The Top Mistakes You're Making with Herbal Remedies—and How to Fix Them!

If you're tired of hit-or-miss herbal remedies and want to get serious about making effective, safe medicine for you and your family.  We're diving into sourcing quality ingredients, the importance of precise measurements. 

Mel tackles the often-overlooked topic of contraindications. Herbs may be natural, but that doesn't mean they're always safe. From potential interactions with medications to other health scenarios, she's diving into what you need to be cautious of. 

Tune in to learn not only how to create your own herbal remedies but also how to store them effectively. After all, nobody wants a moldy medicine! You'll also get the lowdown on Medicine Makin' Mommas, Mel's in-depth program that's open for enrollment now with some pretty awesome bonuses. 

By the end of this episode, you'll walk away empowered, informed, and itching to dive into your own herbal creations. So if you're ready to level up your herbal medicine game with the perfect blend of science and community, this episode is for you.

Heading  out wildcrafting, be sure to check out United Plant Savers, before you go!  Ready to take your medicine making to the next level?

Join us inside of Medicine Makin' Mommas

Wondering how you can use your herbal skills to help people when times are tough?

Grab Medicine For The People - An Herbalist's Guide To Showing Up For Your Community In Times of Need

It's loaded with ideas and resources to help you help others!💚 Click here to ge

Transcript

Hello, hello, my lovely herbal friend. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to listen to this episode, I wanted to chat a bit about just some of the bigger mistakes that I see on social media and all kinds of other places when it comes to making your own herbal remedies at home, and I'm not sure how long you've listened to me or how much of my story that you know about, but I used to run an herbal product line that sold in natural health food stores all across the US. I also sold them to naturopathic physicians offices and other health care providers and Amazon and Rei and all the places and I've always been really, really passionate about creating herbal remedies that work really well, right, because why do it if it's not going to like, really improve somebody's health. But I'm also a firm believer that these things need to taste good, because I think we all know by now that there is a lot of stuff out there. That's pretty nasty. And I also wanted to bring this up to you because I know so many of us today are struggling in our economy and recognizing that maybe our western healthcare system is not so much of a health care system, but more of a a sick care system, and that we need to start in our own families, making our own remedies, connecting with the plants really understanding that this is the same medicine that all of your family and ancestors used. And when you start to understand that and start to get to know the plants start to understand how they work with you and your unique body and anybody else in your family and how they work maybe differently across the board within your home. It definitely is not uncommon to hear something like that. And really the truth like I went into the store the other day, I was picking up my daughter from school, we homeschool but she goes to a charter one day a week. And I wanted to stop in the grocery store and just see like how much things like elderberry syrup were on the store shelves. And I am not kidding you. When I say I was absolutely mind blown. It was anywhere from like $13 for a really low quality, four ounce bottle of elderberry syrup from a brand I would never buy from because I know that I'm going to make mine 20 times better, all the way up to $47 for an eight ounce bottle. That is insane. You can make your own elderberry syrup for just a few bucks, you can make your own tinctures for so much less. And if you end up making them and a little bit more bulk, then you can even help your family members, your extended family members or people in your community with the remedies that you're making. And it's really just so much fun. I think when I ran my product line, one of the best things I ever had happen. For me, it was just the feeling of getting the emails, getting the calls, having people walk into my apothecary, and tell me that whatever I had formulated for them has drastically improved their health, and that people have never found something that works as well as whatever I've created. And of course, it's the plants that do a lot of the jobs but there's there's a lot of art and science to the whole formulating of these remedies and the whole making of them so that you know, they're going to really live up to their maximum potency. But that feeling that feeling of like, oh my gosh, I just helped somebody, I help somebody live and feel better. Like it is the most beautiful feeling ever. And I've I've been discovering the feeling of helping students learn to do this. And then watching them send me texts of other people that are being healed by their products and their herbal remedies and things like that. And that is like a whole nother level like,
oh my gosh, I'm really making herbalism spread like wildflowers is the best thing ever. Yeah,
