Abby Quillen

Freelance Content Marketing Writer and Editor

Herbal Medicine

5 Winter Immunity Boosters

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Most adults catch between two and four colds a year and the average infant or child catches from six to ten colds a year. That means, in our lifetimes, most of us will have a cold or flu for between two and three years. That’s a lot of Kleenex.

Immune Boosters

The good news is, nature offers some powerful immune-boosters. You may want to have these on hand this winter.

Garlic

Garlic has antibacterial, antibiotic, and antifungal properties. Allicin is garlic’s defense mechanism against pest attacks, and in clinical tests, it also prevents the common cold. In one study, volunteers were randomized to receive a placebo or an allicin-containing garlic supplement every day between November and February. The garlic group reported 24 colds compared to 65 in the placebo group. The volunteers in the garlic group also recovered significantly faster if they did get infected.

You don’t have to buy a supplement. The tastiest way to take garlic is to eat it. Raw is best. But garlic’s active ingredients are also present in cooked food.

Lemons

Lemons are loaded with vitamin C. One lemon contains anywhere from 50 percent to 80 percent of the vitamin C you need in a day.

And if you come down with a cold or virus, one study confirmed that hot lemonaid (or another hot fruit beverage) relieves runny nose, cough, sneezing, sore throat, chilliness and tiredness.

Elderberry

Elderberry is a popular herbal cold remedy in Europe. It’s getting a lot of press this flu season, because in clinical tests its flavonoids compare favorably with the antiviral Tamiflu in treating the H1N1 flu . You can buy over-the-counter elderberry syrup at most health food stores. Or you can harvest your own elderberries or buy them in the bulk section of your local health food store and make your own syrup. (Recipe below.)

Ginger

Ginger increases circulation and brings warmth to the body. It excels at quelling nausea, motion sickness, and dizziness. Many people also insist it can knock out the common cold.

Chicken Soup or Miso

Chicken soup and miso are full of vitamins and minerals. At least one study confirmed that chicken soup mitigates the symptoms of upper respiratory infections, possibly by reducing inflammation. Plus, the taste, smell, and warmth of these nourishing soups just make us feel good.

Herbalist Rosemary Gladstar recommends adding any or all of the following immunity herbs to the broth for a bigger boost of vitality:

  • Astragalus
  • Dandelion root
  • Burdock root
  • Echinacea root

Simple Immune Boosting Recipes

Here are four of my favorite recipes for the cold and flu season. 

Lemon and Garlic Quinoa Salad

(Adapted from Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair)

Salad

1 c. dry quinoa
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 and 3/4 c. water
1/2 c. chopped carrots
1/3 c. minced parsley
1/4 c. sunflower seeds

Dressing

4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 to 2 tbl. tamari or shoyu

Rinse quinoa and drain. Place rinsed quinoa, salt, and water in a pot. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes until all the water is absorbed. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes uncovered, then fluff with a fork. Place quinoa in a large bowl. Add carrots, parsley, and sunflower seeds. Mix. Combine dressing ingredients and pour over quinoa. Toss. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Hot Ginger Garlic Lemonaid

2 cloves garlic
1 tbs. grated ginger root
Juice of one freshly-squeezed lemon
Honey, to taste
Hot water

Put ginger root in a tea ball or tea bag. Place garlic, lemon juice, honey, and tea ball or bag in your favorite coffee mug. Pour hot water in. Cover and steep. Drink very hot.

Miso

(Loosely adapted from Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair)

3 inch piece wakame
4 c. water
4 tbs. light or mellow unpasteurized miso.
2 scallions, thinly sliced, for garnish

Any or all of the following

1 potato
1 carrot
1/2 c. chopped bok choy
5 sliced shitake mushrooms
1/4 lb. firm tofu, cut into cubes
Handful of immune-boosting herbs: astragalus, echinacea root, dandelion root, or burdock root.

Soak wakame in small bowl of cold water for 5 minutes. Put herbs in a large tea ball or bag.

