Download 1 | Page LIVING MEDICINE - using plants for health and wellbeing

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LIVING MEDICINE
- using plants for health and wellbeing
NATURAL REMEDIES for HEALTH and WELLBEING
Spring - Week 2 – Tonics, Detoxes & Wonderful Weeds
Early Spring
Dandelion
Stickywilly/Cleavers
Chickweed
Daisy
Ground elder
Nettle
For recipes, images and other ideas, see www.floramedica.org, and
www.edible-plants.com
www.eatweeds.com
www.selfsufficientish.com
www.downsizer.net
www.plant-identification.co.uk
www.mostly-eating.com
Useful Edinburgh networks:
- Federation of City Farms & Community
Gardens (FCFCG), contact Linda Perttula :
[email protected]
- Forest Education Initiative (FEI), contact
Rosemary Welensky
[email protected]
“Blood tonics” – what is meant by this?
• Tonic – to promote wellbeing, stimulate; not as “cures” for illness, but enablers
• Trad “haematinics” – supply whatever is deficient, enrich blood, nutritive
• Past /present: anaemia (women), anti-ageing, anti-cancer - elixirs
• After winter – body may be low in calcium (sunshine+Vit D), potassium, iron, vitamins C
(fresh fruit/veg), A, B vits
• Chinese medicine – tonics relate to qi – important meds, short/medium-term boosters
“Detox” – what does this mean?
• Ancient view: illness = demons, so needed cleansing, purging
• Trad (worldwide): cleansing before healing can take place
• Trad: disease=failure of normal elimination, driving body to “extremes” - sweating,
coughing, diarrhoea, vomiting, so, treatment needs to boost elimination (bloodletting,
inducing saliva or sweat, laxatives, diuretics, purgatives, etc (and ♀ emmenagogues)
Role of organs
– Liver
• Liver – resilient organ, helps convert food and drugs into useful substances, clears
drugs / toxins
• synthesizes / processes many hormones
• controls blood sugar (with pancreas) and fat and cholesterol (with gallbladder)
www.floramedica.org
07790 885969
[email protected]
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– Stomach and intestines
• Stomach acid helps protect against pathogens, toxins; enzymes help convert
substances e.g. alcohol, ingested medicines, foods, to safer compounds
• Large & small intestines – provide nutrients to body, remove waste & harmful
substances (e.g. excess cholesterol); conserve water; role in uptake of hormones;
vital in immune function (with gut bacteria) 60-70%; role in mood (e.g. via serotonin)
• function impeded by processed & refined foods, lack of fruit & veg, inadequate fliud
intake, lack of exercise, stress,
– Kidneys
• Kidneys separate / excrete waste; conserve water, minerals, proteins and essential
electrolytes
• Help to regulate blood pressure and blood cell manufacture, maintain blood pH
– Glands
• Adrenals – above kidneys, make hormones essential to health
and vitality, affecting every part of the body, even cells
• important effects on the way you think and feel – nervous
system effects
• Effects on heart
• Thyroid/parathyroid – manufacture hormones that control
metabolism (conversion of oxygen and calories to energy)
• Every cell in the body depends on thyroid hormones
• With parathyroid hormones (+ vit D), control calcium
metabolism (in blood and bone)
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
 leaf contains vitamins (A,C,K + H) and minerals –
calcium, potassium, iron, manganese, antioxidants
 Also carbs, protein & fibre
 Main organs: heart / kidney / GIT
 Diuretic – protects against mineral loss (K), promotes
fluid and sodium excretion
 Bitter – stimulates digestion, bile production and may
help blood sugar regulation
 Closely related to other bitter food plants – chicory,
salsify
 Salads, pesto, tea, soup
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Dandelion root is used as a liver tonic, detoxifier and gentle laxative;
Useful where skin problems associated with constipation or sluggish digestion
Also in eczema, psoriasis, acne
Take as decoction or tincture 1-3 x daily
Cleavers / Stickywilly (Galium aparine)
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Straggly weed, widespread UK, look in shady
garden corners, woodland edges (Velcro!)
