[Music] don't be deceived by the humble plantain plant what some may dismiss as a common or even pesky weed is actually a powerhouse of medicine ranging from everything from irritating coughs to persistent wounds and to even healing radiation damage that's right there are so many plantain plant benefits and i'm going to share them with you in this video i'm also going to include a recipe for a healing plantain leaf tea hello and welcome to the herbs with rosalie podcast a show exploring how herbs heal as medicine as food and through nature connection i'm your host rosalie de la forge i created this youtube channel to share trusted herbal wisdom so that you can get the best results when relying on herbs for your health i love offering up practical knowledge to help you dive deeper into the world of medicinal plants and seasonal living each episode of the herbs with roseley podcast is shared on youtube as well as your favorite podcast app transcripts and recipes for each episode can be found at herbs with herbswithrosalypodcast.com or through the link in the video description also in the video description you'll find other helpful resources for example to get my best herbal tips as well as fun bonuses be sure to sign up for my weekly herbal newsletter okay grab your cup of tea and let's dive in plantain holds an especially dear place in my heart it was the first herb i learned when i started my herbal journey almost 20 years ago and even after all this time this plant still amazes me in this video i'll share important information about plantain benefits so you can work with this plant safely and effectively be sure to stick around to the end to get my recipe and free recipe card for healing plantain leaf tea and while you're watching let me know in the comments below about your experience with the plantain plant it's always interesting and insightful to hear the experiences of plant lovers out there also your suggestion may help others okay let's dive in as you're going to see there are so many plantain plant benefits yet despite its many attributes plantain is a humble and persistent plant it doesn't boast vibrantly colored flowers its leaves often hug the ground or grow tall to blend in with the surrounding grass it can thrive and hard pack soils with lots of foot traffic and it loves disturbed soils and areas best of all if you know how to spot it you can most likely find this herbaceous perennial whenever you need it there are about 200 species worldwide and about 30 native and 5 introduced species in the us the first time i heard plantain benefits being discussed i immediately thought of plantains the edible fruit that is related to the banana this isn't that plantain i'll share more about identification in just a bit whether this is your first video with me or your 20th you should know that i love herbal energetics and i consider herbal energetics an essential part of herbalism without herbal energetics it's hard to know how herbs work and how to get the best results when you're working with them okay sure you could simply memorize many of plantain's medicinal applications however you'd be missing out on understanding its special affinities instead when you simply apply herbal energetics you'll have a deeper understanding of plantain plant benefits and here's exactly what i mean by that plantain is cooling and it excels when it's used to counteract hot conditions so what's a hot condition well hot conditions are characterized by signs of heat including feeling hot redness or sometimes yellow sharp pain swelling and inflammation burns are an obvious example of a hot condition as the burned area actually feels hot and it turns red a red hot itchy rash would be another example a fresh plantain poultice can soothe burns and rashes by both pulling out the heat and healing the damaged tissue if you are new to the concepts of herbal energetics and understanding if a plant or condition is hot or cold or damp or dry then i highly recommend you try out my free herbal jumpstart course this is a short video course that takes you through the ins and outs of herbal energetics and by the time you finish you'll have increased your herbal knowledge tenfold this course is entirely free to everyone who joins my herbal newsletter community in addition to getting the herbal jumpstart course you'll also hear from me every wednesday with my best herbal tips and recipes look for the link to sign up in the video description okay back to plantain another example of a hot condition is bites and stings from insects spiders and scorpions let's take a bee sting for example when a bee stings a person it releases its venom into the skin fairly quickly the area around the sting might swell turn red feel hot to the touch the pain is generally sharp as opposed to like a dull ache so plantain is perfect for this hot condition a fresh poultice of the leaves somehow magically has the ability to pull out the poisons from the skin and dramatically decrease the redness the swelling and the pain i've seen this work again and again on so many different types of bites and stings for the best results you want to apply the plantain as quickly as possible after the sting and then you want to change that poultice about every 20 minutes or when the poultice feels warm to the touch a plantain salve will also work well especially on common itchy insect bites like those from flies and mosquitoes plantain stitches together many types of wounds from minor cuts and scrapes to blisters to hemorrhoids to postpartum tears it makes a wonderful all-purpose salve poultice or sitz bath and it's often combined with other herbs such as calendula because it has the ability to draw things out plantain is perfect for splinters boils or even puncture wounds the plantain plant is also antimicrobial