Materia
Medica for the Digestive System
- .pdf version
Digestive
Bitters and Cholagogues
Dandelion
root
Bitter, cholagogue, classic digestive system tonic. This is the
bitter of choice to start with or if there are not differentiating
indications. The dose is ½ tsp of tincture 15 minutes before
every meal.
Yellowdock
root
Bitter, cholagogue, can loosen the stool and help retrain bowel
function. Choose this bitter if there is sluggishness in the bowel
with constipation. It is not habit-forming like stimulant laxatives.
The dose is ¼ to ½ tsp of tincture 15 minutes before
every meal.
Artichoke
leaf
Bitter with a specific affinity for upper digestive and pancreatic
secretions. More useful if there is frequent upper digestive stasis,
belching, bad breath, nausea. Dose is ¼ to ½ tsp of
tincture 15 minutes before every meal.
Gentian
root
Powerful bitter used to increase hydrochloric acid and enzyme secretion
in the stomach. Very useful if there is poor absorption and lots
of undigested material in the stool (especially if eating “cool”
foods like salads or raw veggies). Dose is 20 drops to ¼
tsp of tincture 15 minutes before every meal.
Blue
Vervain leaf and flower
A good digestive bitter of special value if there is digestive deficiency
coupled with nervousness, stress, and agitation. The dose is ¼
to ½ tsp 15 minutes before every meal.
Carminatives and Aromatics
Fennel
seed
Excellent all-around aromatic, warming in nature and good for deficient
and/or spasmodic GI tracts. Relieves gas and bloating. The dose
is 1 teaspoon of whole seed, chewed before, during, or after meals.
A tincture dose is ½ tsp.
Ginger
root
Strengthening to the digestion as a whole and of specific use in
and conditions exhibiting nausea. Can be taken as crystallized ginger,
as a tea (1 tsp dry ginger powder, or 1 TBS fresh ginger root in
12 oz hot water, covered and steeped 15 minutes), or as a tincture
(30-60 drops in a little water).
Peppermint leaf
Relaxing and cooling aromatic that relieves bloating from overeating
and reduces spasms and cramping of the lower GI tract. Contraindicated
in heartburn. Best taken as a warm tea, tincture (1/4 tsp.), enteric-coated
capsule of the essential oil (for spasmodic colitis and irritable
bowel), or as 2-3 Altoids peppermints.
Chamomile
flower
Relaxing and cooling antispasmodic that reduces bloating and cramping
pain, especially from an over-stimulated, over-stressed constitution.
Also has a good anti-inflammatory action. Best taken as a warm tea,
brewed only for 5 minutes. The tincture is not as effective.
Demulcents
and Anti-inflammatories
Comfrey
root (or leaf)
The most powerful soother and regenerator of damaged or inflamed
tissue, along the entire GI tract. Best used as a whole-plant capsule
or tea (2 “OO” caps three times a day) and for short
periods of time (3 months or less). Use caution in liver disease.
Calendula
flower
A soothing and warming demulcent that also has carminative effect.
Useful for healing and repairing tissue where there is also a digestive
sluggishness and/or presence of an infective agent, especially a
yeast or bacteria overgrowth. Use as a tea or tincture, ½
tsp. 2-4 times a day.
Licorice
root
Soothing and anti-inflammatory, especially good for heartburn symptoms.
Use as a tea or tincture, ¼ tsp as needed for heartburn.
Avoid prolonged use with high blood pressure.
Meadowsweet
leaf, flower and stem
Astringent and demulcent anti-inflammatory that is excellent for
all types of digestive inflammation. A warm tea is best, taken after
meals and/or on an empty stomach, to ensure adequate demulcent effect.
A tincture, though still anti-inflammatory, is less soothing.
Marshmallow
root
General all-purpose soother, good to use instead of Comfrey root
and perfectly safe for long-term use. A cold water infusion made
by steeping 2 TBS of dry root in 1 pint of cold water, left overnight,
is the method of choice. The tincture is of little value as a demulcent.
