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Slide 1Welcome back to the Herbal Jumpstart Course where we’re exploring What’s the Best Herb for You?

Slide 2So far, we’ve explored the pungent and salty tastes which included two powerful herbs that can be used every day to modulate inflammation and provide deep nourishment. This video includes the sour taste as well as a review of the tastes so far.

Slide 3So Sour! Sour herbs wake up our senses! They enliven digestion and are often filled with antioxidants and flavonoids which can modulate inflammation. The sour taste is filled with a wide range of tastes from the puckering sour of a lemon to the sweet sour of many fruits. Herbs within the sour taste often are strong protectors. For example, elderberries, bilberries and blueberries protect our eyes. Schisandra is a lovely liver protector. And there’s an herb

that’s treasured by many for its beauty, wild rose, which protects the heart.

Slide 4Roses, especially wild roses, are known for their alluring beauty and scent. These are one of my favorite plants to harvest or wildcraft as they grow abundantly where I live. And coming up on a rose briar you often hear and smell them before you see them. That gentle scent permeates the air while the buzzing of busy bees create the steady low hum, you can easily imagine it’s the hum of contentment.

Slide 5And that smell is so divine! If roses only offered their enticing taste and smell I would still be over the moon about them. But their medicine extends beyond this.

Slide 6Herbalists use roses to bring joy to the heart. They’re often described as spiritual heart medicine. And they’re included in

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formulas for depression and heartbreak. You may already have an intuitive sense about rose and its protective qualities for the heart. It’s no wonder that we gift them both for love and for friendship.

Slide 7Researchers wanted to investigate the physiological effect of rose oil on humans by applying it on the skin. Those who received the rose oil had a decrease in breathing rate, blood oxygen saturation, and systolic blood pressure, which indicated that there was an overall decrease of autonomic nervous system arousal. They also self-rated themselves as being more calm and relaxed than those in the control group. This study beautifully illustrates rose’s effect on multiple dimensions of health.

Slide 8Energetically rose is both cooling and astringent. It works especially well for signs of heat and lax tissues. And here’s what I mean by all of this…

Slide 9Astringency is this really wonderful herbal action that describes the ability of a substance to tighten and tone tissues that are swollen or lax. Examples of this include a swollen throat or wounds. You’ve probably experienced astringency if you’ve ever eaten a banana that wasn’t quite ripe or sipped a really strong cup of black tea. One application for the astringent properties of roses is ulcerated tissues, as the tightening of the tissues helps with healing. In one double-blind, placebo-controlled study a mouthwash

made with rose extract was shown to be as effective at relieving pain, decreasing inflammation, and reducing the size and number of ulcers in those suffering from recurrent canker sores.

Slide 10Rose petals have many gifts! We discussed how they bring joy to the heart, how their astringency qualities can heal wounds, tonify lax tissues, help with canker sores. This includes soothing the heat and inflammation of a sunburn as well as the irritation of bug bites.

Slide 11We also use the rosehips as medicine. These red jewels appear in the late summer to fall and they can be a sweet wild treat. To date, several studies have shown that the daily consumption of rose hips can reduce pain and improve general well-being in patients who have osteoarthritis in the hips and knees and can also benefit patients who have rheumatoid arthritis. One study showed that rose hips reduced inflammatory markers like serum C-reactive protein in patients with osteoarthritis. And an elevated C-reactive protein is often related to heart disease.

Slide 12Here’s some photos I’ve taken over the years. This is basically to show off I’ve seen lots of roses especially in France, but also to remind me to say that many roses, besides just wild roses, can be used similarly, but I would choose roses that have a scent. So, if you’re wondering

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can I use the roses in my backyard or my neighbor’s yard or whatever, give them a smell, if they have no scent then I wouldn’t use them. You also want to be careful that they haven’t been sprayed with anything harmful.

Slide 13Eating fresh rose hips while out hiking is a favorite way to get lots of beneficial phytonutrients in you. And when harvesting my own hips, I like to either use them in honey, or I dry them whole to be later used in syrups or teas. The thing is when eating rosehips, you just want to avoid eating the hairs and seeds within them. So, you kind of want to break them open and scrape out those hairs and seeds and then eat that little bit of fleshy pulp around there.

Slide 14Dosage for rose. Well rose can be enjoyed in food-like quantities. So, you can really have the fresh or dried rose petals as needed. The rose hips, the studies that were done had them in food-like quantities so like 45 grams at a time. And they both can be made into an alcohol extract or tincture.

Slide 15In your workbook you’ll find two delicious recipes for roses. One is rose petal honey – this is absolutely one of my favorite all-time treats and something that we make every single year. And it makes a lovely gift for people too. It just tastes like ambrosia and it’s so beautiful. And then another is a recipe for making a breakfast muesli. And

this is a really great breakfast. You make it the night before and you soak dried rosehips in the solution and then when you wake up in the morning you have breakfast ready.

Slide 16As I mentioned when thinking about using rose you don’t want to use any roses that have been sprayed with pesticides. And you definitely want to avoid florist roses. And in general I’ve been talking about using the whole herb but I just want to mention that rose essential oil is, you know, it takes a lot of roses to make a little bit of rose essential oil and hydrosol is a wonderful way to get that beautiful scent of rose but it will be cheaper and a lot more sustainable as well.

Slide 17All right well you’ve just learned that wild roses are of course a beautiful herb that protects the physical and spiritual heart. And it’s also a cooling and astringent herb that can tighten and tone tissues - very helpful for wounds, including mouth sores, sun burns, and bug bites.

Slide 18As you might have guessed, Wild Rose is one of the 29 herbs that I include in my book, Alchemy of Herbs. You can find this book where ever books are sold. And as a thank you gift I have several bonuses for you which you can instantly download at www.alchemyofherbs/order

Slide 19-20-21Before we go on to the next taste, I want

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to discuss how the energetics of plants are always on a scale. We already discussed this in regards to your personal energetics, but the same thing applies here. So, while a plant might be classified as hot and dry, it could be really hot, and just a bit dry. Or maybe really dry, and just a bit warming.

Slide 22-23-24Here’s another way to think about this. Remember turmeric? Well, turmeric is slightly spicy, it’s a warming herb and has lots of drying qualities. If you ate a lot of turmeric every day, you’d probably notice these effects. As we discussed earlier, this makes turmeric ideal for when you feel cold and stagnant with signs of dampness. And, if somebody is already feeling really dry, turmeric might not be the best choice for long-term use or taken in larger quantities.

We also discussed this with nettles, they’re also very drying so again ideal for dampness, but may trouble somebody who’s already dry because they are so incredibly drying.

The thing about rose is that overall, it’s fairly neutral. Because of that, most people can enjoy rose regularly without experiencing those strong energetics. So, rose is gentle for everyone, but it’s also a powerful protector for the heart. So, I think it’s an herb that most people could benefit from using regularly.

Slide 25-26-27Here’s a quick review of what we’ve learned. We began with the spicy and stimulating taste of pungent and looked closely at the many benefits of turmeric, especially

in regards to supporting digestion and modulating inflammation. We then looked at the nutrient dense qualities of the salty taste and how nettles can be used for practically everything including better energy and stronger healthier hair and bones. Then we looked at the protective antioxidant qualities of the sour taste and saw how rose is a powerful herb for the heart.

Slide 28Still ahead we’re going to look at a bitter herb that is profoundly calming and works great for kids and adults. And then we’ll look at a famous ayurvedic herb that can powerfully boost your immune system.