In 1618 an English farmer found that cattle on Epsom Common wouldn't drink from a bitter pool. The salt left behind became one of the best-known home remedies of the next 350 years. Here's how people use magnesium today for sleep, muscles, headaches and regularity, what the studies found, and the safety limits that matter.
People have used vinegar as a kitchen remedy for thousands of years, from Hippocrates' wound care to the honey-and-vinegar tonics of Persian medicine. Here's what tradition says, what the small modern studies found, and how to take it without hurting your throat.
A tropical fruit tree whose leaves have been brewed as a folk tea across the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa for generations. Here's what tradition says, what the research has (and hasn't) shown, and the safety points every user should know first.
A small creeping plant from the carrot family, prized in Ayurveda as a "medhya rasayana", a tonic for the mind, and across Asia for skin, wounds and longevity. Sri Lankan tradition held that eating the leaves helped people live longer.
The silver-green leaves of the olive tree, one of the oldest cultivated trees on earth, have been brewed into a bitter tea around the Mediterranean for centuries. Here's what tradition and research say about them, and who should be careful.
Berberine is the bright-yellow compound behind some of the oldest bitter remedies in Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, from Indian barberry to Chinese goldthread. Today it is one of the most-studied plant compounds for metabolic health, and one of the most interaction-prone, so it is worth reading the safety section first.
One of the oldest spices in the world, cinnamon was traded from Asia to Egypt as far back as 2000 BC. Ayurveda, Chinese medicine and Persian medicine all use it as a warming herb for digestion, circulation and the womb, and modern researchers are studying it for period pain and metabolic health.
Reishi is the glossy "mushroom of immortality" of Chinese and Japanese tradition, prized for over 2,000 years as a calming, strengthening tonic. Here's what traditional medicine uses it for, what the research says so far, and who should be careful with it.
Ginseng has been the prized "root of strength" in Chinese medicine for centuries, and American ginseng was a woodland medicine of Indigenous peoples before it became a major export to China. Here's how the two ginsengs differ in tradition, what modern studies show for energy and fatigue, and who should be careful with it.
Nettle stings on the trail, but it has been a spring food, a joint remedy, a fibre plant and a "strengthening and cleansing" tea for peoples across Europe, North Africa and North America. Here's how tradition uses the leaf and the root, what the research shows for joints, the prostate and urination, and who should skip it.
