To be one of the top four herbs of 2011, a medicinal herb must meet the following two criteria. The plant must grow in Central Alberta and have multiple uses. Here are my top four herbs for 2011:
4. Elecampane (Inula helenium): Elecampane has been useful for that chesty viral infection that gripped Central Alberta in the final months of 2011. A herb brought to North America from Europe, it has adapted well to gardens throughout Canada and U.S. It takes root so well that trying to give away a few extra Elecampane plants, I was frequently refused. “My Grandmother gave me one of those! I make it grow in the back alley now!”
Elecampane dries up wet coughs, clears lymph nodes in the chest and neck and helps the body fight infection. Combining elecampane with echinacea (Echinacea angustifolia) and osha (Ligusticum porteria) clears most chest complaints. Add a little honey and the medicine goes down a lot easier.
Elecampane is an important plant to take after an illness has exhausted the body’s resources and there has been wasting in the skeletal muscles. Inulin, a starch found in Elecampane’s root, supports the muscle’s uptake of blood sugars. I have found it useful in supporting type two diabetics.
3. Sculcap (Scutellaria latrafolia): This plant enjoys moist soil, and can be found near streams or at the edge of slews. I have seen it growing wild near my home, next to a patch of wild mint. Sculcap resembles the mint plant in appearance, but not in taste. Sculcap has a bitter flavour while mint tastes minty.
Sculcap is my favourite herb for over-thinking, stressed-out, wound-up, tense people. Sculcap takes the edge of tension, and slows down runaway thoughts. I frequently combine it with lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) and if I suspect depression underlies the anxiety, I add some St, John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum).
2. Marshmallow (Althea officinalis): Marshmallow also loves moist soil and is the flamboyant holy hocks’ shy cousin. Marshmallow is a tall plant with soft leaves and small pink/while flowers. All parts of marshmallow are used in medicine, the flowers, leaves and roots. Holy hock weakly mimics marshmallow’s medicine.
Marshmallow is a demulcent. A demulcent soothes hot, dry tissues. Where elecampane dries up a wet cough, marshmallow soothes a hoarse, barking cough. It softens the hard mucous irritating the bronchi. This helps the body expel the mucous and what it may contain. To ease dry coughs, I combine marshmallow root with thyme leaves. Thyme leaves are strongly anti-septic.
Marshmallow supports healing in the digestive tract, in particular ulcers. In this case, I prefer to offer a tea of marshmallow and liquorice.
Many people prefer capsules of marshmallow over the tea. If using capsules to take marshmallow, be sure to drink lots of water, as the medicine in the plant needs water to make it effective. This is why I prefer people take it as a tea. The water is built into the process.
1. Chaga (Inonotus obliquus): Chaga is not a plant, it’s a fungus. It looks like an ugly, black scar or growth growing near the top of birch trees here in Central Alberta. Chaga is an heal all in herbal medicine. Its complex chemistry builds the immune system, removes toxins from the body, including radiation, and aids the body in resolving inflammation.
Chaga is a famous cancer remedy in Eastern Europe. There are many stories of chaga miraculously curing cancer. It is specific to bowel and stomach cancers, as well as cervical and breast cancer. In Russia, it is used for most cancers. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, a well know dissenter of Stalin and a writer, wrote of chaga while interned in the cancer ward in a Russian gulag.
“He could imagine no greater joy than to go away into the woods for months on end, to break off this chaga, crumble it, boil it up on the campfire, drink it and get well like an animal. To walk through the forest for months, to know no other care than to get better.”
Research has shown that chaga has more anti-oxidants that reshi mushrooms, blueberries or vitamin C. Anti-oxidants repair the wear and tear on the body caused by daily life. Chaga is an important tonic that can be taken daily over an extended period of time.
Use local medicine, and have a happy, healthy 2012.
Herbs for Life is written by Abrah Arneson, a local clinical herbalist. It is intended for information purposes only. Readers with a specific medical problem should consult a doctor. For more information, visit www.abraherbalist.ca. Arneson can be reached at abrah@shaw.ca.