There are 5 herbs that everyone would benefit from including in their diet.
I feel so strongly about this, that I host a 6-week online course and support system called Nourish Yourself, that helps people incorporate these herbs (and a few others) into their lives.
There are several 6-week sessions that enroll through the year. In each session there are 4 live classes with replays available, plus 9 other video classes and pdf notes. Once you are a course participant, you have lifetime access to all of the video classes and notes, to enjoy at your own pace.
By working with these 5 herbs, you can nourish all aspects of your health. They are nutrient dense, commonly found, and inexpensive.
The Top 5 Herbs for Health are:
Nettle leaf
Linden flowers
Red Clover Blossom
Comfrey leaf
Oatstraw
One of my herbalist mentors, Susun Weed, first turned me on to these herbs, 6 years ago. Since then, I have incorporated them into my daily life. I have gotten to know them as food, medicine and living beings that I share an ecosystem with. I know that they have made me healthier and more resilient to whatever comes my way. You can experience this too!
When you drink these herbal infusions, you will feel the difference. You will have more energy, feel more calm, and chronic conditions seem to melt away, as your body becomes nourished, like never before.
You can throw out your expensive multi-vitamin and mineral supplements, because these herbs will provide you with all of the nutrition you need in readily absorbable and naturally complex forms.
Why are these herbs so great?
They are so great in so many ways that the answer to that question is way too long for this email! The 6-week Nourish Yourself course is designed to share all of their benefits with you, while allowing you to work hands on with them, feeling the benefits for yourself.
With these 5 herbs, all of your body systems will be supported and moved toward optimum health.
Your digestion, immune resilience, kidneys, liver, skin, joints, nerves, mood, energy, and stress adaptability will all be improved!
These herbs are packed with minerals, vitamins, protein, anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds.
How do you prepare them?
It is best make nourishing herbal infusions with these herbs, to gain the nutrition needed to benefit your health.
A nourishing herbal infusion, also called a long infusion, is made by pouring boiling water over a large amount of dried herb (1 oz by weight) and infusing for a long time (4-10 hours or overnight).
This is opposed to a tea, which is boiling water poured over a small amount of dried or fresh herb and steeped for a short amount of time.
The herbs used in the nourishing infusions must be herbs that are high in nutrients and low in volatile oils, bitter constituents and other more intense phyto-chemicals. Only food-like herbs are used in nourishing herbal infusions.
In the course, we make nourishing herbal infusions with one herb at a time, instead of mixing the herbs together.
This way we get to know each herb on an individual basis. We also get a clearer sense of how each herb makes us feel.
By using one herb each day, we are able to get a large amount of the herb into our daily diet, which gives us the biggest benefit.
If we mixed them together, we would only be getting a fraction of the amount of herb in a serving, and therefore a fraction of the benefit.
We then rotate through the herbs, one per day. On Monday we may have Nettle, Tuesday Linden, Wednesday Comfrey and so one.
Where do we get the herbs?
We buy each herb in bulk, by the pound, for ease and cost effectiveness. Because we use 1 ounce by dry weight per serving, one pound of herb is 16 servings or a 16 day supply. Bulk herb providers that are reputable include Frontier Co-op, Mountain Rose Herbs, Pacific Botanicals, Jeanne's Greens, San Francisco Herb Company, and Starwest Botanicals. Foster Farm Herbs and Zack Wood Herbs are herb farms in Vermont that carry excellent quality herbs. They can be purchased directly through the herb supplier, from Amazon, your local herb shop, or as a special order from your local food co-op. The course provides a resource list of where to get your herbs, with links and suggestions. Currently, it looks like Jeanne's Greens is the best source for all of the herbs we discuss and work with.
Why do we use such large amounts of each herb?
Because these are food-like herbs, we need a to consume them in food-like quantities to get adequate nourishment from them. The difference of a tea of these herbs compared to a nourishing infusion of these herbs, is like eating a bite of a raw carrot, versus a bowl of carrot soup. Which form of the carrot is going to give you more vitamins and minerals? If you said a bowl of carrot soup, you are right!!!
If this email has intrigued you, I hope you will consider joining us for Nourish Yourself this February-March. You will learn about these 5 herbs (plus 4 more) in depth, be guided and inspired to make them a daily ritual of health, and you will feel the difference!
If you feel rundown, overwhelmed, stressed out, or anxious, this course is for you!
If you want to learn more about herbalism, but don't know where or how to start, this course is for you!
If you want to connect with a small group of people who are learning the same things and working to make the infusions a daily habit, this course if for you!
Join us!
Stinging Nettle Infusion
Nourishing Herbal Infusion Recipe
Ingredients:
1 ounce by weight of a nourishing herb*
1 quart of boiling water
*do not use any plants that have a strong scent unless you are just adding a pinch of mint or some other herb that has a flavor you like
Materials:
Pot or kettle with a spout for easy safe pouring
2 1 quart jars
large funnel or coffee drip strainer
small square of muslin or "flour sack towel"
Instructions:
1. Measure on a kitchen scale 1 ounce of a dried nourishing herb. Put it in a quart jar.
2. In a kettle, bring at least 1 quart of water to a boil.
3. Fill the jar with the boiling water.
4. Stir and top with boiling water.
5. Put a tight lid on the jar and let sit on the kitchen counter for 4-8 hours or overnight.
6. Place a small square of the fabric over the funnel and place them on the second quart jar. Strain out the herb from the infusion, through the fabric.
7. Squeeze the herb with your hands or in the cloth, to get all of the goodness out of the plant material. Compost the plant material.
8. Store the infusion in the refrigerator.
9. Drink the whole quart in one or two days. After that the infusion will likely go bad, due to its protein content. You will know when it has gone bad, by smelling it. The nose knows. Water house plants with any infusion that has gone bad. But ideally you have already drank it all, before it had the chance to go bad!
Bonus tip:
Drink your infusions over ice for the best taste and
gulp-ability. You will also get the fastest absorption of nutrients, this way.