Formules d'antan : énurésie (Jean Valnet)

Hello, I don't know if it happens to you to take out old books on medicinal plants from your library, to leaf through them in a somewhat arbitrary way, to take a page at random, a chapter, and to see what it contains, and then to immerse yourself in all this experience of the past. I really like to do that, and then I always learn a lot of things. So often we will come across mixtures, formulas, ways of combining plants that we don't understand very well, we don't see the logic, and I'm always used to saying, I'm not in the author's head, and then often the author is no longer in this world, and so I can't really contact him and understand why he made these suggestions. But right after that, I go back and I say to myself, in fact, this is an excellent opportunity to put our knowledge into practice. And so if we took some of these old formulas and grilled some neurons on them, try to explain them with our knowledge today, even if it's not perfect, in any case it's a good exercise. So that's what I'm going to do with you today, I don't know if you'll find it interesting, you tell me. So it's going to be a lot of speculation of course, because in the end, I don't really know why the author combined this or that plant. I'm going to try to guess, to extrapolate, to play a little detective, but I won't be able to be sure. So the book I selected today, I talk to you about it a lot, it's the Valney, the phytotherapy. So here I have a 2001 edition, here I have a slightly more vintage edition, which dates from 1979. I'm used to saying that the Valney is a very simple book in appearance. And it's true that if you browse the pages, you'll see it's very simple, there are the plants, there are the tips, the grammar. And not more than that, but in fact it's one of the most complicated books to really understand, because Valney doesn't give us the keys to interpretation. He doesn't tell us why he chose these tips. And then I also took this book because it's not too old either, and we're not going to find delicate plants to use. And then anyway, I didn't choose mixes that are delicate to handle. So before starting this discussion, I remind you of two important things. First of all, I am not a doctor, I am not a pharmacist, I am not a health professional. I am here to share two or three little things that I think I have understood about medicinal plants. But this does not replace a medical follow-up, you do not have the vocation to be in a diagnosis or prescription or other medical act. And last point, to register for my free information letter, receive the small gift booklet, the link is under this episode. That said, let's start. So the mix I chose is for enuresis, and therefore pee in bed. And here we are going to assume that the child is already of a certain age and that the situation is considered problematic. For example, the child no longer wants to go to sleep with friends or does not want to go on vacation etc. So I'm going to describe the mix to you here, and I also refer you to my site in the article associated with this episode, in which I will put the mix. So you don't need to note all this. So we have in the mix of Valnais, 1000 per tui, 10 grams, so Ipericum perforatum. So 10 grams, here we are talking about the amount of dry plants, when it is not mentioned in a book, we always talk about the weighting of dry plants. So 10 grams, 1000 per tui. Millefeuille, so here we are talking about Achilles or Achilles, Millefeuille, Achillea millefolium, 10 grams. Genevrier, Juniperus communis, the cones that we also call the bays of Geneva, 10 grams. Then we have Renouée, so you have to understand here Renouée des oiseaux, polygonum avicularis, 20 grams. And finally Potentia, and here you have to understand Potentia anserina, 30 grams. The mix will be taken in the form of decoction because of 2 cups per day. So Valnais does not give us the quantities of the mix per cup unfortunately, but in general if we follow the principles of traditional and popular herbalism, we will say that it is roughly one tablespoon of this mix per cup. Ok, so we have 5 plants, I think you know some of these plants like the 1000 per tui, the Achilles millefolium, the Juniperus communis, and others perhaps a little less known like the Renouée des oiseaux or the Potentia anserina. But in any case, know that they are all common in our countries and are generally available in many herbalistories and shops. So why this choice? Why did Valnais choose these plants and why in these proportions? This is the question we will try to answer in this episode. We will start with the strongest proportion which is represented by Potentia anserina. If my calculations are correct, we have about 37.5% of the mix. So this is the most important plant here. Potentia is especially known for its strong concentration in tannin. Yes, because it belongs to the large family of rosaceae and that always attracts us. Because rosaceae are a very rich family in tannin. We think that this plant can contain up to 10% of its dry weight, which is quite significant in the world of plants. So these tannins act in a very particular way on the mucous membranes. They have an effect that we call tonic on the mucous membranes. So mucous membranes that are a little bit loose, that lack elasticity, that lack solidity. And for the urinary system, because that's what we're talking about here, we could see the problem of enuresis as a problem of mucous, of pipes, of sphincters that don't do their job very well. Which relaxes a little too much at night. So we're going to tannin them a little bit, we're going to tighten them up. I think you see the logic. So that's for Potentia. Then we have the renewal of the birds, which represents 25% of the mixture. So that's our plant number 2. So here it gets a little complicated because we have a plant that contains a little bit of tannin, a little bit of mucilage, flavonoids, minerals. So we're going to say that it's a little bit less one-dimensional than Potentia. For us, at least, who like to store things in drawers. So there it is in a lot of drawers. So Potentia is rich in minerals. And that, mineralization, I'll talk about it a little later because you'll see it's an important point. Here we will note that the renewal, from a mineral point of view, contains silica, a slightly particular mineral. I'll come back to that in a few minutes. Based on the constituents of the renewal, we say to ourselves, we have tannins that will probably reinforce the action of Potentia's tannins in serine. Yes, because we have many types of tannins in nature that will be different depending on the plants. And so they can complement each other in action. And then for the minerals, we'll come back to that a little later. For the mucilage, I don't think it's of great importance here. It could, but I'm going to close the parenthesis of the mucilage very quickly. Then, to renew it, so always with this plant, we actually see a rather marked diuretic action. And that's interesting because we wonder why we would want to urinate this person who already has trouble staying awake at night. And again, we'll come back to that because you'll see, there's a logic. But for now, we're going to move on to the