so it helps prevent bacterial growth in wounds as they heal examples of infections and wounds that are great match for plantain include things like boils eye infections urinary tract infections i really like to combine it with echinacea when i'm specifically dealing with infections plantain has also been shown to heal wounds and irritations caused by radiation oral mucositis caused by radiation is common in patients who are undergoing treatment for head and neck cancer in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial patients were given either a syrup made with plantain or a placebo after seven weeks those taking the plantain syrup had significantly less severe symptoms including significantly less pain by the way calendula has also been shown to reduce the negative effects of radiation exposure during cancer treatment when you're finished watching this video on plantain look for my video on podcasts all about calendula plantain can also heal stubborn wounds like diabetic foot ulcers and pressurized ulcers a human clinical study published in 2022 showed that patients who used a 10 plantain extract gel saw a significant reduction in wound size compared to those taking a placebo many patients in the trial were completely healed with the plantain gel another double-blind randomized clinical trial that used both plantain and aloe vera concluded that these plants are an effective cheap and safe treatment for diabetic foot ulcers plantain plant pollen can be a source of allergies for some folks but plantain leaf especially when fresh seems to modulate an excessive histamine response and it can reduce seasonal allergies many years ago i learned from other herbalists to use fresh plantain tincture with a peach leaf twig tincture for calming overly reactive tissues that create symptoms like runny nose sneezing or this dramatic response to bug bites it works great herbalist jim mcdonald recommends using a slightly saline plantain leaf tea in a nutty pot for nasal irritations or as a wash for eye infections plantain is an obvious choice for many first aid or acute inflammations but it's equally useful for chronic hot conditions especially in the digestive tract a strong plantain leaf tea can be one of the most dramatic healers for inflammatory digestive problems including intestinal permeability or leaky gut ulcers and inflammatory bowel diseases in this situation plantain soothes the inflamed tissues and helps to heal the tissues which is what we say is vulnerary it also helps to prevent bacterial overgrowth as an antimicrobial and it can seemingly knit those tissues back together with its astringent properties i'll share my recipe and best tips for making a strong plantain leaf tea in just a bit plantain is also a powerful healer for the upper digestive tract it can relieve the pain of canker sores and speed up the healing of those tissues it's also a nice tea to include for people who have acid reflux as it can soothe and heal the tissues in the esophagus besides being cooling for hot conditions plantain is also moistening or demulcent these two qualities make it ideal for hot and dry lungs resulting in chronic or acute coughs my favorite application for this is that dry hacking cough that hangs on long after your respiratory infection has healed in this situation herbs may temporarily stop the cough but addressing the root cause which is often heat and dryness leading to that irritation you can more effectively alleviate the cough and change the dry conditions of the lungs herbalist jim mcdonald specifically recommends plantain for coughs that result from inhalation of fine particulate matter which you might experience in a work environment or during wildfires or weather conversions a recent study showed that children using a cough formula consisting of mallow ella campaign plantain and helichrysum found an earlier significant reduction in night and daytime coughing than children treated with a placebo while herbalists often use plantain leaves we can't overlook the benefits of plantain plant seeds plantain seeds are mucilaginous and high in fiber seeds that are collected from plantago ovatum or plantago psyllium are harvested on a large scale and sold as psyllium seed and husk which are then used to help maintain bowel regularity the seeds from the plantain growing outside your door can be used similarly but the process of harvesting enough of those teeny tiny seeds is time consuming plantain seeds are also deliciously edible and can be eaten raw or added to cooked foods or whole plantain seed stalks can be steamed and eaten if the seeds are too tedious to collect individually these seeds are also medicine a trial in 2021 showed that psyllium seeds used as fiber supplement could reduce small dense ldl particles in children at risk for heart disease the seeds can also heal the gut an in vitro study on the steve shows promise for its ability to strengthen the intestinal wall which could possibly help with intestinal permeability or leaky gut okay let's discuss how to find and correctly id the plantain plant this is important as i mentioned before when i first heard of plantain as an herbalist i thought immediately of one of my favorite dishes when i was living in the dominican republic platinos but the plant we're talking about now isn't even closely related to that plantain fruit as herbalists there are two types of plantains that are regularly used as medicine in north america all have the genus name of plantago and there's over 200 species of plantago genus one type is commonly called broad leaf plantain it has oval or egg-shaped leaves plantago major which is a european native and plantago rugelii which is a u.s native are both examples of broadleaf planting from a practical point of view these plantains are interchangeably