142 – Nourishing Herbs for Fatigue, Stress and Depletion

Welcome to the Frontline Herbalism Podcast with your host, Nicole Rose, from the

solidarity apothecary.

This is your place for all things plants and

liberation.

Let's get started.

Hello. Welcome back to the Frontline Herbalism Podcast.

How are you doing?

I am happy to say that I am not in the car park or my car.

I am in my beautiful herb shed, which makes a big difference for recording.

But unfortunately, it's because my little baby boy has a bit of a cold.

He was a little bit warm last night, snoring in the night, night, very, like, snotty and

congested.

And I just thought,

I want to nip this in the bud so it doesn't escalate into any other kind of, like,

stronger virus kind of pattern.

So,

yeah, I've kept him home from nursery and my.

I pay someone to help care for him, so she was able to come this morning.

So thank God for that.

But yeah, it's just these ******* soft place.

I hate to say it, but because his baby dad is

in rehab,

there's not like, a kind of, like,

accessible place to take Lee when we see him, if that makes sense.

And it's not kind of appropriate for him to come all the way to us.

So we kind of are like, just kind of fending for ourselves in the town.

And yeah, like, in the summer it was okay because we could do, like, all the, you know,

like, beach and, like,

walks outside, but, like,

can only do that for so long with a toddler.

If he then needs to have a nap, if he then

needs to have lunch somewhere,

you know, if he won't eat the packed lunch on the beach, because it's, like, crazy.

So anyway, it's just like any parent listening will understand the, like,

intense mental load of the baby logistics.

But yeah, these soft plays.

And I try and, like,

support Lee to, like, tell us what he wants to do.

You know, sometimes he's like beach or walk or park.

And then often now he's like, obsessed with the soft play because he just loves slides,

you know, that is how he broke his arm was falling off slides.

So anyway, luckily he still loves slides.

But anyway, it's just.

I knew this week is like, the most critical week pretty much for me in the whole year in

terms of, like, finances and, like, building my waiting list up for the herbalism and PTSD

course because it is launching on Sunday, which is really exciting.

But I am, like, very, very, very behind on promotion because of Lee breaking his arm and

effectively not having any childcare for, like, five weeks,

which doesn't sound like much, but if you've only got 10 hours, pretty much including the

drive time to nursery,

like, I just was ******.

You know what I mean?

Like, I had to stop.

I had to say no to, like, paying clients for ages.

Like, I just knew I wouldn't be able to do it.

So,

yeah, it's just.

It's just challenging.

The kind of like, single mom, single mom

hustle.

Like, no one else is paying my bills.

Do you know what I mean? I'm just,

yeah, responsible for making all that happen.

And when there's, like,

things that come up, it's just a little, like.

It's just, you know, it's just like a level of

adaptability.

Like, I'll have a stress moment and then I'm

like, right, this is fine.

I can organise this and this, like, da, da, da.

Like, you know.

But, yeah, anyway, it's all good.

I am excited to be in the herb shed and I feel

like this episode is really, really important today because I think it kind of,

yeah, talks about the importance of kind of nourishment for all systems in the body,

but, you know, most especially with the immune system at the mom, with this kind of changing

season, like virus season.

So, yeah, so today's episode is about nourishing herbs for fatigue, stress and

depletion.

And I will move on to that now.

All right,

so let's talk about nourishing herbs for fatigue, stress and depletion.

And I will be talking about the nervous system, but I'm just gonna go a little.

I'm just gonna give my permission to go broader today and go on some, like, political

rants.

But, like,

I've obviously talked about, like, drivers of fatigue, like, signs you're feeling depleted.

But I kind of want to bring it back in terms of, like,

reclaiming a bit of the, like, structural responsibility for these states.

Because I feel like the wellness industry,

like, culture, whatever this is, like, I talk about it in the PTSD course, like, this

concept of, like, healthism where, like, there is this kind of systemic framing that,

or there is this framing that things are, like, the individual's responsibility and the

individual's fault.

And, you know, like, I am probably, like, more,

like,

supportive of, like, stuff around.

Like, we do have so much more power than we

realise as individuals.

And I love anarchism for promoting that

sensation of, like.

Like, people have freedom and autonomy and,

you know, blah, blah, blah.

But, like, the other thing I love about anarchism is that there's always eyes on these

huge systems of power and oppression and how like power relationships are organised etc and

there are so many drivers of depletion which are so structural.

