Herbs for Liver and Women’s Health
Are you aware that it is not a natural part of your monthly cycle, as a woman, to have intense, emotional mood swings and debilitating pain in your uterus? I know this is an incredibly bold statement, given the acceptance of premenstrual syndrome ( aka p m s) in the western world. BUT, with a tiny bit of research into traditional medicinal models like ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine, you will find that the imbalances of modern Female Bodies, specifically PMS is a construct of the modern human condition. As a general population, we are being exposed to massive amounts of man made chemicals, stress, information overload, and constant external stimulation. All of which have us living completely out of sync with the natural rhythm and cycle of nature.
We all hear it, and we have accepted it as normal, cramps that leave you in the fetal position and emotional mood swings that have people saying, “oh, she must be going through that time of month.” And I know this to be very true, because I once was one of those women, my skin would break out in cystic acne, I would have debilitating anxiety and out of control responses to stress. I also had intense food cravings and sometimes could not get out of bed when my period finally started because of the pain. My BFF was a heating pad and blackout curtains, because insanely intense migraines would come on when it came to that hormonal fluctuation each month. And I am here to tell you that this state of the modern woman is not something that you have to accept or experience month after month.
I have been working with clients for many years and herbs even longer. What I have found through my own experience and that of my clients is that when your liver health is addressed and your female hormonal fluctuation is supported, your body is able to come into the natural and sacred rhythm that IS the creative force of the female body.
The chemical overload in women’s health
The amount of chemicals that you are exposed to every single day that are completely out of your control is immense, and our bodies are not designed to deal with that kind of chemical load. These are inflammatory substances found in the air and in our water, and food if you are not eating locally grown or organic options. These chemicals turn into oxidative stress inside of the body which results in inflammation and an absolute overload of metabolic waste floating around in your blood.
I haven’t touched on beauty products ladies, but they are another major source of chemical overload within your bodies! What you apply to your skin is floating around your bloodstream within 10 seconds of application. It is an unfortunate truth that women are especially affected by this just because of the beauty industry. When you go to examine the ingredients that you are applying on your skin, you have reached a scary component of the chemical overload issue.The easiest way, just like food, is if you cannot pronounce the ingredient listed, it is automatically suspect (of course latin names of plants are an exception!).
Traditional medicine and liver health
I have yet to find a Western Trained Doctor who takes into consideration the liver and processing of the chemical overload in the modern woman’s body. Just like the lymphatic system (an entirely other subject to cover!) The liver and its vital job of processing and detoxing your entire body is glazed over and instead prescription drugs for the ‘symptoms’ of this issue for women’s health are used as treatment. And I hear over and over again, how this form of ‘treatment’ only creates more health issues and bigger problems years later.
The liver processes. 250 gallons of blood in a 24 hour period, it is the body’s prime detoxification organ and helps to strengthen the blood through removal of chemical and internal waste products through the bowels. Under normal circumstances, and when I say this I am thinking of our ancestors. hundreds of years ago, probably even before the Industrial Revolution, the chemicals that were floating around in that group of humans, blood was much more natural.
Naturally occuring to the human body and the environment. For example, metabolic wastes from just living life; stress hormones, muscle excursion, food breaking down and being used within the body, and hormonal fluctuations. They were exposed to environmental chemicals as well, but they were all of natural origins, smoke from cooking fires, any naturally occurring chemicals in water, or the air as well. Exposure like this, we’re more natural to the human body, and the liver was able to process these kinds of naturally occurring chemicals just fine, because that is what it was designed to do!
Traditional Medicinal Models and our Modern Health imbalances
Traditional medicine models are based on ancestral wisdom, which is part of why they do not recognize modern debilitating imbalances like PMS at all. When we take into consideration of how humans live now, our livers are completely inundated with chemicals that are made in labs, and considered synthetic, even ones that may be derived from natural sources, are then completely altered by human hands with synthetic chemicals to become something unrecognizable by nature. Each of us are consuming these chemicals every single day through the air, through the water that we drink, and through the food that we consume and women, your beauty products are automatically suspect.