I get giddy about it. I get so excited about it. But I mean that's truly my mission here on this planet. Like if there was something to hear about one's Dharma or their true purpose in life like I am here to spread the good word word about the importance of using plants as medicine because if it's better for you, it's better for your family. It's better for your wallet. Good is gracious. And it is so much better for our planet. And I really love our planet. So excuse me? Yeah, so let's talk about some of the mistakes or common ways that I see out there that people are having trouble with all kinds of herbal remedies. So number one, herbal remedies are awesome. And folk remedies are amazing. They are so much fun to create. And there's so much room for well, for lack of better word creativity, and shifting things in different ways. But sometimes, you may not know if that foci remedy actually works. So there's actual science to good herbal formulation. And that includes understanding what constituents of a plant are soluble in what kind of mesh drum or solvents. So what do I mean by that? Well, one plant can have many different medicinal constituents. And each one of those medicinal constituents can impact your body or your health in one different way or another. Those medicinal constituents each one even in one plant individually, may also be soluble. In one thing, let's say alcohol. We're talking tinctures, maybe we're talking vinegar, maybe we're talking water, there's so many different solvents or menstruum that you could choose from. But what I'm saying is, it's really important to understand what is soluble in these particular min storm or solvents. One thing I see often is people being really excited about the nutrition level of nettles because they're freaking amazing and one of the more nutrient dense plants out there. And then they're like, Yeah, I'm gonna make a tincture of these nettles and they go get their bottle of vodka. They're at Peru for 40% Vodka, and they're fresh metals and, and they make a tincture, which is lovely and dark and green and really cool to look at. But the problem is they want the tincture, specifically for its nutritional benefits, but the alcohol is not going to extract those very well. Now with just the 40%, there's still 60% water, so maybe some of that water might extract it. Still probably not to the greatest of your liking to really absorb those nutrients into your body. The other problem is when you are making a 40% alcohol by volume, vodka based tincture more often than not with a fresh plant, you're not going to be extracting the medicinal benefits that you're desiring from that particular plant. I think I use that example a lot with marshmallow root two and tinctures because marshmallow root is a really beautiful mucilaginous herb and I love it so much during cold and flu season and for skincare and for digestive health and all kinds of really wonderful benefits to this plant. But when people I'll see on social media are making a tincture of it. And they're like, Yeah, I'm ready for cold and flu season. I'm so sad for them because their intention seems to be that they are going to be using this for a sore throat throughout that season. But it is the mucilage and the polysaccharides that are what makes this so slippery and cooling and moistening on things like dry mucosal tissue, like the respiratory tract. And those aren't extractable are in vodka or alcohol. Sorry. I just got distracted. I just saw my little daughter go by and had a little brain fart in the middle of my talk there. So anyways, that is a whole rant I go on often. But it's a legit rant. Like why spend your time your money, the plants, all of that, to make remedies that aren't really going to work for you. Like, I don't have time for that. Personally, I want like my medicine to work for my family. The other thing is like a lot of people as they get into it, you get so excited about knowing all of
the herbs because there's so many to know and it's so much fun and how great would it be to have an apothecary of 300 400 herbs.
It's pretty cool. I've been there. And even in my time of running an actual herbal apothecary with customers coming in and out of the door all of the time. I still mostly turned to about 20 Different plants so it's okay to just stick to the basic plants out there and really take your time and getting to know them because when we I'd like to Look at it is you are going to be a much more effective herbalist. If you get to know how to use one plant 40 different ways versus using or finding 40 Different plants that you know how to use only one way. I hope I said that well, I hope it connects. But basically what I'm saying is most herbal plants. Most medicinal plants have many, many different medicinal uses. Goodness gracious, I feel like I, the brain fart has not relieved itself from my body. Sorry. Yes, so there's a lot of good medicine in one plant, we're actually doing like deep dives and my kids safe or club each month, where we cover many different ways you can use one plant so you can really take your time and get to know that plant is really fit. So let's talk another reason why your remedies may not work so well. Number one, really making sure you are getting high quality herbs, because good medicine starts with great ingredients, okay, like you can really be tripped up in