So like,

just for a start, like I used to be a massive like sore food web geek.

I've got a microscope tattooed on my leg.

Like I love microbiology and like our soils

are just ******.

Like the ones that are farming like food for us supermarkets and like industrial kind of

capitalist agriculture supply chains, like they are so depleted in nutrients.

Like we are running on kind of like added in nutrients right from like, you know, chemical

fertilisers and everything.

So it's like,

yeah, the kind of level of like quality of nutrients that we're getting from food is so

like subpar for the human body and that's,

you know, leading to big sort of states of deficiency and nutritional deficiencies and

states of depletion.

So it's like even when I have clients, for

example, that I'm supporting one to one,

they might be eating really, really well and trying really ******* hard and buying all the

vegetables they can.

But it's like it's not your ******* fault if

that food is actually not that nutritious because of industrial agriculture.

Which is why herbalism just goes hand in hand with all the like agroecology movements and

like food justice, local food, community organising stuff.

Used to be my sort of bread and butter, I guess before herbalism,

like I was part of a workers co op that did sort of community food growing and education.

We had community gardens, did projects, all of that stuff.

But like accessing like even for me, where I live it's like genuinely quite difficult to

like get a veg box.

Like the local CSA isn't functioning anymore.

So it's like,

you know, in a dreamy world, we have a relationship with a local grower or growers or

crew and we get amazing high quality vegetables that are grown in soils with like

diverse nutrients.

Like that's the ******* dream, right? And I know there are like plenty of organic

growers that do need support and like I actually sort of capitulated to some of the

like bigger organic companies just because I really wanted to give my child like organic

food.

And yeah, it wasn't easily accessible locally.

So yeah, I just want to sort of, you know,

flag this stuff before I talk about the role of herbs because oh my God, it would be like

a, you know, three week long podcast episode listing all the structural stuff.

But yeah, food is a big one.

And then it's just like like poverty, right?

And like access to food.

Like,

you know, I remember growing up and My mum asked me one time if I could find a friend's

house to go and eat Axe.

She just didn't have that food in the house,

do you know what I mean?

And it's like again,

sometimes like more kind of like foodie people can get like focused on is organic, blah,

blah, blah.

But it's like sometimes like the problem is

like literally no ******* calories or like not enough food or like people having to like

choose which meal of the day they prioritise if it even counts as a meal,

do you know what I mean? Like pot noodles or whatever.

Like it's, there's no nutrition in it.

Like it's not giving us anything.

And I do think there are sort of like hacks around stretching money and you know, like if

people prioritise buying like a tin of black beans over crisps or whatever,

like that is much more high quality protein that is kind of like on the same budget.

But like, I don't want to pretend that that's a reality for people because it's just not,

you know what I mean?

Like, let alone all the food bank stuff, I mean, I think like at least the local ones to

hear, like the food quality is like pretty amazing in the sense of like,

you know, the kind of like options for people.

But like that's very ******* different in different parts of the country and you're not

going to be able to have a kind of specialist diet or like a gluten free diet or do you know

what I mean?

Like that stuff's not going to be possible.

So yeah, I just want to, you know, name that

we can get into depleted states.

Like, and I hear it in the language of people

I'm having one to one calls with, like there's lots of narratives around shame and like, oh,

I shouldn't eat that and I shouldn't eat that.

And I try and you know, dissuade people from

that narrative.

But it's very difficult because like

capitalism and this like wellness industry just like make us feel bad about our food

choices.

And it's like it's just not always ******* easy, right?

Like it's very expensive like to eat out or if you're dependent on, you know, like when I

used to go on prison visits, like, and how you're just dependent on what you can get

like, you know, from the ******* train station shop or whatever.

And you know, like I got into systems of trying to cook for myself the best I could,

but it does lead in a kind of direction of depletion.

Do you Know what I mean?

And then the other area,

it's not like I've said before, like, it's not just about what we're consuming,

it is about a. What we're sort of like, metabolising in terms of energy, but also like

what we're absorbing in terms of nutrients and what we're like, assimilating into our bodies.

And like,

I promise I'll get to herbal stuff soon.

But, like,

when the kind of, like, terrain is challenged, those things become really difficult, right?

Like in the sense of if someone has, like, chronic infections or dysbiosis, like this

kind of overgrowth of certain bacteria or fungi that are like, disrupting their sort of

digestive,

like, systems or, you know, if someone is chronically stressed, like, they will not be

in a parasympathetic state enough to,

to enable their body to digest their food.

