Cabbage in a crock, kimchi buried in clay jars for winter, kefir and spiced buttermilk after a meal: almost every food culture has a soured food. Here's what fermented foods are, what research has started to show, and how to choose or make them safely.
Everyone has gas: most people pass it up to 20 times a day. This entry sorts the kitchen spices, teas, bean-cooking tricks, enzymes and breathing practices people use for extra wind and burping by how well they're backed, and flags when gas is a sign to see a doctor.
Nutmeg is the warm baking spice in eggnog and pumpkin pie, and an old Ayurvedic and Unani remedy for the gut and for sleep. In kitchen amounts it is a food; in spoonfuls it is a poison, which is why this profile leads with safety.
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.
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.
