We use herbs all the time for cooking and don’t think much of it. Take sage. Most people are familiar with sage from using it maybe a couple times a year in stuffing. But herbalists make frequent use of sage.
Sage comes from the Mediterranean. There is a variety from Central America also, but this one is not as widely used for good reason – it can cause hallucination. People from that region of Central America use the herb for religious purposes.
Sage was a sacred herb to the ancient Romans. So sacred, in fact, that there was a ritual that had to be performed before someone could harvest sage. He also had to be wearing clean clothes, and offer a food sacrifice before starting.
Further, the person’s feet had to be clean. The harvesting itself required that the person use a special non-iron knife. Iron reacts with sage, which explains the choice of different materials.
The Chinese also used sage. They began using sage for tea, right about the same time that the Dutch discovered their Chinese tea. This worked out great for the Dutch. The Dutch would trade sage for Chinese tea – with a one to four ratio in their favor! They’d have four times as much tea as the sage they traded, and then they’d turn around and sell the tea at great profits.
We herbalists are also big fans of sage. For instance, I’ll use sage to help someone who is having a flare up of irritable bowel syndrome. To serve up the sage, I’ll simmer the leaves in beef broth for maybe twenty minutes. Chicken broth works just as well, the broth isn’t therapeutic but is used for flavor because many people don’t enjoy sage tea straight.
Sage has a drying aspect. This is very handy. Herbalists use sage to help women who are weaning children. Sage will help dry up milk flow, but is safe to give to a still-nursing mother because it won’t hurt the child. It is also useful in cases where someone sweats too much, or for women having night sweats from menopause.
You should check with your doctor first before starting any herbal remedy. Use of herbs in cooking is fine and won’t complicate your health, but in treatment amounts you want to make sure that the herb won’t interact with medications you are on or make other conditions worsen.
Aside from herbal remedies, the author additionally frequently pens articles on catnip toys and the feather cat toys.