Herbal energetics,
warm and cool herbs

Herbal energetics tells you about the energy of the herb. It can be complicated, but one basic concept that has helped me is learning the thermal energy of the herbs.

Herbs have a temperature! And so do you. Your body constitution may be leaning toward heat or cold.

Does your body run warm or cool?

If you get hot easily, if you tend to get angry or aggressive when you are out of balance, if you feel inflamed, restless, aggravated, then you have heat.

You may do well with cooling herbs, which cause the body metabolism to slow down.

If you dislike cold weather, tend to feel cool or sluggish, if you get withdrawn and fearful when out of balance, go for warming herbs. Warming herbs cause the body metabolism to speed up.

This knowledge of herbal energetics really helped me. I tend to be cool, and when I eat too many cooling herbs, salads, fruit, my digestion is off, I feel too cold, and have no will.

Warm herbs to the rescue! I like the famous one, ginseng. The thermal energy of the herb really does make a difference in how effective the herbs will be.

Your diet can support the herbs. If you desire to warm up, eat more cooked foods. If you desire to cool down, try some raw salads and cooling teas. Experiment and see how you feel. This is an exercise in body intuition.

HERBAL ENERGETICS: WARMING HERBS

In the fall, you can prepare your body for the cooler weather. Fall is cooler than summer, and it affects the lungs and colon.

We often get colds in the fall. So to help the body, eat roots, stronger proteins and more cooked foods, to prepare for the winter. Stop the cooling summer foods, like ice cream, raw fruits, raw salads. Instead, try some Bake apples with walnuts and cinnamon, a warming spice

To eliminate mucus and to warm the digestion, have orange or lemon peel. Boil the lemon peel for a tea for after meals. Use organic lemons for this.

Vegetarians tend to be cooler than meat eaters. Meat give you heat!

Here's some warming herbs

Elecampagne clears mucus and help digestion.

Garlic and garlic juice clears the lungs and is warming. It even clears phenomena, says herbalist Leslie Tierra.

Garlic juice is warming for cold and flu. to make this, place garlic in blender or juicer with enough water to mix smoothly. Blend thoroughly, strain and put the juice into a container. Place herb pulp in cheesecloth and squeeze hard to extract remaining juices into container. Add glycerin to preserve or if no glycerin, use immediately up to 2 days. This is powerful medicine.

Dried ginger helps clear coldness in the digestion.

Black pepper is warming for colds and coughs, add a pinch to tea or food, or try some chai tea.

Cinnamon tea is yummy. I take it with stevia.

A little goes a long way with cinnamon. Once I had a tea of both cinnamon and dried ginger in the evening. I got too hot, with a heartburn feeling and it was hard to get to sleep!

So now I take these 2 heating herbs separately.

Scallions are warming diaphoretic food.

Parsley can be taken as a tea. it is rich in vitamins, iron, helps digestion, gas, eliminates intestinal worms and is diuretic

Valerian root is warm and dry, useful for insomnia and to calm you down.

Yarrow is warm and dry, useful for wounds, fevers, and cold. And if you get a cut, put dried yarrow on it and the bleeding will stop. It worked for me.

Astragalus root is warm and dry, boosts immunity, is an adaptogen (helps you adapt to stress) and is anti-viral.

Rosemary is warm. On teaspoon steeped in a cup of boiling water can be used for headaches, indigestion, colds.

Oregano is a warm herb that is high in antioxidants.

Take these herbs as teas, tinctures or in capsules. You might like to buy them in bulk from Mountain Rose herbs, a quality herb company and save money. They have bulk teas and premixed herbal teas that are yummy!

HERBAL ENERGETICS: COOLING HERBS

try some raw foods. Fresh salads and juicing could be good for you.

Here's some cooling herbs:

Burdock root is cool and dry. it is good sauteed with onions. It works well on skin disorders and eruptions, like eczema, boils and acne. These are signs of heat.

Dandelion root is cool and dry. Use it for poor digestion, water retention, skin eruptions, and anger--heat! I love it for PMS and menopause.

Echinacea, good for immune strengthening

Lemon balm, good for insomnia, calming down and lights your spirits.

St. John's wort, to lift your mood

Nettles, for iron calcium and minerals. Good for the kidneys and adrenals

Elder flowers and berries, good for colds, flu and fever

Some herbs are neutral, Like oatstraw, which calms the nerves.

Chamomile is neutral. It is great for children, works for fevers, insomnia, irritability, colic, and restlessness. And it's fairly easy to grow in the garden.

There is more to herbal energetics. Herbs can be drying or moistening, they can go up or sink down in the body, and be specific for organs. Warming and cooling is a good place to start.

BE SELF RELIANT!

In the US, the FDA is often attempting to remove access to supplements with various regulations, some really ridiculous ones. And quality supplements are expensive, too.

The answer is to be self reliant. This can be simple. Oregano and rosemary grow easily in my garden. Garlic and ginger are available in grocery stores. Buy organic for the best medicine.

There are so many herbs, it can be overwhelming. You may want to start with a few herbs, Like 5 to 10, and then experiment. Try some cinnamon tea. Feel the warmth. Try some chamomile, Feel the calm. Get to know your body and the plants. It's fun!

There is an art to herbal formulation, often combining warm and cool herbs for a certain effect. Herb books can tell you more about this.

My Favorite Herbals

I love these authors. They explain herbal energetics further.

The way of Herbs, By Michael Tierra

The Herbs of Life, by Leslie Tierra (My favorite)

Herbs for Dummies, by Christopher Hobbs

Healing with Whole Foods, by Paul Pitchford. Contains valuable info about energetics, food and herbs.

Return from herbal energetics to Healthy Foods Lifestyle home page