Friday evening’s gathering was so beautiful and intimate. It was amazing to feel into the space together and explore the potential of these monthly meetings in real time. I feel even more confident now that these gatherings are going to grow into something truly magical.

Here is a little recap of what we explored, discussed…

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Time is moving very slowly in my house this summer and it’s a phenomena not entirely independent of conscious choice. This summer has been scorching - since May we’ve been treated to 30+ degree days of pure sunshine and while my environmentally conscious mind wants to worry, my body is revelling in the balmy warmth of each sun drenched day. When the weather is this warm, I feel that I have no choice but to slow down. To quote possibly the most used phrase of this summer ‘the UK isn’t equipped for weather like this’ - by which we all mean, nothing is air-conned! Rushing fosters nothing but extra washing (hello sweat patches) and irritability for me - I’ve a lot of pitta and choler in my natural constitution so it doesn’t take much for me to overheat.

And so I’ve slowed. In honesty, I’d always planned to slow come August. The start of the summer holidays (and the crazy cost of children's summer camps in London) was always going to bring about a reduction in my working hours and clinic is, historically much calmer. Health as a priority has a certain seasonal rhythm to it and many herbalists find that the the depths of winter and the height of summer bring with it a lull in patient enquiries. While I am continuing to see patients 1:1 and host a few very exciting workshops, my role as a mama is now full-time and in honesty I wouldn’t have it any other way. Five is such a special age (2-4 was… interesting lets say) and I’m enjoying being a mother in ways that I have never experienced before. While I had toyed with the idea of a more structured approach to childcare in August, I’ve now decided to lean fully into the slower, less organised and productive (from a herbalist and business owner stance) pace of life and it’s on that point that I wanted to write this article - in gratitude to and for you all.

^{A stunning Juniper tree and my beautiful Meadow in Sette}

I see so many of my fellow clinicians and Substackers churning out articles, notes and offerings almost daily and to say that I’ve not felt worried about my output would be disingenuous. The ever-present energy of the rat race looms close, threatening to pull me (us) in like a centrifugal force and historically I would have succumbed. Indeed its with great resolve that I’ve rooted in deeper to the slow pace of the summer - helped enormously by 10 days in the south of France that involved little more than swimming in salty water, foraging figs and drinking wine. There’s a headiness to moving slowly that you can only truly appreciate by embodying it and I’m enjoying myself immensely. Still, the intrusive thoughts around productivity remain, loitering in the background because I know I won’t be creating on this platform at any significant rate until September comes around. It’s for your patience with me over this time that I offer thanks. I know that when you subscribe to a writer, there’s an element of expectation and I hope that I don’t fall short of yours during these next few weeks.

I endeavour to upload one article towards the end of the month - Elemental and Humoural herbalism - how to understand your constitution and the herbs that support it - but beyond that and my full-moon herbalism gathering (if you’ve not already heard about this then have a read here), I’ll be pretty much offline. Beyond spelling and grammar checks, I don’t use AI when writing my articles. If I’m writing something clinical, I’ll also use it to help sift through the many articles that are pulled up during my Pubmed, Google Scholar etc searches however I don’t use it to write. I have no real issue with those writers who do create with it - I try my best to embody a ‘live and let live’ attitude in most situations - but for me AI is something I want to limit my use of. Living within an economy that favours speed and output above all else, I’m acutely aware of how easy it would be to begin relying on AI to start creating (and therefore insidiously at times thinking) for me. I know how my (all of our) brain(s) responds to convenience and for me, it would be a slippery slope and then of course, there’s the environmental consideration. It’s for this reason as well that my writing is slower to materialise. It takes time to get ideas onto digital paper in a way thats not just coherent but actually, hopefully pleasurable to read, so as long as I’m in clinical practise I will never be a Substack author who releases more than one article a week.

So again, I say thank you. Thank you for being here, thank you for subscribing to and engaging with me and my work and thank you for your tolerance of my slow to actualise writing.

Before I sign off, I thought I’d share an anecdote from earlier in the year. I have always been a do-er and a rusher. Whether it comes from childhood, trauma or is simply imprinted within my energetics who knows (probably a therapist could tell me in fairness) but for whatever reason, I’ve always felt a sense of urgency when moving through life. That became ever more apparent after having my daughter. There is nothing slower than a toddler who wants to dress themselves let me tell you. There is also nothing more pointless than trying to hurry a child who’s trying to complete a task, and so my awareness of this near constant need to hurry was highlighted. Being a hurrier and having a small child do not mesh well and earlier in the year there was a peak moment where something suddenly clicked. WHY am I rushing all the time? WHY am I constantly trying to do 4 things at once?

What actually happened was that I broke a plate and cut my hand whilst trying to simultaneously unload the dishwasher, respond to a voice note on Whatsapp and cook dinner. My daughters response to the swearing that followed? ‘Its because you’re not concentrating mummy’. My daughter is also a multi-tasker and I often reprimand her for it. Touché my darling.

So I decided to try an experiment. For one week I’d consciously and mindfully stop multi-tasking and I’d track my productivity via my to-do lists. Then the following week I’d behave as I had for the past 20 years and I’d compare how much I got done. Not surprisingly, I did get more done on the second week but not significantly so. My key takeaway was my mood. During that first week, other than the occasional pang of worry around not getting enough things done, I was exuberant. Life was easy and more importantly, life was pleasurable. The following week, I was noticeably more stressed and consequently notably snappier. To caveat; I have a generally easy and happy disposition so this wasn’t a Jekkyl & Hyde transformation, but it was significant to my family and I and it offered a clarity that I hadn’t previously had on the matter. When I focus on one task at a time, I may get marginally less done but I’ll enjoy the process considerably more and that, for me, is a no-brainer.

With love,

Maxine x

But first - Jupiter cazimi. Today the sun meets Jupiter in the sign of Leo, pulling the planet of abundance, luck and possibility into its heart (cazimi). Every planet experiences an annual ‘cazimi’ and when it does, the energy of that planet is purified and therefore amplified. When the sun embraces Jupiter into its heart, the energy of opportunity, prosperity and luck is cleared of any shadow or negativity. Whatever you’re dreaming of is at its most fortuitous in this moment - as any fears, or limiting beliefs you may hold around your ability to manifest that reality are burned away by the sun. In this moment, the universe is saying YES - as long as you have the courage to ask for what you want. Yes to the dream, yes to the vision, yes to energy that you’re calling in. If you take one thing from this article today, let it be this - ask for more, the universe doesn’t have a budget and remember that growth rarely happens inside your comfort zone.

Adding to this magical frequency is the full moon in Aquarius this evening. Aquarius being the house of community, shared vision and universal wisdom. It’s for this reason that today is the day I’ve chosen to announce this new chapter. Introducing:

Monthly Herbal Gatherings - A new way to come together

Each month, beneath the light of the full moon we’ll meet here to slow down, reconnect and learn together. Weaving together herbal wisdom, practical medicine making, ritual, journalling, breathwork and heart felt conversation - creating a space that nourishes both ourselves and one another.

Guided by the moon and the seasons, every gathering is inspired by the astrology of that months full moon. Together we’ll explore herbs in a way that’s embodied, discovering how the rhythms of nature run through our own physiology as well as the seasons, building a deep relationship with our health and the plants.

Each session will be unique, shaped by the seasons and astrology of that moment - focussing on the herbs that relate to them. We’ll create herbal remedies of all kinds together - tinctures, infusions, oils, balms, smokes/inhalants, smudges and more - exploring the physical and energetic benefits and personality of each plant that we meet, discovering simple ways to weave the magic of herbalism into your daily life.

Each monthly Herbal Gathering will take place live online through Substack. If you’re a paid Substack subscriber, your monthly membership includes access to every gathering as part of your subscription. If you’re not a subscriber, you’re still so welcome to join individual sessions for just £5.

Ahead of each gathering, you’ll receive a guidance email with everything you need to prepare - from any herbs or simple ingredients we’ll be working with, to journalling prompts and any other materials for that month’s practice. Where appropriate, I’ll also offer the option to purchase a carefully curated herb bundle from me for a small additional cost, so you can simply arrive and immerse yourself in the experience.

Whether you’re completely new to herbalism or looking to deepen an existing practice, these gatherings are designed to help you build a meaningful relationship with the plants, the seasons and yourself.

Our very first gathering takes place on 28th August, under the Full Moon, and I can’t wait to welcome you.

Comment “GATHER” below and I’ll send you everything you need to join 🌿

Herbal medicine is still at this point a little bit fringe of a subject. When I tell people what I do, I’m often met with blank stares, a swift change of subject or the question of ‘what exactly is a herbalist?’ For those who do ask, after hearing my explanation of what I studied, what I do and how I work, the next question is guaranteed to be either ‘do herbs actually work then?’ or ‘what sort of things do you treat?’ which I always find entertaining because no one goes to their GP and asks ‘what can you treat?’. To be abundantly clear - to earn the base level of a recognised qualification as a medical herbalist in the UK, you must study to the equivalent of a Bachelor of Science (BSc) and complete a minimum of 500 hours of clinical training. To actually qualify, you must then pass your final clinical exam (FCE) which is a 2 hour, hands on process involving patient case taking, creating clinical differential and working diagnoses that can be readily justified via your case history and medical knowledge of the body, disease and pathogenic progression, formulating a clinically sound management plan, a functional and appropriate prescription (including knowing the maximum daily and weekly doses of any thousands of herbs alongside their contraindications and cautions for medications and age) and then performing physical medical examination(s) of any system(s) that is/are relevant. It’s a lot and I don’t know a single herbalist who didn’t lose vast quantities of their sleep, personality or hair during their preparation for it.

Once you’ve passed your final clinical exam, you’re then required to register with the governing body of medical herbalism - the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH). To keep your membership in good standing with the institute, you’re require to continue studying - known as continued professional development - in any areas that will support, grow or complement your medical herbalism qualification and practise. In short - any herbalist worth their salt has studied intensely, passed numerous rigorous examinations and continues to learn new skills, stay abreast of new research and further their qualifications in order to be in clinical practise. We are passionate, dedicated and educated which is why we’re able to help so many people feel better when other attempts have failed.

And yet, people are routinely suspicious or unconvinced by the work that I offer, whilst being confident to blindly follow the recommendations to supplement with any number of products (many of them actually being herbs) that they see on their social media ads. People seemingly feel more comfortable reading a list of symptoms and a supplement advised for them on a tube advert poster, than speaking to a qualified natural health expert like myself about what might work for their individual bodies.

I believe the crux of the supplement crisis is not that people don’t trust natural medicines - indeed the opposite is evidenced by the recently valued $19.5 billion supplement market worth. No, the reason, is marketing. Powdered herbs are not considered pretty by most peoples standards but package them up in cute jars with slick logos and the promise of a cure-all silver bullet and suddenly nearly everyone wants a piece. I remember supplements back in the day (my mum was a Usana rep, IYKYK) and let me tell you people, those supplements were NASTY. My 12 year old self was choking back omega 3 and magnesium supplements the size of my thumb (seriously look at the size of your thumb). It was like trying to swallow a tampon. The supplements today are an entirely different beast. The reason for this? It makes them more sellable. Profits drive everything in this capitalist world, even within the wellness industry and this means that corners are cut, false promises are made and the profit margin is what rules the roost. I say this to people all the time, just because it’s marketed as healthy, doesn’t make it good for you.

So now that I’ve chewed your ear off about that particular gripe, let’s talk about ashwagandha. I’ve chosen ashwagandha because its a herb that a lot of people are familiar with and this is sort of my point. I would say that of every 10 patients that I work with in clinic, four of them are either taking ashwagandha or have taken it in the past. It was promoted heavily a few years ago as a wonder herb that would cure anxiety, depression, insomnia and low libido. ‘It will give you the strength of a stallion’ I recall reading in one particularly emphatic description and indeed, the name ashwagandha in Hindi does translate to something along the lines of ‘horses smell’ - which I can only presume was something that people desired 3000 years ago when it was initially being used in Ayurvedic practise.

Whether smelling like a horse is a good or bad thing in your opinion, the marketing for ashwagandha was compelling. People bought into it in their millions, it was the new ginseng or turmeric and it shone a spotlight onto Ayurvedic and Western herbal medicine. And then, as always happens when something is recommended across the board, without consideration of people’s specific health and constitutional nuance, people started slating it.

‘It doesn’t help me sleep’

‘I feel more anxious when I take it’

‘My arthritis got worse when I started using it’

‘It works for my girlfriend but not for me’ - this was a common one that I heard.

Some people swore by it and some people swore against it - so why is that?

The answer is (unsurprisingly if you’ve read any of my other articles) energetic. As a herbalist, my job is not to match a herb to a symptom, it’s to match a herb to a person and adaptogens are no different. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Matching herbs to symptoms is an allopathic approach that usually plasters over the issue rather than resolves it. That’s not to say that I never prescribe ashwagandha to my patients - it’s one of a dozen or so adaptogens that I regularly use in formulas - but if someone comes in with insomnia or stress related issues, I’m not immediately writing ‘horses smell’ in the notes section of their intake form.

A symptom (or a collection of symptoms) is not what defines a persons health. Similarly, the absence of symptoms is not necessarily an indication of perfect health. Symptoms are expressions of a systemic issue. Let’s contextualise this into modern society. The rise of anxiety is not the definition of a fault within the modern human brain. Rather it’s an isolated expression of systemic issue - increased time spent indoors and alone, reduced time in supportive community groups, increased stress due to reduced time for rest and increased time spent working etc etc. Interestingly, allopathic medicine is beginning to catch up a little with the concept of a holistic approach to treatment within the mental health field. For a long time, symptoms of declining mental health were treated in the same way as declining physical health. Define the chemical issue (serotonin uptake issue, down-regulation of GABA signalling etc) and give a pill to address that. In recent years however, rather than simply giving a pill to ‘fix’ the symptom - the approach to mental health care is now considering the persons lifestyle. Are you sleeping well? Do you have a support network? How much time do you spend interacting with actual humans in real-life and real-time? Are you depressed or are you just surrounded by arseholes? While the consideration of someone’s innate constitution and how that is being either supported or aggravated by their lifestyle, location and diet are still not the ‘norm’, there is a more holistic consideration over all when compared against ‘physical’ illnesses.

Are you thinking about training as a naturopath or medical herbalist? If so then I can’t recommend the College of Naturopathic Medicine highly enough. Based in Kings Cross, London, CNM’s Naturopathy and Herbal Medicine course gives you a genuinely thorough grounding in clinical herbal practice, naturopathic principles, and patient care - taught by practitioners who are still in clinic themselves. If you’re curious about a career in natural medicine, they have an upcoming open event happening on July 30th which is the perfect opportunity to find out exactly what it takes to train and become a professional herbalist. If you’re already sold on the idea, you can use this link and receive £250 off your course fees when you enrol.

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) is an Ayurvedic herb that’s considered warming and moistening constitutionally. It is, for the most part a well tolerated herb with no mechanical contraindications outside of an allergy or intolerence to the Solanaceae (nightshade) family of plants however, just because the science says its suitable for everyone, doesn’t necessarily make it so. Science is by its very nature reductionist, and you cannot quantify the effect of a whole plant on a whole person by reducing them down to either their phyto-constituents or symptoms. Since it is warming, it may not be the best choice for someone who’s natural energetic build is already hot.

We can use my husband as an example. Early on in my herbal practise, I gave my husband ashwagandha for stress - it was one of 6 herbs in a tincture formulation that I had made for him during a period of acute work stress. He was short-tempered, wired and sleeping poorly. Now my husband is already a fiery person. A dominant alpha-male character who is known for having a fairly short-fuse. After 5 days of his new tincture, I would have expected him to feel better but readers, he did not and no one felt the brunt of this more than me. He was full of rage, losing his temper over the most benign of things (pulling a single dirty spoon out of a clean dishwasher being his peak moment) and I was perplexed - why was he so angry? I did a little digging and asked around - I’m ashamed to admit that I had learnt ashwagandha within the framework of Western herbalism, in which it’s described as a relaxing adaptogen. Once I actually bothered to learn about the herb from its Ayurvedic principles, my husbands reaction to it made perfect sense.

Ashwagandha is what’s known in Ayurveda as a ‘vata rasayana’. Vata is one of the three doshas (energetic builds) and rasayana translates to something similar to vitality enhancing. What this means is that those people with a predominantly vata constitution can and should use ashwaganda freely. It’s considered a warming, moistening, heavy and sweet herbal remedy which works perfectly to balance and ground an excess of the vata constitution which is cold, dry and light. Excess vata in a person is associated with insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, panic attacks, muscle and bone wastage, anorexia, cold and dry presentations such as osteoarthritis and atrophy (think menopausal vaginal tissue atrophy for example). So if you’re naturally a vata dominent person, ashwaganda will probably do you the world of good. However, for those persons with pitta or kapha dominant energetics, caution is recommended. My husband is a classic pitta, kapha combination - hence his bad reaction. As an already overheated person, rather than calming and cooling him down, it added more heat and moisture to the situation - it was like coating him in oil and putting him into a sauna - you can imagine his discomfort.

N.B: I’m not an Ayurvedic doctor or expert, however I do lean on the tri-doshic categorisation of energetic build, alongside the humoural approach and a persons unique natal chart when deciphering their constitution and best herbal matches. Ayurvedic is a fascinating and deeply intricate holistic approach to healthcare. Rather than try to define the three doshas here, I will include the tri-doshic approach in my upcoming article on constitutional pattern recognition and herbal medicine instead, to give it the space and time that it deserves.

Once I realised what was happening, we swapped the ashwagandha out to reishi -which is much more cooling energetically - and naturally, he chilled the fuck out shortly after. If you’ve ever tried a herb that many people swear by, only to find it does either the opposite or absolutely nada, it’s almost certainly because you were matching it to your symptoms as opposed to your constitution.

