Well, Ain't that Dandy?

Don’t judge a book by its cover.

And don’t judge a plant by what the commercials tell you.

Especially they are lawn care commercials. Those ones are evil! I watched one that had two rather typical looking weeds planning a dastardly plot of taking over some poor, innocent, suburbanite’s lawn.

Until the spray bottle came to the rescue and scared them away, ironically into the neighbor’s lawn.

           

I don’t remember the name of the stuff they were trying to sell, and it didn’t matter. What had me hopping mad was what those two ‘evil’ plants actually were.

1. Plantain, which I haven’t talked about yet, but it is nature’s version of Neosporin. It even takes away mosquito bite itchies!

2. And Dandelions!

Now I’m sure you are taking a second here and thinking to yourself,

“Yeah, maybe the plantain is good, I’ll have to try it once mid-summer hits and all warm-blooded, shorts and suncreened people become a buffet for these little vampires. 

But Dandelions?!? I thought that was the horrible plant that people spend countless hours of lost sleep painstakingly combing their lawn on their hands and knees with a pair of tweezers to remove the seeds that blew onto their lawn from the lazy oaf neighbor's bright yellow weedy lawn.”

Oh how little we really know.

• It’s rumored the taxonomical name for dandelions came from two Greek words, meaning “Disorder Remedy”

• A thousand years ago, Arabic physicians were writing about the benefits of dandelions in books. Brits still use it heavily, especially with diabetic patients.

• Every single part is edible, and there are no known cautionary drug interactions.

• And if you think you’ve never consumed dandelion before, think again!

Dandelion is a major ingredient in over half all herbal supplements and blends, including those used in weight loss, PMS, detoxification, liver health, digestive, kidney, and even skin aliments. Woah!

Want to know more?

Let’s start at the top.

Flowers

Flowers can be used in making dandelion wine, which is a digestive bitter that stimulates the digestive system. Some people may now be glancing at their wider winter waistlines and wondering, why do I need to stimulate my digestive system? Or maybe that’s just me.

By stimulate, I mean it helps your stomach produce more stomach acid, so it breaks your food down better. The better it breaks it down, the better you can absorb the good stuff you need. It also helps your liver make more bile, which gets added to your food right after it leaves the stomach and starts the absorption process in the small intestines.

Ever watch oil and water? What does the oil eventually do? If you are raising you hand and saying “Glob Together!” then you get a gold star!

After your stomach worked so hard to smash everything up into little bitty pieces, the last thing you want the fats (like oil) to do is glob together. So, the bile helps prevent them from globbing.

And no, globbing is not a scientific word, but it’s just fun to say, like splat. If you are reading this alone, say it out loud

                                                                     taste the word

                                                                                          isn’t it fun?

If you are reading this in a populated place, say this loudly, then look around, confused at who shouted “GLOBBING”

                                          He he he!

So dandelion wine helps your digestive system do its job better! Wine and health, hmm, good combo!

Leaves

The leaves are loaded with nutrients. It is said to be more nutritious than spinach! Spinach, you know that expensive stuff you buy, eat one salad, then it proceeds to slime overnight in your refrigerator.

And this stuff is right out in our backyard, Free! To those who know enough to take it.

What nutrients does one leaf contain? Well vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Zinc, Potassium, not to mention fiber, macronutrients, enzymes and … have I mentioned this is a great herb?

And to think, some people will wake up tomorrow thinking it’s just a weed.

This ‘weed’ has been used in;

-Treating anemia

-Filtering impurities from the blood

-Stimulating the liver

-Heart Problems

-Detoxification, including aliments like gallstones, jaundice, gout, and eczema

-Diabetes

-Diuretic (makes you go tinkle)

Diuretic? When I first read this, I thought “HEY! Not having to go potty is not a medical condition! In fact it’s a pretty good skill to have when on long airplane, bus, or family car ride.” Why would this be important?

So I looked into it.

The more you retain fluid, especially as you age, and age, and age the harder it is for your heart to work. Many current heart medications include a diuretic, because Doctors know that the less stagnant fluid you have (in your ankles and lower legs often) the easier time your heart has pumping that liquid around.

Some modern heart medicines are made from a garden plant called foxglove, or digitalis. It’s a very effective diuretic, but can easily become poisonous if you don’t know what you are doing.

I love learning about all the places these wonderful little plants called herbs are found!

Now when eating the leaves, young spring leaves are often eaten with salads. Pick them before they reach full size. Once they do, they are still edible, just more bitter. To combat this you can; blanch them, eat them with bread (I want to try this one), or wait until later in the summer/fall. The bitterness reduces naturally then.

Roots

Roots can be harvested in the fall, washed, dried, ground up and used as a coffee substitute. Really, I’m not kidding you. Dandelion root is a coffee substitute, much like Chickory, which I discovered last year grows near me. I’ll be harvesting them this summer!

Promotes detoxification in the body, it even helps with gallstones, jaundice, gout, and eczema.

The white sap can be used to get rid of warts

Awesome, huh? 

I can’t help but wonder, today we think of plants like dandelions as weeds and useless pests. A thousand years ago they knew it was a food and a medicine. What other wisdom did they have back then, that we misunderstand now?

Now, part of the reason I love herbs is because they have so few negative side effects naturally. Naturally. Naturally doesn’t cover the stuff we, as humans, may put on it. Like weed remover, exhaust from lawn mowers, cars, or engine powered ponies.

What I am trying to say, is that before you rush out to your backyard to grab fistfuls of leaves, flowers, and roots. Think about the chemicals the plant may been exposed to. If there is a better place, like an open field, not near an expressway, where the gathering might be purer, that more distant spot might be a better idea.

Or maybe your lazy neighbor who never mows his weedy lawn! Slip on over there, and grab a handful, or two. And next time you see in his bunny slippers and boxers heading out to the mail. Thank him, as you are munch your spring salad, and drink your coffee, or is it coffee? Mmmmm!

While it has no drug interactions, please use dandelions sparingly if you have stomach ulcers, too much acid (it makes more), diarrhea, or other painful digestive problems.

Also, wash the sticky white substance off the roots before cooking or consuming them.

Despite her best efforts to tell me it’s glue, I learned that the white sap isn’t actually what they put in the glue bottles, Namely, I proved this when she chased around the house, screaming because I tried to glue her hair to her pillow, which unfortunately was not attached to her head. Bummer.

It’s good to test things out for yourself. Then you truly know if it is what they say it is.

Thanks for reading!

Until next time, May you take care of yourself, happily!