April 2024
Four Herbs 4 Detox
- Red Clover
- Stinging Nettle
- Yarrow
- Cayenne
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Support & Nourish Your Body Detox Channels
When it comes to detox, I am not one to advocate for pushing the body to eliminate toxins. The human body has over six million years of natural detoxing, and our role is to support its natural detox channels.
Bitter tasting food and herbs
Bitter-tasting roots and leaves were a huge part of our diet until not so long ago.
The bitter taste comes from plants’ phytochemicals, usually alkaloids, that, to some degree, are toxic. Plants developed these bitter compounds as a defense mechanism. The bitter taste alerts people and animals to their toxicity, so they either avoid grazing on these plants altogether or reduce the grazing to small amounts.
Our body got the hint that bitter is toxic, and developed a variety of bitter receptors that are spread all over the body to track these poisonous compounds and immediately remove them.
The Liver
The liver is the body’s chemistry lab, which has several functions that help the body remove toxins.
The liver processes all harmful compounds, including “expired” hormones and overdue medicines. It does this through a two-stage process. At the end of the second stage, the harmful compounds are water-soluble so that the kidneys can eliminate them with urine.
Another way that the liver supports the detox process is by producing bile. Bile helps in fat digestion, but bile also helps emulsify excess cholesterol (LDL) and trap it in fiber so it can be eliminated in your poop.
Cholagauge herbs
Herbs that support liver health and bile production are called cholagogue. Yarrow is an example of a cholagogue herb.
Yarrow
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is named after Achilles, the hero of the Trojan War, who used the herb to staunch the blood of soldiers wounded in battle. Unfortunately, Achilles did not have Yarrow close when he was wounded; otherwise, he would have survived. The legends say that Achilles learned about Yarrow from Chiron, “the wounded healer.” The story linked Yarrow to the archetype of the healer of the soul.
Yarrow for liver detox
Yarrow is a bitter, versatile herb that supports the liver, the body’s chemist who recycles toxins and prepares them for elimination.
Yarrow promotes the two stages of liver detoxification pathways, helping to ensure that harmful substances are removed,d effectively neutralized, and prepared for elimination.
Yarrow promote bile production
Yarrow supports the liver in producing and releasing bile. Bile is crucial for digesting fats and eliminating waste products from the body.
Antioxidant and antinflammatory
The liver can experience oxidative stress from constant exposure to toxins. Yarrow provides antioxidant support, which helps safeguard liver cells from oxidative damage and ensures they remain healthy and functional.
A cooling and drying herb, Yarrow is beneficial for inflammatory conditions that are hot and damp by nature.
Yarrow helps improve blood flow, ensuring nutrients and oxygen are delivered efficiently to the liver and waste products are removed promptly.
By supporting the liver in these ways, Yarrow is an invaluable ally in maintaining its health and efficiency.
Many years ago, I cut the palm of my hand while caning jam. I immediately started bleeding profusely. Yarrow leaves from the garden were chewed and placed on the wound, and the bleeding was immediately stopped.
“As above so below”
Yarrow has long been known as “the pretty little herb of Venus. “
Venus is classically associated with beauty, harmony, balance, love, relationship, and our aesthetic sense of perception. In astrology, Venus relates to the desire for connection, the urge to socialize and come together.
Venus in the body rules the reproductive system, kidney, bladder, thyroid, and venous circulation. In the same way that psychologically Venus helps us to find balance and harmony within our relationships, so too does it do this within the body in the way the kidneys constantly maintain the balance of the blood- especially in regards to solids (minerals) and liquids.
It is also relates to the reproductive system, as the planet of love should, as well as the veins, or the more passive side of circulation.
Plants that are associated with Venus are warm and moist, yet they are also diuretic, astringent, nervine, and antispasmodic. An excess of Venus energy can result in a damp, relaxed state.
A Venus deficiency results in wind/tension. Venus plants affect fluids and their holding, just as Venus rules the emotions.
How to use yarrow
Yarrow is a strong, bitter herb. Therefore, taking it in as a tea is hard, but it is a great companion to other bitter herbs in a tincture. For wounds, you can use yarrow tea as a soak to clean the wound.
When you go wildcrafting for Yarrow, you want to make sure that the place where you picked up your Yarrow is clean. Avoid wildcrafting if it’s too close to a road or the field is sprayed with chemicals.
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