Let’s use insomnia as an example. Many people struggle to sleep and on first glance can appear to present very similarly. However within the nuance of an insomniac’s experience lays the clue to the cause of their restless nights. If someone finds that when they lay down at night they’re worrying about their future, that indicates a different energetic build than someone who can’t sleep because they’re ruminating on the past. Someone who cannot sleep due to restless legs may benefit from different herbs than someone who is in pain due to arthritic joints. Waking in the night to urinate and then not being able to fall back to sleep will require a different approach to someone who habitually wakes at 4am for no physical reason. The details of these various presentations requires a full article so I won’t go into them now. What I will do however, is go through the 5 most used adaptogens so that you can choose the best one for you and since most all adaptogens are marketed as ‘stress reducing and energy enhancing’ the below information goes into not only their physiological impact but also their energetics. That way you can select the best one for you like a herbalist would, rather than as an overwhelmed-by-the-market novice.

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I don’t know about you, but the past two weeks have been wildly busy. The combination of the end of term (an assembly, performance, sports day or playdate literally every day for 2 weeks) plus pre-holiday prep, alongside seeing patients and hosting several amazing workshops has had me truly up against it - in the best possible way.

I wanted to send this out ahead of our departure on Sunday (Montpellier for 10 days, thanks for asking) so that it can hopefully reach as far and wide as possible.

Every Thursday through the month of August, I will be offering two, 75 minute initial appointment slots at a 40% discount - reducing the cost from £100 down to £60. The appointment will be run exactly as it would do at the full price. We’ll take a full case history, I’ll do research if needed and then I’ll compile a comprehensive management plan and herbal protocol - taking into account your lifestyle, constitution and preferences to ensure that the suggestions are manageable and realistic. Herbal medicines are paid for separately and are offered in tiers - foundation, comprehensive and intensive - the best tier will be discussed during our appointment with the end decision being entirely yours to make. The 40% discount can be applied to single consultations or a 3-6 month treatment plan if desired.

When I first started out in clinic, I wanted to make sure that within my business plan I had factored in the possibility of offering either a free or low-cost clinic on a regular basis. This is a really important element of being a herbalist to me personally. I studied herbalism because I knew it was a brilliant modality for health management that could help almost everyone that had access to it. I wanted to help people how to understand their bodies and also, how easy it can be to manage and maintain a good standard of health by using simple and easy to find plants in their local areas. Unfortunately, no health insurance companies in the UK recognise herbal medicine and so, if someone wants to work with a herbalist 1:1 they’re obligated to front the bill in its entirety.

My goal is to offer a free clinic once a month, however at the moment I’m not in a position to do that. So instead, I’m offering a month of low-cost clinic appointments.

The height of summer is always a quiet time in clinic. Between people going away and the sun making everyone feel better and healthier in general, there’s often a lull in patients both new and repeat. This is usually a welcome break, letting me spend quality time with my daughter while she’s off from school and also to get the admin side of being a business owner a little more in hand, but I feel that I’m fairly up-to-date with my admin and my daughter has a lovely camp booked. It feels like August is the perfect month to offer this out.

I hope that this offering is able to reach those of you who would benefit from 1:1 support but cannot financially make it possible at full price. If you know someone who might be interested in this offering - please send this article their way.

I have lots of articles planned for release over the summer so if you’re not already, make sure you click subscribe to receive these pieces straight to your inbox. Free gets you my musings and the odd recipe or herbal monograph, paid (£5 monthly - the cost of a matcha latte) gets you access to protocols, medical astrology deep dives and energetic herbal wisdom ie; the stuff that actually moves the needle).

If you’d like to book one of the low-cost clinic spaces, please email me at maxine@barrattsapothecare.com or send me a message directly on Substack.

Sending such love to you all for these next few weeks. I hope you find time to rest, be barefoot on grass or sand and enjoy quality time with the people who light you up ✨

With love,

Maxine

The first time I tried cacao I was at an ecstatic dance event which by itself felt really fucking cult-y. I mean no disrespect to ecstatic dancers, I have since enjoyed many sober raves but this was my first foray into the scene and in fairness, the scene was fairly new to London. It was filled with INCREDIBLY sweaty (again no judgement, I’m a sweat-er) people wearing sarongs and harem pants who were basically intermittently throwing their bodies around like a windsock in a storm, and then holding really advanced yoga poses whilst staring at each other intensely (dwi pada sirsasana anyone?). Neither myself nor my friend were sure about any of it - the room stank of sweat and the vibe was weird but we’d paid £25 for the pleasure of being there so we stayed. There was of course, no bar - it being a sober event and all - but there was a sort of refreshment area in the far back corner, so we edged our way over, avoiding eye contact and nasal breathing as much as possible to see what they had to offer - water, coconut water and cacao was the sum total. Not being a coconut water gal and feeling that the situation required something a little stronger than water, we opted for a cacao. The lovely lady serving it told us the basics - traditional Mesoamerican drink, used in ceremony to facilitate connection to God and the emotional heart with the effect being mildly euphoric when taken at a ceremonial dose. The bar of expectation was pretty low, being that what I really wanted was a margherita so I didn’t anticipate feeling anything at all - how pleasantly surprised I was! Firstly, it was delicious. I’d heard about cacao from a few of my yoga world friends and been told that it was nothing like chocolate - one person even described it as gritty and bitter. Having since consumed a lot of cacao, I can only assume that person been served a cup of coffee grounds in water, not cacao. This was thick, smooth and silky with a gently sweet flavour. The woman selling it had made it with water (traditional), coconut cream and added cinnamon and agave to taste. An absolute taste of heaven and a recipe that I return too often. Within around 15 minutes, I felt ready to dance. The music in fairness was great and weirdly, the dance floor didn’t seem quite so intense or off-putting. In fact, there was an appealing sense of tribalism that seemed to be calling me in. Within half an hour, I was feral and into it. Hair whipping, hips circling and arms like wind socks, I was having the time of my life. All inhibitions were long-gone and I felt like a wild woman in her prime. The event lasted 4 hours and we stayed until the end, high as kites on cacao and vibes by the time we left. As a party-girl turned yogi, I was officially hooked on both sober raving and cacao.

There’s a physiological reason that the cacao made me feel that way. Firstly, it contains stimulating compounds known as methylxanthines. The most famous methylxanthine is caffeine, of which cacao contains a little but it also has theombromine. Theombromine - like caffeine - dilates blood vessels, deepens breathing and focuses the mind. It’s effects are around 1/5 of caffeines which is why the feeling it gives is a relaxed alertness, rather than a jittery anxiousness. It also peaks much more slowly in the system, giving an increase in energy and social relaxation that feels more like a massage than a punch in the gut. Then there’s anandamide…

Ananda in sanskrit translates to something along the lines of ‘supreme bliss’ and in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy refers to a feeling of profound completeness and connection to all. The anandamide found in cacao is also produced by the human body. It’s an endocannabinoid, basically our endogenous signalling molecule that plant cannabinoids like the THC found in cannabis mimics. It’s sometimes called the “bliss molecule,” which if you’ve ever smoked good quality cannabis, you’ll understand (N.B: I’m not advocating the use of cannabis).

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a homeostatic signalling network (ie; a collection of internal messengers and receptors that communicate to maintain optimal hormone and fluid balance in the body). It has two main cannabinoid receptors: CB1 (found mostly in the central nervous system, but also present in peripheral tissue like fat, pancreas, liver) and CB2 (found mainly on immune cells). It’s core roles, via CB1/CB2 activation are:

• Mood and stress adaptation - CB1 activation modulates release of dopamine, serotonin, GABA and glutamate, contributing to mood regulation and stress resilience

• Pain (nociception) - anandamide dampens pain signalling both centrally and peripherally. It’s implicated in the “runner’s high” alongside endorphins, and is being studied in chronic pain conditions like fibromyalgia, where circulating endocannabinoid levels appear altered

• Appetite and energy balance - CB1 activation tends to enhance hunger and shift metabolism toward energy storage

• Memory and cognition - Anandamide helps tune how strongly your brain's memory-forming connections respond and adapt to stimulus. If you’ve ever been to an event that you felt absolutely ecstatic, and then afterwards couldn’t recall the fine details of - this is partially why.

• Immune modulation - via CB2, contributes to anti-inflammatory signalling

• Sleep/appetite/fertility - there’s some suggestion that via it’s systemic impact on stress, mood and CNS activation there is some positive effect on these areas however the process isn’t at this stage well defined.

Now the really interesting (for me at least) part comes. Yes cacao does contain anandamide but not in huge amounts. By scientific research standards (more on this below), even in a ceremonial dose of 50-70g, the amount of anandamide present and readily absorbable by the body is far lower than what would be needed for a physiological impact….and yet from my (and many, many many others) experience, imbibing cacao at a ceremonial dose does provide marked feelings of relaxation, joy and community connection. This is where the subject of energetics comes in. If you’ve read some of my other articles or follow me on instagram, you’ll know that as a herbalist yes, the science and mechanistic effects of phyto-constituents is important but its by no means the whole picture. I blend a combination of astrological, energetic and scientific knowledge when deciphering which plants are right for which people in my clinic which is why patients will often wait a week before receiving any insight from me post consultation. The constituents of a plant are just one part of a highly complex system, in the same way that our physiology is only one aspect of us as humans.

The flaw with the research

Additionally, the research into the presence of anandamide in various doses of cacao doesn’t take into consideration any of the other thousands of phyto-constituents that are present. This is a repetetive failing within the scientific research model when it comes to herbal medicines. One herb is studied for one thing (ie; turmeric as an anti-inflammatory). Science dissects the herb to find one specific compound that the effect can reasonably be assigned to (curcumin) and then studies the efficacy of that one single compound - often with disappointing results. The conclusion then is often that the plant doesn’t do what it was purported too. The issue with this is that within a plant, there are thousands of other compounds which all work synergistically together to create a net effect (in the case of turmeric, anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving) so studying one isolated part of the plant is never going to give the full picture. This is partially the case in cacao I believe however also, given its ancient status, it’s not the only thing. Read on.

Cacao Ceremonies

Cacao ceremonies the way that we experience them in the West are actually a fairly new phenomenon so let’s be clear about that now. Exactly how ancient cultures of Mesoamerica worked with cacao is decipherable only by what we can discern through archeology and the study of ancient civilisations. What we do know is that Cacao held a divine status, occupying a position in society that it’s hard to find a modern equivalent for. It functioned simultaneously as sacred substance, luxury good, medicine, and currency. Cacao was present at every major life event - birth, death, marriage, worship and even war. Its preparation was ceremonial - the drink poured repeatedly between vessels from a height to raise a thick foam, which was considered the most prized part of the beverage. This pouring technique appears repeatedly in Mayan archeology.

Cacao in herbal and medical astrology

As a ‘new-world’ food, cacao doesn’t sit neatly within the Galenic constitutional framework. The Spanish physician and naturalist Francisco Hernández de Toledo, along with many other Spanish colonialists regarded the drink as temperate - cold and moist by nature but with the ability to become warming by adding appropriate spices and a warm preparation. Most modern herbalists consider it a warming, stimulating plant medicine - ideal for cold and stagnant conditions such as pain (particularly uterine pain), depression, low libido and nervous exhaustion. We go into the details of how to work with cacao for these and several other presentations behind the paywall if you’re interested.

Astrologically, it’s under the dominion of Venus - the planet of pleasure & love - consistent with cacao's suggested aphrodisiac, mood-elevating, and heart-opening effects. It’s most commonly assigned to Taurus - the sign of luxury and pleasure. There are some sources that link it to Pisces and Aquarius but in my experience, it feels very Taurean which is why I enjoy working with it during a full moon. Taurus is a fixed Earth sign, making it all the more grounding, sustaining and steadying during the often heady and flighty full moon energies.

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As a mum, I oscillate between hyper-organisation and abject chaos. One week (usually my ovulation week) I am super-mum - baking snacks, ironing school dresses and filling the calendar (why can I never get the an and e around the right way?) with the never-ending events, parties and commitments that school aged children have. The next week, I am scarcely able to shower regularly or prepare dinner before 8pm for my lack of time awareness and organisation. During the latter week, I often find myself leaving for school collection exactly 5 minutes before the gates are due to open - my tenacious optimism absolutely certain that I’ll make it there on time, regardless of the fact that I’ve made the journey approximately 400x before and it’s never taken me less than 12 minutes to complete.

Two weeks ago, I did exactly that - well actually, I left for collection on time but then decided with absolute certainty once I was half way there, that I’d left the backdoor open and we would be burgled before getting home (welcome to inner city living). I therefore had to turn back to close the backdoor (plot twist, it was already locked) and found myself doing my typical rush to collection. Usually I’m a very careful cyclist but on that day, I rushed a little too hard and I came off my road bike. Luckily, I was in a cycle lane and no other cyclists were affected but I ended up with a nasty road burn and gash on my right leg and ankle.

As usual, I decided that rather than feel sorry for myself, I’d use this opportunity to demonstrate the beautiful healing power of herbs and document the process for you lovely subscribers here, so here you are!

N.B: if you’re squeamish you may want to skip the pictures at the bottom of this article - I’ve included them as useful points of reference for anyone using this protocol to assess the health of their wound.

I was rushing to get to my daughter's dance performance when I fell just over Chelsea Bridge Road (not exactly a clean patch of London pavement, if there is such a thing) and by the time I could stop and look at the damage, I'd already sat with a grazed and grimy wound for around 40 minutes. Once I got home, here’s exactly what I did to deal with them properly and why:

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For the past few months, I’ve been throwing around ideas for my next educational step. I’m curious by nature and love to learn so I plan to always be studying something. I’m also intrigued by bigger ideas and concepts, the sort of thing that connects you to something deeper or bigger than just us, on this tiny planet amongst an ever expanding universe - (my North node and MC is in Pisces & Aquarius is in my 8th & 9th houses so go figure). If you can’t tell, I’ve been diving deeper and deeper into my and my family’s charts recently and it suddenly occurred to me - medical astrology and astrological herbalism should be my next step. It makes perfect sense and just like when I decided to become a herbalist, it was handed to me on a plate and my entire body said yes.

So I’ve enrolled on Matthew Wood’s astrological herbalism course (I’d looked at it before but decided it was too much of a commitment financially but then I received a substantial and seemingly random discount code for it - there’s the plate I mentioned) and I could not be more excited.

I’m telling you this to effectively communicate that as far as medical and herbal astrology goes - I’m fledgling. Less than fledgling really and so technically I’m in no strong position to start sharing this kind of stuff with you HOWEVER, something big is happening on June 30th and it’s just too damn exciting not to share. We’re about to step into 12(ish) months of big energy and the next few weeks are going to be fiery so I want you all to understand how to harness it and use herbs to stay well whilst doing it.

Medical astrology is all about prevention. It’s not a diagnostic tool per-se, although similarly to reading the body, your natal chart will tell me a lot about your constitution and tendencies both physically and emotionally. It’s more of a way to track and be aware of what’s going on so that you can stay attuned to the potential opportunities and pitfalls that various astrological events bring about. This is the way it is with normal astrology too. It’s not predicting your future, it’s giving you some insight into where you should be channeling your efforts and where you should be placing extra care.

The information I’m sharing in this article is generic - it has to be so that it speaks to a wide group of people but, if you know where Leo sits in your chart, you can take this information and explore how it’s specifically related to your life and your body. So before we go any further, to really get the most out of this article, I’d highly recommend that you go and get your natal chart drawn up. Use astro-cafe or astro-seek to do that for free and then scroll down to read which houses (if any) you have Leo in. Some of you might not have Leo in a house and in this case, you can look at which house it’s transiting through on the 30th. Using astro-seek, go to the transit chart and enter your date, time and place of birth and then 30th June midday as the chosen date for the transit information.

Jupiter moving into Leo is one of the biggest astrological shifts of the year. Jupiter spends around 12 months in each sign, and after a year in Cancer, a sign known for its nurturing and caring qualities, it now moves into fiery, self prioritising Leo. It’s bringing a noticeable shift in the collective energy. As a planetary energy, Jupiter is known as the Greater Benefic in traditional astrology. It represents growth, abundance, opportunity, wisdom and expansion. Wherever Jupiter travels, it magnifies and expands. That can bring incredible opportunities, but it can also bring excess, overconfidence and overindulgence if we’re not mindful.

Over the past year, with Jupiter in Cancer, many of us may have felt drawn towards home, family, emotional security and nurturing those we love. Cancer is a cardinal water sign ruled by the Moon, associated with nourishment, care and creating emotional safety. Depending on where Cancer falls in your natal chart, Jupiter’s transit may have brought growth around family life, home, caregiving or emotional healing. But now the focus is changing. Leo is a fixed fire sign ruled by the Sun. It asks us to step forward, express ourselves, create, lead and be seen. Rather than pouring our energy into caring for everyone else, Leo encourages self-expression, confidence and taking up space.

To understand exactly how this will affect you, you’ll want to look at which house Leo occupies in your natal chart. That house shows the area of life where Jupiter is likely to bring growth, opportunities and expansion over the next year—but also where you may need to watch for excess.

For example, Leo falls across my second and third houses. The second house relates to income, resources and self-worth, while the third governs communication, teaching and speaking. Jupiter moving through these houses could bring opportunities to grow through public speaking, teaching and putting myself out there more confidently. The shadow side, however, is that Jupiter can encourage excess. I might be tempted to overspend on appearances, branding or things that make me feel more visible and successful. Jupiter doesn’t create problems—it simply amplifies whatever is already there.

From a medical astrology perspective

Medical astrology is best used as a preventative framework rather than a predictive one. It doesn’t tell us that illness is inevitable, it highlights areas that might benefit from greater awareness and balance during a particular period. Traditionally, Jupiter is associated with the liver, growth, nourishment and excess. Leo is traditionally associated with the heart, circulation, the spine and upper back, as well as vitality and the life force through its rulership by the Sun.

Don’t worry - this doesn’t mean we’re all going to arrive into next summer hypertensive with back ache and cirrhosis (although if you go hell-for-leather at the pub garden during the summer then you might - your health is your own after all). Instead, what this information offers us is an invitation to reflect on how we’re using our energy and to be aware that over-exertion during this transition is likely to impact the cardiovascular system, the liver and consequently our vitality.

