I dedicate this page to the herbs growing just outside in front of our house, in backyards, in the woods, cities, along hiking trails, roads......they can be easily recognized and either used as food, juices or even as remedies for any kind of health issue that is bothering us. If we listen carefully to the signs of our body and we don't intend any longer queueing up in drugstores to get this boring plastic bags or whatever with colored synthetic pills or cremes in it, but rather like to help our selfs with what we can find in nature, well, stand up, go outside and see what is growing there. This is a first step forward towards real healing. Because we are caring for our selfs and act in a responsible way. Of course we don't want to see the healing process just as a fight against some unpleasant symptoms on the physical level. We need also to seek for the roots of the problem which may concern more the psychological aspect of our existence and should try to propagate healing in all aspect of our life.
Many herbs can just be used in salads or smoothies for example. They can be very beneficial for organs and having a huge cleansing and detoxing potential.
The hunger is stilled, the body will benefit and it is totally free ! Can you dig it?
The plants I am going to list below are those I find right now outdoor. Some can be found only in Europe. Some elsewhere as well. Some information below where suggested by friends, some I found on the net. There are many very useful sites with lots of informations on herbs. So, just go for it.
A few things on picking: don't pick herbs along paths where lots of people bring their dogs out. You can pick herbs there, but make sure they are not close to fences, rocks, or high shrubs best after rainfall. You also don't really want to pick herbs on any kind of agricultural ground, where you know, that they are spraying lot of those things, which names usually are ending in -cide, don't you? And you don't really want to pick along roads with heavy traffic too. In other words, find your herbs in an natural unpolluted environment.
On last reminder: not only rely on what you read on this blog or on the web. Always use herbs with caution and common sense!
Can you dig that?????
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I start with this one, very common everywhere on the continent and abroad. Blooming now and for a second time in autumn. Even though I knew this plant since my childhood (my mothers' name was Erika), I always regarded it as a mere ornamental plant. But I've just been figuring out recently about its health properties, which are remarkable.
Heather
Botanical and Common Names
Family Ericaceae
Calluna vulgaris (Heather, Ling, ger. Erika...)
Description
With the exception of a few Mediterranean islands, heather is distributed throughout most of Europe, Russia, and Asia Minor as well as on the Atlantic coast of North America. It is a small, branched shrub growing to about two feet with tiny leaves and white or pink to pale purple flowers that grow on spikes. It can be found on heaths, moors, bogs, and in open woods. The herb is gathered when in flower in late summer.
Medicinal Parts
Traditional Uses
Heather is used mainly as a urinary antiseptic and diuretic, disinfecting the urinary tract while increasing urine production. It was long used to treat cystitis and inflammatory bladder conditions, as well as for kidney and bladder stones.A decoction can be added to a bath or used internally. A cleansing herb, it is helpful for such conditions as rheumatism, arthritis, and gout. The macerated flowering tips produce a liniment to be rubbed on affected joints.
A hot poultice made with heather tips is a traditional remedy for chilblains.
Heather is also used for enlargement of the prostate; for gastrointestinal disorders and colic; for liver and gallbladder disease; and for respiratory complaints, insomnia, agitation, and wounds.
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Dandelion
Does the flower in the picture looks familiar to you??????
Never hold any of the "puffball" heads in your hand and blown the seeds away, carried by a light breeze into the sky?
Never colored your skin with the yellow flowers?
Never got rid of warts with the white liquid coming out when you break the stem or leaves?
This may all sound childish to you, but to me the dandelion was a real amusing companion throughout my childhood. Due to its shiny yellowish flowers and its widespread presence.
So much appreciated when I was a child, the truly highlights of this plant I've only discovered since I was switching my personal diet to a more natural and herbal kitchen.
In fact, dandelion would reach easily the same value in prize like the ginseng, would it be as rare as this one.
I use mostly the leafs. Raw in my smoothies!!! Cooked like spinach as a side dish. The flowers are rich in vitamins and can be added into salads. I've heard of dandelion flower honey; of dandelion wine and herbal beer (for the recipes don't hesitate to write me). Caution doe. If sucked excessively by children, the milky juice can cause nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea, as well as excessive urination (in the night).
