Guggul is the fragrant resin at the heart of Ayurveda's "guggulu" tablets, used for centuries for joints, weight and skin. Here's what the tradition uses it for, why a well-known US trial surprised everyone, and the rash, thyroid and medicine cautions to know first. The tree is also critically endangered, so where it comes from matters.
Long before rose was a perfume, Persian, Greek and European healers used the petals for sore mouths, nervous hearts and slow bowels. Today the EU recognises rose flower infusions for mild mouth, throat and skin inflammation, and one study tested rose tea for period pain. Here's the tradition, the research, how to brew it, and the cautions that matter.
The tart red berry of Nordic kitchens and Newfoundland "partridgeberry" jam is also a folk urinary remedy, and its juice, blended with cranberry, is in some of the best-known bladder-infection trials. Here's what it's used for, what the studies show, and why the berry and the leaf are two very different safety stories.
Sweet flag is an aromatic marsh plant with a long history in Ayurveda, Chinese medicine and Indigenous North American medicine. It's also one of the few herbs banned from food in the US, because its oil contains beta-asarone, which caused cancer in rodent studies.
The tiny seeds of the celery plant were an old European and Middle Eastern remedy for gout, sore joints and sluggish kidneys, and a celery seed extract has now had a small blood-pressure trial. This profile covers what's known, and why celery allergy and pregnancy are the big cautions.
The garnish on your plate has a long history as a kitchen herb for the bladder and the belly. This profile covers how traditions used the leaf, root and seed, why the evidence is thin, and why the seed and its oil are a different matter from the leaf.
The berry that flavours gin has a long second life as a European and North American folk herb for the bladder and the belly. This profile covers how traditions use it, why the evidence is thin, and the clear limits on how long and for whom it's used.
The feathery pickle herb is also one of the oldest "wind" seeds, brewed after meals, taken in Ayurveda for digestion and breast milk, and used as the original base of gripe water. Members can see what traditions use it for, what small studies show, and who should keep to kitchen amounts.
Epazote is a pungent Mexican kitchen herb traditionally stirred into a pot of beans, and it has a long folk history as a worm remedy. Its seed oil, though, is a known poison, so here's where the uses come from and what to know before you go beyond a sprig in the pot.
A small, bitter garden flower from the cabbage family. It's the lead herb in Germany's best-known stomach drops, a multi-herb formula that has been studied for bloating, fullness and IBS-type discomfort.