Put water (and potato, carrot, and herbs if using) into a pot and bring to a boil.

Tear wakame into pieces, removing the spine. Add wakame to soup. Lower heat, cover pot, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Near the end of the cooking time, add mushrooms, bok choy, and tofu cubes if using, and let simmer a few minutes more.

Remove soup from stove. Dissolve miso in a little warm water. Remove tea ball or bag. Add miso to broth. Stir well. Ladle into bowl and add scallions for garnish.

Elderberry Syrup

(From Rosemary Gladstar’s Family Herbal*) 

1 c. fresh or 1/2 c. dried blue elderberries*
3 c. water
1 c. honey

Place berries in a pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes. Smash berries. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh strainer and add 1 cup of honey, or adjust to taste. Bottle the syrup and store in the refrigerator. It keeps for 2 to 3 months.

*Make sure you use blue elderberries, not red ones. Never eat uncooked elderberries.

(Editors note: This is an updated version of Stay Well: 5 Winter Immunity Boosters and Winter Wellness Recipes, originally posted in November 2009.)

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Dandelions are Superfoods

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Every spring people stock up on Round Up and Weed-B-Gon to prepare themselves for battle against one of my favorite flowers – the humble dandelion. If you’re not as big a fan as I am of these yellow-headed “weeds”, which grow in lawns and sunny open spaces throughout the world, I know of a great way to get rid of them. Eat them.

Every part of the dandelion is edible – leaves, roots, and flowers. And they are nutritional powerhouses. They’re rich in beta-carotene, fiber, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, B vitamins, and protein.

Over the years, dandelions have been used as cures for countless conditions including:

  • kidney stones
  • acne
  • high blood pressure
  • obesity
  • diarrhea
  • high cholesterol
  • anemia
  • cancer
  • diabetes
  • stomach pain
  • hepatitis

“There is probably no existing condition that would not benefit from regularly consuming dandelions,” Joyce A Wardwell writes in The Herbal Home Remedy Book.

She also says that dandelion is “one herb to allow yourself the full range of freedom to explore,” because it has “no known cautionary drug interactions, cumulative toxic effects, or contraindications for use.”

So why not harvest the dandelions in your yard? And I’m sure your neighbors wouldn’t mind if you uprooted some of theirs too. Just avoid harvesting near streets or from lawns where herbicides or fertilizers are used.

Dandelion has a few doppelgangers, but it’s easy to distinguish it. Look for a single thick stem filled with milky sap and smooth leaves shaped like jagged teeth.

The leaves

Dandelion leaves have more beta-carotene than carrots and more iron and calcium than spinach. The best time to harvest them is early spring, before the flowers appear, because that’s when they’re the least bitter.

How can you eat dandelion leaves?

  • Toss them in salads
  • Steam them
  • Saute them with garlic, onions, and olive oil
  • Infuse them with boiling water to make a tea
  • Dry them to use for tea

If dandelion leaves taste too bitter for you to enjoy, here are four surefire ways to mask the taste:

  1. Add something sweet, salty, or sour.
  2. Combine them with less bitter greens.
  3. Cook them in oil.
  4. Boil them for three to five minutes.

Don’t let the bitterness of dandelion leaves scare you away. Phytonutrients have a bitter, sour, or astringent taste, so bitter plants are often highly nutritious. Bitterness also stimulates the liver to produce bile, which aids digestion and nutrient availability. Moreover, bitter foods modulate hunger and help curb sugar cravings.

The flowers

Dandelion flowers are a rich source of the nutrient lecithin. The best time to harvest them is mid-spring, when they’re usually the most abundant. If you cut off the green base, the flowers aren’t bitter.

How can you eat dandelion flowers?

The roots

Dandelion roots are full of vitamins and minerals. They are also in rich in a substance called inulin, which may help diabetics to regulate blood sugar. Dandelion roots are often used to treat liver disorders. They’re also a safe natural diuretic, because they’re rich in potassium. The best time to harvest dandelion roots is early spring and late fall.