Trad diuretic, cooling, anti-inflammatory urinary
herb, blood tonic, lymphatic (“alterative”), mild
laxative
Also for gout, rheumatic complaints, skin
www.floramedica.org
07790 885969
[email protected]
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(eczema, rashes, sunburn)
• Nutrition: citric acid, galiosin (red dye), tannin
• Also silicic acid (bioavailability?) – hair, nails, bones, collagen + aluminium binding
• Collect before flowering
• Take as juice (externally/internally), tea, food (can be unpalatable raw)
Chickweed (Stellaria media)
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Common in Scotland, look in shady parkland, waste
ground, good ground cover plant
Distinguished from other chickweeds by flowers close
to topmost leaves
Anti-inflammatory, wound herb, emollient
Leaves (ext & int) to soothe itching of eczema,
psoriasis, dry irritated skin
Trad internally for rheumatic & bronchial complaints
Juice or tea, infused oil, tincture
Nutrition: vitamins A, C, B-vitamins, calcium, potassium,
phosphorus, zinc
Use in salads, omelettes, pesto, juices, smoothies –
best fresh, raw or very lightly cooked
Ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria)
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Herb gerard, goutweed, bishop’s weed (Apiaceae – carrot
family) (name = goat’s foot)
Invasive, hated by gardeners, likes (dappled) shade, survivor
Romans introduced as veg; also monastic trad
Part used – young green shoots, leaves
Harvest Feb-May/June, before flowering
Nutrition: Ca, Fe, Mg, Vit C, A. Add to omelettes, soup, salads,
pesto
Medicinal (past): diuretic, anti-inflammatory, mild sedative;
internally joint aches, gout and sciatic pain, externally compress for inflammation
Daisy (Bellis perennis)
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Leaves – contain Vitamin C, tannin, mucilage
Use fresh young leaves and flowers in salads
Use whole plant (incl root) for soup
Flower buds can be pickled like capers
Traditionally flowers and leaves as wound herb and expectorant
for coughs & chest complaints
Use fresh plant, infusion, syrup
No longer used medicinally
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)
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Common weed in UK and Europe
Leaf used - harvest young plants before flowering (MayJune)
Vitamins A, C; minerals Ca, Fe, K
Circulatory stimulant and detoxifier, counter-irritant
www.floramedica.org
07790 885969
[email protected]
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Anti-allergenic, anti-histaminic, anti-rheumatic
Used in allergic conditions – eczema, dermatitis, hives
Take as tea or tincture
Or eat it! Nutritious - Soups, pasta sauces, nettle pesto... (recipes on website)
Herb tasting
Spring herbs: infusions e.g. Dandelion leaf (Taraxacum officinale)
Chickweed (Stellaria media); tinctures: Stickywilly (Galium aparine)
Practical
Nettle soup
2-3 good handfuls of washed and chopped nettle tops (with any woody stems removed)
1 large (2 medium) onion (or 2-3 leeks), finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 medium potatoes
1 litre (1½ pints) fresh chicken or veg stock, or 2 stock cubes dissolved in 1 litre (1½ pints) water
A little olive or rapeseed oil
Seasonings: salt, freshly ground black pepper, nutmeg (optional)
1 small tub single cream or crème fraiche or soured cream (about 15 cl / ¼ pint) – it’s worth
experimenting with this to find out which you prefer!
Optional: a few cauliflower and/or broccoli florets for added flavour (leftovers can be used for this);
a glassful of white wine, or a teaspoonful of white wine vinegar/balsamic vinegar added while
cooking brings out the flavours.
(Variations: substitute watercress or sorrel instead of nettle and, hey presto, you have another
nutritious soup from the same recipe!)
METHOD: In a soup pot, sweat the onions in a little oil till almost translucent, then add the garlic
and chopped potatoes (and the other vegetables, if used), and stir through for about 2 minutes.
Pour on the stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 mins, or until the potatoes are soft. At this
stage add the wine or vinegar, if used. Now add the nettles and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
Liquidize with a hand blender and season to taste with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a few
gratings of nutmeg. The cream (or crème fraiche or soured cream) can be added to the pot either
at this stage, or at the table, to the individual bowls. If you like, garnish with a few croutons fried in
butter and garlic, and a sprinkling of chopped parsley.
(Own recipe, adapted from Roger Phillips “Wild Food”, Peerage Books/Pan Books 1983)
Juicing – Chickweed (or other available)
Basic infused oil (we will use this to make a balm, ointment or cream in a later session)
 Prepare fresh herb – e.g. For calendula, strip petals from flowers; for comfrey, chop
leaves; dried herb also good ( - oil made from dried herb keeps better)
 Oil: use good quality almond, sunflower, (light) olive, soya, or other
 Fill clean preserving jar with herb; amount used will determine strength
of oil; pack down for stronger oil
 Pour oil to cover herbs and seal jar
 Leave on sunny windowsill unopened for at least 3 weeks
 Shake every day or so
 Strain through muslin or jelly bag, pour into (dark) glass bottle, label
and date
 Keeps for up to 12 months
www.floramedica.org
07790 885969
[email protected]