Making the most of your probiotics

By now you have surely heard about how important it is to regain and maintain the health of your digestive tract, or gut.  It is important to limit caffeine and sugar as well as highly processed foods.  Adding homemade bone broths daily, increasing your intake of good clean water, and making your daily diet over to more fresh fruits, vegetables, quality whole-cut meats, and fermented and cultured foods is essential.  And it is vitally important to repopulate your digestive tract with beneficial bacteria from a quality pro-biotic.  There are some herbs that are pre-biotic, meaning that they set up the conditions for those probiotics to flourish, including the much discussed “weight loss probiotic” Akkermansia muciniphila.  They are often available right in your own backyard!

Dandelion root
Burdock root
Chicory root
Marshmallow root
Elecampane root
Plantain

All but one of these herbs requires the root.  You will need to find a good patch away from roads, rail and electric lines, the foundations of old houses, and fields that have been sprayed with herbicides and or pesticides.  With a spade or shovel, dig around the plant deep enough to reach the entire taproot.  Gently lift or pull the root out being careful not to break it.  Replace the soil carefully to preserve the original structure as much as possible.  Wash and slice the roots to about 1/4” thickness and dry the pieces in a dehydrator or low oven (125° F) for 12-24 hours, turning frequently.  When the roots are completely dried and cooled, pulse the pieces in a coffee grinder until you have a powder.  To prepare plantain, harvest the leaves and dry them as you would any other leafy green, either by hanging bunches or using an oven or dehydrator for 4-8 hours.  Mix your powder with raw honey, just enough to form a paste.  Take one teaspoon 2-3 times each day between meals.

You can combine equal parts of any assortment of these herbs.  This is especially helpful if you don’t have a great abundance of any one of them alone.

If you don’t have these plants readily and safely available, you can purchase them in whole or powdered form from reputable online or local shops.  If you would like us to source them for you, send us an email!

 

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Making the most of your probiotics

RenaissanceMama

Just a woman trying to leave this place better than she found it. Farmer. Teacher. Creator. Cook.

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