Well, like, it just doesn't happen when

you're.

Stress, stress, stress, go, go, go.

Like eating on the move.

Like, it's really hard for the body to kind of

have that downtime to release all the digestive enzymes and get the blood flow to

the stomach and,

you know, like, do all the stuff and, you know, let alone sleep.

Do you know what I mean? Like, the amount of reparative functions that

happens with sleep.

How many people are not sleeping well because they have to wake up in the morning and go

sell their labour to survive? Do you know what I mean?

It's like,

ah, it just frustrates me.

And then we just feel guilty because we're not

eating enough, like, portions of our greens.

So anyway,

yeah, so anyway, it's not just what we absorb, but it's also like what we're kind of like

rinsing.

And I think this, some people will like, fare

better in a period of chronic stress because they're like,

not in as a severe state as other people would be.

Does that make sense? So, like I mentioned it before, but like, say

the last couple of years have been really a lot like, on my nervous system in terms of

like,

you know, my ex relapsing after five years clean and then having a child, being a single

mom, like, all the that comes of active addiction and navigating that and trying to

keep my child safe and like,

you know, trying to like, pay for everything on my own and stuff like that.

It's like,

let alone the like, postpartum effect of pregnancy on your body,

but, like,

stress just rinses our nutrients.

Do you know what I mean?

Like, it puts strains on our system.

Like, it literally ages Us.

But I'm in a good starting place because,

like, I'm a pretty well nourished person.

Like, I understand the nervous system.

Like, eating is really important to me.

Like, I don't get.

I definitely don't get enough parasympathetic downtime because of,

like, single mum life, I think.

But I get loads of, like, joyful, playful time

with my child.

And that's definitely parasympathetic, if that

makes sense.

Like, it's this kind of play state, which is.

Does involve, like, the sympathetic nervous system, but it's not taxing in the sense of

I'm not like,

releasing cortisol all the time, even though they have studied mothers.

And I think mothers do actually have highest levels of cortisol compared to all sorts of

jobs, which I'm not surprised about.

But, like,

because I, in a starting place of, like, having a lot of privilege, like, being able to

access,

like, good food, like knowing a lot about nutrition so that I can, like, really

skillfully sort of like, plan our meals, but also just having the money to, like, buy that

food, like, buy my child organic vegetables.

Like, that's a. It shouldn't be a privilege, but it is a privilege.

So it's like,

you know, and having access to all these amazing herbal medicines with their broad

spectrums of nutrients and antioxidants and all these, like, amazing plant, like,

chemicals that, like,

you just don't encounter, like, in our society, like, in the kind of like, however

many.

Is it, like six vegetables that most people

eat, you know, like indigenous people will eat, like, ******* hundreds of different types

of plant every year, and they all bring something to the diet.

And so,

you know, I know there's been lots of cool experiments around people eating, like,

primarily wild food and stuff and how different that is for their body.

But, like,

that's obviously not possible for everyone.

But I think, yeah, we need to think about,

like, yeah, how can we access these plan resources, like,

more easily, if that makes sense.

And that's like a whole other podcast episode

about,

like, privilege and herbalism and having energy to harvest and make medicine or having

money to buy medicines.

Like, I'm really aware of all that stuff.

Like, it's real.

But I do think there are lots of people that are very passionate about herbal medicine.

And, like, if you have one of those vectors of privilege somewhere, then you're in good stead

in the sense of, like, you might not have much money, but you might have the physical energy

to go and,

like, harvest a lot of things.

Do you know what I mean?

And dry them out.

Maybe you can't afford to put them in glycerin

or whatever or vodka, but, like, actually you can, like go and harvest loads of like,

amazing wild greens or you can, like manage an allotment because you've got,

like a body for that, do you know what I mean? All the time for that.

So it's like there are little kind of we all rooms.

Obviously it gets more challenging when you have, like, physical limitations that also

affect your ability to earn money and therefore,

like access nourishment or have the energy to cook.

Like, that's what ******* breaks my heart with people with chronic fatigue and like, people I

support one to one.

And it's why I run a ******* free clinic as

well as a paying clinic, is because,

yeah, like, accessing that support when you have next to no money is, like,

hard.

So,

yeah, and I wish there was more like structural organising around that.

Okay, I told you I would be going on lots of political rants.

But I just wanna.

