Harriet Botanicals, Author at Harriet Botanicals

22
Jul

Loneliness, Cortisol, and Blood Sugar in the Elderly: The Overlooked Metabolic Crisis

Harriet Botanicals / 3 weeks
0
4 min read

There is a growing health crisis in Kenya’s elderly population that receives almost no attention in the metabolic health conversation. It is not a dietary problem. It is not a movement problem. It is a human connection problem. And its physiological consequences — sustained cortisol elevation, worsening insulin resistance, accelerated ageing — are devastating. Social […]

16
Jul

When the Body Speaks Early: Premature Ovarian Insufficiency and Your Heart

Harriet Botanicals / 4 weeks
0
3 min read

In the Rift Valley, our grandmothers understood something modern medicine is only now confirming in laboratories: a woman’s cycle is not separate from the rest of her body. It is woven into her bones, her mood, her skin — and, as we now know with certainty, her heart. For most women, menopause arrives gently, somewhere […]

14
Jun

Tendwet & Botanical Heritage

Harriet Botanicals / 2 months
0
11 min read

Tendwet, Prunus Africana, and the Tree the World’s Pharmacies Depend On Somewhere on the slopes of Mount Kenya, the Aberdares, or the forests bordering the Mau, an African cherry tree (Prunus africana) is quietly doing something extraordinary. Its bark contains a complex chemistry that has been used by Kenyan communities for generations to support men’s […]

11
Jun

Fighting UTIs Without Antibiotics: The Botanical Protocol That Actually Works

Harriet Botanicals / 2 months
0
4 min read

If you have had a urinary tract infection, you know the misery of it. The burning, the urgency, the constant feeling that something is wrong. And if you have had recurrent UTIs—two, three, or more per year—you are also familiar with the exhausting antibiotic cycle: take a course, feel better, return a few weeks later […]

28
May

From PCOS To PMOS: What the Name Change Means for Millions of Women

Harriet Botanicals / 3 months
0
4 min read

If you have ever been told you have polycystic ovarian syndrome, you may have spent years wondering why you don’t actually seem to have cysts, or why a condition named after your ovaries affects so much more than just your reproductive system. Turns out, you were right to be confused. The name was wrong. On […]

30
May

Sugar and Inflammation

Harriet Botanicals / 4 years
0
5 min read

What is Sugar? (Free Sugars) This sweet-tasting condiment is a form of carbohydrate that the body converts to glucose. Today we consume way more added sugars than the generations did before us. At times it seems unavoidable as most processed foods contain sugar in one form or another. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, […]

24
Mar

Female Sex Hormones

Harriet Botanicals / 4 years
0
4 min read

What are Hormones? A hormone is a chemical messenger that is secreted (or released) into our bloodstream by specific organs known as glands – three are found in the brain and seven in the rest of the body. They regulate or control many different processes in our body, including blood glucose levels, metabolism, the water […]

05
Mar

Misuse of P2

Harriet Botanicals / 4 years
0
3 min read

The Emergency Contraceptive The emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) is also known as the morning-after pill or Plan B (popularly referred to as P2 in Kenya) and can be found under different brand names. It is used in an ‘emergency’ situation and contains levonorgestrel, a form of progestogen, to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse within […]

13
Nov

Plant-based Milk Alternatives

Harriet Botanicals / 5 years
0
5 min read

Plant-based Milk Alternatives All About Dairy Once weaning is done, we may develop a sensitivity to lactose because our digestive systems develop to digest a wider range of complex foods. The digestive enzyme responsible for breaking down the milk sugar lactose is called lactase and decreases in all mammals including humans, once we stop breastfeeding. […]

18
Oct

Natural Herbs and Supplements for Diabetes

Harriet Botanicals / 5 years
0
4 min read

What is Diabetes? Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that causes sugar (glucose) to accumulate in the blood rather than being used as fuel by the cells. When we eat, food passes through our digestive tract. Carbohydrates and sugars are turned into glucose. The pancreas produces a hormone called insulin, when blood glucose rises, insulin is […]