How can you eat dandelion roots?

  • Boil them for 20 minutes to make a tea
  • Chop, dry, and roast them to make a tasty coffee substitute.
  • Add them to soup stock or miso
  • Steam them with other vegetables

As most gardeners know, dandelions are virile (some say pernicious) plants. Why not treat them as allies, rather than enemies, this spring?

[clickToTweet tweet=”Dandelions are superfoods. Put the pesticides away and eat them. #health #herbs” quote=”Dandelions are superfoods. Put the pesticides away and eat them.” theme=”style1″]

If you liked this post, check out more of my popular articles about herbs:

Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them. A.A. Milne #dandelions #wildfoods #foraging

[Editor’s Note: This is an updated and revised version of a post originally published on March 4, 2010]

Do you eat dandelions? Do you have a favorite dandelion recipe?

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Simple Herbal Tonics: Brews for Beginners

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Plants have been powerful allies for health and healing for as long as humans have lived. Herbal medicines can be effective remedies for ills as anyone who’s sipped on ginger tea for a stomachache can attest. They can also be powerful tonics for everyday health.

Many common plants are full of vitamins, minerals, proteins, antioxidants, essential fatty acids, and other nutrients. When you prepare them the right way, they’re transformed into nutrient-rich tonics, which boost health and well being. When I drink herbal tonics daily, my hair and skin shine and I feel calmer and more grounded.

Nourishing Herbal Tonics

If you’re new to using herbs, congratulations! Learning about herbalism is an amazing way to take charge of your health and form a deeper connection to nature. Check out my post Herbs Made Easy to learn more about the benefits.

I make herbal tonics using herbalist Susun Weed’s method. She advocates the art of simpling, which means using a single herb to make an infusion.

“In The Herbal Home Remedy Book, Joyce Wardwell lays out the four elements of simpling as follows:

  1. Use mild herbs. These plants are commonly used as foods, safe for small children and the elderly, and they enhance the body’s capacity for healing.
  2. Use large doses. Brew strong infusions, and drink them often.
  3. Use the herbs that grow near you. The herbs that grown in your climate are the best adapted for the stresses the climate puts on your body.
  4. Be patient. You’ll probably see some effects within three days or so, but sometimes it takes longer.

Pick an Herb to Infuse

Like Warwell, I’m a huge believer in consuming the plants that grow near you to help your body adapt to the environment and optimize your health. (You can learn more about the benefits of a local diet in my post Local, Seasonal Foods are Superfoods.)

Though a plant grows in your area, even outside your back door, it’s usually safer and easier for beginners to buy good-quality dried herb at a local health food or herb store. You can learn to harvest herbs later if you wish. (Check out my article Eating the Wild Plants in Your Backyard for a primer.)

Herbs are usually inexpensive by bulk. Look for herbs supplied by local organic growers or reputable wildcrafters, and make sure the store cleans and changes their jars or bins frequently. If you can’t get dried herbs where you live, mail-order them from Mountain Rose Herbs or another bulk herb company.

According to Weed, the following plants are highly nutritious, and side effects from consuming them are rare:

  • Alfalfa
  • Astragalus
  • Calendula flowers
  • Chickweed
  • Comfrey leaves
  • Dandelion
  • Honeysuckle flowers
  • Lamb’s quarter
  • Marshmallow
  • Oatstraw
  • Plantain (leaves and seeds)
  • Purslane
  • Red clover blossoms
  • Siberian ginseng
  • Slippery elm
  • Stinging nettle
  • Violet leaves

I usually stick to a few nutrient-rich herbs for my daily tonics, including:

Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica)

Weed calls nettles “one of the finest nourishing tonics known” and contends that “the list of vitamins and minerals in this herb includes nearly every one known to be necessary for human health and growth.”

According to Weed, nettle infusions supply calcium, phosphorus, and vitamins A and D, and they are in a readily assimilated form. Nettles also contain iron and vitamin C, and the vitamin C ensures the iron is well-absorbed by the body, making nettles an excellent remedy for anemia. Nettles are also high in protein. Their high vitamin and mineral content make nettles an excellent all-around tonic.

