Stress levels are high and tend to rise greatly during our Winter holiday season, so today, we will focus on two important classes of herbs that are useful during times of stress.

Adaptogens are herbs that help you adapt to difficult situations, and Nootropics are herbs that help support balanced nervous system function. Both are needed and luckily there are several nourishing herbs that are safe to take long-term that help in these ways.

Fire cider is a blend of spicy and pungent herbs/foods infused in apple cider vinegar with honey added in.  It is a tasty medicinal food that has been used to fend off the Winter chill and the increase in illness that comes with spending more time indoors.  The ingredients are simple, easy to find herbs and foods and can be adjusted for your taste preferences.  Some work with fresh plants, some with dried, and others with powdered herbs or a combination of all of the above.  The mainstay ingredients are garlic, onions, horseradish, cayenne, apple cider vinegar, and honey. 

Turmeric gets a LOT of attention in the scientific community.  A quick search of published studies done today yields 13,214 papers with Turmeric in the title and 38,375 papers with the word Curcumin in the title!  That’s a massive amount of research into this bright yellow ginger family root.  As a comparison, dandelion, another very useful root, has a measly 1,046 searchable studies. 

As herbalist Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa says, “The more I use this yellow wonder, the more uses it seems to have.  I call it ‘the medicine cabinet in a jar.’” (1)

Burdock root also known as gobo is used both medicinally and as food. This starchy and slightly sweet root is reminiscent of a mild carrot in flavor and appearance. You may see it listed as an ingredient in several different Asian cuisines and you can find it labeled as gobo in Asian markets. You can also find burdock growing as a weed pretty easily around the Pacific North West and in other areas with enough moisture.

Comfrey, a native European plant, belongs to the borage family and, it’s scientific name is Symphytum officinale. Let’s break that name down a bit shall we? Symphytum originally comes from the Greek symphytos which means to knit together (1). This is exactly what comfrey does, it helps tissue knit back together. Officinale is a designation given to plants that were used broadly by early doctors for their healing benefits and became part of the official pharmacopeia (list of medicines). So, just by looking at the name for comfrey, we already know we are looking at some powerful medicine here.

Let’s get inspired and have fun creating cooling, soothing, moistening medicine from marshmallow roots.

Creating an herbal formula can seem tricky at first.  At first, we read about individual herbs and want to add as many powerful allies to our formula as possible.  Each herb seems to have some healing property that we need.  How do we choose?

When we take a step back and check in with ourselves, we can identify what state our tissues are in and then find herbs to re-establish balance.  Are we hot or cold?  Are we dry or full of water?  Are our tissues too loose or too tight?  Do we feel like we have too much energy or not enough?  Where in our body are we experiencing symptoms?  Is our environment hot and dry, cold and wet, or another combination? Getting a picture of where we are helps us figure out what we need.   Then we can turn to the plants and their specific characters to create our formulas.  Ready to get started?  

When the dry winds blow smoke from local wildfires, we get dried out too. How can herbs help us rehydrate and soothe chapped and irritated tissues? Let’s find out!

When you are hot, dry, and irritated, it’s time for Marshmallow!  Not the puffy white confections we toast over a fire, but the plant whose roots and leaves are full of soothing medicine. 

Let’s play with chamomile. We will learn about the difference between a beverage and medicinal tea, how to take a bath in tea, a great teething soother, a colic remedy, and how to cook with these delicate blossoms.

Poultices can be very helpful for healing skin issues from bites and scratches to eczema and psoriasis. Learn how to create and use a poultice for your skin health needs.

IBS is a painful condition of the digestive tract. Have you been recently diagnosed and wanting to understand the condition better? Do you suspect that you have IBS and need to know about getting a diagnosis?

Gentle yet effective, chamomile is a wonder herb when it comes to issues of the nervous and digestive systems. Don’t let it’s gentleness fool you, chamomile works!

Now that we have gotten to know these herbs a bit better, let’s head to the kitchen to cook up some great recipes that are also tasty medicine!

My Summer has been filled with harvesting and processing herbs.  Leaves, flowers, and seeds are all great summertime harvests.  Most of these herbs are easy to dry and store for use later in teas, tinctures, compresses, powders, vinegars, oils, and salves.  Some like St. John’s word should be used while fresh.  If you are interested in growing, gathering, and making your own herbal medicines, knowing how to harvest them, process them, and store them is almost as important as knowing how to grow them.

Breathing in steam is a time tested remedy for clearing the skin and the respiratory tract. When we add herbs to the hot water, we can add even more powerful action to this treatment.

For minor injuries and even mild infections, herbal remedies can help. We can use these medicines to heal, reduce scarring, ease pain, and prevent infection.

Some of the most common herbs you can find in any kitchen can be used to make a tasty spaghetti sauce. Most of them are also mint family plants making them easy to grow guests in your garden whether it is in your field, yard, balcony, or window sill. All are quite aromatic showing a high essential oil content making them great antimicrobial allies, and they are tasty and nourishing, making them safe for regular consumption in your daily diet.

Are you sold? I know I was. Let’s dive in and meet a few of these herbal allies!

Here are a few of my favorite recipes for using California poppy.

Sleep problems are very common in our society for many, many reasons. When you are having trouble sleeping, herbs can be fantastic allies to help you get deep, nourishing, and healing sleep.