Nourishing Herbal Infusions (part 1)

As herbalists we are given a wide variety of tools to extract the nourishment and healing powers of plants. Depending on the plant’s constituents we can extract medicinal qualities using alcohol, vinegar, or oil. We can use whole fresh or dried herbs in our daily cooking, and we can use water – either hot or cold – to draw the vitamins, minerals, and other important nutrients into a drinkable form. Each method of transforming plant properties into an assimilable and concentrated form of medicine for our bodies has a different purpose depending on the action wanted.

This post focuses on Nourishing Herbal Infusions (NHI). We use NHI as opposed to tinctures and extracts to draw out nutrients, mainly minerals and vitamins, from plants to nourish ourselves daily. In this way we can heal from the inside out – building strong bones and teeth, strengthening our cardiovascular system, and tonifying our organs for maximum health.

Drinking our daily brew of NHI is akin to taking our vitamin supplement – however, a NHI has many more benefits than pills that were manufactured and synthesized in a far away factory.

By using freshly dried whole herbs from organic and nutrient-rich soils we can insure we are getting the highest quality of nutrition available. Also, when we consume vitamins and minerals from a whole source, rather than extracted materials, we ensure that our body is able to readily assimilate these valuable nutrients. As Dr. Mercola, osteopathic physician, points out “In whole foods, there are a variety of accessory micronutrients that work synergistically with the primary one. It is very rare where the isolated nutrient will perform better than the whole food version.”

Many of the herbs we use for NHI can be found in our backyards. (In his book, From Earth to Herbalist, Gregory Tilford has great suggestions on safe and ethical harvesting methods.) If these herbs are entirely foreign to you, ordering them from a respectable herb dealer is a simple way to gain access to these herbs and start incorporating them into your daily life. It's always best to buy local. My favorite online resources for buying herbs are:

www.ancestreeherbals.com (This is a small herb farm near where I live. I usually check here first to see if they have what I need in stock. They also ship fresh herbs overnight.)

www.iwantherbs.com (This is the largest organic herbal online store and carries herbs that are very high in quality.)

Learn how to make your own nourishing herbal infusions in part 2.

“My daily cup of NHI is my safeguard against cancer, my longevity tonic, and my beauty treatment – all in one cup.”
- Susun Weed