18
Oct

Natural Ways to Support Your Detox

Harriet Botanicals / 5 years
0
6 min read

What is a Detox? Detoxification means cleansing the blood. This is done by removing impurities from the blood in the liver where toxins are processed for elimination through our skin bladder and gut. When we exercise or perform physical activities that make us sweat, it helps our bodies detox heavy metals, eliminate chemicals and promote […]

29
Aug

Andropause

Harriet Botanicals / 5 years
0
4 min read

The Male Menopause? Have you ever wondered what the male equivalent of menopause (‘manopause’) is? It’s known as andropause. Defined as a syndrome associated with a decrease in sexual satisfaction or a decline in a feeling of general well-being with low levels of testosterone in older men. This decline can start for some from age […]

23
Aug

Keeping Safe During Covid

Harriet Botanicals / 5 years
0
4 min read

We are in this Together The fatigue around the Covid-19 pandemic is evident. The reality is that it is still very much tangible and spreading among us, new variants abound. It is increasingly difficult when there is no remedy or cure in sight. There are only treatments for now, but the most effective way is […]

16
Aug

The Sweet Goodness of Sugarcane

Harriet Botanicals / 5 years
0
3 min read

What are the benefits? Sweet like sugarcane. A tropical perennial grass (Saccharum officinarum) of the family Poaceae is commonly processed as sugar. It is also used to make ethanol and biofuel, and cane fibres are fodder for livestock. Most medical and nutritional experts advise keeping sugar intake to a minimum as our bodies can only […]

07
Aug

More Tea? Yes Please!

Harriet Botanicals / 5 years
0
8 min read

Getting The Tea Herbal tea is a term applied to natural products steeped like tea but not from the Camellia sinensis plant. They are made from plants, flowers, roots, spices and herbs dried to create a wonderful variety of tastes and different health properties. These include chamomile tea, peppermint tea, rooibos tea, lavender tea, hibiscus […]

03
Jul

The Mighty Greens; Moringa, Spirulina and Chlorella.

Harriet Botanicals / 5 years
0
8 min read

Moringa There has been a global demand for this miracle tree known as Moringa oleifera, or horseradish tree or the drumstick tree, and it has made headlines for good reason. This affordable and nutritious plant native to Asia and Africa, grows as a shrub in a lot of semi-arid areas and has been consumed as […]

13
Jun

Tea, Yes Please!

Harriet Botanicals / 5 years
0
9 min read

Getting The Tea Did you know that ‘Chai’ is the word for tea in Hindi? The most heartwarming drink and very common in different cultural traditions, tea spans thousands of years and millennia. It originated in southwest China as a medicinal drink and is now enjoyed in all parts of the world. This magnificent drink […]

02
May

Honey We Got You!

Harriet Botanicals / 5 years
0
5 min read

We need bees for our survival quite literally. Apart from helping to maintain our vast food sources as excellent pollinators, they produce honey and by-products that have been used for centuries for the following: Boosting immune function Wound healing Fertility and sexual reproductive health Antimicrobial agent Weight and health management Promoting healthy skin and hair […]

25
Apr

A Gluten Free Guide

Harriet Botanicals / 5 years
0
11 min read

Food can be so technical, but once you understand some basic principles, it gets easy to enjoy and meet your nutritional needs. What exactly is gluten? Gluten is a type of protein found primarily in wheat grains including barley and rye made from a combination of gliadin and glutenin. It gives dough it’s stretchy texture […]

10
Apr

The Wonders of Mushrooms

Harriet Botanicals / 5 years
0
4 min read

The Wonders of Mushrooms Mushrooms, a type of fungus, is considered a wonder food. You might have seen some growing on a wall or in the corner of a damp room, but the edible types are either farmed or foraged in open spaces. An excellent meat alternative, this dynamic flavored food makes part of a […]