Each component of these chemicals that are ingested and then go circulating through your blood eventually make their way to your liver, finding it working on absolute overdrive for what it is designed to do. It is attempting to break these substances down, along with the ancestral and traditional metabolites and chemicals of your own body. If your liver had a meter on it, to monitor it’s job, the lever of the meter would be chronically in the red, and you would be looking for a fix! And really, we can see the meter but it isn’t as blatant as that of the modern machines, because our bodies are NOT machines. This meter shows up in your life as inflammation, debilitating PMS, chronic pain and acne and rosacea, sound familiar?
The inundation that the liver is under through this overload, from environmental chemicals and metabolic waste from inside of the body, paired with the monthly fluctuations that you experience as a woman, the blood is a hormonal chemical soup by the time that your body is cleansing each month. This cleanse is meant to leave you with a clean slate for the next cycle, but the saturation the modern woman is under doesn’t allow for the liver to completely clean the blood. This leaves a buildup happening in your blood each month, that when the next cycle comes along, the slate wasn’t cleaned up. This creates the chronic cycle of PMS and other symptoms that you experience on a cyclical schedule.
The cycle continues and your body is never completely clear from the last month, you know what I mean, a to do list that never ends and gets pushed into the next month and the next and the next, over and over again, it is enough to make you crazy just thinking about it. This is what the modern PMS experience is. An overload and a never ending list of things left to do. AND, because the body is naturally designed to clear this hormonal soup each month, there is indeed hope to all of this.
The first step is offering the support to your liver that it absolutely needs. Allowing you to begin harnessing a calm, cool and collected monthly cycle, and of course, the complete fix isn’t THIS easy, as you can imagine. You must also take into consideration to audit your food and liquid intake and your beauty products, but this liver support will ALWAYS offer a start to loving your cycle and rhythm is a modern woman.
Herbs for women’s health…
Digestion is the root of all imbalances, as an Herbalist this is what I live by, and the root of your digestion is supporting the liver, specifically for women’s health through herbs and, digestive support that encompasses all we are discussing points right to a prime herb for women’s health; Angelica Root.
Angelica root is an herb for women’s health that is not only specific to the digestive system and the liver, but it is renowned in Traditional Chinese Medicine to be THE herb for balancing women’s hormones. You are not meant to be flat lined as a dynamic human body, this is not natural, while the other extreme of the chaos of high peaks and cliff drop offs isn’t natural either. Angelica root is the support your body needs to not only bring strength to the liver, but to bring those hormonal experiences into a nice and easy rolling hills situation. With angelica root, you are going to be taken right off the Mount Everest Peak you have been jumping off of every month, angelica won’t let you hit that valley floor below, but will deliver you to the foot hills, to dance in the meadows that is possible for your cycle.
Dong quai, when it comes to TCM (traditional chinese medicine) is a blend of herbs meant to support this very thing, while I am not a TCM herbalist, I feel I have created a blend that is comparable with WESTERN Herbs that I harvest and grow here in the farmacy gardens. If you haven’t met this blend yet, allow me to introduce you to it…
Womb Wisdom Bitters – herbs for women’s health
The herbs for liver health included in this blend are simultaneously directed towards women’s health and the hormonal system of the female body. Supporting the liver in processing all sorts of natural and unnatural chemicals, as we have explored is key. Angelica root, is known as the great balancer in TCM, making regards to stagnant liver qi and the dance of balancing hormonal fluctuations that are completely natural to women. It works no matter the stage you are in in life, if you are a maiden, mother or crone, Angelica root will bring balance to your body. Thus creating a harmonious mind and soul to thrive throughout all phases of life.
Angelica root is a popular remedy for all cycles of the female body and an excellent herb for women’s health, because it encourages the feminine flow to be in line with nature. Chaotic, yes, but gorgeous and powerful too. Your cycle truly is a super power. You are able to create life within your body, and the creation power of your cycle doesn’t stop there. That is a divine gift in and of itself. When you look at mother nature and the creative power and force that is held within the forest floor, which is chaotic and all over the place. But when you learn to read it and learn to move with it in its chaos, that same intensity becomes this amazing system of synchronicity, fluidity and harmony. As a woman, YOU are this mirror to mother nature and your cycle is this forest floor of chaos, creativity and power.
