(print here)
Cooling, moistening, relaxant 

Taste: nutty, salty, sweet
Family: Asteraceae
Medicinal part: seeds
Actions: hepatic, hepato-protective, alterative, emollient, expectorant, anti-inflammatory
Affinities: liver
Constituents: apigenin, silymarin, silybinin, silychristin, lignans, fatty acids, mucilage
Medicinal applications:

• Important liver remedy. Silybum a) provides nourishment for liver tissue, b) protects hepatic cells from damage by aiding glutathione oxidase production, c) stimulates regeneration of already damaged liver cells.

• Extremely gentle on the body. Ideal remedy for all kinds of liver problems, including states of acute & chronic inflammation.

• Increased liver enzyme production, liver damage, & every type of hepatitis can benefit from milk thistle seed without worry of over-stimulating, or straining the hepatic system.

• Important for the chronically stressed, under-slept, and overworked, whose high levels of adrenaline and cortisol put an added load on the liver.

• Great for insulin-resistant and hormonally-imbalanced bodies, as these states also add to the liver's already large workload. This applies to people taking pharmaceuticals, alcohol and other drugs as well.

• With high quality oil in its seeds, Silybum is a fatty, moistening herb. The skin and lungs benefit from this added moisture.

In practice:

• An important liver protectant, antioxidant, and regenerator, milk thistle is appropriate for everyone from the over-stressed student, to the recovering alcoholic, to the chronically ill person.

• Most disease states increase pressure on the liver, making this herb a vital alterative (restore to normal health) for many different conditions and causes of stress on the body.

Cautions: A very safe herb. Effective in capsule form and has no known drug interactions. Heavy doses may have a mild laxative effect.
Friends: blessed thistle, burdock, dandelion root, yellow dock, st. john's wort, calendula, yarrow

(print here)
Cooling, drying, relaxant 

Taste: bitter, acrid, astringent
Family: Polygonaceae
Taste: bitter
Family: Asteraceae
Medicinal part: leaves, stems, sap
Actions: hepatic, nervine, sedative, hypnotic, anodyne, antispasmodic, digestive, hepatic, antimicrobial
Affinities: nervous and musculoskeletal systems
Constituents: sesquiterpene lactones (lactucin, lactucerin, lactucopicrin), flavanoids, coumarins
Medicinal applications:

• Cooling & relaxing hypnotic herb and is appropriate when pain is preventing sleep. Even when dealing with severe pain, caused by illness or injury, wild lettuce cools the sensation, removing enough of the pain so that you can sleep.

• Sedating nervine. Is also appropriate when the pain is causing agitation, anxiety, and nervousness.

• Can relieve nerve, muscle and even some surgical pain. The pain-relieving constituents are concentrated in the white, milky latex of the plant found in the stems. That’s why including stems in teas and tincture is important.

• The strongest anodyne effect of any Lactuca preparation is obtained from tincture of the latex collected from small cuts in the plant’s stems. Wild lettuce contains water-soluble sap, so high alcohol content is not required to effectively make this tincture.

• The bitterness of wild lettuce stimulates digestive secretions throughout the intestinal tract, including bile from the liver. Like hops, wild lettuce is also effective at relieving pain in the digestive tract due to its combination of anodyne and digestive actions.

• The latex is antimicrobial and can be applied topically to wounds and infections. The latex can be applied to coat a wound, and when dry will keep dirt and bacteria out.

In practice:

• Very effective plant for mitigating pain and an option when serving populations who do not have access to other means of relief.

• This herb is often appropriate when we see people self-medicating with alcohol & harmful drugs, and can be useful as part of a harm-reduction approach.

Cautions: The latex-like sap of wild lettuce must be processed by the kidneys; this herb is not appropriate for people with existing kidney disease or dysfunction.

Friends: hops, ghost pipe, jamaican dogwood, kava, lobelia

(print here)
Cooling, drying, tonifying 

Taste: bitter, acrid, astringent
Family: Polygonaceae
Medicinal part: root
Actions: draining alterative, choleretic, cholagogue, laxative, astringent
Affinities: digestive system, especially liver and intestines
Constituents: anthraquinones, tannins, oxalates
Medicinal applications:

• Cooling and astringent, yellow dock is best for hot conditions of the stomach and intestines. This includes stagnation of the digestion that generates heat, due to fermentation in the gut.

• Stimulates liver & gallbladder function, releasing bile into the digestive tract, which in turn eases constipation. Yellow dock has a mild stimulant laxative effect, but due to its astringency, can also be helpful for diarrhea.

• Improves the muscle tone and health of the digestive system, while at the same time increasing peristalsis.

• It’s an effective alterative, due to its stimulating effect on digestion, and on liver & gallbladder function. These actions clean & improve the quality of the blood & circulating fluids.

• A good source of iron. It also helps the body to use iron more efficiently, further improving blood quality.

• Helps calm expressions of liver stagnation that appear on the skin.

In practice:

• Good for weak digestion, as it strengthens and tones the tissues of the digestive tract, while improving their function, and increasing mineral nourishment to the tissue.

• Loose bowel tone that coincides with constipation is a digestive condition that can be most effectively improved with yellow dock, particularly in decoction.

• As an alterative, it simultaneously improves gut, liver and gallbladder function, and provides iron, significantly improving the quality of the circulating fluids of the body. This is a helpful plant for those recovering from chronic gut inflammation and stagnation, which has backed up in to the liver, slowing hepatic clearance.

Cautions: Smaller dose of tincture if you have looser stool.
Friends: burdock, dandelion root, calendula, marshmallow