this industry. There's a lot of people out there that are just out there to pump out this plant like material. And a lot of times it is not even the plant that they're saying it is or it's been adulterated in many different ways. And you can end up doing more harm than good. And that way. There's also tons of herbs out on the market that are just dried and old and icky and yuck and like who wants that that's not going to have any vitality, any vibrance any like vavoom I am full of life. Although I am dried and picked, I still have energy, I still have good medicine, you can really tell the difference like just by smelling an herb once you get to know them, or looking at the color or just feeling it you can really, really tell. And starting with great ingredients is important. It's so important and my favorite places to get herbs from number one, Grow Your Own, grow your own medicinal herbs. Number two, if you are going to wild craft or forage, please stick to the outrageously abundant weeds, they've got everything that you need, they really do, you don't have to go for the exotic stuff. If you even think that you are please check out United plant savers before even going down that road and see if it isn't at risk species or if there's anything else major to think about when it comes to wildcrafting those particular herbs. The other place I really love to go to is to find my local organic herb farmer and I highly recommend you make best friends with your local organic or farmer so they can grow great medicine for you. Like their work is hard work and they deserve the extra couple of bucks. You might spend over the crap quality stuff you're gonna get on Amazon or wherever you're going to. So definitely support them. I love Oh sha Allah or barm if you haven't dug back like three years to one of my first podcast episodes, I did have Elise Higley, the founding Lady of the farm her and her husband, Jeff, amazing people, I love them so much. And when I ran my herbal product line, my teas were so flavorful and so good. And I've got to credit them and the incredible love and energy and intention they put into the earth and to the plants that made those blends so darn amazing. So they're incredible. Definitely check them out. If you are a medicine making Mama's member, you get 15% Off with them, which is pretty sweet. But that's not the only reason I'm plugging them. They're like really, really good. Another one, I mean, mountain reserves is great. They're like the biggest herb supplier they do run a very sustainable operation. I've toured all of their facilities. I know Shawn, the owner, and many of the people that have worked there with them that are just stellar human beings. I always had a good time at trade shows and expos with my product line though. I would get bombed on the times that they sent my booth my tiny little mountain Mel's booth next to mountain rose big huge budget booth. But he was cool because you know, I could always herb nerd out with the people working there. But they're kind of like my almost last stop that I go to when I'm shopping for herbs like I start with growing my own. Then I looked for the wild stuff that is in great abundance and I support the local organic or farmers and I turned to her Sharla and then if I can't find what I get, I don't need there's a few other suppliers out there but I really didn't go to mountain rose. Okay, so yes, good medicine starts with great ingredients. And then another thing that is so important is just learning to actually measure some of your angry dancing. I do love folk remedies. I do love the toss a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I'm really grateful that I have invested a lot of time and energy and experimentation and moldy remedies and rusty lids and all the things I've dumped more concoctions than I care to ever admit in my 20 plus years of doing this, but learning to measure and really figure out what's going on your medicine. If you're like looking for some serious medicine that's like really going to work and you want to know how much to dose your kiddos or anybody else. start measuring start measuring your herbs start measuring your Monstrum understand your alcohol content understand what you are extracting. Another one another big big one is ignoring contraindications, y'all. Herbs are natural, natural is not synonymous with safe. In fact, there are many natural plants out there that can an alive you quickly. Also understanding what herbs may be contraindicated with various medications or other health scenarios like that stuff is scary. You guys like it. This is a serious game. This is while it is herbal or natural medicine, it is still medicine and your health matters. And there is a lot of complexity that goes into it. So I'm gonna get on a soapbox on that one. That's the clinical herbalist and me coming out and going watch what you're taking. The other one is making sure you're storing your remedies properly, at least if you don't want them to get moldy or just kind of deteriorate in their medicinal potency. Things along those lines. It's gonna differ per herb and per solution. But more often than not, you do want like a dark, cool space where your herbs are. That's why you'll see like tinctures and other concoctions are in dark bottles and jars because then the sunlight isn't