I just think it's important to talk about this stuff before we dive into,

like, concepts of nourishment because, like,

yeah, it is a structural thing.

Like, it is not just as humans, like, oh, I'm

lazy, I haven't cooked my meal.

Do you know what I mean?

Like, there's so much going on in our bodies, in our societies that's affecting people's

access to nutrition, let alone people that do not have access to nutrition.

Like, you know, refugees, people on the move, people living through genocide.

Like, you know, like, there are so many horrific forms of, like, structural and state

violence at shape, whether, like, someone eats at night or not, right?

And that's if wellness influences cared about wellness, that's where they would *******

start,

not like somewhere else.

Anyway.

Okay,

so in terms of nourishment, let's talk about nourishing herbs.

Because there are beautiful,

amazing herbs that can support our bodies, our energy, our mitochondria in our cells.

Like, there are amazing herbs that can do that.

And I guess before I talk about some of the, like, herbs that I like, dubbed as nutritive

herbs,

I just want to say that obviously food is medicine.

So I could be giving someone nettle and elderberries and stuff like this, but if

they're not getting solid meals, then those herbs are only going to be touching the side.

So we do need to start at that starting point of focusing on nourishment, whether that's

starting a ******* meal train for them or connecting them with food distribution

projects that can distribute free food or do you know, Meals on Wheels, like, all of that

stuff.

Like, I think,

you know, herbs can only do so much, and obviously the structural stuff is the most

important, but food is the most important in terms of, like, actual vegetables and protein

and everything else.

But we can work with, like, culinary herbs as well in food amounts as part of aiding our

digestion, as part of kind of, like, adding in some of those, like, broad,

like, phytonutrients.

Like, we don't need loads of, like, thyme, for

example.

Like, it's a really strong herb.

We don't need to take shots of thyme glycerite to access those herbs.

Like, we can have,

like, a little dash of thyme on our vegetables, or we stick a rice packet in the

microwave.

We can add a little bit of turmeric or

cinnamon or whatever just to kind of, like, give that a little extra punch.

And I think that is where conversations around,

like, nourishment should start.

Obviously. Obviously I said they should start with the structural.

But I mean, in terms of, like, let's talk about implementation.

Like,

adding culinary herbs two things is, like, a fantastic way of just getting that extra in.

And I know they're ******* expensive, but they do last, like, a million years.

Right.

Like, how long do they live in your cupboards for?

Like,

so, yeah, so adding, like, small amounts of herbs to meals is, like, fantastic.

Like, adding.

You know, you could add, like, chopped herbs

into, like, salt.

You can just.

Yeah, you know,

have, like, a little pot of herbs somewhere where you can just grab a dash with meals.

Like, that's kind of traditionally how we've worked with so many medicinal herbs is just

integrating them into our lives, like, in small amounts through cooking, and that being

kind of a regular thing.

Likewise, like, with drinks.

Right.

Like,

there's a book called the Herbal Kitchen by Cammie McBride, and I did one of her infused

oils course, and it was fantastic.

And it's kind of how I make this amazing

lavender oil now.

But she's got this book called Herbal Kitchen, and, like, it's all about, like, how do we

make, like, cordials or how do we add, like, herbs into, like, spice mixes,

you know, on certain foods, or, like, jellies or whatever.

Like, I can't remember now, but it's kind of like that.

Yeah, that kind of, like, kitchen medicine focus is, like, lovely.

And in my prisoner's herbal book, I have a section called, like, Canteen Remedies, which

is, like,

looking at, say, for example, prisoners can't access plants in the garden.

They might be able to access other things.

From the canteen in the US they call it

commissary.

So, for example, salt and pepper.

So Helen, a gardener I used to work with in

prison, who was another prisoner, she would have pepper tea where she put black pepper in

hot water and drink that for her ******* joint pain in the cold or to prevent a cold

respiratory virus.

So it's.

There are loads of ways of using these,

like, herbs and spices or, like, food items, like, medicinally when you need to use them at

that sort of medicinal strength.

So if you're worried about money and

implementation and stuff, then the prisoner's Hubble is, like, really fantastic resource.

It's completely free for people to request it.

For people in prison and for projects like on

the outside of prison, you can also request copies.

And the ebook is £3.

And if that's, like, not possible for you

right now, you can just drop us an email to supportoldarypathechry.org and my assistant

and Chantal will just share the PDF with you.

Like, I don't, you know, like,

turn people away from **** like that.

So.