Heartburn, palpitations, anger (viewed as excess heat in the liver traditionally), inflammation in the upper back, fatigue, burnout, hangovers(!) are all things that Leo and Jupiter can increase the presentation of. Looking to herbs and foods that support and nourish theses areas is a great approach to supporting your general health during this period. Leo is big and bold and extroverted and when Jupiter comes to hangout with the lion, that’s amplified. Adding to that, Leo season begins in mid/late July so there’s an extra push toward expressing our energy outward. From a health perspective, we need to be mindful of overcommitting, taking on too much and saying yes to every party that gets offered. My moon is in Leo and my mum used to say I’d go to the opening of an envelope (harsh but very, very true). We also need to keep our egos in check and to keep asking - am I doing this/taking this on/behaving this way because it nourishes ME or because it looks good to others?

Jupiter is generally associated with opportunity, growth and expansion but on the flip side of those things is excess and over-indulgence. With Leo and Jupiter egging each other on, we need to be aware of overindulging in unhealthy foods, alcohol, spending or anything that leaves us feeling depleted afterwards? These are all very Jupiter-in-Leo themes and if your own natal chart already places emphasis on Leo, the Sun or Jupiter, or if this transit activates important parts of your chart, these themes may feel more pronounced. Look at what the house that Leo falls in represents and be mindful of these things in that area. For me, it’s spending/over committing financially and over-extending in a work capacity but for you, it might be different.

This is why medical astrology can be so useful. Lots of my patients say that they feel that they’re stabbing in the dark with their health and habits. Oftentimes, things work for a little while and then they stop, old issues return or something new happens and it feels like they’re starting from scratch again. Understanding your chart and the various big scale transitions (or working with someone who can/does) can give a more sustained sense of sovereignity and power over our health. Everyone’s health is fluctuating and changing, that’s a normal part of ageing and life but having an overview of your constitution, tendencies and what areas to pay attention to via medical astrology might be the thing that tips the needle from fixing to preventing.

Supporting yourself during this transit

Because both Jupiter and Leo are considered warm, vital and expansive influences within traditional medical astrology (and because this is happening in the height of the summer months for us Northern hemisphere folks), this is a period to focus on balancing heat, rather than increasing it. Even if your constitution is naturally colder or wetter, the seasons and the astrology is bringing the heat to you. If you usually prioritise keeping warm above all else because you tend to run cold then you can probably relax that for a couple of months until we’re through the other side of Leo season. If you naturally run hot, then think about taking exercise that’s less vigorous. Choose yoga, pilates or swimming over running. Adjusting your daily habits can be all that’s needed to maintain balance and vitality but you can also support yourself with cooling, moistening foods and herbs.

Rose, linden & heartsease - are all beautifully cooling herbs that not only help to cool the physical body through their polysaccharides and mucilage, but are also a perfect tonic for an emotionally overheated heart. If you’re finding yourself ‘hot and bothered’ over the next couple of months, these are going to be your best friends. Make a cold, overnight infusion and sip it at room temperature.

Marshmallow root, plantain and meadowsweet are all cooling and calming, particularly for the digestive system. Heartburn be gone with this blend.

Skullcap, passionflower and motherwort are your nervines for this moment. Because Leo is so active and energetic, nervines are preferred over adaptogens as a general rule (again, this is a wide view statement and there’s much more nuance to what I’d recommend to a patient who’s history and constitution I know). They’re more cooling and act faster than an adaptogen and these three are the perfect blend for palpitations linked to anxiety, insomnia or peri-menopause, racing, intrusive thoughts or just generally feeling like you’re being irrational or hot-tempered. If you’re losing your shit with your kids, blending these nervines with the three top flowers is a great idea.

And of course, last but never least milk thistle. Our blessed thistle - the number one herb for the liver. Alcohol is very hot and dry by nature and many of us really feel that pull toward sitting in the sun with a cold wine or beer when its Leo season and the weather’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a drink with your friends, just be mindful of Jupiter’s optimistically indulgent tendencies to encourage the ‘just one more drink will be fine’ mentality - my personal nemesis. If you do over-indulge or if you just want to be proactive with supporting your liver, taking milk thistle is your best choice and if you want to know why, have a read of this article that I wrote on supplements.

Finally, what herbalist would I be if I didn’t mention the importance of lifestyle too (a bad one FYI).

Rather than constantly pushing harder, which overheated Leo energy might feel like it’s encouraging, Leo in balance reminds us that true vitality comes from sustainable energy and not perpetual performance. Prioritise hydration, restorative sleep, gentle movement when temperatures are high, and build moments of genuine joy and creativity into your week. Remember what I mentioned earlier - is what you’re doing for you or for show? Magnesium, B-vitamins, zinc and vitamin D are all linked to Jupiter and Leo so remember to take your bedtime magnesium, get some time in the beautiful sunshine and eat your pumpkin seeds. This natural electrolyte recipe is the perfect antidote to too much heat:

• 1 glass coconut water

• 1/2 lime juiced

• 1/2 - 1 tsp celtic/sea salt

• 1 tsp honey/maple syrup/agave

• Mix & drink - bloody delicious

Jupiter loves abundance but abundance doesn’t have to mean excess and one of the greatest lessons of this transit is remembering to keep checking in with when enough is truly enough. This is a powerful reminder for me, how about you?

So to summarise, enjoy saying yes to opportunities, let yourself be seen, wear the outfit, speak on the stage and share your gifts. Just remember that Jupiter always asks us to balance expansion with wisdom and that’s where the real medicine lies.

With love,

Maxine x

I recently posted a picture of my skin with a note on how I’d successfully cleared the majority of my hormonal breakouts using herbs and I got a fair amount of questions about what exactly I’d done - which herbs, what method and for how long. I’ve been mentally throwing around ideas for my next ‘problem specific’ article and this one felt timely and appropriate, so here we go.

I know a lot of people with problematic skin. From adult acne - eczema - psoriasis - rosascea - most of the patients who come to clinic have something going on with their skin, as do many of my friends. It’s no surprise really, bearing in mind the deep connection that our skin has with out gut - (everything is deeply connected and if you’re not already of that mind then hopefully this Substack will bring you on side!).

Speak to any health professional and they’ll agree that we’re in a gastrointestinal health crisis right now. The rise of convenience foods, pesticide use, stress exposure and household chemicals have impacted almost all of us. Our desire to be viewed as ‘clean’ now borders on the obsessive with anything from slightly dirty fingernails to unshaven legs being considered ‘dirty’ or ‘undesirable’. Combine showering/washing twice a day with harsh chemicals and a diet low in fibre and high pesticide/toxin exposure and is it any wonder that the vast majority of people in my clinic (and I!) have both gut and skin problems?

We often think of the microbiome as the gut which of course it is, however our skin (and respiratory tract, genitals, urinary tract, eyes, ears and nose!) also have their own unique blend of commensal (and non-commensal) bacterial strains ie; microbiome. The purpose of this, as in the gut, is to maintain optimal health and it does this via its activity in supporting our skin barrier, sebum production, pathogen invasion, immune behaviour and hydration levels - pretty important right?!

As I mentioned earlier, the skin and the gut microbiomes are heavily interconnected. This is through a bi-directional relationship - known as the ‘gut-skin axis’. What this means is that changes in the microbial communities on your skin can trigger systemic immune responses that ultimately affect the health and balance of your gut microbiome.

An additional but, slightly unrelated note of interest on leaky gut syndrome (scroll past if you’re only here for the acne chat)

There’s a triple combination of pathologies known as the IgE triad, consisting of eczema, asthma and hayfever/seasonal allergies. People who present with one of these health issues are more likely to develop the other two throughout their lifetime which is why a patient who may have presented with eczema as a child, then develops both eczema and hayfever as an adult. The gut-skin axis is the reason this triad exists (or rather, an imbalance/misalignment in the gut-skin axis). The mechanism behind this works in both directions. From the gut to the skin - the presence of epithelial permeability (ie; leaky gut) is commonly associated with the presence of IgE mediated illness (asthma, eczema and hayfever). The permeability of the intestinal wall determines what gets absorbed into your blood stream and circulated around the body. When the intestinal barrier is weakened, it allows undigested proteins, pathogens and toxins into the blood stream which then circulate around the body, triggering immune system response, inflammation and skin issues like psoriasis, rosascea and dermatitis as well as eczema skin wise.

N.B: A compromised intestinal barrier (ie; leaky gut) causes all manner of health issues, not least of all auto-immunity, but for the sake of remaining on topic we won’t discuss that here. If you’d like a deeper dive on this sooner rather than later then please let me know in the comments!

In the other direction - a damaged skin barrier allows allergens in "the wrong way". In eczema specifically, the skin's outer barrier is defective. Instead of allergens being processed safely through the gut (where the immune system is more tolerant), they cross damaged skin and get presented to immune cells in a way that's much more likely to provoke an immune response. This is called transcutaneous sensitization (no need to remember that unless your a dermatology student!), and it's a major reason eczema in infancy is now thought to be the starting point of inflammatory IgE illness cascades and not just a coincidence that happens alongside it.

Back to Acne

So all of that to say that, if your skin is miserable then there’s a fairly decent chance that your gut is miserable too. I wanted to make this point early because when people talk about healing their skin, they often assume the process is going to involve a lot of creams, washes, ointments and lotions. I’m here to tell you that in most cases, it doesn’t. Because the gut affects the skin, most of what we’re doing with skin issues is figuring out WHAT is going on with the gut and resolving that. The skin then commonly follows suit. This is why offering topical or oral Roacutane as a treatment for acne is one of the biggest failings in general practise. Don’t get me started on giving it to teenagers which is, in my opinion entirely negligent and a huge failing in a GPs duty of care. If you have a teenager with acne, please PLEASE reach before going to the doctor.

In cases where the skin barrier is enormously compromised - which to be fair I have seen a fair amount of recently with the massive upsurge of active ingredient skincare, retinol and even tretinoid use - I will also recommend some skincare swaps but for most (women at least), it won’t come close to their current 5-10 step skincare routine.

Acne is far and above the most common skin complaint I see in clinic and happily, it’s also one of the easiest skin issues to resolve. Acne vulgaris occurs when hair follicles become clogged with oil (sebum) and dead skin cells, often complicated by bacteria and inflammation. It’s most common in puberty because of the hormonal activity (more on that shortly) and increase in bodily secretion production - including skin sebum. However it can occur at pretty much any stage of life and is, regardless of when it shows up, distressing to most sufferers - mostly because it tends to present in the most public facing parts of our skin, the face, chest and back.

The basic mechanism is oil overproduction (often driven by sex hormones) catches dead skin and dirt which plugs the pore. Bacteria from the skin microbiome then begins to colonise in these clogged pores resulting in infection, inflammation, redness, swelling, pus and pain. There are a variety of different presentations which can affect the way in which we approach treatment. They are;

• Comedones – non-inflamed clogged pores; “blackheads” (open, oxidized) or “whiteheads” (closed) - usually require no external treatment.

• Papules – small, red, tender bumps - usually require no external treatment.

• Pustules – papules with visible pus at the tip (classic “pimple”) - usually require no external treatment although topical lavender essential oil may be helpful to dry the pus and prevent the urge to squeeze or pick at the site.

• Nodules – larger, deeper, painful lumps under the skin - Can require a topical essential oil treatment as above alongside simplification of skincare and topical probiotics, as well as internal support.

• Cysts – deep, pus-filled, often painful lesions that carry the highest risk of scarring - because of the risk of scarring, I often accompany internal support with a topical protocol too. This will vary depending on the patient and their overall case. Since cystic acne can be so painful and sensitive, I won’t include topical recommendations beyond what’s above in this article.

Because people often make the association of ‘oil over-production = blocked pores’, many who try to treat their acne themselves end up in a cycle of stripping the skin of its natural oils using aggressive acids, retinols and washes and then trying to replenish some of those oils with products that often block the pores anyway. As you can imagine, this rarely renders positive or lasting results. Yes, oil over-production is the main reason that pores end up blocked but in order to resolve that, you have to look to the reason for that oil production in the first place. Once you figure that out, you’re onto a winner.

So let’s do that shall we?

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Over the span of my life, I’ve worked many different jobs in a variety of different industries. Most of these roles have been customer facing and thus, highly interactive. I’ve made small talk with many many people and have come to somewhat of a conclusion that people tend to fall into two categories in regard to their belief system. The faithful willing and the fact led. The faithful willing are those people who aren’t overly driven by a need to understand everything about a subject in order to buy into its theory or offerings. The fact led need evidence to believe. They need to be able to understand and, in many cases tangibly experience something in order for it to ring true. We all know people who are inherently more fluid or rigid with their thinking patterns. I’m sure that if asked to call to mind 3 people of each you could quite easily do so. Indeed, labelling someone as more left (logical & analytical) or right (creative & artistic) brain dominant has been widely adopted and accepted, despite a lack of robust science to back it up. In behavioural iridology (the study of the irises), you can determine a persons behavioural tendencies based on the presence of psoras and lacunas. A large amount of psoras indicates a more fact-led, structured approach to things, with lacuna dominance suggesting the opposite.

_{As you can see from this image of my eye, I have very little psora (pigmentation spots, typically orange-brown in colour) with plentiful lacunas present (the looping oval ‘gaps’) suggesting that I am more of a ‘right brain’ person by nature.}

As a medical herbalist, I was trained not only in the science of human biology, pathology and phytochemistry but also in the art of reading the body through its energetic presentations. The pulse is important not only as a sign of how fast or slow the heart is pumping, but as an indication of how much vital spirit - or Qi - the blood is circulating. The colour, width and coating of your tongue doesn’t only signify whats going on lower down in the gastrointestinal system, but also whether there’s an excess of heat, damp or stagnation within the body. In practise, I have found both the allopathic approach to physical examination (blood pressure, abdominal palpation, auscultation of the lungs and heart valves) to be as elucidating and helpful as the energetic examination of the body. This forms a key component regarding why working with a qualified and passionate herbalist often garners results when other approaches have failed. We’ll talk about that more later but let’s move on for now because it’s not the only consideration.

Human beings are carbon-based at their core. Carbon acts as the structural foundation for all the essential biomolecules in the human body, including DNA, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. What this means is that the human body has the same molecular backbone as all other lifeforms on the planet - including plants. Even certain ‘non-living’ things like marble, limestone, chalk and coal are carbon based (I use inverted commas here because I personally ascribe to the concept that everything in the natural world contains an essence of life within it - the source of life is found in all things if you will. That’s a belief I’ve come to through various experiences I’ve had and I appreciate that not everyone will be able to quantify this…most likely those of you with lots of psoras!).

Why is this relevant? Because this is a fact driven way of explaining that we are as much a part of nature as any tree, flower, fungi, grass or animal and that’s another reason why herbal medicine works so incredibly well for everyone. It’s not necessarily because we and the plants we use in herbal medicine are both carbon based - supplements that were made in a lab, along with many (but not all) pharmaceuticals also contain carbon rings as their skeleton - what’s relevant here is that we are of the Earth. We grew and evolved from the Earth, just as plants did and because of this shared origin, our bodies are inherently attuned to plant chemistry; we developed alongside these organisms, and our physiology reflects that. The uptake and receptivity of phytochemicals isn’t incidental, it’s written into our biology

Any nutritionist and dietician worth their salt will encourage nutrient intake to come predominantly from dietary sources, not supplements. They do this because they learn in university that fats, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, essential fatty acids etc are all better recognised, taken-up and used by the body when they come from whole food sources. What are these whole food sources? Plants and meat ie; things that were once alive - as we are. This is why supplementing will never replace healthy eating. You CANNOT out-supplement a diet that’s low in whole food diversity. I use the words whole food diversity specifically because more and more I’m seeing people who are following restrictive diets and supplementing heavily alongside to make up the gaps. By restrictive I don’t mean in the caloric sense, I mean in the prioritising one macronutrient above all others - mostly protein currently - sense. While optimising protein intake isn’t inherently problematic, it can become so when carbohydrate intake in the form of vegetables and fruit is compromised because of it. Supplements and pharmaceutical drugs that were synthetically manufactured in labs or industrial plants cannot be recognised by the body in the same way that plant medicines and food based nutrition can. Manufacturers use inorganic materials, chemical compounds (like acetone), or petroleum extracts & chemically rearrange their molecular structure to exactly duplicate the nutrients found in nature. How’s your supplement protocol looking now?

So why not just prioritise nutrient intake and resolve health issues through the diet? The reality is that for many people, particularly those suffering from chronic conditions, the body is already in such a compromised state that diet alone may not be enough. That's not to say that once the excess inflammation and root cause have been addressed, people can't maintain optimal health through diet and lifestyle alone - they absolutely can, but for many, trying to get there through diet alone is a long, winding, and often overwhelming road. Additionally, our soils are depleted from mono-cropping, herbicide and pesticide use which means that the foods that we’re eating, no matter how good our intentions, just aren’t as nutritionally dense as they once were. For the first time in history the issues of obesity and malnutrition are occurring within the same body - it’s a travesty.

Herbal medicine is the answer. Plants are living, breathing phenomena. They grow from the same earth that we do and their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, human biology enhancing and altering chemicals are fully recognised, absorbed and utilised by our bodies. Herbal extracts provide people with simple and easy to implement options. They’re nutrient and mineral dense and provide measurable impacts on our biology. Some herbs work beautifully as a nutritive dietary supplement (nettle, cleavers, dandelions) while others require an alcoholic extraction to exhibit marked effects on the functioning of our systemic homeostatic management. Either way, they work safely and effectively and many can be easily sourced at low costs. For example, Motherwort vasodilates, inhibits platelet aggregation and exerts a mildly chronotropic effect on the heart muscle. Barberry stimulates bile production and release, activates our internal antioxidant AMPK pathways and mimics insulin, resulting in reduced insulin sensitivity. Passionflower binds to GABA receptors in the brain, slowing down our stress responses and reducing anxiety. None of these plants have any contraindications, safety concerns or side effects. In fact, excluding the Schedule 20 plants which can only be purchased and prescribed by medical herbalists who hold a specific level of qualifications (BSc equivalent or above), there’s only a small handful of herbs that do have general contraindications;

1. St John’s Wort - contraindicated alongside certain medications due to its effect on certain metabolisation pathways in the liver. Basically, if you’re taking medications that keep you alive or stop you getting pregnant, you want to check with your herbalist before starting a relationship with St John’s Wort.

