TORBAY herbalist Dawn Ireland of Green Wyse explains a little about medicinal uses of common seeds or herbs, taking us on a virtual Reconnect herb walk.
IT’s that time of year when there is not much growing outdoors to harvest, so I’m sending you to forage in your kitchen cupboards, to the greengrocer or the supermarket. The following herbs are often used in making stuffings, soups, sprinkled on roasted vegetables and of course as a side garnish. If you enjoy the flavour you can use a sprig in hot water as a herb tea on their own or mixed with other herbs.
Parsley – Petroselenium species
Parsley falls with many other herbs in the culinary group which can be called a nutraceutical, a highly medicinal food. In fact it could be said that all vegetables, fruit, herbs and spices used in food are medicinal in some way or another. It’s now becoming clear from scientific evidence and studies that the more plant based foods in your diet, minimally processed wholefoods, the better your health will be. Parsley plants can be bought to grow on your windowsill all year round, though may grow more slowly in the lower light levels of winter.
Parsley is exceptionally high in calcium, (120mg per 10g herb), potassium (380mg per 10g of herb), also good amounts of iron, vitamin C and magnesium. Strictly speaking it is unlikely to be found growing wild in this country, but it is very easy to grow indoors, or out in summer. It is also easily available dried.
Medicinal effects apart from the nutritional values are that it has a diuretic effect, so can help with fluid retention. High amounts are not needed, and should be avoided if on anti-coagulant medication (except for moderate amounts in food) as it does have a mild influence on coagulation of the blood.
The oils in the plant make it a very useful digestive, helping disperse trapped wind and colic and improving digestion generally which will improve absorption of nutrients from all your food.
Thyme – Thymus species
This herb is another that falls into the medicinal food category, and can be easily bought as a fresh herb most of the year, or as a windowsill pot herb or can be used dry. It is evergreen in the garden in sheltered spots, though does stop growing in winter outdoors, so don’t harvest too much or the plant may not recover. It does grow in the wild but usually in very small patches making harvesting questionable ethically.
Thyme contains 150mg of calcium per 10g of herb and good amounts of iron, magnesium and vitamin C.
This herb is highly antimicrobial and often used in a herbal dispensary within a cough medicine, or a tea for any respiratory complaints. Those benefits are also translated to the digestive system, and urinary system where the volatile oils have a beneficial effect on the gut microbiome and bladder, encouraging the healthy flora and inhibiting the pathogenic ones.
Externally it is useful for skin complaints such as fungal conditions, and can be used as our native replacement for tea-tree essential oil mixed in a cream or carrier oil to be applied to the skin (never neat) at a ratio of approximately 3 drops per teaspoon worth of cream or carrier oil such as grapeseed oil.
The winter solstice is on the 21st December with celebrations of the return of the light as the days will begin to lengthen again. Next issue we will be outdoors looking at the early spring plants.
Find out more about herbalism and Dawn at www.torbay-herbalist.co.uk