Okay, so, yeah, so we've talked about the importance of food, the importance of,

like, culinary herbs, like integrating herbs and spices into cooking.

I think I might do an extra episode on that at some point.

But all of these kind of little,

Little ways of integrating herbs can actually really help with digestion.

You know, whether it's having, like, a mint tea after your dinner or having, like.

That's why people would have, like, mint sauce and stuff, like, on the side of, like, heav

meals, because it helps you digest.

Right?

Okay, so,

okay, so,

yeah, I'm gonna talk a little bit about some of the kind of common nutritive herbs.

I feel like I keep getting close to it, and then there's, like, important disclaimers

again.

But I guess there was, like, two things that I want to say.

One is that please obviously cheque these herbs with,

like, contraindications for yourself.

Like, for any medication you take,

contraceptives, stuff like this.

The other thing I want to say is that, like, I feel like when I first got into herbalism,

there was this kind of, like, obsession with, like, nourishing herbal infusions and that,

like, it was really safe to have, like, vast amounts of, like,

nettle tea or oat straw tea or raspberry leaf tea.

And I feel like it's not safe.

Like, as in for everyone.

It's not safe.

Like, constitutionally, like, some people

could have amazing, deep, strong infusions of nettle every day.

For me, that would have Like a very strong like therapeutic effect in the sense of the

diuretic property.

So I would be peeing non stop.

I'd probably be super hyperactive because I'm like very high energy person and I find

nettles like incredibly stimulating.

So like I think we get pitched as these herbs are like safe to have in really big

quantities.

And something like red clover, which was like

really touted as a super strong, like not super strong as like a nourishing daily

infusion like me.

Like it really has an action on oestrogen in the body.

So like,

yeah, it's just not.

I just don't think it's a good idea basically.

So I'm happy for people to challenge me on that.

But I think everything in sort of like moderation.

Like it would make me happier if someone had like a couple of nourishing herbal infusions

like a week or they had a mix, right? So they had like strong infusion of nettles

like one day and then maybe the next day they had some like oat straw and raspberry leaf if

that was appropriate for them.

And then like,

you know, maybe they had some dandelion leaves or.

Do you know what I mean? Like, I think yeah, I like, I do prescribe

like teas for people to drink consistently.

Like most especially this kind of like gut restoration tea which is like.

But it's really having a therapeutic job of like helping heal certain gut tissues and

reduce inflammation and improve the gut ecology.

But like,

yeah, I,

for sort of kind of like maintenance top up.

Like I actually don't think we need to be

drinking gallons and gallons and gallons of like the same herb all the time unless you

have a sort of constitutional need or desire for that and that really works for your body

without adverse effect.

Does that make sense? Like everyone is different.

Like please experiment, please,

you know,

work with herbs that suit you.

Your energetics, your current, like patterns

of like your fault lines in your body and where it expresses distress.

Like obviously like I could probably have like shitloads of lemon balm tea and be fine.

Actually I'd probably be asleep mostly because of child related sleep disturbances.

Anyhow,

I think that yeah,

like there is a difference between like the nutrients in a kind of food plant and the

nutrients in like a medicinal plant in terms of like strength and impact.

So I'm just saying, like, I think it's good to be a little bit tactical.

The other thought is around kind of like extraction methods and how you're working with

herbs.

So like, for example,

I mean, I Could go on a rant about vinegar for hours and kind of harms to the body if someone

has like a fungal overgrowth and stuff.

But like fire cider vinegar, for example, is a

vinegar that has loads of, you know, amazing, incredibly strong herbs infused in it.

And also foods, right? Lemons, garlic, onions,

but also like cayenne pepper, chilli pepper, like horseradish, like stronger herbs.

And you're meant to have that, you know, when you're getting sick and you have some in

water.

Or you could have a little bit every day as

like a bit of a kind of preventative,

but it's kind of like a nuclear option, do you know what I mean?

It's very strong.

But that preparation because it's in a vinegar is like very fantastic at getting certain

plant chemicals, most especially minerals.

And there is a tradition of making herbal

vinegars because vinegar extracts minerals really well.

So people will make herbal vinegars often in the spring with herbs like dandelion leaf and

nettle because you're getting like the actual minerals from those herbs into the vinegar

that you can then have like a tiny bit each day.

So I think again, it's kind of like lots of culinary herbs in your cooking,

knowing when and what strength to use, kind of therapeutic herbs and then the kind of

nourishing herbs.

