Taraxacum officinale
Just a Weed or Medicine?
Dandelion is often just considered a pesky weed that people try to keep out of their yards. If only more people knew that dandelion is not only edible, but it is also medicinal! What part can be used? All of it! From root to flower.
Dandelion Root – Food and Medicine
Let’s work our way from the bottom up and start with the roots.
The Roots – Liver Cleanser, Detox, Acne, PMS
Dandelion root is a medicinal powerhouse. It has long been used for its liver cleansing abilities. Through this it helps with digestion and detox. It supports the liver break down hormones in the body. Because of this, dandelion root can even help with PMS and acne. For best results work with dandelion root consistently.
Root as Food
Cleanse yourself by adding dandelion root to your meals. Wildcraft dandelion root, clean it off, and roast it up. Eat it often!
Root as Tincture (Alcohol extract)
Dandelion root works quite well when taken as an alcohol extract. Buy it or make it yourself! Put dandelion leaves and other herbs if desired, in a glass jar. Pour high percentage alcohol with over them until there is around ½ inch of alcohol over the roots. The roots often soak up the water. Make sure they are always completely covered. Put in a dark cool place and let sit for around 4 weeks. Shake every day. Strain and bam! You have tincture. Tinctures are a very potent medicine. A good dose to start with would be 1-4 dropperfuls 3 times a day.
Root Decoction as Cleanser
A decoction is a technique that we make tea out of thicker studier plant parts like roots and barks. Put a pot on the stove, add your dandelion roots and cover with water. Cover and bring it to a boil and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Strain and enjoy!
Root Herbal Vinegar
For a blood cleansing vinegar put dandelion root and other plants of choice in a sterilized glass jar. Chop into small pieces or put in a good food processor if possible, but do not grind to a powder. Pour vinegar over until plant parts are completely covered. Let macerate in a cool dark place for around 4 weeks. Shake daily. Strain and take by the spoonful or add to your meals.
Roots for Prebiotic Gut Goodness
If you haven’t yet heard, I have some big news for you. Gut health is uber important. Science is now saying the gut is the second brain. We have a whole microbiome living in our guts. Little good bacteria helping us live our best and healthy life. These healthy bacteria friends that call our guts home are called probiotics. How do we keep probiotics healthy? Feed them prebiotics!
We have a whole microbiome living in our guts. Little good bacteria helping us live our best and healthy life.
Dandelion root contains inulin, which is a prebiotic. Long story short, it is very healthy! We want prebiotics and probiotics!
Prebiotic Root Decoction
We can drink the prebiotics, or inulin, be making a decoction. Put roots in a pot. Pour water over roots. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. For best results drink 2-3 cups a day.
Dandelion Leaf – Better than a Multivitamin
Dandelion leaf falls into a category of herbs that I like to call “Better than a Multivitamin.” Why? Because it is! Dandelion leaves contains: iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium,vitamins A, C, K, E, and folate. Holy nutrition!
Rather than buying a synthetic supplement, let’s get nourish our body with the vitamins and minerals we need to function and thrive naturally!
Eat the Leaves for Nutrition Content
Eat it! You can eat dandelion leaves raw or cooked. Add them to salads, smoothies, soups, veggie pan, eggs, and more. Dandelion leaves are quite bitter. Once you cook the leaves it reduces the bitter flavor. Instead of making a whole salad out of dandelion leaves, just add a few like you would fresh basil. Why not add both fresh basil and dandelion leaves to your salad?
Long Infusion
If your goal is to receive a plants vitamin and mineral content from a tea, it is best to make a long infusion. To make a long infusion, place your dandelion leaves, fresh or dry, in your jar or cup. Pour boiled water over and cover. Let sit and infuse for at least 4 hours. I usually like to make long infusions before I go to bed so I can drink them right when I wake up and throughout the day. Once it is done infusing, strain and drink room temperature, add ice to make an iced tea, or heat back up.
I like combining stinging nettle with dandelion because they are both full of nutritional goodness. I usually add some ginger in for taste. Sometimes I add tulsi in for extra nutrition and taste! Learn more about Stinging Nettle in my article here.
Herbal Vinegar with Leaves
Vinegar is a great menstruum for extracting vitamins and minerals from herbs. Put dandelion leaves in a sterilized glass jar. Want to bump up your nutritious vinegar? Add other nutrition packed herbs to the vinegar blend. Pour vinegar over until completely covered. Store in a dark cool place and shake daily. After 4 weeks strain and enjoy! Take by the spoonful, use as salad dressing, or add to meals.
Bitter is Magic
Bitter is a flavor that is not very common to find in our modern diet. Maybe we’ll get some bitter if you drink black coffee or a beer, but besides that bitter is mostly gone. This is a shame because bitter is magic! Just the taste of bitter on your tongue will get your digestion going. Bile from your liver will be released and get ready to break down whatever food your about to eat.
Why does bitter improve digestion?
There is one theory that makes the most sense to me that I would like to share. In nature, bitter oftentimes means poison. Therefore, if you eat something bitter your taste buds alert your liver saying: “Incoming!! We have something toxic coming in that we need to get out!” Your liver immediately gets to work, releases bile and starts breaking down what you have eaten and digests and cleans out what needs to get cleared.
Leaves for Digestion
Good news! You do not need a lot of bitter to get the benefits. As long as you taste it on your tongue, even for a second, the bitter magic can get to work. Therefore, a capsule will not do the job.
Eat one or some dandelion leaves a part of a salad appetizer, or in your meal. They are more bitter when they are fresh. Once cooked they lose a little of their bitter flavor. Don’t worry, if you can only stomach them cooked, cook away!
Contraindications
Dandelion leaves may not be suitable for those taking pharmaceutical blood thinners or diuretics. Talk to a doctor before adding into your life if you are on either. Dandelion can be quite drying, so if you run dry and drink dandelion consistently, add other moistening herbs to your blend or drink in parallel. Some examples: linden, violet, licorice, marshmallow.
