| Author |
Message |
    
Dr. Ingrid Naiman (Ingrid)
| | Posted on Saturday, May 13, 2000 - 12:17 am: | |
Several people have asked me whether oil can be substituted for tallow in some of the recipes in my book.
The preliminary answer to this question is "no."
To put my response in perspective, I would like to say that I have been a strict vegetarian for more than 30 years. I do not wittingly consume anything with so much as a trace of an animal product. I do not consume herbs that are contained in gelatin capsules -- I am not a fanatic, but I adhere to my personal choice.
In this context, it is extremely hard to admit that the tallows have a role. In short, oils seem to enhance the penetration of salves. They are good carriers for the herbs and enable the herbs to travel deeper beneath the skin than water-based products.
The function of the tallows is quite different. They act as drawing agents. Patients describe a sense of tugging. As such, tallows tend to promote somewhat faster separation of the eschars from the supporting tissue. Moreover, to the extent that they are usually combined with oils, most often olive oil, they are relatively gentle in their effects.
When used after the eschar has detached, they promote rapid closure and healing of the site, often what I might call "premature closure." Therefore, I suggest use of a product such as my Golden Myrrical once the eschar has separated. The product tends to dissolve surface material and is active for one to five days without promoting any closure of the site. What is valuable in addition to the solvent effect is that the site remains open to inspection for a number of days so that a better determination can be reached as to the wisdom of closure.
This said, what is also probably true is that premature closure is attended by more scarring whereas proper detoxification of the treatment site and full removal of the malignancy allows for truly elegant healing.
So, while I am disgusted as many others by tallow, I have to say that it does the job. I have tried, against the advice of others, some astringent herbs, but they did not have the desired tugging effect.
If I engage in any rationalizations at all over this matter, I would say that I only obtain organic mutton fat from suppliers who have already sacrificed the animal. For them, the fat is worthless. I offer the animal one more possibility for service, not without some inner conflict, but I do freely offer my gratitude.
The smell of slowly melting fat is quite horrible. I usually try to get a carnivore to do the preliminary melting. What remains is a very pure white tallow. I cook the herbs in the tallow and add essential oils as the product cools. |
Peter Byram
| | Posted on Monday, May 15, 2000 - 11:41 pm: | |
Ingrid, et al.
Then the question is this "if you are not dealing with an eschar and are instead attempting to gain some relief from non-cancerous fibrous masses, is the 'drawing' property of the tallow just as important in terms of 'moving' the mass to a place the body can dispose of it?" As we have discussed off list, the specific salve I am quite interested in is Hildegard's Sweet Violet Salve that calls for billy goat tallow, and my first inclination is that it is not, but after the start of this discussion I am wondering if even my "settling" for mutton tallow might need to be rethought.
A companion question is whether it might be possible to use light penetrating oils infused with something that will carry them in mixed with clay which has drawing power similar to tallow properties for those that are strict vegans. I don't have the same aversion to animal products as youself and many others do, but very much would like to be able to honor the preferences of some of my clients that do. |
Dr. Ingrid Naiman (Ingrid)
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 16, 2000 - 04:18 pm: | |
Peter,
The short answer is that I am not 100% sure of all the nuances here. This much I can say. I have, in fact, tried clay as well as astringent herbs. What I believe happens in these situations is that some detoxification does probably occur through the skin, but clay and astringents are more drying and unpredictable than tallow, at least where eschars are concerned.
If the question is whether they are useful where a mass that is quite different from an eschar, I might equivocate a bit.
What I mean is that the escharotic and enucleating processes are very specific in that a mass is actually separated, in its entirety, from the supporting tissue. The hardness is removed, not dissolved; and it is removed in such a manner that the body does not have to detoxify through the normal lymphatic and other channels.
If the purpose of an ointment is very different, then the penetration that you are addressing is important.
The real issue might then be, "What is the objective of the salve?" If you are seeking to separate a mass from the supporting tissue, then you need penetrating oils that carry whatever herbs might interfere with the support system for the mass. By this I mean that if the mass is supported by extra blood supply, you might need something with anti-angiogenic properties. If it is supported by fermentation, you may want to use something that arrests the fermentation. You can easily see where this is leading.
If you want to dissolve a fibrous mass, you may need something with that capacity plus something to help move the liquefied portion of the mass away from the site. Then, the question arises as to whether this is best drawn out through the skin with clay (or tallow) or flushed through the system with lymphatic stimulating herbs?
Interesting questions and lots of room for experimentation. |
|