The entire plant is edible, but today, we talk about the leaves. It’s April, and dandelion is popping up in the yard. It is one of the first greens to present itself after the cold winter months. It has used most of the starches collected in the roots over the last summer. It’s now stretching up with leaves for the sun to feed the roots to live another year. It’s a perennial. It lives for 3 or more years. The leaves are VERY bitter this time of year.
My husband, for the last couple of months, has been waking up with a small, consistent cough. He hasn’t smoked in over 20 years, but it reminds me a little of that sound. The lungs have been in a reclined position. The small hairs (cilia) that collect debris are ready to move this out when he wakes in the morning and starts moving around. The trees have been budding outside, and it’s as windy as can be in some areas of Colorado. Nature knows that many trees need the wind to pollinate. Earth is doing its job.
Allergies…… Hmm. Is he in a state of inflammation? Should I panic about his internal state and start “detoxing” his system? There is foreign matter in there!!!!!!!!
Deep breath. I know better. He is in generally good health. Has a typically good diet and works out regularly.
So, no need to drop out of the current state of fear that surrounds the detox culture here in America. Our body is another part of nature, and I should support what’s happening. Not fix or change it. His body is talking. Saying, I would love if you could nudge the liver with some dandelion leaves after all the savory foods of winter, please.
For many herbalists, dandelion is much more than a nutritious weed, it’s also a symbol of a plant revolution. Despite being hated and poisoned by lawn purists, dandelion continues to thrive. It breaks through cement cracks, covers entire fields, and spreads billions and billions of seeds over the earth every year. This is one voracious plant. I see this plant spayed with vigor, and it comes back the next year. Smiling, I will totally adapt.
I want this plant in my body!
Dandelions are also a reminder that a simple and common weed can offer us important gifts as both food and medicine.
Dandelion Leaves
Dandelion leaves have long been considered a spring tonic. When young and fresh, the leaves have a delicate bitter taste that stimulates digestion. Effects of the bitter taste on the tongue include increased saliva (helps to break down starches and carbohydrates), increased stomach enzymes (further breaks down starches and also proteins), increased bile (aids fat digestion), and stimulated natural peristalsis (to keep bowels moving).
Besides helping to stimulate digestion, the leaves are also nutritious. They are high in calcium, phosphorous, carotenes, and potassium. We get the English common name of dandelion from the French “dent de lion,” meaning “teeth of a lion,” which refers to the jagged edges of the leaves. Dandelion leaves are one of the most common diuretics used by herbalists today to address edema, urinary stagnation, and symptoms of high blood pressure. It does this with no stress to the kidneys. It’s a safe way to move fluid in the body. Preliminary human clinical trials have confirmed the diuretic effect of dandelion tincture (alcohol and water extraction)
But today I want to focus on the BITTER flavor. We have more bitter receptors in the body than any other receptor. Oddly enough, taste receptor genes are also activated in areas outside the mouth. Bitter taste receptors, for instance, have been observed in the intestines, lungs, heart, brain, and other tissues. Taste receptors in non-oral tissues are thought to serve as sensors that can send signals to activate other processes. Modern science is catching up to the understanding of traditional healing. Below is a link by the National Health Instatute if this is interesting to you.
In the case of sweet and umami receptors, the family is small, with only three known genes, but in the case of bitter receptors, the number is large, with perhaps as many as 30 to 50 genes. This tells us how important this receptor is in the body. We have evolved to use these receptors in multiple ways.
Many poisons on the planet are bitter in flavor. The mouth is one of the first guardians of your health. If something is bitter, your liver wakes up and starts producing hormones and increasing bile production. It starts the “detox process”. Bile increases nutrition absorption. Proper nutrition increases the effectiveness of your immune and lymph systems.
So, when I see my family responding to nature in the form of allergies, my first instinct is to increase the bitter foods in our diet.
I like to buy organic dandelion leaves from the supermarket in February and March. They are usually hydroponically grown or farmed. This makes the leaves a lot less bitter. It gives my body time to acclimate to the flavor. You will acclimate and start to crave it if you give it a chance. As April comes around and my dandelions are sending up baby leaves, I go outside for some stronger bitter leaves.
I add 3-7 leaves per salad. I recommend using your favorite greens in salad and just add a few dandelion leaves to that. I personally feel that a salad with only dandelion leaves is not so enjoyable. But I leave this to you. We are all different and perhaps you will love it!
Remember that bitterness is offset by sweetness. So, adding a little honey or maple syrup to your salad dressing will help if the salad is too bitter at first. Below is a simple breakfast salad I make in the winter and early spring months.
Breakfast Egg Salad with Dandelion Leaves
Arugula
Dandelion Leaves
Eggs
Home made mustard or hot sauce.
I lay a bed of arugula on a plate. Add the dandelion leaves. I cut all the leaves up with a fork to make them small and easy to eat with a fork.
Make scrambles eggs. Add them to your salad. Top them with mustard (a German tradition and good for the sinuses) or a fermented hot sauce with red hot peppers. Adding fermented foods at the start of the day is also a good idea.
I get the bitter, savory, and spicy flavors first thing in the morning. It’s so yummy and simple.
So, back to Jonathan, my husband. I made him a salad every morning for a week, and the cough is gone. It has not come back. We didn’t need to take anything out of his life. We needed to add support.
As a side note. I’ve noticed that dandelion has become quite the commodity. The root has quadrupled in price on the market. Please consider growing your own. It is my personal wish that we stop commoditizing nature and health. It hasn’t served us. And we need to keep the pricing of plants affordable for those with out yards and the space to grow. Health is not for the people who can afford it. Egg production also needs to change to small farms in every state. We need to completely get rid of large-scale food in America. This is a big, beautiful country. We are so lucky to have space and weather that allows almost every state to support small family farms in producing what we need. It’s a big shift, but we can do it. I know that’s a big discussion, but I’m throwing this out to the world to ponder. Let’s start making things better for the next generation instead of telling them we believe in them. They can fix it.
Green blessing, friends. I hope this blog finds you in good health.
Happiness and Health,
Chrystal Cocek
Integrated Earth Medicine