Nettles are also used to encourage the flow of breast milk in nursing women, lower blood sugar levels, slow profuse menstrual bleeding, treat eczema, heal arthritis and gout, and cure hay-fever allergy symptoms. Externally, nettle compresses can stop bleeding or heal hemorrhoids, eliminate dandruff, and slow hair loss. Does that sound like a lot of uses for one plant? Well, that’s far from all. Check out the book 101 Uses for Stinging Nettles by Piers Warren for more.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)

According to herbalist Michael Tierra, alfalfa means “father” in Arabic, perhaps referring to the plant’s “function as a superlative restorative tonic.” Alfalfa leaves are highly nutritious, containing vitamins C, D, E, and K, calcium, potassium, iron, phosphorus, manganese, and protein.

Alfalfa’s historically been used to restore vitality and increase appetite in both horses and people. It’s also used to treat cystitis, prostatitis, peptic ulcers, fever, insomnia, inflammation, and arthritis, as well as to increase the flow of breast milk in nursing women, reduce inflammation, and regulate the bowels.

Oatstraw (Avena sativa)

Oats are rich in silica, magnesium, phosphorus, chromium, iron, calcium, alkaloids, protein, the vitamin B complex, and vitamins A and C . Oat straw, the stem of the plant, nourishes the bones, endocrine system, immune system, and nerve cells and helps the body cope with insomnia, anxiety, and nerve disorders.

Simple Herbal Tonics: Brews for BeginnersHow to make a nourishing herbal tonic

Here is Susan Weed’s infusion method:

  1. Place one ounce of dried herb (about a cup) in a quart jar.
  2. Fill the jar to the top with boiling water
  3. Put the lid on tightly and steep for four to 10 hours. (I usually let it steep overnight.)
  4. Strain and pour a cup, and store the rest in the refrigerator.
  5. Drink two to four cups a day.
  6. Drink the entire infusion within 36 hours or until it spoils. (You’ll be able to tell by the smell.)
  7. Use whatever remains to water house plants, or pour over your hair after conditioning as a final rinse.

If you don’t love the taste of the infusion but want to reap the benefits, try adding a tablespoon of dried mint to the herb before you infuse it.

Nettles, alfalfa, and oat straw are mild herbs that have been ingested for thousands of years with excellent safety records, however they may not be for everyone. If you have a medical condition or take any medications, check with your doctor, an herbalist, or a pharmacist first.

It’s a good idea for everyone to be cautious about what goes into your body. Read about the herbs you plan to take, and be alert to the rare potential for an allergic reaction or side effects. But don’t forget to enjoy yourself! Nutritious herbal tonics are amazing additions to a healthy and happy life.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Load up on vitamins without supplements by making simple, restorative herbal tonics. #health #herbs” quote=”Load up on vitamins without supplements by making restorative herbal tonics.” theme=”style1″]

Sources:
The New Age Herbalist by Richard Mabey
The Herbal Home Remedy Book by Joyce A. Warwell
The Way of Herbs by Michael Tierra
Herbal for the Childbearing Year by Susan Weed
The Herb Book by John Lust

If you liked this post, you may enjoy these related articles:

The greatest medicine of all is to teach people how not to need it. - Unknown #Quote

[Editor’s Note: This is an updated and revamped version of a post originally published on June 3, 2009, Photo credit: Caitlin Regan, modified]

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March Seeds Bring April Greens

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It’s spring and it’s gardening time again! It was the shortest winter in history (although I perhaps would not have said that mid-January). I planted a few of our beds a couple of weeks ago. It’s our seventh gardening season in our backyard, and I actually sort of know what I’m doing now. It helps that I have two eager helpers. Ezra, who’s six, and Ira, who’s two, love the garden! Their faces light up at the very mention of planting.

