I’ve always wanted to grow a garden, but always found one excuse or another not to.  Being home during the pandemic helped me get myself in gear and do the work of weeding, planting and tending to the beautiful baby herbs fruits, and veggies that I’m growing now.  It’s so gratifying!  I’m currently growing, lettuce, spinach, kale, cabbage, squash, celery, green beans, melons, raspberries, lemon balm, oregano, sage, and mint.  I planted both starter plants and seeds.  I must say seeing my seeds sprout (lettuce, kale and beans) and begin to grow makes me giddy!  I can’t wait for them to grow to maturity so I can harvest them.  Feeling connected to the earth and marveling at the process of how a tiny seed can grow into a thriving plant that feeds us is miraculous.  Gardening has helped me to feel more grounded and reverent during this overwhelming and painful time. 

As a woman with Hashimoto’s I’ve had to focus a great deal on healing through food, one of the many reasons I wanted to start my garden.  In my healing journey, I’ve focused a lot on gut health, especially because food intolerance has played such a huge role in my life.  Recently, I’ve been learning that without a healthy liver, healthy digestion and a healthy gut are much more difficult to attain.  As a result, I’ve been learning more about the incredibly vital roles that the liver plays. A few of it’s over 500 functions are; blood storage and detoxification (very important since blood carries oxygen to our cells and tissues), bile production and excretion (bile helps to break down and digest fats), and enzyme activation (enzymes play an important role in digestion, and catalyzing different metabolic processes in the body).

One of the practices I’ve adopted to support my liver is incorporating more liver supporting herbs.  I’ve been making a tea using lemon balm that I pick from the garden, adding dried rosemary, and dried hibiscus for some extra liver love.  I put a teaspoon each of the rosemary and hibiscus into my tea steeper and then add about 4 to 5 lemon balm leaves from the garden.  I pour boiling water over the herbs and let the tea steep for 10-15 minutes.  The tea ends up being a beautiful red color and is the perfect combination of earthy, tart, and slightly sweet.  It’s even great iced with the lovely warm weather of summer!

If you are interested in how Lemon Balm, Rosemary, and Hibiscus assist the liver, read on:

• Lemon Balm - Lemon balm kills pathogenic microorganisms in the liver including, viruses and bacteria.  It reduces toxic heat in the liver while soothing it’s nerves.  It is also incredibly beneficial if you are suffering from anxiety, (who isn’t during this time?!)

• Hibiscus - Hibiscus helps to rejuvenate the liver by helping it to improve it’s vital functions like bile production, fat digestion and protein formation.

• Rosemary - Rosemary encourages the production of bile and liver enzymes.  It helps with phase 1 and phase 2 of liver detoxification. It is also anti-bacterial.  

As you can see, these herbs are very powerful.  I encourage you to try this tea and find new ways to bring medicinal herbs into your life!

Sending you love and healing.  xo