Forest Medicines and Wild Teas: Fireweed Tea for Gut Health
Fireweed is wonderful for restoring healthy tone in the digestive system.
What’s cool for me is that in the wild the fire Fireweed plant comes in after a fire and creates the conditions not only for it to thrive but for the others in that ecosystem to thrive. It creates a foundation that is inclusive and wise.
Fireweed works on the microbiome in our digestive system in a similar way. When there is some kind of shift in our gut health/environment (microbiome) from bacteria, parasites, stress or a shift in diet fireweed is a great soothing (mucilage factor), re-organizing (thanks to the tannins) wild herb to drink as tea to bring a settling quality and to support the environment in favour of growth of a healthy microbiome.
Fireweed gently helps our intestines discern what to take in and what to release.
Fireweed leaf tea is a gentle, yet effective anti-inflammatory that helps conditions including diarrhea, stomach, and intestinal inflammation - it helps calm irritated tissue. Tannins in fireweed act as an astringent improving the tone of the colon. Some herbalists use it to help get a gut with an intestinal Candida overgrowth back into balance.
Fireweed is an awesome forest herb to bring into your naturopathic healing routine. Enjoy the tea for digestive imbalances due to a change in diet, food poisoning recovery, IBS and chronic low-grade diarrhea. It helps get your guts back to normal (after you treat the bacteria/parasite/food sensitivity/root of inflammation).
Try for yourself - 5 leaves per cup of tea - steep in hot water for 15 minutes or as desired.
(And it’s great to enjoy as a tea even if your digestion feels great.)
When harvesting, bring your presence, respect and wonderment to your foraging and spend a moment or many with the plant sharing a smile and gratitude letting her know what you are excited to use the leaves for.
To harvest the leaves hold the plant underneath the blooms where the slender leaves are, pinch the stem and pull your fingers downwards on the stem pulling the leaves off in the process. 5 leaves is good for 1 cup so forage accordingly to what you need and visit different plants in that area as you go.
Enjoy deepening your connection to your true nature in nature and the powerful herbal gifts all around us that keep us thriving all our days!
xo, Dr. Monika 🦋
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