Jan Illingworth Naturopath

16/12/2025

There is a herb for every ailment known to man. Hundreds of herbs have been used medicinally for thousands of years to be tried, tested and true. Herbs, because of their antioxidant and nutrient makeup are able to strengthen and support bodily systems to repair. They are easy to digest and metabolise and have far fewer side effects than pharmaceuticals. Synthetic chemicals do not actually fix the problem, they are just symptom alleviating. Because of their toxic makeup, they often accumulate and overwhelm the body. They are tested on 35 year old men, so if one is young, a woman or elderly they are not designed for those makeups. If one is over 60 years old and feel the need to take orthodox drugs; 1. Have them reviewed every 6 months, 2. Have a reduced dose as the bodies systems are slower at metabolising and excreting the toxins, 3. Take a good multi vitamin & mineral because the drugs uses up the bodies nutrients and energy in their metabolism and 4. make sure that they are researched to be forewarned as the the inevitable side effects and long term outcomes. i.e. statins are known to accelerate ageing and dementia. Yes, there are herbs for that too.

09/12/2025

30/11/2025

Lately I have been seeing people presenting with fatigue, muscle wasting and general weakness. They have a common thread of being vegan/vegetarian. They also work, some have children, have the usual busy lives and are aneamic. Getting enough nutrients is nigh on impossible if one works or has a physical job. One needs to graze all day to get enough nutrients by eating vegetables, seeds, nuts, grains and constantly make up this shortfall. Eating bread and pasta does not cut it and many people are not good with flour and processed carbohydrates in general. Also, there are many vegan options in the supermarket these day like facon and vegie burgers which again are highly processed with added chemicals. Stick to natural foods. These are termed as 2nd class proteins as they are not as high as meat, Unfortunately for vegan/vegetarians, we are omniviours, we need these 1st class proteins as this is our makeup. Even at least once a week have an amount of organic meat to make up the shortfall. Love your love of animals, but if you are suffering heart failure that is not good for you as an animal.

18/10/2025

Zurich, yes l know, another awesome botanical garden, but it was. Great diversity and labelling (even in German). All areas from around the planet with excellent hot houses. Good medical, culinary, dyeing and agriculture herbs and their uses. This was the new garden (they have two BGs) with the old gardens closer to town being pretty good too with views over the city. Well worth being here.

04/10/2025

Gingko biloba. Originally from China with only the fruit used in TCM. Western medicine has found the leaves a circulatory enhancer making it valuable for many conditions that have capillaries involved like dementia, heart, kidney and liver insufficiency. Much research has shown that Gingko reduces agitation and improves cognitive dementia function. The fruit only forms on the female tree which when ripe exudes a vomit like smell that can permeate everything. The female tree in the Amiens Botanic Gardens was at least 10 metres high so l told my husband that ours was the smaller male.

02/10/2025

The best botanic garden is in Amiens: France, beds of herbs in their symptom categories making it very understandable even in French. There was also beds with sections on agriculture, cereals, dyeing and fabrics (l did note there was no h**p) making it well worth the visit especially with a baguette and beer.

19/09/2025

Sage: Salvia off. A great herb to have in the garden, both for culinary for anything savoury especially with pork and potatoes, as well as medicinal. For digestive and chest issues but sage’s main use is as a hormonal balancing agent to reduce hot flushes/flashes with menopause. Pictured is the usual sage with purple sage.

13/09/2025

Lovely BG at Edgbaston Good hot house and pollinator plants. Pleasant diversion from the still depressed city.

11/09/2025

The first botanical garden in the UK: Oxford University for the study of medicinal plants. A fairly small area but chockers with well labeled sections and plants including a heated area for those carnivorous plants, waterlilies, cactus and coffee. Well worth a trip to Oxford and you could throw in afew old buildings and pubs.

06/09/2025

Happened upon this wall of weeds while walking to Greyfriars and the Thames. Instead of a lawn, at least 40 weeds have been vertically planted into an irrigated mat of about 100 metres long. All of these weeds are medicinal and some like the dock and sorrel could be eaten. Also added pictures on the wall of the Botanica pub, nice beers too.