Whether post-viral, food allergens, stress or other digestive imbalances like parasites, sometimes, our guts just need a little help to heal.
This leaky gut tea is delicious and effective support.
It’s a mix of vulnerary (wound-healing), anti-inflammatory and digestive herbs that have secondary actions supporting the liver and lymph.
Let’s take a closer look:
Calendula and plantain are wound-healing herbs that help heal damaged tissues and tighten loose junctions in the gut. Now, before we jump on the hysteria bandwagon – these little gut junctions are supposed to move between leaky and tigher that’s how they work to let things cross the gut-blood barrier.
However, yes, sometimes they can get a little too relaxed about who they let into the party and calendula and plantain help.
Chamomile, whilst being gentle enough for babies and little rabbits, is actually a pretty awesome anti-inflammatory herb with wound-healing action as well, and has a role to play in many inflammatory gut issues.
If steeped for 15 – 20 minutes, the bitter quality of chamomile also comes through (not as noticeable with the other strong flavours in this tea) which offers other type of digestive support, including help for the liver.
Fennel, and peppermint, along with chamomile, also offer carminative actions in the gut to help us deal with signs of digestive upset, such as cramps, bloating and gas.
Licorice offers her sweetness, and moistening action to help balance and harmonise the formula, and can also be helpful if there’s H. Pylori and ulcers.
Optional – you could also add a bit of ginger to the mix. I personally haven’t caused I’m lazy and just like to pop the blend into the teapot without any additional work
Safety and Contraindications
Research contraindications to make sure it’s safe in your circumstances. Ie. Many people with high blood pressure can’t take licorice long-term and if you’ve got GERD, peppermint might aggravate the condition, and don’t use chamomile if allergic to Asteraceae family.
To make:
- Blend all herbs in equal parts. You can adjust ratios to suit your specific issues and tastebuds or leave one out if there’s a safety issue
- Use 1 tablespoon/ cup. Steep, covered, for 15 – 20 minutes. Suggested to drink 3 cups a day if actively healing your gut.
Some nuance
- Depending on the cut of your licorice, you might need to decoct it first, rather than straight-up infusing it.
- If healing from food intolerances, you might need to remove food that’s causing trouble whilst healing, otherwise they work against each other. I’m not advocating cutting things out willy nilly, I think that’s far too common. I’d also recommend working with bitters to improve digestive function rather than just cutting out food groups.
- if you can’t resolve it on your own, seek support from others knowledge in your community or practitioners.
This tea really proves healing can be both delicious and effective!
This recipe and HEAPS more are in my self-paced Mastering Herbal Teas in 5 Minutes a Day course. It’s your ultimate roadmap to making healing teas you and your family actually want to drink. And it’s fully of easily digestible 5 minute videos, all delivered in my relatable style. Comprehensive workbook will have you learning and deepening your tea-making no matter where you start!
