Herbal Report

So Michelle and I went the entire summer without taking prescription or over-the-counter allergy medicines. Instead, we took twice daily a concoction of lemon juice, lemon oil and peppermint oil. And while others of our acquaintance reported an average to mildly severe allergy season, I know personally I went only three or four days when I felt that allergic tingle in my nose, only to have it fade away.

So I think we can call the herbal medicine allergy cure a success.

And it's not all from simply wishing it so. I purposely went a week over the course of the summer without taking the stuff, just to see what would happen. Gradually over that week, my allergic symptoms returned. They never got to full-blown strength, but I could certainly tell the difference that week I didn't take the lemon stuff. That's hardly a scientific proof, of course, but it tells me enough to suppose that the lemon stuff had some curative or preventative power.

Now, as for the rosemary on the warts -- less success. I still have five warts on my thumb. Part of that may be my fault, as I have not been as faithful taking the rosemary as I had the lemon. But I have to grant the rosemary this: It's at least as effective as the OTC anti-wart stuff I tried earlier. Sure, that stuff made the warts disappear. But they always grew back. The rosemary has slowly made them shrink. They're not gone, but they're not growing bigger, nor are they multiplying. So maybe there's something to it. It's not surprising -- rosemary has a salicyclic acid derivative that's similar to the acids in the OTC wart remover.

Side effect-wise, however, I have to give the herbal stuff full marks. With the generic Claritin I was taking for my allergies, I got tingly fingers and the occasional dizzy spell. With the lemon stuff, no discernable side effects. The OTC wart stuff never did cause any side effects, and neither has the rosemary.