Meet the polycrest herbs
Everything in Nature shares one remarkable trait: it does more than one job.
A tree provides food and shelter for other beings. Its dead and decaying leaves help build fertility in the soil. It releases oxygen into the air during the day and carbon dioxide at night. It supplies shade and regulates temperature.
When it’s no longer living a tree still provides sustenance for other life. Its wood can be used to fashion buildings, the furniture to put in them, and the fuel to heat them.
Even rocks have multiple functions. They can form mountains and help regulate climate. They provide habitat. They’re a source of minerals. They hold temperature in the soil. Some store and filter groundwater.
Medicinal herbs are no different.
Useful for many purposes
‘Polycrest’ (or polychrest) herbs are those that have multiple actions and affinities. I first heard the term from one of my teachers, revered American herbalist Paul Bergner. It comes from a Greek word meaning ‘useful for many purposes’ and was first used in relation to medicine in the mid-1600s.
Ginger is one example of a polycrest herb. Licorice and Turmeric are others. And so is the plant that my mentor Richard Whelan has described as “the most underestimated herb in the world because it’s so common”: German Chamomile (Matricaria recutita).
Here’s a typical Chamomile story
It goes like this:
- We buy a box of Chamomile teabags on impulse at the supermarket because it’s on special and we want something natural to help us sleep.
- We brew up a teabag one night and don’t like the taste.
- When the tea has no discernible effect, we consign the box to the back of a cupboard.
- It languishes there for years until we eventually turf it out because we need the room.
Yep, I’ve done that. More than once. That’s before I realised how incredibly powerful this unassuming little herb actually is.
Here’s the real Chamomile story
Chamomile supports at least six different systems in the body:
- Nervous
- Digestion
- Musculoskeletal
- Immune
- Respiratory
- Integumentary (skin)
It relaxes and tones the nervous system and is particularly useful when stress and anxiety affect digestion. It soothes the walls of the intestines and is very effective for indigestion and wind. According to American herbalist and naturopathic physician Dr Sharol Tilgner, animal studies have shown Chamomile has both anti-diabetic and cholesterol-lowering effects.
Chamomile’s antispasmodic action helps relax muscles and ease cramping, including menstrual cramping. It’s a superb anti-inflammatory as well, drunk as a tea to help alleviate hay fever and head colds. It can be applied externally to the skin, with its anti-microbial and vulnerary (wound-healing) effects supporting recovery from burns, ulcers, cuts and scrapes.
A comprehensive list of medicinal uses for chamomile would be very long. Included would be insomnia, anxiety, menopausal depression, loss of appetite, dyspepsia, gastric ulcers, diarrhoea, colic, aches and pains of flu, migraines, neuralgia, teething, vertigo, motion sickness, conjunctivitis, inflamed skin, urticaria, and many others! This may seem too good to be true, but it simply reflects the wide range of chamomile’s actions in the body.
David Hoffman FNIMH AHG
Medical Herbalism—The Science and Practice of Herbal Medicine, 2003
So why didn’t that supermarket tea work?
Possibly due to one or more of the following reasons:
- The tea wasn’t strong enough
- The herb was old and had lost its potency
- We were treating a symptom, not a cause.
Ways to take Chamomile
As a tea
If you have access to good-quality, freshly dried herb, put 2–3 heaped tsp into a cup, fill with boiling water, cover and leave to steep for 10 minutes. If you’re using supermarket teabags, steep three of them. The longer Chamomile brews, the more bitter it gets. If you’re making the tea for a child, use 1–2 tsp (or two teabags) and add a little honey. If you’re making it for yourself to improve your digestion, don’t use honey. The bitter properties are part of the medicine.
Take up to 3–4 times daily.
As a tincture
This is based on a 1:5 at 40%. The tincture can be diluted in water or juice. Take up to 3 times daily.
- Adults: 1–2 mls
- Children: 10–20 drops. Start at the low end.
As a footbath
If you really can’t stomach Chamomile’s taste but you want its relaxing benefits, this is a brilliant way to take the herb. It’s also great before bedtime, as you won’t have to get up in the middle of the night to pee! I’ve had some of the best sleeps of my life using this technique.
Make a strong infusion (3–4 tsp in 2 cups of boiling water), steep for at least 10 minutes, and add to a footbath of warm water. (Be careful not to burn yourself.) Soak your feet for 10 minutes. Dry off and go straight to bed.
Safety of Chamomile
This is a very safe herb, which is why Mums have been giving it to colicky babies and grumpy toddlers since the Year Dot. The only caution is when a person has an allergy to plants in the Asteraceae family. This is a big family; it includes Dandelion and Calendula. Allergies are extremely rare and the reaction, if you have one, will be mild. Allergic reactions don’t occur when using the tincture.
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