2. Comfrey - contains saturated pyrollizadine alkaloids which MAY cause hepatotoxicity if taken long-term or by those with compromised liver health. Much of the concern has been debunked but most herbalists still refrain from its use internally.

3. Liquorice - contraindicated in uncontrolled hypertension and when pregnant.

Naturally, if a patient arrives taking a complex selection of pharmaceutical medications, I use my training, books and various online tools to ensure that their prescription is 100% safe even though, and perhaps unsurprisingly - it's almost inevitable that someone taking multiple medications is simultaneously taking ones that are contraindicated with each other. Doctors can and do prescribe new medication without considering current ones, and yet when a patients liver markers are high, one of the first questions most GPs ask is “are you taking any herbal medicine”? It’s almost farcical, even though it’s less than funny.

Perhaps at this point you’re thinking, well if herbs are so bloody marvellous then why haven’t I managed to heal my [insert health concern here] using them at home so far? The answer to this my love is that herbal medicine is not a one size fits all approach. There are thousands of different herbs available to a medical herbalist and tens of thousands available beyond that. Many of these plants have overlapping actions, constituent content and thus applications in the ‘book’ sense. If you’re practising herbal medicine at home, relying on a few herbal materia medica style books for reference (a materia medica is a book that lists 20-100ish plants with fairly limited information - typically, latin name, common name, notable constituent content, actions and sometimes applications) then it’s likely that you’ve had a few successful experiences and a lot where the results have fallen short. This isn’t because you’re doing anything wrong, it’s because your reference points are missing one key thing - guidance on how to read the body.

An example: both mullein and angelica are listed as ‘pulmonary tonics’ useful for the respiratory system in cases of wet and dry coughs, wheezing, bronchitis, pneumonia and other lower respiratory tract infections. On paper, both should be useful for the same things, however mullein is cooling and moistening energetically, whereas angelica is heating and drying. What this means is that you need to consider the patient’s temperament, constitutional balance (or imbalance) and the energetic presentation of the illness - is the mucous white/clear or yellow/brown for example, before deciding on which herb is the right one for them. Theoretically, this isn’t overly complex to learn but understanding the energetics of plants can be counter-intuitive at times. If you’re interested to learn more about this I’d highly recommend the books ‘Energetic Herbalism’ by Stephen Taylor and ‘The Energetics of Western Herbal Medicine’ by David Holmes.

Finally, and the nail in the proverbial coffin for the reasons why herbal medicine gets such fantastic and long-lasting results when other applications have failed is - herbal medicines don’t force the body to anything it can’t already do by itself. When I work with chronic illness patients, I always advise them to take a long view approach to healing with herbs and to not expect dramatic results within weeks - although this does happen too). The reason for this is that herbal medicine acts as a gentle, nourishing guide to the body that slowly and respectfully re-establishes connections, mechanisms and functions that have grown tired, rusty or gone to sleep altogether back to vitality and competence. They do this by gently reminding the body how to do things, providing nourishment that diet alone cannot and perhaps most vitally - generating a feeling of safety within the body. This might sound a little too woo for you but what do adaptogens like Ashwagandha or Reishi do? They regulate the hypothalamic, pituitary, adrenal (HPA) axis, allowing the nervous system to chemically return to a state of rest and digest, parasympathetic dominance. The body cannot heal in a state of stress and the body cannot differentiate between the stress of a 80 hour working week and being chased by an apex predator. Again, a longer recovery might sound like a strike against herbal medicine but because this is the way that herbs work, the general approach to a patient’s healing journey is that they’ll work with herbs for a period of time until the body is sufficiently well not to need them anymore, and then they’ll stop. There’s no long-term reliance on herbs or your herbalist for health maintenance, at least not in a prescriptive sense.

This doesn’t happen in chronic illness when using allopathic mediations because those medications are taking over bodily functions, not repairing it. Expecting your nervous system to regulate your heart rate after long-term beta blocker use for example, would be like expecting yourself to play Chopin by memory after not touching a piano for 30 years. Use it or lose it is the phrase that comes to mind and this is relevant in every system of the body, not just the brain.

The approach to treatment by a good herbalist is this:

• You come to me for treatment

• I differentiate the herbs you need and for how long.

• You heal and no longer need me and I lose the monthly income you provided.

It’s a pretty poor business model really and you can see why pharmaceutical companies haven’t adopted it, but at the heart of our training is this belief - everyone is capable and worthy of being healthy and well and our role is to support, guide and educate those who need help attaining this state.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this free article, please do leave a comment or share with others if you have. If you’re interested in understanding how to apply herbal medicines with effect at home for acute and chronic illness then you might like to consider becoming a paid subscriber, as that’s exactly the sort of thing I offer to that side of my community.

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If you’d like to know how you can work with me as a herbalist, please send me a direct message or visit my website to book a clarity call www.barrattsapothecare.com

In gratitude to the plants and our beautiful mother Earth,

Maxine x

Yet bitter is one of the five primordial tastes. We evolved with the ability to experience bitterness for a reason…

When I ask people what they think the bitter taste is for, they usually reply: “to repel” or “to warn us something is poisonous” and they’re absolutely right. Bitter tastes are protective, but not only in this way.

The awareness around using bitters for digestive health is actually still fairly good. Many cultures traditionally take a bitter drink at the beginning or end of a meal in the form of l’apéro, aperitivo, digestifs and herbal tonics. Even the habit of drinking an espresso after lunch fits the profile nicely. It’s especially common in countries where longer, heavier midday meals are normal because bitter tastes support healthier, more efficient and more complete digestion. If you eat a large meal at 1pm and need to go back to work at 3pm, you want to feel energised and fuelled by your meal — not trapped in a post-lunch coma and bitters help with exactly that. But what if I were to tell you that bitter compounds are important not only for digestion, but for endocrine (hormonal), metabolic, immune and neurological health too?

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Modern humans have become physiologically and psychologically disconnected from bitterness. Our brains will almost always favour experiences that are pleasurable over those that are challenging, and our modern palates are now heavily conditioned toward hyper-palatability, quick dopamine release and immediate gratification. We no longer seek the things that involve short-term discomfort for long-term benefit. We are becoming increasingly short-term thinkers and nowhere is that more obvious than in our food system.

Big Ag (agriculture) is a small group of massive multinational corporations that dominate the global industrial food system. They control the majority of the seeds, pesticides, fertilisers and farm machinery used worldwide and exert enormous influence over agricultural policy, food production and farm economics. Unsurprisingly, Big Ag has deep ties to both Big Pharma and Big Oil through chemical dependence, fuel usage and biotech ownership and, as more and more people are beginning to wake up to, all three industries profit most when we are unhealthy. Consequently, it’s in their active interest to keep us consuming highly processed, hyper-palatable, artificially sweetened foods because these foods drive metabolic, cardiovascular and neurological chronic illness. Farm grown fruits and vegetables, including coffee are now selectively bred to be far sweeter and less bitter than their wild counterparts, so that even our healthy food options play into this picture.

Chronic is the key word here because chronic means long-term and long-term illness means long-term medication, long-term dependence and long-term profit.

In the 1970s and 80s, Big Ag cottoned on to the fact that sugar is an incredibly palatable — even addictive — ingredient. They noticed that products containing high amounts of sugar consistently sold better than those without, and they capitalised on it aggressively. The mass production of processed foods exploded, high fructose corn syrup emerged as a cheap, home-grown alternative to sugar and food engineering became increasingly focused on maximising pleasure and palatability above all else. At the same time, our capacity for bitter tastes steadily declined. We now live in a world where sweetness has been amplified to unnatural levels while bitterness — one of the most evolutionarily important taste signals we possess — has been almost entirely phased out. Wild foods are naturally more bitter, more mineral-rich and more chemically complex than their commercial counterparts, yet most modern people struggle even with dark greens, tonic herbs or black coffee because our palates have become so conditioned to immediate gratification and constant dopamine reward. We’ve lost not only the taste for bitter, but also our relationship with it and that matters, because bitter herbs do far more than simply “aid digestion.” They stimulate digestive secretions, bile flow, enzyme production and gut-brain signalling pathways that influence metabolism, satiety, blood sugar regulation, inflammation and nervous system function.

In herbal medicine, bitters have always occupied a foundational role for exactly this reason so I’ll stop philosophising (for now) and let’s talk about their roles properly.

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Gut Health

Bitter herbs and the bitter tastes are one of the MOST important for optimising digestion and overall gastrointestinal health and function. Immediately, they stimulate the salivary glands, meaning that digestion begins as soon as the food arrives into your mouth. Bitter receptors in the gastrointestinal mucosa tell the pancreas to release digestive enzymes for breaking down food, and the liver & gallbladder to produce and release bile for conjugating fats. They reduce stomach PH, optimising the environment for breaking down food & killing ingested pathogens - thereby reducing the likelihood of gastrointestinal infections. On the subject of immunity, bitter compounds improve intestinal barrier integrity by triggering tuft cell activation - a key component of gut mediated immune regulation. Tuft cells initiate interleukin release, mucous production and muscle contraction for better pathogen elimination. Peristaltic action is also stimulated by bitter receptor agonists, ensuring that food is not only broken down properly, but also moved along at an appropriate pace - reducing the likelihood of fermentation and with it the risk of bloating, flatulence, constipation and SIBO. They positively modulate the microbiome, via their impact on antimicrobial peptide release. Encouraging symbiotic strains to flourish and pathogenic strains to reduce. Finally (for now), and perhaps most intriguingly, bitter tastes can act as appetite modulators by inducing the secretion of endogenous hormones GLP-1 and CCK. These (as you may well already know due to the recent marketing of Munjaro, Ozembic etc), reduce appetite and therefore food intake through vagal nerve signalling & inhibiting peptides gastrin & motilin. These peptides initiate movement and emptying of the stomach and intestines. Reducing their secretion results in a slowed, regulated digestion leading to longer sensations of satiety. Do bitter plants work like Ozempic? No. Can they help optimise digestion, prolong feelings of satiety and reduce cravings? Yes.

Neurological health

The presence of bitter receptors within the nervous system is one of the most recent ways in which science is catching up with the traditional use of herbs. In clinic, I don’t use a single neurologically active herb that isn’t intensely bitter. Coincidence? It appears not. Research now confirms that the presence of bitter receptors within nervous system tissue is wide spread, from the brainstem to the hypothalamus, to the cerebral cortex to the blood brain barrier. This final area is of particular note, as these receptors appear to bind with known neuro-protective compounds such as quercetin and resveratrol. The theory is that these bitter receptors act as ‘guards’ to the brain’s blood supply. Now here’s the kicker - the less bitters you consume, the less these bitter receptors are activated. Potentially even the less bitter receptors you express. Read on.

There’s clinically relevant research into the development of neurodegenerative disease being negatively correlated to the up-regulation of bitter receptor activation. What this means is that, in healthy brains bitter receptors are active and working, whereas in brains demonstrating early signs of Alzheimers & Parkinson’s disease they’re not. To the point made above regarding blood brain barrier surveillance, in the absence of activated bitter receptors, it’s possible that more pathogenic/toxic substances are able to pass through, negatively impacting the brains its ability to detect and respond to such infiltration. Infiltration of toxins and pathogens = damage to the brain tissue.

More broadly, bitter receptor activation triggers signalling pathways that influence inflammation, metabolism, and cell proliferation, suggesting a systemically anti-inflammatory effect, which is always a win.

If you’ll indulge me in just one more moment of philosophy — the term “a bitter pill to swallow” is used when someone has to accept something they didn’t readily want to. It implies discomfort, challenge, adaptation and ultimately growth. As Martin Luther King said, “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” In many Eastern schools of spirituality, wisdom is not found in the avoidance of discomfort, but in the ability to accept and move through it without resistance, and perhaps that mirrors something deeper within physiology itself. Bitter compounds activate pathways associated with resilience, regulation and protection within the body, despite the fact that our immediate instinct is often to reject them.

Could it be that our relationship with bitter tastes reflects something larger about the human experience altogether? That learning to tolerate, or even embrace certain forms of discomfort may strengthen not only physical health, but emotional resilience as well?

Hormone Activity

When mentioning hormones, patients rarely consider anything outside of the sex ones - oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone, lutenizing hormone. Occasionally someone will know about insulin too, but the fact of the matter is that these are barely the tip of the ice-burg when it comes to the number of hormones that our bodies synthesise and release. If the brain is our conductor, then our hormones are the music, beautifully and intelligently composed to a harmonious, homeostatic symphany. Our body runs on hormone signals.

We’ve already discussed how bitters impact gastric hormones GLP-1 and CCK, enhancing digestion, slowing gastric emptying and prolonging satiation but they also improve blood sugar regulation via their indirect impact on insulin release and glucose uptake. The slowed gastric emptying time blunts post-prandial blood sugar peaks, resulting in slower energy uptake, sustained energy distribution and reduced caloric intake. Taking bitters before a sweet meal is just as valuable as before a heavy one and something that I recommend to all metabolically challenged patients. Some studies even suggest that there are bitter receptors in the pancreas itself, displaying similar, end result effects. This is big news for anyone suffering with metabolic disease, whether PCOS (now officially renamed PMOS thanks to health officials FINALLY taking note of the most up to date research), type II diabetes or metabolic syndrome.

On the topic of PMOS, bitter receptors are present in the sex organs as well and while research into their role is still in its infancy, there’s suggestion that they play a role in pain perception, uterine contractility, fertility and reproductive cancer development. Naturally I can’t speak to the science that’s only just emerging, but if past experience has shown me anything, it’s that whenever something is researched, it usually confirms the traditional use of herbs in that area. The vast majority of pain relieving, antispasmodic and hormone modulating herbs used widely in my clinic are yep, you guessed it - bitter.

We discussed immunity when going over the gut - improving intestinal barrier via tuft cells, reduced stomach PH for pathogen elimination, better motility for elimination and mucous secretion for protection but there’s another hormonal element to consider. Stress reduces immunity, that’s fairly widely accepted. So now consider what the body does in response to stress - it releases hormones, namely cortisol, adrenaline & nor adrenaline. Well, bitter receptors found in the gut and lymphatic tissues may be able to down regulate the production of cortisol, resulting in a net improvement in immune function. This is a really convoluted mechanism as the systems are so interlinked - better metabolic health = better immunity. Lower stress levels = better metabolic health. Better immunity = lower physiological stress levels. It’s not an A+B=C scenario but nevertheless, the argument for bitters as immune enhancing agents is there. While we’re on the topic of immunity, bitter receptors are also present along the respiratory tract. The impact of this is both relevant to immune response and for asthma sufferers. Without getting too bogged down by the specific mechanism, essentially, bitter receptors within the sinonasal mucosa stimulate nitric oxide production, increasing ciliary beating and directly killing bacteria - basically, improving the destruction of and elimination of pathogenic substances inhaled through the nose. If you didn’t already know, most of our common cold/flu/covid type viruses are contracted via inhalation through the nose so, if you’re one of the people who seemingly catches every cold thats going around, you might be better serviced by the use of bitter herbs rather than the classic immuno-stimulators like echinacea and elderberry.

Where asthma is concerned, bitters demonstrate a potent bronchodilatory effect, exceeding that of the standard bronchodilator inhalers prescribed to asthmatics in one in-vitro study. Additionally, unlike the beta-2 agonist inhaler mechanism which does NOT address the all too common reality of airway remodelling due to recurrent inflammation and irritation, in addition to bronchodilation & reduction of allergen-induced inflammatory response, bitters also regulate smooth muscle airway tissue proliferation - mitigating the remodelling, thickening and hardening of the airways - thereby reducing the progression of chronic, obstructive lung disease (which is a real concern around long-term inhaler reliance). Additionally, it appears that the respiratory system actually up-regulates its bitter receptor expression when actively inflamed - the body is quite literally asking for more bitters to reduce inflammation and ease the passage of oxygen.

Cardiovascular health

Bitter receptor stimulated nitric oxide production isn’t only relevant in respiratory and immune health. Bitter receptors are also widely present in the cardiovascular system and one of the ways in which they support optimal function is via the vasodilatory effect of nitric oxide release. Nitric oxide is actually our primary endogenous vasodilator and plays a key role in the management of blood pressure and flow. Bitter receptors in smooth muscle vasculature and endothelial cells, when activated by bitter substances reduces peripheral resistance and thus, cardiac workload which is incredibly valuable for any cardiac disease patients. Bitter receptors found in the heart itself, when stimulated increase contractile force without increasing speed ie; improves heart function. As in the respiratory system, bitters inhibit the remodelling of vasculature, reducing atherosclerosis which inhibits the flow of blood around the body.

This also connects back to the metabolic picture — endothelial dysfunction, characterised by reduced nitric oxide bioavailability, is one of the earliest and most important drivers of atherosclerosis and hypertension. Anything that supports endothelial nitric oxide production is working at the root of cardiovascular disease risk, not its consequences.

So now that we’ve covered the ways in which bitters are biologically active and helpful in the body, let’s talk about how to actually use them because let’s be honest, book smart does the talking but street smart does the walking. Here are some of the ways that I use bitter herbs in practise to support my patients;

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Digestion - beginning with the most obvious one, for pretty much all of my IBS, reflux, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea & colic patients, I prescribe the use of bitters before each meal. Swedish bitters are the most famous formulation but honestly, any bitter taste will do. For the patients I work with who have lower budgets for their herbs, I recommend chewing on fresh sage, rosemary or mint leaves while preparing their meals. Orange peel is another great one, just make sure that it’s organic. If you’re not sensitive to caffeine, take a single espresso before or after your meals a la our friends over the pond. When using swedish bitters, I recommend 1-2ml in a dash of water.

