You know that girl who's always munching kale from a Tupperware while you sneak another Haribo from your desk drawer? Or who always has a tip for moisturizing your face with, like, sesame seed oil she got from a holistic healer upstate? Who loves and makes fun of Gwyneth in equal measure? That’s Sky! In SKY HIGH ON HEALTH, she reports on nutritional, wellness, and green lyfe fads both crazy and helpful.
Sun’s Organic Tea & Herb on Bayard Street in Chinatown will fill you with a sense of total possibility. When you walk into the shop, you are surrounded by hundreds of glass canisters, which sit on shelves that cover every inch of wall and floor space. Each canister has a handwritten label detailing the ingredients and healing properties of the contents inside. When I went there with my friend Paul this winter, I actually felt like a kid in a candy shop! Except instead of the jars being full of candy... They're full of some sh*t that looks like dirt.
Sun is the wonderfully wise woman who owns the shop. We talked to her a little bit about the column and she walked us through some of her favorite remedies. I told her about my problems with eczema as a child and how my mother would source potential cures from all over the world hoping to heal me. One of my most distinct memories was visiting an herbal medicine shop similar to Sun’s to fill a “prescription” given to me by a witch doctor—let’s just say, drinking Bug Tea is an experience I will never forget. Hoping there were no hidden critters that Sun might push on me, I scanned the room. A jar stashed away in the corner caught my eye—”Sea Buckthorn Powder.” Perhaps you’ve heard about the sea buckthorn or maybe, like me, you came across a tiny bottle of sea buckthorn pills at Whole Foods and senselessly paid an exorbitant amount of money for what you realized, only after purchasing, was a ten day supply? #Prettyhurts. Yikes. But I’d rather go broke testing natural skin care supplements than risk potential toxins in over-the-counter pharmaceuticals. As we all know—there’s no glow like a natural glow.
So, back to the sea buckthorn. In case you haven't seen it, it’s a shrub with these electric orange berries that contain the most potent amount of vitamin C you can get from any one source. The bioactive compounds in the berry are used extensively in dermatology—anti-aging face creams, lotions and sun care, as the berry extract is thought to absorb UV rays. There are so many Internet rumors about this plant: it was the sea buckthorn berry that gave Pegasus, the mythical winged horse of Greek mythology, his ability to fly! Legend also has it that the sea buckthorn gave the many troops of Genghis Khan’s army the strength they needed to conquer so much of Asia and Europe. My favorite is the claim that Russian cosmonauts took sea buckthorn supplements to protect against radiation in space. Let's go to the moon!
Sun’s suggestion was that I try something called ‘Shilajik’—her go-to remedy. The label claims to “arrest aging” and “produce rejuvenated body cells.” Sounded intriguing enough but she followed up with, “heals any ailment.” “...Any ailment???” I asked. “What do you mean?” Sun winked at me: “Trust me, I drink this everyday.” So we packed up some sea buckthorn power, some magic dirt or &lsqu
Sun’s Organic Tea & Herb on Bayard Street in Chinatown will fill you with a sense of total possibility. When you walk into the shop, you are surrounded by hundreds of glass canisters, which sit on shelves that cover every inch of wall and floor space. Each canister has a handwritten label detailing the ingredients and healing properties of the contents inside. When I went there with my friend Paul this winter, I actually felt like a kid in a candy shop! Except instead of the jars being full of candy... They're full of some sh*t that looks like dirt.
Sun is the wonderfully wise woman who owns the shop. We talked to her a little bit about the column and she walked us through some of her favorite remedies. I told her about my problems with eczema as a child and how my mother would source potential cures from all over the world hoping to heal me. One of my most distinct memories was visiting an herbal medicine shop similar to Sun’s to fill a “prescription” given to me by a witch doctor—let’s just say, drinking Bug Tea is an experience I will never forget. Hoping there were no hidden critters that Sun might push on me, I scanned the room. A jar stashed away in the corner caught my eye—”Sea Buckthorn Powder.” Perhaps you’ve heard about the sea buckthorn or maybe, like me, you came across a tiny bottle of sea buckthorn pills at Whole Foods and senselessly paid an exorbitant amount of money for what you realized, only after purchasing, was a ten day supply? #Prettyhurts. Yikes. But I’d rather go broke testing natural skin care supplements than risk potential toxins in over-the-counter pharmaceuticals. As we all know—there’s no glow like a natural glow.
So, back to the sea buckthorn. In case you haven't seen it, it’s a shrub with these electric orange berries that contain the most potent amount of vitamin C you can get from any one source. The bioactive compounds in the berry are used extensively in dermatology—anti-aging face creams, lotions and sun care, as the berry extract is thought to absorb UV rays. There are so many Internet rumors about this plant: it was the sea buckthorn berry that gave Pegasus, the mythical winged horse of Greek mythology, his ability to fly! Legend also has it that the sea buckthorn gave the many troops of Genghis Khan’s army the strength they needed to conquer so much of Asia and Europe. My favorite is the claim that Russian cosmonauts took sea buckthorn supplements to protect against radiation in space. Let's go to the moon!
Sun’s suggestion was that I try something called ‘Shilajik’—her go-to remedy. The label claims to “arrest aging” and “produce rejuvenated body cells.” Sounded intriguing enough but she followed up with, “heals any ailment.” “...Any ailment???” I asked. “What do you mean?” Sun winked at me: “Trust me, I drink this everyday.” So we packed up some sea buckthorn power, some magic dirt or &lsqu