Herbs A-Z: Betula & Calendula

The Holistic Herbalism Podcast

This week’s herbs are fluid-movers, with drying and tonifying effects. They’re both excellent topical remedies which can also be helpful when taken internally. We prefer water or alcohol extracts of them in most cases, but birch makes a decent infused oil and calendula is excellent in oil.

Betula spp. are birch trees – all the different kinds are similar. Their bark is famous for its salicylate content – mostly in the form of methylsalyicylate, which gives the bark its ‘wintergreen’ scent and exerts substantial anti-inflammatory effects. Birch and wintergreen are our favorites for topical remedies because they have this active, volatile form of salicylate. Birch is also rich in betulin, a constituent with its own anti-inflammatory actions along with antimicrobial and cancer-fighting actions. (Betulin is also found in chaga, because the fungus absorbs it from the birch trees it grows on.)

Calendula officinalis is one of the brightest, sunniest flowers around. Its capacity to move lymphatic fluids is fantastic medicine for fluid bloating in the belly, congested lymph nodes, and to help with “clean-up” work after an illness. It’s a great antifungal herb which does not irritate the underlying tissue. And it’s a hepatoprotective – an herb which protects the liver and helps it function optimally – as well!
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This episode was sponsored by Mountain Rose Herbs. We thank them for their support!

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