A note on reflux - reflux is MOST commonly associated with poor tone of the lower oesophageal sphincter (LOS). That’s the sphincter that closes off the stomach from the oesophagus. Often, thats caused in part, by a stomach PH that is too alkaline which suppresses peptides release in the stomach that direct the LOS to close. In this instance, bitters will work beautifully as per the points made above in the article however occasionally, reflux is caused by stomach hyperacidity. This often predeceases peptic ulcer development and in this case, bitters are absolutely NOT appropriate and should be actively avoided.

Metabolic health - When we think about metabolism, we generally think about how quickly we lose or gain weight but it’s much more than that. Metabolism is the term used for the speed at which our body creates and uses ATP (energy) from the substances we consume. The grossest manifestation of this is, of course our weight but if we zoom in, it’s also how well our cells are receiving and using energy. You cannot be a lean, mean, fighting machine (replace with healthy, kind and content individual if you prefer) with suboptimal cellular metabolism. Bitters modulate intestinal hormone release and bile acid metabolism which may support weight and fat mass loss. NB: Weight is a contentious subject at best and it’s rare that I would actively encourage a patient to lose weight however, occasionally it’s indicated and in those instances bitters - along with lifestyle support and increased fluid intake - can be a wonderful ally. Being a healthy weight supports optimal energy expenditure, improves glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity (better energy levels), normalises cholesterol and other blood fats and broadly suppresses inflammation which is higher in metabolically unhealthy people. Less inflammation = healthier cells = more energy, better health & longer lives.

For those who are in the habit of taking something sweet post meals, eating something bitter like the culinary herbs described above OR, having a drink to enjoy post meals can also curb those sweet cravings nicely. As someone who has an aggressive sweet tooth, my personal favourite is either Angustora or Swedish bitters with tonic. I mix it up to feel like a cocktail (throw in a shot or two of gin as well, why not) and sip it slowly post evening meal. With weight loss, the restrictive mindset is often what results in binges so I think it’s really important to try to focus on what we CAN have rather than what we can’t.

Skin issues - The skin is an organ of elimination and, when its colleagues the liver, gall bladder, kidneys and lungs are underperforming or strained, it takes on more of the load. Patients who present with skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, rosascea, acne or dermatitis are always given bitter herbs in my clinic. Bitter tastes stimulate bile production and secretion and it’s the bile that adheres to toxins and metabolic waste for excretion. It’s very common to observe both poor digestion of fats and/or constipation alongside skin issues and often when given bile stimulating and hepato-supportive bitter herbs, both improve. There is of course a hormonal element to this as well, which I’m going to cover below. My personal favourite bitter combination for skin health is dandelion and burdock (not the soft drink please). This combination, alongside improved diet and daily bowel movements almost never lets me down. You can make a decoction using a 1:2 ratio of dandelion to burdock or use tinctures. I’ll be doing a paid post on skin health at some point in the year so if you’re interested to see this, subscribe to be notified when its released.

Sex hormone health - the sex hormones are complicated buggers, particularly if you’re a woman, and can be out of sync for a few reasons, not all of which are relevant to this article. If a patient presents with hormonal imbalance and obvious gastric issues, then my first assumption is that there’s some partially metabolised hormone reabsorption going on. In this case, bitters can be extremely helpful via their regulatory and stimulatory impact on the bowel. The link back to skin health here is that, acne and rosasceae can have hormonal elements to them and, if that’s the case, ensuring complete metabolisation and elimination of the sex hormones can improve skin health indirectly.

Anxiety - herbal medicine is great for everything, but it really shines when it comes to anxiety. The reason, I think, for this is because standard anxiolytic pharmaceuticals are very heavy duty. Many people would rather live with severe anxiety than be medicated because of the side effects caused by SSRI, benzodiazopene and beta-blocker drugs. Additionally, with herbs there’s no risk of physical dependency which means that they can be used as and when without the need for titration which can be physically and emotionally exhausting. My personal favourite herbs for anxiety (and it’s related issues like insomnia, IBS, restlessness, catastophising and intrusive thoughts) are passionflower, skullcap & valerian. There are pokier herbs that I use but all three of these work really reliably and have no contraindications.

Passionflower - rich in flavonoids that work directly on GABA-A receptors, the GABA-A pathway, monoaminergic pathways affecting dopamine, seratonine & noradrenaline AND opiodergic and nicotinic systems. Clinical trials have shown passionflower to be AS effective as benzodiazopenes in anxiety patients and significantly helpful in benzodiazopene withdrawal, reducing physical and mental symptoms of withdrawal and improving outcomes overall.

Skullcap - also rich in flavonoids, skullcap works on the GABA & MAO pathways, reducing sympathetic nervous response and inducing dopamine release. It reduces neuro-inflammation - which is often worse in anxiety patients - and significantly inhibits cortisol release. Clinical trials have confirmed it’s efficacy at significantly reducing symptoms in mild-moderate anxiety patients.

Valerian - well known and for good reason, valerian is usually sold OTC as a sleep aid but I actually don’t use it much for that. The reason being that, to induce sleep, it needs to be taken at quite high amounts and, for quite a few of us, it can actually be quite stimulating at that dose. It depends on your constitution but generally in the younger (and commonly more anxious these days) population, it ends up doing exactly what we don’t want it to do. Used at a low dose for anxiety however, it’s fantastic for everyone. Primarily it works as a GABA receptor modulator, exhibiting anxiolytic and mildly sedative effects. The research shows this at quite high doses (400-900mg) daily however in practise, I’ve found drop dosing to work best, especially when combined with the other two herbs mentioned above.

Calm Moments Tincture blend

• 30ml Passionflower tincture 1:1

• 30ml Skullcap tincture 1:3

• 40ml Valerian tincture 1:3

  =100ml. Take 5ml 3x daily for general support. Alternatively, take 1ml (dropper) as required throughout the day for in-the-moment relief from overwhelm, panic and anxiety.

If you’ve reached this point, then firstly well done - this wasn’t exactly a light hearted romance but I hope that it’s inspired you to invite a little more bitterness into your life. Traditionally, bitters were prescribed for the bitter personality, in a sort of reverse psychology approach to healing I suppose. They’re truly a hero for all herbalists and if you’re interested in understanding them more then I’d highly recommend you start using them. Experiential knowledge lands so much deeper and I promise you that you’ll be surprised by how well they work. Swedish bitters before meals is an excellent place to start and can be purchased easily online (G. Baldwins stock them in the UK and I also have my own blend that can be ordered via Etsy). If you have a herb garden then I’d recommend nibbling on sage, rosemary or mint for digestion, thyme & oregano for respiratory health.

For the love of plants and natural healing,

Maxine x

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37. Kochany M, et al. Expression Profile of Human Bitter Taste Receptors in Human Aortic and Coronary Artery Endothelial Cells. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.10.31.621361

38. Chen MC, et al. Bitter Taste Receptor in Vascular Smooth Muscle: Expression, Functions and the Mechanisms. Journal of Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. 2022. https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/bitter-taste-receptor-in-vascular-smooth-muscle-expression-functions-and-the-mechanisms-118338.html

39. Wei X, Lyu F, Jia F, et al. Bitter taste receptors in the gut-vascular axis: a novel target for immune and metabolic regulation of hypertension. Frontiers in Immunology. 2026;16:1714761. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2025.1714761

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42. Tong A, Yang H, Yu X, et al. Mechanisms and novel therapeutic roles of bitter taste receptors in diseases. Theranostics. 2025;15(9):3961–3978. https://doi.org/10.7150/thno.107406

43. Miroddi M, Calapai G, Navarra M, Minciullo PL, Gangemi S. Passiflora incarnata in Neuropsychiatric Disorders — A Systematic Review. Phytotherapy Research. 2013;27(6):795–801. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7766837/

44. Appel K, Rose T, Fiebich B, et al. Passiflora incarnata as an Adjunctive Treatment for Anxiety and Sleep Disorders. ResearchGate [Review]. 2024. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.13481.54883

45. Rodríguez-Landa JF, Hernández-López F, Cueto-Escobedo J, et al. Pharmacological, Neurochemical, and Behavioral Mechanisms Underlying the Anxiolytic- and Antidepressant-like Effects of Flavonoid Chrysin. Molecules. 2022;27(11):3551. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27113551 (PMC9182416)

46. Mennen S, et al. A Systematic Review of Neurobiological Mechanisms of Passiflora: Beyond GABA Modulation. Psychoactives. 2025;5(3):21. https://doi.org/10.3390/psychoactives5030021

47. Akhondzadeh S, Naghavi HR, Vazirian M, et al. Passionflower in the treatment of generalized anxiety: a pilot double-blind randomized controlled trial with oxazepam. Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics. 2001;26(5):363–367. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2710.2001.00367.x

48. Carminati M, et al. Passiflora incarnata in benzodiazepine withdrawal. Clinical report, 2024. (As cited in Appel et al. 2024, reference 11 above.)

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50. Brock C, Whitehouse J, Tewfik I, Towell T. The use of Scutellaria lateriflora: A pilot survey amongst herbal medicine practitioners. Journal of Herbal Medicine. 2012;2(2):34–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hermed.2012.02.001

51. Hui KM, Wang XH, Xue H. Interaction of flavones from the roots of Scutellaria baicalensis with the benzodiazepine site. Planta Medica. 2000;66(1):91–93. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-2000-11121

52. Wolfson P, Hoffmann DL. An investigation into the efficacy of Scutellaria lateriflora in healthy volunteers. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 2003;9(2):74–78.

53. Gafner S, Bergeron C, Batcha LL, et al. Inhibition of [3H]-LSD binding to 5-HT7 receptors by flavonoids from Scutellaria lateriflora. Journal of Natural Products. 2003;66(4):535–537. https://doi.org/10.1021/np020406c

54. Ivanova Stojcheva E, Quintela JC. Potential Antidepressant Effects of Scutellaria baicalensis, Hericium erinaceus and Rhodiola rosea. Antioxidants. 2020;9(3):234. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox9030234 (PMC: PMC7139537)

55. Ruan J, et al. Baicalein exerts anxiolytic and antinociceptive effects in a mouse model of posttraumatic stress disorder: Involvement of the serotonergic system and spinal delta-opioid receptors. Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry. 2022;119:110588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2022.110588

56. Molinari G, Vianna Soares C, García-Honduvilla N, et al. In Vitro Assessment of Cortisol Release Inhibition, Bioaccessibility and Bioavailability of a Chemically Characterized Scutellaria lateriflora L. Hydroethanolic Extract. Molecules. 2024;29(4):787. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29040787 (PMC: PMC10856628)

57. Brock C, Whitehouse J, Tewfik I, Towell T. American Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora): a randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study of its effects on mood in healthy volunteers. Phytotherapy Research. 2014;28(5):692–698. https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.5044

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60. Trauner G, Khom S, Baburin I, et al. Modulation of GABA-A receptors by valerian extracts is related to the content of valerenic acid. Planta Medica. 2008;74(1):19–24. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-2007-993761 (PMC reference: PMID 18095218)

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But since I am late in this offering, rather than just detailing my (extremely effective) prophylactic approach, I’ll also go through my best advice for symptomatic relief and some gut and membrane barrier related information which is relevant to hay-fever and hopefully helpful, at least to someone. Before I do that though, I’d like to make the point that, hay-fever, along with all allergies is technically a malfunctioning of the immune system. I hate to use that term - the body is so incredibly intelligent and works so tirelessly to keep us from dying (thank you homeostasis) that it seems disrespectful but in essence, that’s exactly what it is. An allergy is defined as an hyper-response of the immune system to a benign environmental substance. Neither pollen, nor dust, nor animal dander are inflammatory to a person who’s immune system isn’t, for whatever reason, hyper vigilant. Even serious allergies such as those to nuts aren’t anything more than your immune system going overboard for no reason, which is precisely why you might suffer with hay-fever/allergies, while your partner/friend/neighbour doesn’t.

A lot of this comes down to gut health (shocking I know) and how stressed ie; inflamed you are but there are other elements to consider and we’ll dive into them all later. I just wanted to highlight the point here because, as with SO many health issues that we modern folk suffer through, hay-fever is totally normalised. Very few people, patients or otherwise even think twice about the fact that they get it, let alone think to do anything beyond popping an antihistamine about it. So there we are and here we are;

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Symptom relief - If you’re already red-eyed, itchy and irate then this is my best advice.

1. Look at your diet first. There are two parts to this, let’s call them A and B.

   A. Hay-fever is part of whats known as the atopic triad, consisting of asthma, eczema and hay-fever/allergic rhinitis. They are all IgE and histamine mediated and thus and a diet high in histamine heavy foods, dairy, wheat & eggs can exacerbate things. I need to caveat this and say, a lot of high histamine foods are also very healthy foods and, if you’re eating a lot of crap (lots of processed foods with little fresh produce) then your issue is more likely to be that than the high histamine fruits and veg BUT, if your diet is already good, it’s worth looking at. There are many other IgE mediated food allergens but most of the others cause severe anaphylactic reaction and so, if you have an allergy, you’ll already be avoiding them. Pasteurised dairy, wheat, eggs & the high histamine foods can all be consumed without obvious allergic response, insidiously driving inflammation without the consumer ever attributing their health issues to these things.

   B. Increase your NrF2 priming & quercetin rich foods. NrF2 is a pathway within each of our cells that provides antioxidant protection. Oxidative stress is a central driver of inflammation within the body. Hay-fever is an inflammatory response. If we can increase our antioxidant protective capacity at a cellular level, it will result in hugely reduced levels of systemic inflammation and therefore, a hugely reduced incidence of chronic illness - the umbrella term of which seasonal allergies sits under - (N.B: this is a greatly simplified version of what NrF2 does but in the interest of being interesting, I don’t want to go into it further here. Let me know if you’d like a deeper dive and I’ll create a separate article for that). Foods that prime this pathway are; turmeric, garlic (fresh ideally please), green tea, organic black and red grapes, organic & sulphite free red wine (don’t say I’m not nice to you), broccoli, especially the sprouts & rosemary. Quercetin has been substantiated in clinical trials as an effective anti-allergenic, reducing histamine release & allergic inflammation. Foods that are quercetin rich are organic red & yellow onions, organic blueberries, capers, kale, organic red apples, shallots, broccoli, dill & coriander. You can supplement quercetin and several of the NrF2 primers, so if that’s your vibe, keep reading for dosage recommendations.

2. Get an air-purifier for your home. Hay-fever is associated with compromised barriers of the skin, gut and respiratory tract. When the nasal mucosa is damaged, inhaled pollen particles are far more likely to cause irritation and thus, an inflammatory reaction. Th2 immune cells over respond, releasing inflammatory interleukins, mast cells degranulate releasing histamine and the nasal, sinus & optic mucosa become swollen, itchy & inflamed due to this (in short). The respiratory mucosa is in constant contact with the outside environment and, over winter we tend to keep the windows and doors closed meaning that dust, animal dander, dead skin, cooking residue and for some of us wood smoke all build up inside our homes. All of these things can be irritating to the respiratory tract. If you live in a city or near a main road then add that to the mix as well. When the nasal mucosa is robust and healthy it’s not an issue but, if you have damage (spoiler alert, if you suffer with seasonal allergies then you definitely do) then breathing in all of these things is just going to worsen it. While you may not suffer through the winter, those particles are slowly eroding the inner passages of the nose and come hay-fever season, you’ll know about it.

3. Nasal irrigation with a soothing, antihistamine herbal tea. For anyone not familiar with nasal irrigation, it’s basically flushing out your nose & sinuses with a fluid of your choice. Saline solution is popular but, to my point above about compromised respiratory barriers, using an herbal tea thats been strained through a muslin and cooled will be more effective, actively repairing the mucous membranes and reducing histamine, as well as soothing inflammation. My favourite blend is; ribwort plantain, marshmallow leaf, goldenrod, nettle leaf, feverfew & yarrow. All of these herbs are either directly anti-histamine, muco-protective or astringent, helping to reduce swelling, itching, redness and irritation. Brew a teaspoon of each in 500ml water, cool & use morning & evening.

4. Use the following herbs in equal parts as either a tincture - taken 5ml 3x daily ideally, or 7.5ml 2x daily if the afternoon dose is problematic or a tea - 1 tbsp herb brewed with the lid on for 20-30 minutes, taken 3-6 times daily: nettle leaf, elderflower (not berry), baical skullcap, eyebright & echinacea root. These work to normalise immune response & reduce mast cell granulation, resulting in less histamine release & symptomatic presentation.

5. Look at your stress levels. The above 4 points are going to greatly reduce your physical stress but only you know where the emotional and mental stressors lie. There’s a strong correlation between increased levels of stress & heightened allergen reactivity, partly down to the inflammatory impact stress has on our bodies. If you’re juggling 50 balls and spinning 30 plates concurrently, then look at what you can put down for a few weeks while your body eases back into a healthier state. Ask for help where you can and prioritise only what’s truly important. If you have zero capacity to change anything, then adding an adaptogen like astragalus or reishi will be beneficial. As medical herbalists, there’s a basic rule of not prescribing adaptogens to highly stressed individuals who won’t adjust their lifestyle, because you cannot out-herb or out-supplement poor lifestyle choices long term. BUT for short-term support and where there truly is no opportunity for rest, they can be invaluable. The recommended therapeutic dose for both is quite high and so capsules work best. Reishi: 1000-3000mg daily. Astragalus: 2000-3000mg daily. Start at the lower end of the spectrum & work your way up if needed, splitting the dose twice through the day. Both of these adaptogens are not only recommended for generalised stress reduction but also display immune modulating and normalising activity which, as we’ve discussed is a core component of hay-fever presentation.

Preventative protocol - Truly the gold standard approach and, if you can remember to dig this out in January, will be your sinus saviour.