Ok, below there is a brief overview:
Botanical Name Family Asteraceae (formerly Compositae), Taraxacum officinale
Common Names Blowball, Lion’s Tooth, Taraxacum, Puff-Ball, Dente di leone (Italian),Pu Gong Ying (Chinese)
Description There are considered to be about 600 species of dandelion found throughout the world where, in many cases, it is considered a noxious weed. The plant is closely related to chicory, a perennial growing to as much as twenty inches high producing ragged, saw-toothed leaves, hollow stalks, and golden flowers that quickly go to seed into a with "puffball" head. The young leaves are picked in the spring for tonic salads and later for use as a medicine, while the roots are unearthed in autumn from two-year-old plants.
Benefits (a) Leaves· diuretic
· liver and digestive tonic
(b) Root
· antirheumatic
· diuretic
· liver tonic
· mildly laxative
· promotes bile flow
Medicinal Parts
· Leaves, flowers, fresh seeds, root
· Chinese scientists have discovered that dandelion extracts have bactericidal effects against a number of nasty bacteria including S. aureus and those responsible for diphtheria, tuberculosis, and pneumonia.
Remedies Fresh leaves are eaten as a vegetable in salads as a cleansing remedy. Juice from the leaves is taken when a diuretic action is needed.
An infusion is less effective, as a diuretic, than the juice; but it makes a good cleansing remedy for toxic conditions, including gout and eczema. It is also used as a gentle liver and digestive stimulant.
The white sap from the stem and root can be used as a topical remedy for warts.
Tinctures are often added to other herbal remedies for heart failure and to ensure adequate potassium intake. Tinctures from the roots are used for such toxic conditions as gout, eczema, or acne; and are also prescribed as a liver stimulant in certain liver disorders and related constipation.
Decoctions from the root are used for the same conditions as the tincture.
Traditional Uses
In China, the flowers, leaves, root, and seed heads of either the common dandelion or from an Oriental species (T. mongolicum). The Chinese have used dandelions for more than a thousand years as a diuretic, hypoglycemic, antispasmodic, anticancer, antibacterial, and antifungal agent. It was used for such conditions as abscesses, appendicitis, boils, caries, dermatitis, fevers, inflammations, leucorrhea, liver ailments, mastitis, scrofula, snakebites, and stomachaches.
Although the leaves are an effective diuretic, they also contain significant amounts of potassium, a mineral generally lost when using conventional medications. It is used in cases of fluid retention, especially with heart problems. It has been used successfully to treat several kidney ailments and chronic hypertension.
The leaves are an effective liver and digestive tonic. The root, which has a shorter history of medicinal use, is also good for the liver.
Both the leaf and the root have a marked action on the gallbladder, and are used to prevent gallstones. The leaf may also help dissolve already formed stones.
The bitter, milky sap is used externally to heal wounds, remove warts, moles, pimples, calluses, and sores. It is also used to soothe bee stings and blisters.
The sap, leaves, and root extracts are ingested for its diuretic properties, to stimulate stomach secretions and aid in digestion, to relieve constipation and control diarrhea, to stimulate bile production, to treat liver disorders, to prevent or lower high blood pressure, to stimulate milk flow in nursing mothers, to relieve the pain of endometriosis, and to inhibit plaque buildup on teeth.
Decoctions from the root are used for the same conditions as the tincture.
Traditional Uses
In China, the flowers, leaves, root, and seed heads of either the common dandelion or from an Oriental species (T. mongolicum). The Chinese have used dandelions for more than a thousand years as a diuretic, hypoglycemic, antispasmodic, anticancer, antibacterial, and antifungal agent. It was used for such conditions as abscesses, appendicitis, boils, caries, dermatitis, fevers, inflammations, leucorrhea, liver ailments, mastitis, scrofula, snakebites, and stomachaches.
Although the leaves are an effective diuretic, they also contain significant amounts of potassium, a mineral generally lost when using conventional medications. It is used in cases of fluid retention, especially with heart problems. It has been used successfully to treat several kidney ailments and chronic hypertension.
The leaves are an effective liver and digestive tonic. The root, which has a shorter history of medicinal use, is also good for the liver.
Both the leaf and the root have a marked action on the gallbladder, and are used to prevent gallstones. The leaf may also help dissolve already formed stones.
The bitter, milky sap is used externally to heal wounds, remove warts, moles, pimples, calluses, and sores. It is also used to soothe bee stings and blisters.