Herbs for women’s Health
Angelica root is technically classified as a digestive bitter. The focus of this plant within your body is to burst open any stagnant qi in your liver, moving energy with the aim of enhancing the overall health of your liver, which in turn, creates a body that is acting in harmony. Your liver has the support that it needs to thrive in modern life. Secondary to angelica working within the female body is for hormonal balancing. I feel that this happens through the nourishment that this root provides the liver, so that hormones can be metabolized and used correctly throughout the month.
Angelica root truly balances your entire body and leads to a nourished, beautifully functioning woman. When you have audited the chemical load within your body, that you have control over, all of this is going to become a fluid existence that is much more powerful. This audit needs to take place through your entire life; food, intake of information, beauty products, water, stress management and mindfulness. All of these are addressed in my upcoming PMS protocol that will be available for download in the coming month.
The other root that is included in this blend, directly related to digestive health and a fantastic herb for liver health is gentian root. Known as the century plant, this bitter root is incredibly strong in its flavor (bitter face please!) and its ability to strengthen the liver in detoxification power. I find this herb to be incredibly supportive to the female body specifically, because when I have interacted with it in the forest, the energy green gentian emits from its subtle body, speaks directly to the female body. It is striking. It is chaotic and wild looking, and yet, so incredibly elegant, cool, and gorgeous. THIS embodies woman to me.
Classic for this farmacy garden and apothecary is stinging nettles. The nettles offer a continuous and passive detox through the massive amounts of chlorophyll that they hold within their stem and leaves. Chlorophyll helps to assist the liver and nourishes the entire body through a detox that is VERY passive, you won’t necessarily ‘feel’ this detox, but it is happening. Nettles also contain an immensely saturating amount of vitamins and minerals, I have a blog dedicated to this plant, so I won’t go into it here… learn more about nettles here. The stinging nettles are known for their Sting, but I love this plant for the nourishment that it offers, and it brings A Fully assimilator profile of minerals, which helps to support the female body in thriving and having a balanced cycle, this deep nourishment only adds to the balancing act of bringing your cycle into sacred harmony that it is meant to hold.,
The power of this blend…
And to be fully honest, I made this blend and thought it was nice, but when I launched the very first batch a couple of years ago. The response I received was completely unexpected. I regularly get compliments on my medicines and offerings from the farmacy gardens here at Enchantment Creek, but this was different. I was receiving phone call after phone call. Text messages, emails, dm’s in my Instagram inbox DAILY for weeks. Women were in tears that their cycle completely shifted course after just taking this blend.
I was totally thrown back and did not expect this at all, but I had women telling me that their PCOS was completely diminished and their PMS was no longer plaguing them. Even stories of women not knowing their periods were coming. Incredibly intense mood swings and sleeplessness from menopause and perimenopause experiences, were gone. I was completely shocked at this response. (read more about the initial response here…)
Needless to say, Womb Wisdom Bitters is now a staple herbal blend in the apothecary, and the herbs are all grown here in the farmacy gardens. I will be harvesting the first round of Angelica root grown here at the farm this coming fall.
Herbs for women’s health and harmony…
I find that these female herbs are not only effective in nourishing a single body, but offering them to women on a large-scale will create ripples of healing throughout the community. This is something that women naturally move to, community supporting each other, and it is something that we have been cut off from in modern times. When women come together in true and honest support of each other, we automatically balance out in our individual bodies. We are designed to bring the chaotic forest floor of woman, into a synchronistic harmony. This is one of my biggest goals, maybe even my soul path, in bringing human beings BACK to nature, through health, spiritual practices in the ethereal realms, and nourishing through REAL food.
And this goal is especially geared toward women, because when we hold our creative force through our bodies in its sacred vessel, where it was designed to be, I can attest to this, that magic happens. THIS in and of itself will heal the entire planet and the collective experience of what it means to be human upon this earth. Be sure to get on my email list, I am opening up my books SOON to work together one on one, and will be hosting classes throughout the growing season this year in the NEW Apothecary Building!
Purchase Womb Wisdom Bitters here and watch your life change…
