The cupboard
Kitchen herbs & spices
Filter by element or search a plant. Traditional kitchen and folk use — four tastes, not a clinic monograph.
Any feelingBloatingNauseaIndigestionRestless sleepFrayed nervesWorriationChill & congestionCoughSore throatClosed sinusesHeadacheCold hands & sluggish bloodStiff jointsDull focusFeverish & flushedDrynessPuffinessIrritable skinHollow energyCrampy cycle
Earth· sweetSweet first warms, then cools, and it softens. It is relaxing — the reason sugar went into cough syrups — nutritive, building, and hormonally active. Sweet herbs feed the brain and nerves, nourish spleen and pancreas, and coat dry tissue. They cleanse by moving blood toward the organs that wash it.
2 plants
Earth· sweetCaution
Licorice
Glycyrrhiza glabra
The blender’s root — it sweetens a harsh pot and soothes a raw throat.
Sore throat · Cough · Dryness
Ground, build, and settle
Earth· sweetCaution
American ginseng
Panax quinquefolius
A sweet taproot for a spent, dry, overworked body.
Hollow energy · Dryness · Frayed nerves
Ground, build, and settle