 A look at why a one-size-fits-all approach to herbs is problematic and how to think about it instead.
What’s the best herb for allergies? Is there anything that will help my stomach ache? What herb do I take for migraines? I get questions like this frequently, and I know everyone just wants to hear the name of the magic herb so they can buy it, take it, and be fine. But herbs are complex and people are complex, so more often than not it's just not that simple. The bright side to this complexity is that getting to know both the person and the herbs better is much more likely to lead to lasting improvements in your health—really getting down to root causes instead of just putting bandaids on everything indefinitely—and without the negative side effects we have just come to accept as collateral damage when we take pharmaceuticals. Let me use myself as an example of how that can play out. Throughout my 30’s I had severe allergies that really limited me. There were months of the year I tried to avoid going outside altogether. I wore a mask when I did have to be outdoors in peak grass season (and this was before the pandemic), and I rarely went over to anyone’s house unless I knew it was not dusty and was well ventilated because it could take me days to recover from the sinus migraines that ensued if I had a bad reaction. I worked with a number of folks in the healing arts during these years, and I can’t tell you how many times people told me that nettles are good for allergies. So of course I tried them, and they did seem to help slightly, but my overall health never improved at all. Fast forward to my 40’s when I began studying herbs formally and learned about this idea of ‘herbal energetics.’ It’s kind if a misleading phrase (or at least it sounds a little woo woo to me when it’s not). It’s about the characteristics of each herb—whether it’s moistening or drying, heating or cooling—that sort of thing. Everything we eat and the drugs we take also have these qualities. Medications, almost always, are drying, and some more than others. The majority of herbs also land on the drying side, although thankfully there are numerous ‘demulcent’ herbs as well that hydrate and moisten. A light bulb finally went off for me. I realized that taking all of my allergy meds since childhood, as well as some drying herbs for allergies, had totally dried out my mucous membranes over the years. Mucous membranes are your body's barriers that trap and expel irritants—if they’re not well lubricated, more irritants get in and stay trapped there. So the things that may have been initially helpful created a different problem over time that led to my allergies getting even more severe than they were in childhood. The idea of demulcent (moistening) herbs appealed to me immediately because I also had been dealing with extremely dry eyes for a number of years (which feels like you constantly have sand in your eyes that you can’t get out). It dawned on me that this was not a separate issue from my allergies—systemic dryness throughout my body was wreaking havoc! Now, that being said, nettles are highly anti-inflammatory and especially shine with allergic/histamine response. So I’m not saying nettles aren't good for allergies. But they are pretty drying. So unless you are a super damp person with too much mucus, you are going to need to balance that out with lubricating herbs like violet and marshmallow root. Once I figured that out, I was able to vastly improve both my dry eyes and my allergies, and was able to participate in so many more activities than I had in the handful of years leading up to that time. I also saved tons of money on expensive medications and procedures and stressful appointments with specialists. But that wasn’t the end of it! Due to some GI issues, I had had an endoscopy done in the midst of all this and found out I had a precancerous issue in my esophagus. As that is not something that the conventional medical world thinks of as improving on its own, they wanted me to come back for another endoscopy later that year to see how it had progressed. But as it turned out, the demulcent herbs I had been taking for my allergies and dry eyes ended up being just what my esophagus needed as well. The second endoscopy revealed no damage of any kind in my esophagus at that point. Pretty fabulous! Now let’s look at migraines. Part of why migraines are so tough is that they are caused by so many different things, and herbal energetics play a role here as well. For example, if you have a sharp, stabbing pain like an ice pick stabbing you behind the eyes, that is completely different than a broad, dull pain that has taken over your entire head and leaves you foggy and unable to think straight. Boswellia is a trendy herb right now that is advertised as being a potent anti-inflammatory. So you might think “Hey, what if I tried that instead of some ibuprofen?” But if you have the hot, stabby kind of pain, boswellia could actually give you whatever is worse than a migraine because it’s going to amplify the characteristics that you are already showing in excess. Let’s not even imagine it. Turmeric is another trendy anti-inflammatory, but most people don’t know that its actions are directed primarily in the gut. Usually that’s fine as the origin of so many people’s pain (whether we’re talking headaches, joint pain, etc) is stemming from what they’re eating. So it follows that bringing down inflammation in the gut can keep that pain from spiraling to other parts of your body. But turmeric is also hot and drying, so if you’re dealing with osteo arthritis, those effects can actually exacerbate those excesses in your body. With osteo, we also need those cooling, lubricating herbs (like Solomon’s Seal!) to soothe and restore joint function (Hey! There’s me again! Another hot and dry condition I have that benefits from lubricating herbs). That doesn’t mean you wouldn’t get any benefit from the anti-inflammatory benefits of turmeric, but over time you could be intensifying your body’s state of being hot (inflamed) and dry (those clicking sounds you get with osteo are indicative of dryness). One more example. Who among us has not heard about how amazing echinacea and elderberry are for fighting off viruses? Take it as soon as you start coming down with something! Fight back! For many people, they can be helpful (although you really have to know how much to take and how often to take it to get good results), but if your body has any characteristics of autoimmunity you could be making things much worse by taking a strong immune stimulant. Even if you think you don’t have an autoimmune disease, I highly advise trying out those herbs first at a time when you are not sick, and take a large amount (like a teaspoon of tincture as an initial test) and see how you do. Does anything flare up? You can still have an autoimmune response even if you have not been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease (and it may be worth considering if things are heading in that direction fro you if you react badly to strong immune stimulants). If you do have a bad reaction, it’s a much better bet to stick with immunomodulating herbs instead (like shiitake, reishi and maitake mushrooms). This all may sound a bit daunting, but there is another side of it that is quite liberating. With holistic herbalism, we don’t have to have a diagnosis to be helpful. Got a mystery condition? No problem! We can still support you because your symptoms are what matter, not your diagnosis. Whether you actually have a diagnosis of autism or not, or whether we know the name of that weird, creepy rash on your arm is pretty irrelevant. We work with what we see. So instead of asking “What’s the best herb for sleep?” or “What are the best herbs for stress?” ask instead what herb you could be working with to fit your current needs. Is the insomnia caused by muscle tension, body aches or racing thoughts? Does stress make you lose your appetite or go on sugar binges? Does it it make you snap at everyone around you or hide out curled up on your bed ignoring the world? If you want to find the right herb to work with, we have to get at the heart at what your current experience is and how it is affecting you. Now I wish I could say that it’s just a matter of doing your due diligence and patiently looking everything up on Google. But especially these days, the internet is becoming increasingly unreliable for good info on herbs. Did you hear about that family that went mushroom foraging based on a book written by AI and then got poisoned and died? Well I heard that story and the thing is, I don’t even know if that story is true. That's how convoluted everything has become… So, if you are fortunate enough to be able to consult with a qualified herbalist, I highly recommend it. If you take any kind of medications, make sure you are working with someone thoroughly trained in herb-drug interactions. It really matters. If you can’t afford to go that route, check out the free and low cost courses offered by CommonWealth Herbs. Their $25 classes will be the best $25 you ever spent (if improving your health is what you’re after). They also offer free clinics once a month (although you really have to be on top of it if you want to snag a slot), and offer various scholarships to people of color and folks who are incarcerated. With either route, you do have to put the time in. You have to get to know your pain, your symptoms and your unique challenges so that you can support them appropriately. It may not always be fast or convenient, but for me at least, it was totally life changing. When you’re ready for those kinds of changes, the herbs will be ready for you. DISCLAIMER: This is not medical advise and is for educational purposes only. Herbalists do not diagnose or treat any medical condition.
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