So as I expect many of you know my son James is running/competing in the Beijing Great Wall Marathon, (in a few days time). His first marathon and he chooses probably one of the toughest, as you can see on the left…. and training in and around Beijing is not easy, the heat, unbelievable smog and dust, it isn’t a marathon I would even attempt! However, one of the best oils to help with all those steps, (and we are not talking ordinary steps, these are steep steps that even when walking cause your knees to creak) – is PLAI, yes I’m shouting, PLAI (Zingiber cassumunar). Second to none as an anti-inflammatory, pain reliever – research has revealed it is fifteen times more effective than diclofenic (Voltarol), and I’ll whisper this, ssshhh – it really helps with the mobility, although I cannot make this claim on my literature.
James has been religiously using Plai mixed with Calendula carrier oil, both pre and post training, in conjunction with the Healing Oils Joint Gel, this has kept his knees from seizing up. In fact I had to send emergency supplies to him on our return to replenish his stocks.
What’s so amazing about this oil, well, although it is from the ginger family, the clue is in the Latin name, the oil provides a wonderful coolness not heat that is usually associated with ginger. The last thing anyone should have on an inflamed joint is heat, fine you may think at first to relieve the pain, but boy when the heat penetrates it encourages the throbbing pain. So Plai, my all time favourite, acts as this cool anti-inflammatory, massaged in either with gel or oil gives great pain relief to those arthritic joints, stiff muscles from training or lack of use, when blended with Orange and Laurel it can also relieve the symptoms of IBS amongst a host of other complaints/conditions.

For the readers who want the chemical compositions, I will happily send out a leaflet if you fill out  the Contact Us form

Wow, where do I start – a blank canvas to fill and after a week back from an amazing trip to Beijing I’ve ever 

He introduced us to ‘his tea lady’ where for the majority of the time I had my nose in huge tins of various aromas and concoctions, teas for stomach, teas for cleansing, health, liver, kidneys, clarity, oh boy, I was in my element. However my sleep pattern in UK is never good, my brain far too active and too many issues going on (in Beijing I slept like a top), so Question –  ’A tea for sleep?” Answer – “Lavender or Chamomile” so you see we are all singing from the same hymn sheet the world over. 

In the end I seemed to spend a fortune and plumped for some amazing hard round balls of dried Jasmine flowers, organic green tea which bears no resemblance to the green tea here in the UK, some peach tea for the digestive system and some cleansing tea, oh and some slices of dried lemon that smelled as fresh as if they had just been picked.
And of course what you all want to know is the results of all this tea drinking – at the risk of giving ‘too much information’ my peach tea worked like a dream, the Jasmine balls unfurled gently in the hot water as if coming out of captivity, almost too beautiful to drink, the green tea I have yet to try (it isn’t one of my favourites) and the lemon added to hot water in the mornings tastes divine.

This evening, having acquired an even more spicy palette and a wealth of Chinese food from our Oriental shop (not in Saltash) but Plymouth a veritable feast will be on the table, washed down of course with soothing tea – (or maybe even a Chinese beer).