Safflower
Safflower is the bright orange "false saffron" flower that's also the source of a common kitchen oil. The vault page explains why the flower and the oil are two very different products, and who should leave the flower alone.
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Dill
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.
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Psyllium (Isabgol)
Psyllium, known in India as isabgol, is the plant fibre behind many everyday fibre supplements, and it has some of the strongest research of any herb in the vault. Here's how traditions use it, what the newest guidelines say, and how to take it safely.
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Astragalus
Huang Qi, the yellow root behind Chinese "Jade Windscreen" formulas, is one of the best-known qi tonics in traditional Chinese medicine and a popular immune-season herb in the West. Here's what the tradition uses it for, what the (mostly small, Chinese) studies show, the Health Canada amounts, and why people with autoimmune disease or a transplant should steer clear.
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Cordyceps
A rare Himalayan fungus that grows out of moth caterpillars, cordyceps has been prized in Tibetan and Chinese medicine since at least the 1400s as an energy and lung–kidney tonic. Today almost all of it is grown in labs, and the research is far thinner than the marketing.
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Saffron
The world's most expensive spice is also one of the oldest mood herbs on record: Persian physicians called it a heart-gladdener, and modern trials have tested it for low mood and PMS. This profile covers how tradition uses it, what the research shows, and why "more" is not better with saffron.
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Hibiscus
Tart, ruby-red hibiscus tea is drunk hot or iced from Egypt to Mexico and is one of the most-studied herbal teas for heart wellness. Here's what traditions use it for, what the trials show, how people brew it, and who should check first.
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Shilajit
A dark mountain resin that Ayurveda has treated as a prized rejuvenating tonic for centuries, now sold worldwide for energy and men's vitality, and one of the supplements most likely to be contaminated.
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Flaxseed
The small brown or golden seed behind linseed tea, old-fashioned linseed poultices and today's breakfast sprinkle. Flax has been a food, fibre and folk remedy for thousands of years and is now one of the better-studied seeds for the bowels and blood pressure.
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Green Tea
The tea plant was first grown in China thousands of years ago, and a Japanese monk wrote in 1211 that tea was a medicine for long life. Today green tea is one of the world's most-loved daily drinks, and its leaf and extracts are some of the most-studied plant compounds there are.