Can be a bit nauseating to a sensitive constitution; take the tea
in tablespoon doses if this is a problem.
Chickweed
leaf
Only useful if eaten fresh in salads, is wonderfully cooling and
soothing to all manner of GI inflammation.
Digestive
astringents
Agrimony
leaf and flower
Sour and tonifying to the mucus membranes of the whole GI tract,
helping with prolapses, diverticula, pockets in the intestines that
result from a lack of tone and from long-term sluggishness. Also
a good bitter. Take ½ tsp of the tincture 15 minutes before
meals.
Peach
leaf
An astringent tea with good effect on the upper digestive tract,
adjusting an over-relaxed esophageal sphincter and thereby helping
with heartburn and reflux.
Blackberry
Root
Excellent for controlling diarrhea, especially in children. Use
¼ to ½ tsp of tincture on an empty stomach, 3-5 times
a day, or take 1-2 “OO” caps 3-5 times a day.
Yarrow
flower and leaf
Astringent, bitter, and antiseptic, of good use in diarrheal infections
and for those with general weakness and stasis in the GI tract.
Take ½ tsp of tincture 3-5 times daily, or a cup of warm
tea 3-5 times a day.
Digestive
anti-infectives
Goldenseal
root
Premier digestive anti-bacterial that is also bitter, cholagogue,
astringent and tonifying. It often features as a component of many
different digestive formulas because it is so excellent at healing
and tonifying, as well as controlling active infection. 1 tsp of
powder in a little water, 2-5 times a day (higher frequency for
active infections), or 1-2 “OO” caps, or ½ to
1 tsp of tincture.
Pau
D’arco bark
A tasty tea for ongoing candidiasis infection, also a good immune
stimulant.
Wormwood
leaf (and also Mugwort leaf)
Useful against worms and other enteric infections, it is also a
strong bitter and helps re-align lower GI function if it has become
sluggish, windy, or overly “loose”. Take ¼ tsp
of the tincture in a little water, 2-5 times daily.
Garlic
bulb
Fresh is best! 1-2 cloves, crushes and swallowed to control infection
from worms, bacteria, and fungus. Daily dose can be 2-6 cloves.
Echinacea
whole plant
Good support for any infection, and most useful for the “stomach
flu” that is so highly contagious, especially among children.
1 to 2 tsp of tincture 2-5 times a day.
Hepato-protectants
and liver modulators
Milk
Thistle seed
The best liver protector and cholagogue we have available –
useful in cases of chemical exposure, active liver infection (hepatitis),
allergies, and systemic inflammation. The raw seed, crushed and/or
ground, can be eaten in salad dressing, or on toast. Otherwise standardized
extracts work well and are of reasonable cost.
Schizandra
berry
Balances the liver’s breakdown of steroidal and sexual hormones,
helping in conditions that relate to painful menstruation and/or
sluggish liver function.
Red
Reishi mushroom
The dry fruiting bodies are tonifying to the whole physiology, and
help modulate liver function reducing symptoms of allergy, food
sensitivity, chemical sensitivity, and weak immunity. Taken as an
extract, follow the manufacturer’s recommendations –
every one is different. Can be simmered into soup stock, with Burdock
roots for liver protection. Use a handful of dry mushroom per gallon
of stock.
Digestive nervines
Lemon
Balm leaf
A nervine with aromatic, antispasmodic, and astringent qualities
useful for conditions of the upper GI that appear in times of anxiety
or stress. A warm tea before meals is ideal; a tsp of tincture can
also be very helpful.
Wood
Betony leaf
A nervine that modulates the effects of nervous stress on the entire
digestive system, helping to control nervous spasms and indigestion,
and the “butterflies in the stomach”. Best as a tea.
Oats
“milky (immature) tops”
Premier nervous system relaxant and restorative, also demulcent
and nutritive with a special affinity to dry and inflamed constitutions.
For digestive health, the tea is best, but in more actively anxious
situations, a tincture taken at ½ tsp 3 times daily can be
of help.
