Dandelions: Love Your Liver!

In my mind there is no herb more glorious than the dandelion.

No flower more beautiful.

Nothing more magical or miraculous.

Any rose can be beautiful with enough fertilizer, weed killer, manual aphid plucking, and diligent daily watering.

But, frankly I have a tough time respecting something so persnickety. I admire a flower with the tenacity to grow through a crack in the pavement and still come out bright yellow and full of sunshine.

Dandelions also refuse to be cut flowers. They will not play that game, they will not sit in a vase for you and look pretty. You have to enjoy them on their terms.

What they will do for you though is provide you with an invaluable source of free medicine. Dandelions cleanse your liver, lower your blood pressure, rejuvenate you for spring, reduce water retention and blood pressure through their diuretic mechanism, improve digestion and nourish you with potassium, vitamin K, and minerals.

Did you know you had such an AMAZING medicine growing right in your backyard?

Fall is the best time to harvest dandelion roots. In spring, you can pick some of the fresh green leaves and add them to a salad. Bitter greens stimulate our digestion as they hit the bitter receptors at the back of our tongue which are innervated by the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve moves bile (and thus toxins) through our livers as well as stimulates the peristaltic activity that moves the digestive process along.

Bitters are imperative for those with sluggish digestion and constipation. America is a sweet tooth culture and the best thing we can do is balance out all that sweet with some bitter. A nice bitter salad before dinner is great for getting the digestive juices flowing. You can add some fresh flowers as garnish. Just pick them right before serving so they aren't wilty.

The entire plant is full of medicine. The leaves of Taraxicum officinale lower blood pressure. Most diuretic anti-hypertensives deplete potassium stores, but dandelion comes conveniently packaged with potassium!

Now mild cases of hypertension and edema will respond to this plant, but more moderate and severe cases will most likely need a stronger herb.

The root of the plant can be dug up in the fall and used as a liver tonic. So if you REALLY want less dandelions in your yard then just harvest them every fall, or just call me up and I'll come by and get them for you.