used from a botanical point of view they are separate species one distinctive property is at the base of the leaf of the stems of plantago major are white whereas the base of the plantago rugelii stems are reddish the other type of plantain plantago lanciolata has long narrow leaves and is commonly called narrow leaf plantain both the broad-leaved and the narrow leaf plantains have prominent parallel leaf veins and if you gently pull the leaf apart you'll see the strings that run through the leaf veins plantago major and plantago lanciolata are originally from eurasia and now go practically everywhere they love roadsides lawns pathways and disturb soils plantain flowers grow in dense spikes that rise above the leaves of the plant these flowers are wind pollinated and the plant reproduces mainly by seed i'm often asked which plantain is best the broadleaf or the narrow leaf well as far as i can tell each of these species and many others similarly related can be interchangeably used but to answer even more practically i'd say the best one is the one that you find growing at your feet when using plantain for bites and stings fresh leaves are preferred a simple spit poultice is often the best choice to make a spit poultice you chew up a fresh leaf or two until the cell walls are broken and you have this like gooey green leaf poultice and you just take that spit poultice and apply it to the affected area a whole leaf can then be used to cover the poultice as like a temporary covering or band-aid to hold it in place any hesitation you may feel about how this green mess looks will quickly be forgotten as it soothes the pain and swelling or itching i really prefer fresh plantain for this however if you live in an area like i do where plantain disappears from the summer heat or under the winter snow then you can keep some dried leaf on hand which can then be rehydrated with hot water to make a soothing poultice or you can blend up fresh plantain plant leaves with just a bit of water and then freeze that for later use when infusing plantain into an oil for a salve you want to wilt the fresh leaves slightly or use a hot water method when making a tincture fresh plantain leaves are also preferred the young fresh leaves can make a great salad green cooked green or pesto addition that is high in nutrients especially minerals that are often lacking from modern diets as the leaves mature the strings and the prominent leaf veins can make the experience more like flossing rather than eating and you can avoid that by chopping up the leaves crosswise to cut those strings into short pieces you can also blanch them to first remove some of the bitterness from the leaves plantain leaves also make a healing tea especially for addressing gi inflammation and that's what i'm sharing with you this powerfully healing tea really works admittedly this isn't the best tasting tea ever i wouldn't serve this for say sunday brunch or any time you're looking for a yummy pot of tea however what's lacking in flavor it really makes up for in efficacy it's medicinal and super effective if it's too bitter for you you can try adding a pinch of salt which helps to counteract the bitterness or you can dilute it with a bit of water this particular recipe comes straight from my second book wild remedies how to forage healing foods and craft your own herbal medicine this book is perfect for you if you want to learn more about the plants growing near you included with each herbal chapter is safety information sustainable harvest instructions and lots of fun and easy recipes like this to make this tea you'll need a half cup or about eight grams of dried plantain leaves a half cup around eight grams of dried calendula flowers a quarter cup or three grams of dried rose petals 1 tablespoon or 2 grams of finely crumbled dried mallow or marshmallow leaves 1 teaspoon fennel seeds and 3 cups of water to make this tea place all of the herbs in a quart sized jar or a quart sized tea press bring the three cups of water to a boil and then pour the water over the herbs stir well and then cover it and infuse for 30 minutes then strain well and drink within 24 hours if you'd like a free printable recipe card of this plantain tea recipe then visit the link in the video description or pick up a copy of my book wild remedies to get more insights and recipes for plantain and many other plants also in the video description i've included other helpful links like where you can buy plantain as well as both of my books if you've enjoyed this video on plantain plant benefits and you value trusted herbal information then i hope you stick around the best way to get started is to hit the subscribe button and ring the notification bell so you can be the first to get my best herbal insights and recipes fun fact as i mentioned plantain has a special place in my heart it was the first dirt i learned about when i started my herbal journey and i think it's the perfect example of herbalism as the people's medicine when the eurasian plantain plants came to north america they were named white men's footsteps because they grew readily on the wagon wheel tracks of immigrants heading across north america their weedy growing habits often make them disdained but plantain is actually a band-aid for disturbed soils and impacted soils their roots help to break up hard dirt their leaves shelter the soil from the sun and provide food and shelter for other beings but that's not all plantain is an amazing plant for cleaning the soils that they grow in one study found that planting growing near mines and smelting plants had 15 times higher cadmium lead and zinc that's right from soothing bee stings to quelling coughs to healing digestion and even to helping to clean our distressed soils planting is filled with countless gifts