1. Diet - as above HOWEVER, if you don’t experience urticaria (hives), itching of the mouth or allergic reactions to animal dander or dust during the winter months, you can be more relaxed about your high histamine food intake during this time. As I said before, a lot of histamine rich foods are also great for you. Bone broth, ferments & aged cheeses are fantastic probiotic sources and colourful fruits and veg like aubergines, strawberries and spinach are rich in antioxidant flavonoids and polyphenols so don’t avoid them unless you have to. Stay mindful and pay attention to your body. If symptoms start, then pare it back for a while. Our ability to tolerate histamine rich foods is highly dependent on our personal constitution and our gut health so balancing these properly throughout the year will mean that we can be more relaxed and diverse with our dietary choices.

2. Get an air-purifier. As above, protect the nasal mucosa during the winter so that when you move into pollen season, it’s stronger and less reactive.

3. Prophylactic tincture use. As a preventative, I use a different formulation, which is slightly less anti-histamine and slightly more stress reducing & immune normalising;

   • 25% Nettle leaf (fresh plant) 1:2 or 1:3 25ml

   • 25% Ganoderma lucidum 1:1 25ml - ideally double extracted

   • 45% Goldenrod 1:3 20ml

   • 45% Siberian ginseng 1:1 20ml

   • 45% Vervaine (fresh plant) 1:2 15ml

     = 105ml.

   Start with a dose of 5ml once daily, beginning in January. Increase to 5ml twice daily in February & go up to 5ml thrice daily OR 7.5ml twice daily from halfway through February onwards. Retain until May or possibly even June, depending on how you feel & what the weather has been like. If, despite your best efforts you still suffer, switch this formulation to the earlier one provided and stay on that until symptoms reduce.

4. Daily nettle tea - in honesty, I recommend we all do this but if you can’t or won’t, then beginning at the same time as your tincture is the best alternative. 1 tbsp steeped for 20-30 minutes in boiled water, strained and drunk warm or cool, 1-3 cups daily, the more the better. Add honey or a pinch of stevia to sweeten. Nettle is anti-allergenic, nutrient dense & iron rich. It’s a tonic herb that is incredibly safe for everyone to consume. If you really dislike the taste, it goes beautifully with lemon balm so if you can find some of that, add a teaspoon to the brew to make it brighter and mintier in flavour. Mixed with chamomile it’s awful, just don’t even bother.

5. 1-3 tsp daily locally farmed, raw honey. Local farmers markets are the best place to find this and failing that, the internet. Check the credentials of your beekeeper and ask whether they feed the bees sugar syrup through the winter. I’d suggest starting at 1tsp in January & building up to 3 by March. This microdoses your body with last years pollen, allowing it to gradually acclimatise to and assimilate it, resulting in reduced likelihood of a major reaction once the new seasons pollen starts flying around. Think of it a little like a vaccine. A delicious, mercury free vaccine.

6. Bitter herbs for gastric & lymphatic function. The gut and the lymph both contribute to immune response, whether thats normal or abnormal. Interestingly, I often find in clinic that hay fever sufferers also suffer with IBS. With 70% of our immune system located in the gut, it makes sense that if the digestive system is unhappy, so too will the immune system be. Using bitter herbs helps this in multiple ways but primarily, by reducing stomach PH and increasing gastric motility. This promotes symbiotic bacterial colonisation in the gut whilst helping to prevent parasitic, yeast or non-commensal strains from proliferating, equating to a healthier and more diverse microbiome which helps regulate immune responses. This is partly through the production of short-chain fatty acids and other metabolites that support anti-inflammatory signalling and barrier function. When the microbiome is unhealthy, those immune-regulating signals are weakened, resulting in more frequent and intense allergic responses. Additionally, via their stimulatory effect on the gut, they enhance blood supply and circulation and by association, lymphatic movement which is important for flushing out metabolic and inflammatory waste and reducing swellings such as we experience in hay-fever in the upper respiratory tract. I suggest that everyone be using bitter herbs regularly but to be specific in this instance, taking Swedish bitters daily before meals, 10-20 drops in a shot of water or 10 sprays directly onto the tongue throughout the year will play a significant role in reducing your symptoms. To add to the boon of bitters, many are also relaxants, working directly on the nervous system to trigger our para-sympathetic ‘rest & digest’ state, and so also have a stress reducing component to their therapeutic application as per point 5 of the ‘Symptom relief’ protocol above.

7. Take an allergy specific probiotic beginning in January and continue through too May. To get the most out of probiotics, I suggest swapping them every 3 months. Choose 2 brands that each contain a different blend of the following strains; Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM, Bifidobacterium lactis Bi-07 or Bl-04, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Bifidobacterium breve and Bifidobacterium longum. For best results, take a prebiotic powder and prioritise a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and grains, all of which feed the beneficial bacteria and encourage them to colonise, rather than just pass through as visitors.

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Supplementing - if you just love popping pills + reseveratrol

• Quercetin, bromelain & vitamin C complex 500-1000mg daily from January onwards. Both bromelain and vitamin C enhance absorbtion and additionally, vitamin C aids in histamine breakdown. If you’re new to quercetin then start low and if needed, build up. Higher doses need to be split into two across the day. Very high doses (over 1000mg daily) are associated with kidney issues, headaches and drug interactions so speak to your healthcare provider if any of those are relevant or if you’re pregnant before taking it.

• Garlic - powdered. 2 capsules taken at night from January onwards. This will help any dysbiosis related immune hypersensitivity & also displays muco-protective and anti-inflammatory effects systemically, not just in the gut.

• Resveratrol - a powerful polyphenol and NrF2 primer. It’s widely available from food sources (wine) but, if you need an extra boost, supplementing 500-1000mg daily may be useful. There’s some clinical research into its efficacy as a nasal spray as well for reducing local inflammation and histamine response.

  

As you know, I’m not a huge fan of supplements but some of you will need the extra punch that they pack. Just remember that, anything you swallow, the gut needs to digest and metabolise and so, if the gut isn’t great, the supplements won’t do much. Focus on optimising digestion before filling your cupboards with capsules.

The importance of healthy membranes and the role of the gut

We live in a world that verges on obsessive in regard to cleanliness. From childhood, it’s hammered into us the importance of washing our hands, washing our face, washing our clothes, don’t jump in that mud, don’t pick up that stick, for mercy’s sake, GET. OFF. OF. THE. FLOOR!!! I’m as guilty as any parent for it and I KNOW how good a bit of dirt is for your health. The pandemic did us no favours. And while I acknowledge the importance of good hygiene (if you saw my post about pinworm then you’ll understand), I also fully understand that being clean NOW is a totally different beast to being clean 50 years ago. Our houses are now chock full of chemicals, all of which strip and damage our innate barriers ie; the protective coatings on the parts of us that touch the world. Just like a butterfly’s wings or the feathers of a bird have a coating, designed to protect them from their environment, so do we and it’s not just on our skin. Our digestive tract and lungs are also in near constant contact with the world and therefore, potential irritants, pollutants and opportunistic bacteria/viruses. Modern cleaning products, dishwasher tablets, counter sprays, furniture polishes, deodorising sprays, detergents, fabric conditioners, scented candles, plug-ins, hell even the clothes on our back, are all laden with barrier damaging chemicals that upset our innate immune functioning within these areas, causing poorly functioning barriers that are hypersensitive and lack the ability to keep pathogens and toxins out. If you’ve ever overdone it with retinol or at-home glycolic face peels then you’ll know what I’m talking about. My advice here is this - lose the chemicals wherever you can, there’s an smorgasboard of non-toxic cleaning products available now so please, make the swap. Don’t be obsessive with shower gels and soaps. Wash the bits that get smelly and rinse the rest with warm water, I promise you that it’s enough and your skin and general health will thank you for it. If you have children of any age, hand washing is important but the rest isn’t for now. If bathing is part of your evening wind down, just use warm water & maybe some epsom salts and a drop of lavender essential oil. And finally, please PLEASE stop using febreeze, perfume scented candles & plug-ins. Make a fabric spray of 50% water, 50% vodka & 10% essential oils of your choice and use that to brighten musty smelling rooms instead. I also like to simmer sliced oranges with cloves/rosemary/thyme, ginger etc for an immediate scent lift.

A note on constitutions

Hay-fever is a hot and moist condition, characterised by swelling of the mucosa, running noses, watery eyes, inflammation, heat and itching. Those people with an excess of heat and moisture in their constitutions are more prone to suffering from it and so, as a general rule when treating we look too cool and dry the body. When you consider yourself as a person, do you feel that you run hot or have an excess of moisture? A patient recently referred to themselves as ‘waterlogged’, perhaps that lands somewhere with you? Maybe physically it doesn’t land but emotionally it does? Are you quick to temper or cry? Do you feel yourself to be wishy-washy or unable to find solid footing in situations? If any of this rings true then consider which of heat or moisture (maybe both) needs tending too, and adjust your diet and lifestyle accordingly. Choose moderate exercise, avoid excessive heat in foods and lean towards teas with their astringent, drying qualities over coffee. This is just the tip of the ice burg so please, give it some thought and research in your own time.

PHEW, so there you have it. My longest long-form post yet. I hope it’s useful, if it is then please let me know and if you’re UK based and want to speak to me about hay fever or indeed any other health concerns that you’re dealing with then please reach out.

With love,

M x

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Cleavers (Clivers), is another one of those weedy heroes, so beloved by herbalists worldwide. Just as with nettles, dandelions, chickweed and dock, it grows voraciously during the Spring which is, incidentally the perfect time to work with it. Mother nature is generous and intelligent in her offerings. I speak about this often with people, patients included. How beautiful it is that with each turning season, the exact medicines that our bodies yearn for are so abundantly available all around us. I often prescribe ‘nature wonderment’ time, which is essentially, going out into nature and pondering in awe at her magnificence. If the current peacocking of cherry blossoms and spring bulbs isn’t enough to make you believe in magic, then maybe the way in which nature is always bang on the mark with her wild medicine providence is.

We are cyclical beings, our hormones, sleep, energy and vitality all governed by natural rhythms and routines beyond our control. One of the best ways you can support your innate health and wellness, is to follow and live with these cycles. Eat seasonally, respect the sun and heed your circadian rhythm. Limit your blue light exposure after sundown and, in the Spring, clear our your body, just as you do your house, with care, attention and most importantly, intention.

In our house, we use herbs to clean our counters as well as our bodies and, if you’re interested in knowing more about how to use herbs to keep a clean and toxin free environment, then stay tuned for my next article. But for today, we’re discussing our inner living quarters. Your body is your first and last home. It works tirelessly in every moment to maintain homeostasis and to keep you in as fine fettle as it can but, and this is a big but, just like your brain, when overloaded with work and without support, it can only do so much and this is largely considered the umbrella root cause of most all chronic diseases. Cleavers has a long traditional history of being used as an alterative, which is herbalist speak for a plant that dredges out muck and stimulates the eliminative pathways of the body. Blood cleanser is a more ‘does what is says on the tin’ term for these plants. Alteratives often have affinities to the lymphatic & circulatory systems, gut, kidneys and skin. Many are either laxative or diuretic - stimulating the ways in which our bodies evacuate metabolic and environmental waste products. They are also, almost always deeply nutritive, supporting the body by nourishing the blood and cells, not just cleaning them. Alteratives are an intrinsic part of most all, decent herbal prescriptions. I personally include at least one in every prescriptive formulation and they, along with bitters form the backbone of my dispensary. Rather than being used for any specific symptom or disease, they showcase their prowess by gradually shifting the accumulation of metabolic waste that results in the onset and progression of chronic conditions in general. Eruptive skin presentations, rheumatic joint pain, autoimmunity, fatigue & lowered immunity due, in part, to a sluggish lymphatic circulation are all key indications for alterative use.

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Which leads me nicely onto Cleavers specifically. Growing as thick, dense mats in shaded/dappled sun, almost always alongside its friend and colleague nettle. It’s recognised by the sticky, hook haired stems and seeds which cling and stick to any and everything that brushes past. Indeed, when gathering cleavers, it can feel a little claustrophobic, the way the long strands grab onto your arms and hands, like an octopus enveloping your limbs in its tentacles. We have a Bedlington terrier (Rupert), who loves to go crashing through the thickets while we forage. Much to his disdain, I’ve been picking bits of cleavers out of his curly coat for weeks. Sticky and stringy it most definitely is but, once harvested, you also get a sense of juiciness. The stems are almost succulent like in their plumpness, and you can imagine the fluid running through them, much like the lymphatics of our own bodies - which is exactly where Cleavers works its magic. Directly stimulating to the lymphatics, taken daily through April, it helps to shift any stubborn, residual viral or bacterial load from the glut of infections that Winter can bring. For children in particular, who’s immunity often takes such a battering through the colder months, it’s an ideal Spring clean for the system, and can effectively give them the helping boost they need to clear out any lingering illness. If your child’s adenoids, tonsils or cervical lymph nodes are persistently enlarged, cleavers will flush them through nicely and in cases of recurrent tonsilitis, it can be a wonderfully safe and gentle support.

While the plant itself is fairly pale green in colour, once blended down and juiced, it becomes very dark & rich. Think algae, swamp water green. Delicious. As disgusting as that image might be, the chlorophyl that lends itself too that deep green colour is a gold mine for your health. Chlorophyll (not to be confused with chloroform), was popularised around 15 years ago when spirulina and chlorella had their moment in the spotlight. It’s a green pigment, found in all plants which, in chemistry terms, allows the plant to convert sunlight into energy. So effectively, when you consume chlorophyll dense plants, you’re taking in solar energy, which is a pretty beautiful concept I think personally. While that might sound a little too woo for some of you, there’s no denying the energy that you get from taking cleavers daily during early Spring. You can literally feel the pep arriving back into your step as your body cleans out the muck and fills up with solar power. Every person I recommend it to reports feeling more energised, vibrant and generally alive after a week or so. Anecdotal and qualitative information is just as relevant as statistics I’ve found over the years, how else would original medicinal values have been deciphered, after all. What chlorophyll (still not chloroform) actually does in the body is neutralise free-radicals, binds to heavy metals and other toxins and display a generally anti-inflammatory impact, as most all deeply pigmented plant compounds do. It’s also similar in structure to haemoglobin (the iron containing protein carried by your red blood cells) and, while there are no studies demonstrating a direct impact on human blood, the much improved energy levels that most report when consuming it does suggest a supportive role to blood health. In herbalism we consider it ‘blood building’. So far so great, cleavers is a blood cleansing alterative and rich in blood building chlorophyll. To add to its medicinal portfolio, it’s also diuretic ie; stimulating to the kidneys, enhancing filtration and thus urine output which is, of course, one of our primary pathways of detoxification. For urinary tract infections, reduced GFR, interstitial cystitis or urinary retention, it’s invaluable. As part of a UTI preventative blend, it’s a staple, particularly for my elderly patients and family members, for whom UTIs can be so debilitating and even, potentially life threatening.

So now onto its preparation. As a diuretic, dried herb works perfectly well however, as a chlorophyll rich, nutrient dense, lymphatic master its the fresh plant we need. I’ve seen a lot of posts on social media showing cleavers soaking in water which, if left overnight might have some nutritive qualities but to really get the most from the plant, you need the juice. Please fellow herb enthusiast, do not feed this plant through your expensive, slow rotating, cold pressed, centrifugal juicer. You’ll end up with a huge amount of anger and almost no juice to cool off with. If you have a high powered juicer you can probably run it through that but I cant speak to the end result. My tried and tested technique is to add the fresh plant to a high powered blender, like a Ninja or Vitamix. Cover with a cup of filtered water, let it sit overnight and then blend on high speed the following morning. Strain it out through a muslin and Bob’s your uncle (or maybe Fanny’s your aunt?). The taste is surprisingly mild and neutral, like a disappointing kombucha without the fizz. There’s a hint of freshly mown grass but in a mild, inoffensive way. But don’t just take my word for it because, in all honestly you can’t trust an herbalist on tastes, no matter how urgently they assure you that something isn’t bitter, it almost always is. Go out and try it yourself, if not for the flavour then for your sluggish, post Winter lymphatics - I mean no offence, we’re all a bit stale at the moment my friend.

Cleavers Juice

Ingredients

• 5-10 generous handfuls of fresh cleavers, ideally harvested from a wild spot, away from main roads.

• 1-2 cups filtered water.

Method

• Rinse the cleavers thoroughly in clean water. If you’re concerned about animal urine, soak it in a sink of clean water with 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar for 30 minutes & then rinse thoroughly.

• Put both the plant & the 1-2 cups of fresh filtered water into a highspeed blender & let it sit overnight.

• Blitz thoroughly, strain through a muslin/cheese cloth & refridgerate.

• Enjoy 30-100ml daily to feel full of the joys of Spring.

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So, when we received the email that there was indeed, an outbreak of pin worm at school last week, I nearly wept. Dear readers, my daughter is an angel in human form and the apple of my eye but she is CONSTANTLY putting things into her mouth. Fingers, toys, sticks, labels, you name it, she’s tasted it and so to my mind, it was only inevitable that we were going to get the damn thing. That same evening I performed, Gillian McKeith (IYKYK) style, a poo inspection. Ladies and gentlemen, pin worm had entered the building. Being in the health and medical fields, I’m not a squeamish person and I think we can all agree that once you have children, there are few situations that have the power to really turn your stomach, but I have to say that the image of her poor bottom on that evening will live rent free in my mind forever more. I’m itchy just thinking about it.