The sap, leaves, and root extracts are ingested for its diuretic properties, to stimulate stomach secretions and aid in digestion, to relieve constipation and control diarrhea, to stimulate bile production, to treat liver disorders, to prevent or lower high blood pressure, to stimulate milk flow in nursing mothers, to relieve the pain of endometriosis, and to inhibit plaque buildup on teeth.
(((((((( A Happy Dandelion )))))))
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Nettle
Botanical Name
Urtica dioica
Family Urticaceae
Common nettle, Stinging nettle, Big String Nettle, Ortica (ita.)
This is one of the rare plants, which can be used in so different manners, very similar for example to hemp. It gives delicious food, very rich in iron and calcium, you can make clothes out of its fibers or you can use it for its therapeutic properties. Usually I pick a whole bunch of nettels and leave them drying in a warm and good ventilated area. The dried leafs can be added raw into salads or to basically whatever you want to. The fresh shots are nice for juicing or steaming. Even the seeds can be picked and used. Fried in a olive oil - yummy.
Wear gloves when you go picking. The herbal antidote for nettle stings is yellow dock or plantain, which are usually found growing in the same vicinity. Rub a fresh leaf of either plant over the area of the nettle sting. The "stinging" comes from its histamine and formic acid content found in the hairs of the stems that trigger the familiar allergic skin response.
Do not use nettel during pregnancy as it can stimulate contractions.
Milarepa lived basically on nettel tea during his "cave" period, leading his skin to turn green, hence the greenish color he is often depicted as having in paintings and sculpture.
Benefits
astringent
antiallergenic
circulatory stimulant
diuretic
lowers blood sugar levels
nutritive
promotes milk flow (leaf)
prevents scurvy
reduces prostate enlargement (root)
stops bleeding
tonic
Medicinal Parts
Aerial parts, roots
The "stinging" comes from its histamine and formic acid content found in the hairs of the stems that trigger the familiar allergic skin response.
Traditional Uses
Nettles are used as a cleansing spring tonic and a nourishing vegetable if gathered when the leaves are young. The plant takes minerals from the soil, making them a good remedy for anemia; and, with the high vitamin C content, the iron in the herb is easier to absorb.
Nettles are used to clear uric acid from the system relieving gout and arthritis.
Its astringency is valuable in stopping bleeding from wounds, nosebleeds, or heavy menstrual flow.
Today, nettle is used for a variety of conditions, including hay fever, arthritis, anemia, and even some skin conditions. It is especially useful when there is poor kidney function and fluid retention is seen.
This is one of the rare plants, which can be used in so different manners, very similar for example to hemp. It gives delicious food, very rich in iron and calcium, you can make clothes out of its fibers or you can use it for its therapeutic properties. Usually I pick a whole bunch of nettels and leave them drying in a warm and good ventilated area. The dried leafs can be added raw into salads or to basically whatever you want to. The fresh shots are nice for juicing or steaming. Even the seeds can be picked and used. Fried in a olive oil - yummy.
Wear gloves when you go picking. The herbal antidote for nettle stings is yellow dock or plantain, which are usually found growing in the same vicinity. Rub a fresh leaf of either plant over the area of the nettle sting. The "stinging" comes from its histamine and formic acid content found in the hairs of the stems that trigger the familiar allergic skin response.
Do not use nettel during pregnancy as it can stimulate contractions.
Milarepa lived basically on nettel tea during his "cave" period, leading his skin to turn green, hence the greenish color he is often depicted as having in paintings and sculpture.
Benefits
astringent
antiallergenic
circulatory stimulant
diuretic
lowers blood sugar levels
nutritive
promotes milk flow (leaf)
prevents scurvy
reduces prostate enlargement (root)
stops bleeding
tonic
Medicinal Parts
Aerial parts, roots
The "stinging" comes from its histamine and formic acid content found in the hairs of the stems that trigger the familiar allergic skin response.
Traditional Uses
Nettles are used as a cleansing spring tonic and a nourishing vegetable if gathered when the leaves are young. The plant takes minerals from the soil, making them a good remedy for anemia; and, with the high vitamin C content, the iron in the herb is easier to absorb.
Nettles are used to clear uric acid from the system relieving gout and arthritis.
Its astringency is valuable in stopping bleeding from wounds, nosebleeds, or heavy menstrual flow.
Today, nettle is used for a variety of conditions, including hay fever, arthritis, anemia, and even some skin conditions. It is especially useful when there is poor kidney function and fluid retention is seen.
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