Like, I think you need to find your own

balance of like what works with your constitution.

Like I could have like a net or curry or something like once a week, but I know other

people will have nettles like all the time in their diet and I'm sure it's amazing.

But like, like I said, it's just a bit too drying for me.

So. Yeah, like, I think you have to kind of go with your body other ways of kind of.

Yeah, like extracting a lot of nutrition from herbs is things like broths.

Like I hate, sorry, long term vegan here, but like this, this bone broth, like kind of

people getting really obsessed with that.

And I understand like medicinally what's going

on with like collagen and like, you know, things that help heal the gut lining and stuff

like that.

And you know, the minerals.

Like I can totally see how it is like a

traditional part of nourishment.

But you can make kind of like similar vegan

ones with,

you know, plants and like good protein sources and stuff.

But yeah, and there's lots of herbs that kind of serve those functions that that kind of

like bone broth is doing.

But I think that kind of like soupy, brothy

liquid support is like really, really Lush.

Like, I was thinking of making a big vegetable soup for Lee today for lunch,

as well as his favourite pasta pesto, obviously.

But again, a pesto, you can make a ******* pesto with nettles and dandelion leaf and

that's like a way of getting a bunch of kind of broad spectrum nutrients into you.

That's not like I have to eat like a kilo of nettles in this curry, but it's like I'm

getting a dash of those herbs and their nutrients as like an extra boost.

Does that make sense? Okay, another thing, I know I've mentioned

eating nettles a couple of times, but I think there's also a difference between like wild

food plants, which are often like picking a little bit, eating a little bit.

You know, you might have a salad with like six or seven different,

excuse me, like foraged green leaves plus some edible flowers or something to make them look

nice on Instagram.

Whatever.

No, I'm just joking.

They can be delicious.

But like you're getting like a little bit of lots of different plants, so you're getting

that diversity.

And I think that is what we're sort of going for.

Like, it's not like, oh, I need to eat like three giant bowls of like wild food lettuce

every day.

I mean, wild food salad.

It's like, how can we get like little and

often of as like many different plants as possible?

And I think that's like my approach to like nourishment, if that makes sense.

And before having Lee, like it would be much easier for me to like go for a 10 minute walk

before I ate where I could just pick a bunch of stuff from the polytunnel on the hedgerow.

Do you know what I mean? I mean, he's so close now to being big enough

to doing that with me.

Like he will do it, but he will also run off

in the other direction.

So it makes weeks walking around quite tiring.

So. But yeah, we're getting close to just, yeah, mommy, let's go get some salad and us

going together, which I'm really excited about.

Okay, so what are some of the kind of like common nutritive herbs?

I'm only going to talk about these briefly because I have been talking a lot and I do not

have very long this morning.

But I've mentioned nettles several times.

Right.

So these are the kind of like go to nutritive herb that everyone talks about and for good

reason.

Right.

They are super high in iron,

good levels of like other minerals like calcium, magnesium, but also vitamins A and C.

There is a fantastic book called Nutritional Herbology which is probably really, really,

really out of date now.

But this guy, I'm sorry, I can't remember his name, but he,

I don't know where he did it in a lab or something, but he like studied the nutritional

content in different medicinal plants.

And I'm sure there's like much more updated sources of this, but it was really, really

interesting of like which plants actually are high in which and things.

So, yeah, that's like super, super interesting.

But yeah, I've literally had to take nettles out of mixes because people have like, had

such like, wonderful effect on their blood health where they've gone from being like

anaemic pretty much most of their lives to like suddenly having like really quite high

iron stores to the point where we're like,

okay, no more nettles.

And that's what I mean by like, they are a

therapeutic herb.

But you know, someone's having that in like a

higher dose, like having a net orglycerite and stuff like that is different to having, you

know, some nettles in your meals like once or twice a week.

But yeah, but nettles are wonderful.

They make a wonderful vinegar, if vinegar is

appropriate for you.

They make a wonderful tea.

You can, you know, cook with them as a vegetable,

but they do hate to black make an amazing glycerite.

So you can put fresh nettles in glycerin and it will be dreamy.

You can also put dried nettles in the slow cooker with glycerin and some water and they

will be just really strong and delicious.

And it's kind of like a way of like preserving a really strong infusion because kind of like

nettle infusions are like the thing that are kind of touted as these like nourishing

infusions.

So yeah, they make a fantastic tea.