Luckily, I’m an optimist as well as an herbalist so, once I’d shaken off the heebeejeebees, I immediately started thinking of this as an opportunity to learn a new treatment approach, and put my skills as a natural healthcare provider to good use. I sat my daughter in the bath with a warm shower head on her and turned to my books for advice, where I was tragically informed that a natural approach to eliminating worms would take, drum roll please….2-3 weeks. Not only this but it would also involve a hugely complicated protocol of a variety of different herbs that would all taste dreadful, need to be taken in large amounts and most likely be rejected by all children. Excellent. At this point, I sent my husband out to the chemist to buy Ovex, which is the standard over the counter vermifuge medication, for us all to take. I calmed my daughter down, cleaned her up and we had a cuddle while we waited for him to return, during which my mind began to tick. SURELY, there had to be a better way of dealing with this that my children’s herbal books were suggesting…My husband returned, we all took the Ovex and my daughter went to bed. I went digging online and happily found a few reports of treating pin worm naturally which seemed a little more reasonable, but were still reporting a 2-3 week clearance period which for us just wasn’t feasible. Were my daughter homeschooled, or were we on school holidays I would have definitely gone down the 100% natural route but in honesty, it felt irresponsible to send her into school that week with an active infection. The next morning, she opened her bowls and I was thrilled to discover it worm free. Hurrah, off to school with you my darling, however that evening when she had her second poo of the day, they were back. To say I felt short-changed by the Ovex is an understatement. My understanding had been that it would resolve the issue and we could go about our lives after boil washing the entire collection of soft fabrics in the house. That is my friend, what the chemist had told us. I decided then and there not to bother with the second dose. The side effects are numerous and we could all feel the impact of the medication on our systems the following day. It was like having a hangover without the fun that preceded it. So instead, I devised a protocol for us all to follow, alongside vigilant personal hygiene and plenty of boil washes too. We followed this with military precision for 4 days, before heading off to stay with my parents for the weekend. I’m thrilled to report that from the 5th day, there were no signs of live pinworm. We continued to follow a reduced version of the protocol for the following 10 days, to ensure the complete eradication of any unhatched eggs that had made their way back into our systems and are happily, a worm free household to this day.

The life cycle of the pinworm is this. Eggs are ingested via the mouth, surviving the harsh environment of the stomach and hatching into larvae in the small intestine. They then travel to the large intestine where they mature. Females lay their eggs around the outer skin of the anus at night, resulting in itchiness and disturbed sleep which causes the child to scratch their bottom. They then touch their mouth or their food at breakfast time and the eggs are ingested once more, re-starting the cycle. The time it takes for the female larvae too mature and lay eggs is around two weeks, hence the length of my protocol and the advice to take a second dose of Ovex at the two weeks point.

I get asked a lot about my opinions on performing regular parasite cleanses and my general opinion is that, in the absence of any signs or symptoms, its likely not necessary. However with children who, as mentioned above, are particularly lacking in the personal hygiene front, having a regular but gentle approach to eliminating nasties may be prudent. I’ve outlined below for you exactly what I did with my almost 5 year old to eliminate pin worm in less than 2 weeks along with my recommended approach to preventing infection should an outbreak occur or if, like me you have a child who mindlessly puts everything into their mouths.

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The reason for my cynicism is thus - every day I’m bombarded with emails, reels, articles and stories claiming that a supplement is the answer to all of life’s problems. At times, these claims are intriguing. Cleverly worded, convincing and seemingly backed by science but most often, on closer analysis, it’s dud research, cherry picked to suit the seller/marketer/influencers message. I’m fortunate to have an education in and around the subject of nutrition and human biology so, when someone inevitably interrupts my day with their claim of the holy supplement grail, for the most part I’m discerning and unconvinced HOWEVER, many people are not well versed in what is and isn’t total bollocks when it comes to supplementing and, consequently, are much more likely to part with their hard (very hard right now) earned money to buy the promised golden bullet. The pill that promises to prolong their life, improve their energy, reduce their inflammation and pass the bar for them within 60 days, (sorry no money back guarantee). As I remind my patients and friends on an almost weekly basis, the supplement market (and social media) are largely unregulated, meaning that people can make these fantastical claims about their products with no need to actually provide anything beyond anecdotal evidence. Like the wellness industry in general, supplement development is just another profits driven market. So yes, for me to incorporate into my life, or more relevantly recommend to a patient a supplement, it has to be special. Having said all of that, there are a select few recommendations that I do make to most all who consult with me, and one of those is Omega 3.

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The Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)

In humans, there are 2 primary essential fatty acids and these are Omega 3 and Omega 6. Essential fatty acids are polyunsaturated (long chain) molecules that cannot be synthesised by the human body in meaningful amounts, or at all. Consequently, we need to eat or supplement them in order to maintain optimal levels. The role of EFAs is substantial on the cellular level but in the interest of not over complicating things, their primary roles are:

• Supporting & maintaining optimal cardiovascular function. Reducing triglycerides, maintaining blood vessel health, ensuring a smooth flow of blood systemically (reduced platelet aggregation), reducing blood pressure & preventing arrhythmia, ultimately reducing the risk of major cardiac events.

• Neurological & cognitive development and maintenance (including in infants & children). Reducing the risk of developing cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease, enhancing cognitive performance, augmenting neural plasticity (brain development & growth), reducing the incidence of depression, supporting the healthy regulation of the central nervous system & possibly protecting against the development of Parkinson’s disease.

• Appropriate and complete inflammatory response & clearance. Inflammation is a normal physiological behaviour. When undisrupted, it works through three phases - initiation, development and extinction. If the extinction phase is interrupted or prevented then inflammation becomes chronic and problematic. Metabolites of omega 3 and 6 are potently anti-inflammatory, either directly or via their impact on pro-inflammatory enzymes created by the body during normal response to injury or stress.

So three, hard hitting areas of importance in the body that they play integral roles in. Let’s dig into the research a little now.

Cardiovascular health

A meta-analysis, (meta analyses are reviews of multiple large group, high quality studies & are considered to be the gold standard of research for these kinds of assessments), into the role of omega 3 fatty acids in human cardiovascular health found that across almost 150,000 people supplementing, there was a significantly reduced risk of coronary heart disease, major cardiac events, non-fatal myocardial infarctions, major cardiovascular events including strokes and cardiovascular mortality. There was however, an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (when the atrium chamber of the heart pumps irregularly/out of sync) in those consuming >2000mg daily (Khan et al, 2021). There is however, and as usual, contrasting data. A study with an impressive, albeit mostly white and male cohort of over 300,000 US veterans did not report a positive correlation between omega 3 intake and increased risk of atrial fibrillation (Guardino et al, 2023). This highlights nicely the issue with claims made by supplement manufacturers, just because someone concluded something from one study, doesn’t automatically make it true or transferable across other populations. In the case of omega 3 however, the evidence for its cardio-protective impacts in the body is compelling and statistically significant (ie; not to be disregarded).

Neuro-cognitive health

A 2025 review published in cellular & molecular neurobiology, described the role of essential fatty acids in central nervous system regulation, specifically DHA & AA (don’t worry, the acronyms are covered later). They discussed the abundance of EFAs within neuronal matter and their central role in optimising neurogenesis and plasticity (the growth of new nerve cells & pathways), optimal energy uptake and metabolism within the brain & central nervous system anti-inflammatory signalling (Tian et al, 2025). In infant through to adolescent brain development, supplementation of omega 3 specifically was shown to improve visual attention, working memory, executive function and communication skills with effects most apparent when intake was consistent across developmental phases (Sherzai et al, 2022). In adults, a recent meta-analysis of 58 randomised control trials showed that omega 3 supplementation at 1000-2500mg daily, yielded measurable improvements in attention, perceptual speed, memory & proprioception (Shahinfar et al, 2025). There are many observational studies suggestive that a diet rich in essential fatty acids is negatively correlated to the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s. A 2023 review paper, examining many of these along with controlled studies, concluded that both Omega 3 and 6 are promising candidates for the prevention and treatment of these diseases (Kousparou et al, 2023). As a side note, the documentary ‘The Blue Zone’ is one such example of an observational study that you might be familiar with already which indicates exactly this.

Their role in inflammation.

Omega 3 & 6 and their metabolites are consistently shown across studies to have anti-inflammatory effects systematically. A meta analysis of multiple randomised control trials found that omega 3 metabolites reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine production whilst increasing the production of specialised, innate compounds responsible for turning off the inflammatory response and promoting tissue healing (Kavyani, et al, 2022). In support of that, a large umbrella assessment of 32 meta analyses concluded that omega 3 supplementation significantly reduces major inflammatory markers, positively alters cell membrane health & enhanced the production of pro-resolution molecules by the body (Neuenschwander et al, 2023). The role of omega 6 in inflammation is a little more complicated. Omega 3 appears to be universally anti-inflammatory, with no pro-inflammatory impact documented to date. Omega 6, conversely, can be considered anti-inflammatory in a healthy body but, rather than playing a direct role in clearance, its role is in the normal, inflammatory response to injury/trauma/stress.

Remember earlier, we discussed inflammation as a normal physiological process. It’s not inflammation that’s problematic, it’s modern diet and lifestyle factors that prevent its normal, 3 phase cycle completion. Herein lies the argument, in healthy individuals, omega 6 plays a key role in optimal, inflammatory immune response, however, in unhealthy individuals it can display pro-inflammatory effects in certain situations. The key word here is ‘certain’, so let’s take a look at that shall we?

Omega 3 vs Omega 6

Recently, there’s been a lot of noise about seed oils and their pro-inflammatory impact on the body. Depending on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go, the claims range from ‘should be eaten only in small amounts’ to ‘are akin to rat poison and should be avoided for anything beyond use as engine fuel’. If you know me or follow me on socials, you’ll be aware of how much this rhetoric irks me. The loudest of those shouting are the ones following heavily animal based diets or promoting carnivore lifestyles based on little to no evidence. The clinical data over the last 50 years consistently confirms that a whole food diet, rich in plants, high in essential fatty acids 3 AND 6 and relatively low in saturated fats and meat is the best way to remain healthy into our senior years (Neuenschwander et al, 2023). I’m not a vegetarian or vegan, I eat meat & fish weekly as part of my diet and I’m not in anyway suggesting that meat is ‘bad’ for you. That would be far too reductionist, which is exactly the issue with the seed oil arguments. It’s interesting to me that many of the people vilifying seed oils with its high omega 6 levels are the very same who are eating copious amounts of red meat which is also, really rather high in omega 6 EFAs.

So as I said, seed oils are commonly high in Omega 6 FA which, as touched upon above, MAY exhibit pro-inflammatory effects in certain situations. The crux of this matter comes down to ratio. Both Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids are metabolised using the same enzymes and pathway, so in effect, they’re competing with each other in the break down process. When omega 3 intake is adequate, the enzymes are kept busy, using its metabolites to create molecules that are used directly to resolve inflammation and therefore are a-typically anti-inflammatory. If omega 3 intake is good, then omega 6 levels aren’t something that we need to worry about. The problem arises when omega 3 intake is low and omega 6 is high which, FYI, is very typical of a modern western diet. We eat a lot of processed foods and meat, both of which are high in omega 6. Seed/vegetable oils are also, relatively high in omega 6 and this is where the argument is being directed from. When omega 3 intake isn’t adequate and omega 6 intake is high, the theory (not the confirmed outcome) is that those enzymes end up only churning out pro-inflammatory molecules. Remember, these molecules are NOT bad, inflammation is not bad. Interrupting the inflammatory process before its completion is bad, and the things that do this are; poor diets that are low in omega 3, sedentary lifestyles, stress, high alcohol intake and smoking. In a scenario involving multiples of these factors then possibly, a high intake of refined seed oils could, potentially drive inflammation.

To further complicate things, a large study of nearly 3000 people including both men and women with a mean age of 66 concluded that high serum (blood) levels of omega 6 linoleic (LA) and arachadonic (AA) acids (bear with me, this is important for later) were negatively associated with many inflammatory markers in the body ie; high omega 6 in the blood = less inflammation. They concluded that a diet rich in omegas 3 & 6 should be recommended as part of national dietary guidelines for optimal health (Lai, et al. 2025). In support of this, a 2018 meta analysis also confirmed the anti-inflammatory effect of high blood AA & LA although the ratio of omega 3:6 was noted as a key component in this (Innes & Calder, 2018).

Refinement isn’t always a good thing.

At least, not when it comes to foods. The other element to the seed oils as poison argument is the question of refinement. In all other areas of life we tend to consider refinement as a positive process however, when it comes to the stuff we’re eating, it is definitely not. Some seed oils will undergo a heavy refinement process before being shipped out to shelf. This process typically involves extreme heating, chemical deodorising and/or bleaching and possibly then having colour being added back in for aesthetic purposes, yes I’m rolling my eyes. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) ie; liquid, ie; seed oils, are a relatively unstable group of fats and consequently can be denatured by heat and exposure to light far more readily than saturated fats such as tallow, lard, butter or ghee. This is why the generalised consensus is that cooking on high heats should be reserved for only saturated fats. When a PUFA is denatured, its molecular structure is changed which renders it at best, unrecognisable by the human body - frankenfats if you will, and at worst, toxic. To further compound their uselessness, refined oils tend to be packaged in clear, soft plastic which is, as we should all be aware by now, the very worst of the plastics for human health. In this state, seed oils are indeed only useful as motor fuel however, you can quite easily buy seed oils that haven’t undergone this process. These are nearly always sold in protective, non-poisonous dark glass bottles and therefore are still rich in many health boosting compounds such as polyphenols as discussed above. Aptly, the frankenfats are always found lurking on the bottom shelf and the unrefined lovely seed oils are always on the top shelf.

The medicine is in the dose.

Ok so easy, unrefined seed oils are good, frankenfats are bad and we want to be consuming plenty of both omega 3 and omega 6 via our diets. Yes, however omega 6 is far more readily available for consumption that omega 3. There’s archeological evidence to suggest that, in early humans, those living near open water and thus consuming larger amounts of seafoods demonstrated faster brain development than those living in land locked areas (Broadhurst et al, 1998). Seafood, specifically cold water, oily fish is our primary food source of omega 3 essential fatty acids which means that for many of us, we’re deficient. The general guidelines for ensuring adequate intake of these fish is 2-3 portions of salmon, trout or mackerel OR 3-6 portions of sardines per week. From my time in clinic, it’s obvious to me that most of us are eating far less than that. Additionally, there’s the concern around farmed fish and their high antibiotic exposure and potential as parasite carriers, not to mention the ethical element of their living situations (if you don’t know about salmon farming then please, look it up). Sadly, wild caught oily fish tends to come with a high price point which for many of us, further reduces our intake of them. Omega 6 however is found in red meat, nuts and seeds, avocados, butter, olive oil, tofu and pretty much every variation of pre-prepared and ultra-processed foods, which is why we’re now in a position where most of us have a large imbalance of omega 3:6 in our diets and thus, our bodies.

DHA, EPA, DPA WTF?

So on to the acronyms. Science bloody loves an acronym eh. To keep this as simple and digestible as possible, rather than writing the full names for you to roll around your mouth and brain for 5 minutes - if you’re looking to challenge your pronunciation skills, then please just use google - I’ve simply broken down the important bit ie; which acronyms belong to which EFA along with their recommended daily dose for systemic anti-inflammatory benefits:

Omega 3

EPA & DHA 1000-3000mg combined daily. The dose is dependent on your current health condition and inflammatory load. Those taking blood thinning or anti-coagulant medications should consult with their healthcare provider before taking a dose above 500mg daily.

DPA - is incidental and comes alongside EPA & DHA defacto so no need to worry about this one.

Omega 6

LA & AA - There’s no established recommended dose for omega 6, what’s relevant is the ratio of intake to omega 3. Most of us are consuming omega 6:3 at a ratio of around 10:1. Ideally the ratio should be more like 2:1, which is going to ensure that the enzymes responsible for metabolising are kept busy generating anti-inflammatory compounds from the omega 3. What this means is, if your diet is rich in meat, nuts, seeds and their oils and low in high quality oily fish, you’re going to want to supplement with omega 3 to keep that ratio optimal and therefore your health thriving. Additionally, remember that this is just a theory, not a confirmed outcome. When it comes to reducing inflammation in the body, the important things to focus on are these:

1. Regular non-stressful movement - what this means is, if your life is already stressful, then running a marathon or going to 5 HIIT classes a week is not going to reduce inflammation, it’s going to add more stress to an already overflowing bucket. Choose exercise that enlivens not destroys you. 10,000 steps daily, moderate weight lifting, yoga, pilates, tai Qi & jogging are all great and are going to have a net anti-inflammatory & regulating impact.

2. A plant rich diet diverse in colours & flavours. Eat the rainbow, eat your beans and pulses & count the colours on your plates not the calories. Organic dairy & meat & wild caught fish should still all be included if you’re not ethically opposed. Diversity is key and don’t forget your bitters. Bitter flavours are very important - more of that in my next article.

3. Limited alcohol consumption. Follow the national guidelines. Much of what the government suggests is bollocks but on this, they’re right.

4. Stress reduction - learn how to breath with your diaphragm, spend regular time in nature, cuddle an animal, laugh often, put your phone down and turn off the news. Over-stimulation is driving inflammation, go get bored, your 70 year old brain will thank you for it.

5. Prioritise rest. Block the blue light post 6pm, charge your phone away from your bedroom and stop doom scrolling late into the night. Sleep is the most important element of recovery so do what you can to optimise it.

So to summarise dear reader, be not afraid of the seed oils, they mean you no harm and if all else fails, take an omega 3 supplement. The dose I recommend to non-medicated patients is 1200mg daily combined EPA & DHA.