Once we’re in the garden, our activities usually go like this: Ezra and I till a bed. Ira finds a “wormy.” Ezra and I spread fertilizer on a bed. Ira plays with the wormy. Ezra and I plant some seeds. Ira finds another wormy. Ira is enthusiastic about invertebrates.

We’re excitedly watching starts grow and seeds sprout, and we’re already harvesting a bit of lettuce and kale that self-started, perennial herbs, and lots of dandelion greens. Have I mentioned it’s prime dandelion harvesting season?

Wild foods tend to be much more nutritious than the produce in our supermarkets or even farmer’s markets. Jo Robinson, author of Eating on the Wild Side, explains that when we bred the bitterness out of our produce, we also lost nutrition. “The more palatable our fruits and vegetables became … the less advantageous they were for our health.”

Fortunately, despite many efforts to eradicate it, most of us have a wild edible green growing in abundance all around us, and it’s a nutritional powerhouse. A half pound of dandelion greens provides:

  • 649% of your recommended daily allowance of vitamin K,
  • 338% of your vitamin A,
  • 58% of your vitamin C,
  • 39% of your iron,
  • 20% of your Riboflavin,
  • 19% of your calcium,
  • 19% of your vitamin B-6, and
  • 9% of your dietary fiber

Don’t let all those nutrients go to waste! Check out this post or this article for more information about this humble super food and recipes. This year I can’t wait to try Rachel Turiel’s dandelion pesto.

We’ll likely be seeing many more April showers, but you’ll hopefully find us sloshing around the garden playing with wormies or armed with a colander eying our neighbors’ weeds. Wishing you some similar spring-time revelry.

Is it gardening season where you live? If so, what’s coming up in your garden? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

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The Healing Power of Trees

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Cough, cough, cough. Cough, cough, cough.

That’s how our household sounds this week. So it was with interest that I read that infused Douglas-fir needles are a traditional cough remedy. Douglas-fir needles? They’re everywhere here; they dust the sky and litter the ground. And yet I’d never thought to ingest them.

According to botanist and medical biochemist Diana Beresford-Kroeger, humans and trees are interrelated down to the most basic level. The hemoglobin, which transports oxygen into our blood, is strikingly similar on a molecular level to chlorophyll, which produces oxygen in the presence of sun and water.

“We cannot survive without the tree,” states Beresford-Kroeger.

It makes a perfect kind of sense that tree needles would be medicinal, especially for our lungs, whose alvioli spread out like branches.

So, this weekend, Ezra and I wandered up to a place we call the high forest in search of Douglas-fir needles. It’s actually a city park, but it feels more like a forest, because it is strangely and magically abandoned. I’ve visited regularly for years, and I’ve only seen two other people there ever.

It’s hard to find Douglas-fir needles at arm’s reach. Most of them sway in the breeze 30 to 60 feet overhead. The trails are covered with fallen branches, but Ezra and I were in search of the fresh, fragrant tips that are supposedly best for tea. We padded along quietly searching, until we spotted a small, spindly tree with branches at just the perfect height to snip off a few.

At home, we boiled the needles for 20 minutes, let it cool, and then took the first tentative sips of our homemade, hand-harvested cough remedy.

What a delicacy! It has a lemony, light, and complex flavor.

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The Healing Power of Trees #plantmedicine

Perhaps you don’t live in proximity to the giant Douglas-firs? Well, you can buy wild harvested Douglas Fir Spring Tea on the Internet. However, you probably don’t have to look far to find a tree with healing qualities right in your own backyard.

According to Beresford-Kroeger, kids can gain protection from childhood leukemia for a year by playing with the green fruit of a black walnut in August. And black walnut leaves, rubbed on the inside of the arm, protect a woman from breast cancer. In her book The Global Forest, Beresford-Kroeger also writes that fatty acids in hickory nuts promote brain development and a compound in the water ash helps prevent cancer.

And, of course, most of us are familiar with the healing properties of willow bark, which contains a chemical similar to aspirin.

