, so the first morning of my period I did take 2 ibuprofen. Then, to help avoid cramps in the middle of the night, I take two before bed. Now, usually I have to take between 3 and 5 more during the time in between for at least the first 2 days of my period.
This time, however, I took only 5 each day - 2 in the morning, 1 for maintenance, and 2 before bed. I only needed to do this for two days and experienced bad cramps for only about half an hour on the second day. Any other discomfort was minor, including bloating, and breast pain. And for the first time in years I experienced no lower back pain in the first few days! I continued drinking the iced tea right on through the first three days and I think at this point I may only make one more batch, if any at all.
I can't believe how well this herb worked. I'd really like to try the others - cramp bark and mugwort in specific - to see how they compare. Ultimately I'd like to put together an herbal tea of my own and perhaps sell it. It's an incredible tonic and the results of my little herbal experiment exceeded my expectations by far. If you've tried it, leave me a comment and let me know your experiences! Thanks for reading. :)
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