I personally just can't stomach the taste of

nettles.

I'm so sorry, I'm going to get stung now as a

punishment.

But I think the glycerite makes them taste super tasty.

Okay. The other herb that is often kind of used in these like nourishing infusions and

other ways is oat straw.

So this is like, like just kind of, you know,

an oat, like.

But it's that kind of.

Yeah, like the straw rather than like the milky oats, which is the kind of like latexy

SAP.

So, yeah, full of calcium, magnesium, B

vitamins as our oats.

I always recommend oats to people.

If you can get organic oats, you're onto a winner nutritionally.

Like, they're amazing herb.

Yeah. Oat straw.

I'll often put this in my, like, nerve

nourisher tea, which is like a mix of oat straw, a little bit of skull cap, chamomile,

and some a tiny sprinkle of lavender.

And I'll put that in my care packages for people experiencing repression.

And it's really, really loved.

Like, I encourage people to take it in the

evening, but you can also take oat straw in the morning.

And, you know, I do go into these herbs, like, much more in the herbalism, PTSD and traumatic

stress course.

Red clover is also very nutritional in terms of, like, calcium and chromium and iron.

But like I said, like, there is a lot of,

like, research now around red clover, and it's kind of impact on oestrogen levels, which, you

know, can be a really positive thing if that's what you're looking for.

But also kind of.

It's like, quite a strong lymphatic herb, so has an action on the lymphatic system, which

is fantastic.

Right.

And again, we want to work with that action when we need it.

But I don't see it as, like, one of these herbs that's, like,

safe to have a, like, gallon of it every day.

Like, I just don't, like, shoot me.

Do you know?

You know what? Have lists, like, okay,

but, yeah, but with red clover, again,

tiny little bit.

Put some of those beautiful flowers, put two

of them in your salad.

Like, that will be fine.

Do you know what I mean? Like, that's not gonna, like, harm you.

So, like, again, it's just like, how you eat things.

And I think as a kind of, like, little extra to a dish, like, they're probably fantastic.

And again, if you're kind of looking for those specific herbal actions, that's also amazing.

So alfalfa, this is actually a herb.

This is ironic that I would put in my, like,

compost,

my hot composting system where I'd, like, buy,

like,

massive things of alfalfa.

Just. Yeah. To feed, like, certain kind of, like, beneficial bacteria and stuff.

But, yeah, alfalfa is, like, full of trace minerals.

Again, vitamins K, vitamin C, like, various B vitamins.

So again, like, super medicinal.

You can have it as part of this kind of, like,

infusion.

I know I've just been sagging off infusions,

but you know what I mean?

You can have him kind of therapeutically or kind of as part of something you're having a

couple of times a week.

Horsetail is like a very, very ancient herb that was kind of around in the sort of

dinosaur years.

My child is obsessed with dinosaurs, which I

feel is like, a manufactured interest because, like, they're just on everything, aren't they,

for little boys, like dinosaur T shirts, like, dinosaur toys.

But I do.

I like.

I'm proud to say I know the names of a lot of them now,

but whenever I see horsetail now, I think of dinosaurs.

But,

yeah, it's like this amazing kind of look.

Looks like a horse tail, literally, but, like,

super upright.

But anyway, it's really full of silica,

which is really important for kind of hair health and skin health and like, also, like,

connective tissue and stuff like this.

So, again, like, strong herb used in different

contexts.

That's beyond the scope of this episode.

But,

you know, I make, like, a horsetail vinegar, for example, and I think that's like, a

fantastic extra kind of, like, mineral support for people.

I will, you know, put horsetail in certain blends normally, like the tincture.

I haven't.

I haven't tried the glycerite, if I'm honest.

Parsley. So, again, kitchen herb.

Just adding a bit of parsley to your food

because it has, like, quite strong actions in other directions.

But, yeah, yeah, it's got vitamin K in it, vitamin C,

iron, source, like, as well as, you know, all the sort of herbal antioxidants we're looking

for.

Okay. Right.

I'm so close to running out of time, and I

also have to publish this, but I just wanted to say about dandelion.

Oh, and dandelion is one of the herbs that I include as a plant profile in my Prisoner's

Herbal book.

So, yeah, like, loads of kind of, like,

vitamin A, vitamin C,

iron and calcium.

And again, I don't know how many dandelion

leaves you'd need to eat to actually get a lot of iron.

But if you were taking, like, a strong extract of dandelion, I would.