I’m not sure if the Douglas-fir needles will cure our coughs, but I can tell you that harvesting them was healing. That’s the thing about forests: just visiting them is medicinal. People have known it forever.

Photographer Jillian Doughty shares a story on her blog about visiting a Mayan massage practitioner, who told her that she needed to be outside with the trees more often. “She said all of us do, we need to go to the trees and let them take the thoughts we no longer need, the feelings we can no longer take, and the memories we should no longer carry ourselves.  She said trees are here to collect what we don’t need.  They breathe what we discard, that is why they are here.”

Modern scientific studies concur that visiting forests is healing for us. “Forests — and other natural, green settings — can reduce stress, improve moods, reduce anger and aggressiveness and increase overall happiness,” says a Science News Daily article. “Forest visits may also strengthen our immune system by increasing the activity and number of natural killer cells that destroy cancer cells.”

Or, as Ezra said, as we wove through the Douglas-firs, “I like naturing, Mom.”[clickToTweet tweet=”Forests are healing, and trees have incredible medicinal properties. #health #plantmedicine” quote=”Forests are healing, and trees have incredible medicinal properties.” theme=”style1″]

If you liked this post, check out more of my popular posts about the healing power of nature:

"If you would know strength and patience, welcome the company of trees." - Hal Borland

Dandelion Season

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It’s spring again … the perfect time to rerun this post from last March…

It’s spring, which means some people are stocking up on Round Up and Weed-B-Gon to prepare themselves for battle against my favorite flower – the humble dandelion. If you’re not as big a fan as I am of these yellow-headed “weeds”, which grow in lawns and sunny open spaces throughout the world, I know of a great way to get rid of them. Eat them.

Every part of the dandelion is edible – leaves, roots, and flowers. And they are nutritional power-houses. They’re rich in beta-carotene, fiber, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, B vitamins, and protein.

Over the years, dandelions have been used as cures for countless conditions including:

  • kidney stones
  • acne
  • high blood pressure
  • obesity
  • diarrhea
  • high cholesterol
  • anemia
  • cancer
  • diabetes
  • stomach pain
  • hepatitis

“There is probably no existing condition that would not benefit from regularly consuming dandelions,” Joyce A Wardwell writes in The Herbal Home Remedy Book.

She also says that dandelion is “one herb to allow yourself the full range of freedom to explore,” because it has “no known cautionary drug interactions, cumulative toxic effects, or contraindications for use.”

So why not harvest the dandelions in your yard this spring? And I’m sure your neighbors wouldn’t mind if you uprooted some of theirs too. (But you probably want to avoid harvesting near streets or from lawns where herbicides or fertilizers are used.)

The leaves

Dandelion leaves have more beta-carotene than carrots and more iron and calcium than spinach. The best time to harvest them is early spring, before the flowers appear, because that’s when they’re the least bitter.

How can you eat dandelion leaves?

  • Toss them in salads
  • Steam them
  • Saute them with garlic, onions, and olive oil
  • Infuse them with boiling water to make a tea
  • Dry them to use for tea

The flowers

Dandelion flowers are a rich source of the nutrient lecithin. The best time to harvest them is mid-spring, when they’re usually the most abundant. If you cut off the green base, the flowers aren’t bitter.

How can you eat dandelion flowers?

The roots

Dandelion roots are full of vitamins and minerals. They are also in rich in a substance called inulin, which may help diabetics to regulate blood sugar. Dandelion roots are often used to treat liver disorders. They’re also a safe natural diuretic, because they’re rich in potassium. The best time to harvest dandelion roots is early spring and late fall.

How can you eat dandelion roots?

  • Boil them for 20 minutes to make a tea
  • Chop, dry, and roast them to make a tasty coffee substitute.
  • Add them to soup stock or miso
  • Steam them with other vegetables

As most gardeners know, dandelions are virile (some say pernicious) plants. Why not treat them as allies, rather than enemies, this spring?

Interested in reading more about herbs or home remedies? Check out these posts:

Do you eat dandelions? Do you have a favorite dandelion recipe?

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