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REFERENCES

1. Khan, Safi U. et al. (2021). eClinicalMedicine, Volume 38, 100997

2. Kavyani Z, Musazadeh V, Fathi S, Hossein Faghfouri A, Dehghan P, Sarmadi B. Efficacy of the omega-3 fatty acids supplementation on inflammatory biomarkers: An umbrella meta-analysis. Int Immunopharmacol. 2022;111:109104. doi:10.1016/j.intimp.2022.109104

3. Neuenschwander, M., Stadelmaier, J., Eble, J. et al. Substitution of animal-based with plant-based foods on cardiometabolic health and all-cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. BMC Med 21, 404 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-023-03093-1

4. Guardino ET, Li Y, Nguyen XM, et al. Dietary ω-3 fatty acids and the incidence of atrial fibrillation in the Million Veteran Program. Am J Clin Nutr. 2023;118(2):406-411. doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.06.001

5. Lai HTM, Ryder NA, Tintle NL, Jackson KH, Kris-Etherton PM, Harris WS. Red Blood Cell Omega-6 Fatty Acids and Biomarkers of Inflammation in the Framingham Offspring Study. Nutrients. 2025; 17(13):2076. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17132076

6. Innes J, Calder P

   Omega-6 fatty acids and inflammation

   Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids, 2018; 132, 41-48

7. Broadhurst CL, Cunnane SC, Crawford MA. Rift Valley lake fish and shellfish provided brain-specific nutrition for early Homo. Br J Nutr. 1998;79(1):3-21. doi:10.1079/bjn19980004

8. Tian, J., Zhang, Y. & Zhao, X. The Effects and Mechanisms of n-3 and n-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in the Central Nervous System. Cell Mol Neurobiol 45, 25 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10571-025-01543-3

9. Sherzai D, Moness R, Sherzai S, Sherzai A. A Systematic Review of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Consumption and Cognitive Outcomes in Neurodevelopment. Am J Lifestyle Med. 2022;17(5):649-685. Published 2022 Nov 16. doi:10.1177/15598276221116052

10. Shahinfar, H., Yazdian, Z., Avini, N.A. et al. A systematic review and dose response meta analysis of Omega 3 supplementation on cognitive function. Sci Rep 15, 30610 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-16129-8

11. Kousparou C, Fyrilla M, Stephanou A, Patrikios I. DHA/EPA (Omega-3) and LA/GLA (Omega-6) as Bioactive Molecules in Neurodegenerative Diseases. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2023; 24(13):10717. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241310717

Bliss ball is a term I’ve come to loathe. If I had £1 for every awful bliss or energy ball I’ve either tested, created or, worst of all bought (because the average cafe in London is charging £3 for these tiny disgusting spheres) I’d be typing this from a much nicer setting than I currently am. I jest of course, I’m ever grateful for the warm and safe house from which I’m currently working, but I remain serious about the bliss-ball crisis. Which is why I’m so happy to share with you this recipe. These little balls of delight are the fudgiest and most satisfying of all the many (many, many, many, MANY) that I’ve had the pleasure and often displeasure of sampling over the years. They’re satisfyingly chocolatey, perfectly sweet and made without any sweeteners beyond dates.

So enjoy fellow health-seekers, I hope you find these to satisfy your sweet cravings as much as they did mine and let me know how you got on, especially if you try any of the variations!

Ingredients

• 20 pitted dates, the softer the better

• 1 cup almond flour

• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut, organic

• 1/2 cup cacao powder

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 1 tablespoon - 1/4 cup water*

• ¼ cup tahini or almond/peanut/cashew butter

• Extra desiccated coconut or chocolate sprinkles for rolling

• 1 tbsp dried nettle seeds (optional)

Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend until the mixture begins to clump together and form a large ball inside the mixer. If your dates are dry, soak them for 10 minutes in hot water first and then drain off.

Once ready, roll into balls and roll in topping of choice if desired. Refrigerate in a closed container for up to 7 days (they won’t last that long trust me).

* the amount you need will depend on how juicy your dates are and how runny your tahini/nut butter is. Add slowly while it’s mixing and stop when the mixture is clumping together inside the food processor. You could also swap the water for an herbal tea, decocotion or syrup (rose, peppermint, cinnamon or ginger would be amazing) for extra herbal points. To make the mix EXTRA fudgy, add 1tsp-1tbsp olive oil instead of the water 🤍

The supplement market is not (in the UK) regulated, meaning that the controls around marketing, advertising & production of products are pretty minimal. Consequently, the options are seemingly endless. Just go to any bog-standard supermarket and there are tens of different multi-vitamins, vitamin D, fatty acids, calcium, zinc bla bla bla. My local Wholefoods has and entire wall dedicated to magnesium alone and that’s saying nothing about the current trend for protein, collagen, creatinine and the like.

With such a huge array of choice and such poor quality control enforcements, a LOT of what’s on the market is rubbish, or as I phrase it to my patients ‘expensive urine’. All supplements, vitamins & minerals can come in a variety of forms, many of which aren’t actually recognised, metabolised or absorbed by our bodies. In this case, you literally just pee it out without seeing any benefits (you understand my metaphor now). While the GOATS like magnesium, calcium, zinc & vitamin C are all taken (pretty much) in the form your body will use them in, some and to be honest a lot of the newer, more trendy supplements undergo metabolisation and activation before actually having any biological effect. For this metabolisation and conversion to occur, the body needs other minerals and nutrients to act as co-factors. A brilliant example of this is vitamin D. Vitamin D in supplement form is NOT absorbed by the body. It has to undergo metabolisation into calcitriol before the body can use it and for this to happen, the body needs zinc & magnesium. Additionally, vitamin K helps to direct the calcium absorbed by vitamin D into bones and teeth, rather than into arteries and organs which is why, if you’re supplementing high doses of vitamin D in the winter - I see you Northern hemisphere people, it’s imperative to also be taking vitamin K alongside.

The reality is that, unless you have professional advice or are willing to dive into the nitty gritty of chemistry and biology to understand exactly WHAT form of WHICH vitamins/minerals/metabolite pre-cursors you need, the whole supplement market is a minefield, which is why I thought I’d share with you my (somewhat) educated, core supplement protocol with most importantly the why, because anyone can give advice for people to blindly follow but that’s not my MO.

Disclaimer: These are supplements that I take for my personal health and I don’t recommend that anyone begin a new supplement regime without consulting with a healthcare professional first.

MY CORE SUPPLEMENT PROTOCOL

1. Omega 3 - Number 1 forever and always is a high quality omega 3 supplement. I personally choose to take a fish oil over cod liver because it has higher levels of DHA and EPA which are the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) most extensively studied. The jury is IN on the anti-inflammatory, cardio and neuro-protective impact of these PUFAs with an enormous amount of robust research confirming the inverse correlation between adequate intake of these fatty acids and cognitive decline, inflammatory disease onset & progression and cardiac events. As with so many things, the medicine is in the dose and more isn’t always better with very high doses (1800mg and above) daily being more associated with higher incidence of atrial fibrillation, which is irregular contraction of the upper half of the heart muscle. I personally take 1600mg daily but recommend to patients that 1200mg is enough.

2. Milk Thistle - If you know me or follow me on social media, you’ll already know about my love affair with milk thistle. I take it every day without fail and here’s why. The liver is the body’s primary organ of detoxification, it processes every blood cell, continuously filtering the blood, eliminating opportunistic and infective bacteria/viruses etc via it’s active immune capacity and passing it twice through it’s various pathways of metabolisation (hello PY450, IYKYK), eliminating toxins both environmental and innate in the process. In short, the liver is our unsung hero, working tirelessly to keep us healthy and happy. It plays a HUGE part in reducing oxidative stress in the body which we all know contributes to chronic disease, cognitive decline and the physical symptoms attributed to ageing such as reduced mobility, reduced healing capacity and imperatively for me because I am a vain cow, ageing. So onto milk thistle - some of you may have heard of glutathione. It, along with NAC, NAD and a few others came crashing into market a few years back, touted as the fountain of youth yadayadayada. Naturally this is mostly a crock of shit however - glutathione does have promise. Glutathione is the body’s ‘master’ antioxidant and is needed by the liver in abundance. In fact, the liver actually makes the vast majority of the body’s own endogenous glutathione. Now, glutathione can be taken in it’s isolated form BUT, any herbalist, nutritionist, functional doctor and naturopath worth their salt will agree that a vitamin, mineral or chemical constituent is ALWAYS best and most effective when taken within a whole food scenario, the reason being that, within a food or medically used herb containing the compound in question - for this conversation glutathione - there are always other, complementary chemicals and compounds which aid the metabolisation, conversion and activation of the thing we want. Welcome milk thistle. In herbalism we use the seed of the plant, tinctured or ideally, powdered. Milk thistle seeds are rich in the silymarin compounds which actually have a ‘redoxification’ effect on glutathione made by the liver. Redoxification really needs its own post but to put it simply, usually when a chemical/compound acts as an antioxidant, it ends up oxidising itself in the process and thus, becoming a free-radical ie; toxin. Vitamin C is a great example of this. The silymarins in milk thistle effectively allow glutathione to work as an antioxidant on toxins without becoming a toxin itself. Clear as mud. Glutathione is actually really easily sourced through diet so the likelihood of your body having a deficiency of it is slim to none. On top of that, as we spoke about earlier, the mighty liver actually MAKES it anyway, so even if the diet is lacking, liver’s got your back. So really, rather than needing to supplement with it, what we want is to find a way of making it last longer and be more effective in the body. Eh voila - milk thistle, the fountain of youth (sort of).

3. Vitamin D+K2 - I take vitamin D+K2 in the winter because I’m a Northern Hemisphere babe and our winter is LONG. I don’t however take it in the summer because (thankfully) I’m a healthy and mobile individual who spends a lot of time outdoors in natural light which is by far, the most efficient and cost effective way of getting your summer D (I’ll just leave that there). Vitamin D is very well known and the benefits are vast throughout the body. From supporting cognitive function and mood, hormonal health, thyroid function, enhancing calcium uptake and placement, optimising immune function and insulin sensitivity, it has a lot of responsibility. In the winter I take 400iu daily on the assumption that I will be outside, in natural light for at least 1 hour every day. If you have black or brown skin, are over 70 or have a chronic illness like MS, you will need more but over-supplementing can be problematic so don’t assume more is better. More is just more.

4. Ashwagandha - If you’re interested in health and I assume you are if you’re reading this and haven’t heard of ashwaganda then you have my friend, been living under a rock in middle Earth. Ashwagandha is the adaptogen du jour and honestly it PAINS me to admit that I take it because I do so hate to be swept along with a popularity vote. The truth however is that it is a fantastic plant and has received much attention with honest deserving. I’m a notoriously bad sleeper, and suffer regularly with delayed sleep onset, sometimes for up to 2 hours. Compounded by my daughter who wakes 4000 times every night and almost always at the moment I’m just finally beginning to drift off, I’ve been in dire straits with sleep deprivation historically. Now ashwagandha certainly isn’t a silver bullet and it doesn’t replace any of my other none herbal tools for nervous system regulation but it does enhance and support all of them, acting like a synergist that harmonises everything. Some people find ashwagandha too stimulating which is entirely down to constitution. The concept of constitutions is something that I work with a lot in my practise and, much like the redox effect deserves its own post but the general observation I and other herbalists have made is that if you’re very hot, fiery and fast moving as a person, ashwagandha may not calm you down, it may in fact do the opposite. But also my friend, trial and error and nothing ventured nothing gained so go ahead and try it before casting your judgement. The therapeutic dose for adults is 1000-3000mg daily and it needs to be taken for at least 6 weeks to see benefits so don’t be shy or fickle with it.

And thats it! Naturally, when I need it I’ll also take other herbs in capsule, tincture or tea form but those 4 are my ride or dies.

Now onto NAD+ which in short I think is a very cleverly marketed and over priced supplement who’s impact in the body has been greatly exaggerated. It’s one of the most expensive supplements available on the market, with people paying up to £700 for a two month supply and if that doesn’t scream CON then I don’t know what does. The thing to remember here is that, nothing that’s available on the supplement market is something that either the body already makes itself or is abundantly available through dietary and herbal sources. Ie; NAD+ is something that you can easily get through your regular diet, assuming you’re weekly diet isn’t primarily junk food. While the role of NAD within the body is absolutely factual, predominantly that it supports cellular function & metabolism and consequently cardiac and cognitive function and muscle recovery, none of the research into NAD+ supplementation is particularly robust or reliable. In fact, NAD is actually something the body makes itself, from a variety of other things like vitamin B6, NMN, NAM & NR (honestly I cannot write all of these acronyms out fully, just google them if you’re interested), all of which are ABUNDANTLY available from dietary sources. So basically, if you’re a healthy person, who eats a healthy diet, rich in plant foods, good quality fats and proteins and low in inflammatory processed and refined foods, takes regular gentle to moderate exercise and sleeps enough, there’s no significant proof that NAD+ will enhance your health or delay your ageing process. Now, if you’re chronically ill, recovering from injury or surgery or are a professional athlete who regularly pushes their body beyond normal limits, NAD+ may well be supportive to your lifestyle, but for the regular Joe (thats me and probably you), it’s not needed and being tricked into thinking that £350 per month is value for money is just plain unethical in my books. I’d take my beloved milk thistle any day over NAD+, but you already knew that didn’t you.

Well, that’s all from me for tonight. I’m going to finally watch the finale of Stranger Things while folding laundry. I hope your evening beats that.

With love, always.

Maxine x

In my pre-herb days, I knew about nettle in exactly that way. It stings, it hurts, AVOID. Then in the early age of Instagram, I remember watching a woman that I followed being flagellated by her husband in a field with a huge nettle plant claiming that it was a health hack. It was weird….the internet is a strange old place I thought, and scrolled down. Surprisingly, it did not ignite any urge to investigate.

Then, about 3 years later, I had enrolled onto Heartwood Educations professional Medical Herbalism course and was beginning to cultivate my fledgling materia medica. One of the earliest plants we were taught was nettle. Bendle, our tutor, who incidentally is exactly the kind of herbalist you want to have treat you because he’s tried it all. I mean it ALL, (he told an anecdote of cutting down a giant hogweed to make a didgeridoo at a festival once which I recall in explicit detail - but that’s a story for another post) spoke about nettle being nutritive, iron, potassium and vitamin K rich, fantastic for the lymphatics and kidneys and a reliable anti-rheumatic pain reliever, particularly for arthritic joints. Ah-ha I thought, so that Instagram post was a crock of shit - just as I suspected. But no! Not so my friend. After discussing the various preparations and dosing recommendations, he mentioned topical use, but not as a balm or poultice - no no, as a whip. He said that for neuralgia (nerve pain), myalgia (muscle pain) and swollen or painful joints, actively stinging the area repeatedly could provide pain relief due to to the counter-irritant effect.

Sceptical I most certainly was and without any injuries or reason to test the theory (and surprisingly no volunteers either), I stored it on the furthest back burner in my brain. Until, possibly fortuitously but then I suppose that depends on your vantage point, a few weeks later, after a yoga class with a lot of arm balancing, I was suddenly suffering with carpal tunnel. Ever the opportunist, I re-lit that back burner and headed off to find some nettle to roll around it. I have to admit that the willingness to actively rub my already painful wrist repeatedly against the nettle leaves was pretty lacking but, in the name of science and FOR THE PEOPLE I forced on. Dear community, I was BUZZING to discover that it did indeed work! Buzzing being the operative word because that’s literally what I was. It turns out that if you take enough nettle stings you can get yourself mildly high….

The science behind this is pretty simple.

The counter-irritant effect on the painful area provides a distraction, not unlike using a TENS machine during labour (NB: I have been through labour and there are no distractions, none whatsoever. Don’t believe the hype). The trichomes (stings) contain neurotransmitters, namely serotonin and histamine which affect the actual perception of pain at the nerve endings and the process of being stung increases circulation and triggers the sympathetic nervous system, providing the buzzy, stimulated sensation I experienced.

Friends, I would still prefer to drink a cup of coffee to get myself mildly buzzed HOWEVER, I repeated the process every day for a week, alongside taking the recommended anti-inflammatory herbs and resting the wrist, and my carpal tunnel resolved. So to summarise, 8/10 - would recommend.

Now, to the modern day. It’s late August and the nettle seeds are seeding. It’s time to forage and gather these tiny powerhouses people. Get out there amongst the plants and feel the sting in those fingers. Or don’t, wear gloves, whatever is your jam. But in all seriousness, nettle seeds, like the plant itself are nutritional wonders, rich in essential fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins A, C, E, and K and the mighty B’s too, and minerals, particularly iron and calcium. But perhaps more interestingly, nettle seeds are celebrated for their adrenal restoring and supporting qualities. For anyone suffering with low immunity, fatigue or high stress load, nettle seeds are worth their weight in gold. The best thing is that they’re FREE! Nettle grows abundantly everywhere, it’s invasive and pervasive so there are no concerns about sustainability and if you grow a patch in your garden your soil will thank you.

To harvest these tiny balls of joy, find a patch of unsprayed nettle, preferably not next to a main road. Cut the top 10ish cm from plants that have gone to seed and take them home to dry. I recommend drying on a tray rather than hanging because as the seeds dry out they drop off and you’ll lose a lot if they’re hung up. Once they’re dry simple rub the seeds away from the stalks. The sting disappears as they dry so no need to wear gloves. Finally, sieve them through to get rid of any residual stringy stalk, store in clean, dry jar and enjoy! They have a very mild taste and can easily be sprinkled over yoghurt, added to seed mixes, salad dressings & seasoning to sprinkle over meals before serving. Add a tablespoon to your bone broth if you make it, but my personal favourite is to make a nettle seed dukkah so I have generously included the recipe (originally taken and slightly adapted from Sass of Botany Culture) below. Try it now and thank me when your energy levels are through the roof.

Nettle Seed Dukkah

• Walnuts 1 tbsp

• Raw Pumpkin Seeds 1 tbsp

• Cumin Seeds, whole 1 tsp

• Coriander Seeds, whole 1 tsp

• Sesame Seeds, black or white 1 tbsp

• Stinging nettle seeds 1 tbsp

• Parsley, dried 1 tsp

• Sea Salt (to taste)

• Black Pepper, ground (to taste)

Method

1. Toast the nuts and seeds over a low heat on the hob. Since the nuts, whether you use hazelnuts or almonds, are much bigger than the seeds, I suggest toasting these separately. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon or spatula until golden and fragrant (~2-4 minutes).

2. Pulse all ingredients together in a food processor. Combine toasted nuts and seeds together with the remaining ingredients into a food processsor. Pulse until uniformly ground.

3. Let dukkah spice blend cool completely before storing. Spread the spice blend out onto a plate or sheet pan and let cool completely before storing in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid

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