That would definitely be beneficial.

Does that make sense?

So it's like, it is about dosing and format and, like, you know, having a little sprinkle

of dandelion leaves on your salad.

Dreamy. Like, I wouldn't have got through prison without dandelion leaves on my food.

You know what I mean? It was probably the only thing I ate that had

any nutritional value in it other than just enough calories to keep me alive.

I mean, I got severely anaemic and underweight when I was inside.

I mean, I also, like, Got ripped.

So it was kind of because I was doing a lot

of, like, training in my cell as a, like, mental health thing.

But. But yeah, but I was, like, working with these plants and I should say there are other

herbs in the prisoner's herbal that are definitely, like, nutritive herbs.

Herbs like mallows, for example, that I would add to salad, like common mallow.

You could even have, like, marshmallow leaves or flowers.

And, you know, there's like, so many amazing books about nourishment from herbs.

So you can make *******, like, like, things from, like, marshmallow powder,

like marshmallow root powder that we make our gloop from for the Kofzer and Calais.

Like, you can use that as a kind of like, egg replacement in, like, baking.

Do you know what I mean?

And then you're getting all these amazing qualities from that herb.

Okay, so I feel like I've talked a lot, but.

Yeah, I guess I just.

Yeah, if you're listening to this and you're struggling with fatigue, you're probably like,

oh, my God.

But, you know,

first, next step, just buy a tub of mixed herbs from the supermarket and add that into

your cooking.

Do you know what I mean?

It's not gonna do any harm.

Like, it will bring in a little bit to you.

Like, if you have the energy,

then make like one or two herbal teas a week with nettles or alfalfa or o straw.

Like, just, you know, these little actions can kind of add up over a long time.

And that is my.

Maybe the difference between a deficiency that

just smashes you and leaves you with, like, severe fatigue and brain fog for, like, months

on end versus, like, being able to kind of, like, live more how you want to live.

Do you know what I mean? So I think nourishing herbs are really, really

important.

And just to loop it back to the structural

stuff, like,

I want people to focus on nourishment, not on, like, kind of,

you know, calorie counting or whatever.

Like, it is about, like, our relationships

with our plan with plants.

You know,

how they take care of us and how they have all these amazing nutrients that our bodies need

to, like, survive and thrive in this world.

And I know we don't live in these, like,

dreamy utopias of,

you know, like,

communities where we can forage and grow food and harvest and have, you know, healthy

environments that aren't being polluted by a data centre or whatever.

Like, I know we're far away from all of those things, but.

But plants are there to also help us as we kind of like resist and change these

conditions.

And,

yeah, they can offer us nourishment to keep going, like to the point that someone in

prison can access nourishing herbs if possible, if they have access to a courtyard

or something.

But, you know, and herbs like dandelion and stuff are growing and that can make a

difference to someone, you know, I've had hundreds and hundreds of letters from

prisoners who that's made a difference to.

So,

anyway,

shameless course plug.

The herbalism PTSD and Traumatic Stress course

is opening on Sunday,

but if you can join the waiting list now, then you can get a 10 discount code if you are

gonna join at the standard or resource rate.

And you can also get the solidarity code if you're gonna join at the solidarity rate,

which means you can basically pick your own sliding scale.

You can pop in a tenner, you can pop in 50 quid, you could start a donation of £3amonth,

like, whatever makes it possible for you.

And the course, like, really goes into depth of this stuff, like, all about nutrition,

common,

like, nutritional deficiencies that are indicated in states of, like, PTSD and

nightmares and different things like that.

How to make medicines, how to safely harvest

and forage.

Yeah. And then 32 plant profiles and there's a whole section on kind of nerve tonics where I

talk about,

like, some of the.

The berry herbs and I also talk about oat

straw and other herbs.

So, yeah, several of the herbs that I've

mentioned through this episode are kind of featured in that course.

And very soon I'm going to pop it into private podcast feed.

That's very close.

Now, my amazing helper Chantelle has been

organising the audio files and spotting which ones are missing and then, yeah, I just hope

I've got the childcare to whack in a private podcast player.

So that's exciting.

But, yeah, please don't miss the course.

If you're interested, if any of this stuff has sparked your interest, I think you'll find

value in there.

And yeah, thank you for listening.

Thanks so much for listening to the Frontline Herbalism Podcast.

You can find the transcript, the links, all the resources from the show and at

solidarityapothecary.

Org podcast.