With the holidays fast approaching, many of us are getting ready to travel, spend time in groups, and overindulge in plenty of fantastic holiday foods. While spending time with friends and family can be fun, it can also be quite stressful and taxing on both the nervous system and the gut. Combining the stress of travel with the sheer quantities of food and beverages we will be putting into our bodies is a recipe for an overtaxed body and mind – and there are plenty of nasty side effects to these stressors that can linger long after the holidays are behind us.
Luckily, herbs are our best friend here! They are fantastic at offering support to a stressed nervous system and/or an overburdened holiday gut. Today we’re going to discuss some of the ways that herbs can help us weather the mental and physical storm that often rolls in with the holidays.
Holiday Stress
When we’re talking about stress, what we’re really talking about is anything that impedes our nervous system’s ability to stay balanced in the midst of situations that increase the physical, emotional, or mental strain on our bodies. Holiday travel and gatherings are exactly this type of situation. One of my favorite classes of herbs for the holidays is nervines. The nervines I am going to recommend here gentle calm an overactive nervous system, making it easier for us to enjoy the people and things around us. These herbs can help round out the rougher edges of the holiday season in a way that allows us to remain present in the moment.
Nervines to the Rescue
When planning for the holiday season, the nervines that I like best specifically help with the social stresses – and as a bonus, some of them also help keep our gut calm! The first herb I think of during these times is a no-brainer to those familiar with nervines and social anxiety: Kava Kava (Piper methysticum). Kava has a long history of use with social anxiety and with helping to build social cohesion. It helps to calm the mental chatter that many experience during social gatherings, and it smooths out the jagged edges of anxiety that can accompany this mental chatter. Kava imparts a warm, cozy feeling and makes it easier to allow people to be close to us. Admittedly, the taste of kava isn’t fantastic, but its effects are well worth the slight discomfort to the taste buds!
Next up is my personal favorite gentle nervine: Passionflower (Passiflora spp.) Passiflora is a pleasant-tasting, calming nervine that helps to calm racing thoughts and mental chatter. It’s perfect for situations where we find ourselves exposed to a lot of sensory input and to differing opinions of others that can irritate or overstimulate us. This herb helps to calm down the inner dialogue and allows us to focus on what’s going on in the room around us.
Last up on the list is perhaps one of the most well-known herbs in the Western materia medica: Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla). Most people have heard of and used chamomile as a tea. This diminutive little flower is great for colicky/fussy people, no matter their age, and it’s very helpful for calming down the irritation that can accompany our increased social obligations around the holidays. Chamomile also is a gut health superhero, helping to cool inflammation and expel excess gas and lessen bloating. As such, chamomile is a must have in our holiday health “go bag.”
Bitters and Carminatives
The holidays are also notorious for its bevy of delightful snacks and meals that can leave our gut feeling full, bloated, and uncomfortable. Once again, herbs are our best friends when dealing with gut distress. The two classes of herbs that I love for holiday bloating and discomfort are called bitters and carminatives.
Bitters are a magical class of herbs that stimulate our entire digestive system as soon as they touch our taste buds. To help the digestive system process a heavy meal, I recommend that my clients take bitters about 10-15 minutes prior to eating. Some of my favorite bitters include artichoke leaf (Cynara cardunculus var. scolymus), burdock root (Arctium), and sweet flag (Acorus calamus).
Carminatives are herbs that help move things along through the digestive system, from stomach to colon. These are the herbs to use when we experience bloating, gas and that general “stuffy gut” feeling. As a bonus, many carminative herbs are also anti-inflammatory and cooling to the tissues of the gut. I usually recommend that my clients take carminatives after a big meal. Many carminatives are delightful as either tea or tincture. Three of my favorite carminative herbs are the aforementioned chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), along with ginger (Zingiber officinale) and fennel (Foeniculum vulgare).
With the holidays rolling in, it’s essential to help the gut and the mind process both the food and emotions that are coming our way. Herbs are fantastic at soothing the body and it’s a good idea to have a few on hand to help us through the season. Gentle nervines can help ease the mind and allow us to go with the flow of the season in a way that lets us remain present in the moment. Bitter herbs can help our gut process all of the tasty treats we are inevitably going to consume, and carminatives can help combat stuffy gut feeling (gas, bloating, and indigestion) that often accompanies overindulging. Whether you are on the road or staying home, it’s easy to make yourself an herbal holiday go bag – you won’t regret it!
Tune in for our next blog, where we’ll discuss some ideas for building a holiday go bag.