getting to the plants, which will end excuse me end up ultimately breaking it down. And just keeping the writer out mound of moisture. Depending on if we're talking about oils or if we're talking about dried herbs or if we're talking about tinctures or vinegars like again, it goes in so many different ways that you can play with that. It's really a lot of fun. Like I don't I'm not trying to give you all of these warnings to scare you from making great medicine, they get out there and play risk, the moldy experience men's risk the all the things right, it's a blast, there's so much room for creativity, it feels so incredibly empowering to know that you don't have to rely on going to the drugstore all the time, especially like last year when they ran out of everything. And now seeing how the prices are already like so freakin high. It's insane. Yeah, I just think that there's no better time than now to make your own medicine. If you want to dive deeper if you really want to start to understand like how different herbs work on the body and what kind of medicinal constituents go with what kind of solvents and vice versa, what energetics mean, what herbal actions mean, and how you can be much more strategic in formulating your remedies. So they are going to actually work. And also so if you're taking them internally that you can make them so they taste good. So it's enjoyable. So it's like more of a part of your life. I do have my medicine making mamas program. Depending on when you listen to this, it's open for enrollment, but I and I have some really cool bonuses right now, like one year access to my kids safer club. That's where we cover some herbal safety basics. And then we are doing a deep dive study on one herb a month. We do herbal Show and Tell at the end to see what everybody's learned and learn from one another. There's also six weeks of live q&a coming up. So
if you want to troubleshoot if we want to make medicine together virtually or if you have like big questions, what should I put here? How do I do this? That's a really great place to go and also listen to other people in the community and their questions. And then the other big bonus is something new I am now offering or bucks. And it's basically like a gift certificate. So you can use that towards any of my herbal workshops or programs or classes that I have available. And if you decide to join me and medicine making Mama's by this Thursday, I'm recording this on a Monday night, September 25. So I think it's the 28th or the 29th 28th of September you'll get $200 in our bucks and anyways, that's what's happening right now. You can join medicine making Mama's later as well. But those cool grubby little bonuses aren't going to be there. I'm super excited to welcome a whole new round of beautiful medicine makers into the program and watch them learn and grow and send me messages on how they've helped to heal people in their community or their puppies or their uncle or their parents. And it's, it's such a cool honor. It's very similar to the honor of knowing that I made remedies for people that worked so well that it changed their health and made them feel incredibly wonderful. Like what an honor, what an honor, again, it's the plants doing the work, but just the ability to understand the plants to be able to sit with the plants and listen to them and have them say yes, let's go over here and be in this remedy for this person. Like, it's a gift. It's a skill, it's a lot of fun. And it was great having my herbal product line, but I just came to a point in my life where it is time for me to teach you how to fish instead of giving people all of the fish so that's my jam. I love it. I'm going on kind of rambley my point I hope that you learned something new in this episode today and that you are going to start playing with the most amazing herbal remedies. You are going to have fun with it. You are going to start thinking outside of just the Instagram or tick tock box of the latest real and understand that there is some strategy and science to this game. And most of all, keep doing it like keep doing it. Keep doing it. Keep listening to the plants. Keep tasting the plants keep being with the plants keep sharing the plants. Keep making herbalism spread like wild flowers and share it with your neighbors. Share it with your friends. Let them think you're the crazy wacky, natural hippie herb lady if they must. Maybe it's not all those titles, whichever ones you got. Embrace it. Okay, I'm going on such a rambling rant i i do hope to invite you into or see you inside of my medicine making Mama's program. If not, no worries, I will also be launching kidsafe herb club officially very, very soon. It's another fun program and come check out my new herbalist path community. It's pretty amazing. There's over 750 people in there right now. It's off of social media. It is a space where we all come together because we want to learn to use plants as medicine to help our families live better lives and help ourselves to the better lives. And all the other divisiveness bullsh Stein that is out on social media is not allowed in that community. So anyways, it's been really fun watching it grow. And again, thank you. Thank you for listening to this. I will stop rambling at you now. I will see you in the next episode of the herbalist path.