next plant. The juniper, with its cones, the little black balls that you find in the choucroute. Well, the juniper is known for a lot of things, but it's a great medicinal plant. Digestive plant, anti-inflammatory plant, particular in particular. But here I think I know why Valné chose it here. Because it is very diuretic. So at this stage, we're going to take a little break and we're going to talk about the diuretic effect for enuresis. If you have a person who pees in bed, you're going to want to counterbalance the tendency by forcing a little bit of pee during the day. And so, wouldn't it be wise to make sure that the bladder is as empty as possible before nightfall? And so, it will assume that the mixture will be taken during the day and not in the evening. And that's an important point. We want to create a diuretic effect during the day, far from the moment when the child goes to bed. So Valné doesn't mention this at all in the text. As I was saying, he only gives us very few details in this book. But in practice, that's what we're going to do. We would rather take it in the morning, maybe in the middle or late afternoon, not later. And then limit fluid consumption, of course, as we get closer to going to bed. And we will ideally test during a period of vacation, of course, to see what it looks like. OK, so we found a logic for the Genevrier. And so, to renew it, because we saw that it was diuretic too. And by the way, it made us think about when to take the herbal tea during the day. So we have two plants left to go through. And we're going to start with the simplest, the Mylpertuis. So why the Mylpertuis here? If you have already accompanied a child who is maybe 10 or 11 or 12 years old and still pees in bed. And you know a little bit about Mylpertuis. I don't think I need to make you a drawing. There is stress in this home, quite simply. The child is probably ashamed. He is still apprehending a new night during which he may soak the sheets. The parents may be a little tired of it. They have tried different methods. Some less judicious than others in terms of encouragement or the opposite of pseudo-humiliation. But be careful here, my goal is not to judge anything. I just want to clearly put the following point on the table. There is obvious stress. And the Mylpertuis, well, it brings us a little sun in these tense situations. Because it has relaxing, anxiolytic, antidepressant properties. It induces a better sleep. And so overall, the choice will seem clear to us here. And we end with the Mylpertuis. So the Mylpertuis is one of those plants that can do so many things. If you take the books, the classics. So many things that we have a little trouble positioning it at the start. So we're going to try to pick two or three properties that call us. So already the diuretics, we've already talked about that. But what strikes me the most here is its ability to circulate. And we are talking about both arterial and blood circulation. It is a large decongestant plant, the Mylpertuis. So a plant that makes sure that there is not too much blood stasis in a particular part of the body. So is aneurysm accompanied by abdominal congestion? It is possible. And in this context, the Mylpertuis will circulate. Ensuring that the whole area is better fed and better drained. So here are all the properties of the Mylpertuis. It is the one that I will remember, it is the one that speaks to me the most. As I told you, there is a good speculative part in everything I explain to you. So in the end, in this mixture, we acted on the tonicity of the mucous membranes of the sphincter tubes. On the evacuation of liquids during the day to ensure that in the evening the bladder is relieved and not under pressure. On the circulation, the decongestation of the small basin and on the nervous system. And after the mixture, in the book, Valné gives us two really very brief but very important information. And it's just there exposed in just a few words and so we would tend to go over it a little too quickly and focus only on the mixture of plants. But it would be a mistake because at Valné, every word counts. So first he tells us remineralizing. Just one word. What he means here is to add plants rich in minerals. So diverse and varied minerals, calcium, magnesium, potassium, silicon. Why? Well, first of all, because these minerals are essential for good health of the nervous system. So we come back to this goal of stabilizing the state of the nerves before going to bed. But then, because they are what we call restructuring these minerals. That is, they allow the construction of quality tissue. Silicium in particular is essential to build collagen, to ensure that the mucous membranes, the tubes, the vessels are solid. And that's the point I gave you a few minutes ago on renewal. I told you that it was rich in siliceous minerals in particular. Well, here we are restructuring the urinary system, maybe if there is a lack of minerals. So if we could add a little something, like nettle leaf powder, very rich in minerals, why not? A teaspoon of powder in a compote, for example, that would be a plus. And the last piece of information, which is not directly related to plants, just let go of it briefly, by the way, I love it, and good family atmosphere. You can imagine that here we have a whole work that is certainly out of context. Plants that the parents and the child approach the situation in a way without feeling guilty, etc. So my conclusions of all this, I say to myself, wow, what finesse! Valné gives us a generic mix for urethritis, because at this stage he does not know the person of course. And based on his evaluation of the person, he would have probably adjusted this mix, removed, added small things. But here already for a generic situation of urethritis, it is super well thought out, with a work on multiple axes. Well, on our side, it's Valné, so we know very well that he is not going to give us something at random. Valné, it's Valné, it's a bit like our Cyril Lignac of medicinal plants. And I'm not telling you that because I have a strong addiction to chocolate at all. In any case, this kind of little exercise, I love it. Sorry if I dragged you into my little geek delirium of plants, I just hope I have awakened in you the curious spirit of the detective, a little bit of a player too. We want to open the box to see what's inside, see some surprises by the way. In any case, if you want to understand the practice of good herbs over time, these old books will give you a very good exercise book. And especially a lot of thread to twist, because I can tell you that I selected today the mix that I more or less managed to understand, but there are plenty of others. If we could display a huge question mark on my head, it would be a good reflection of the situation. The mix today, you should know that it is about a quarter of a single page of the 80 pages of the book's form. The form is the part of the book that gives us a list of mixes for different situations. In any case, it's time to mix, to build a program, that's what we call formulation. And I talk about it in my program Introduction to the Practice of Herbalism for those who want to go further. Thank you for being there, I'll see you soon for a new episode.