Herbs and Herstory
By Ingrid Kohlstadt, M.D., M.P.H.
March is Women’s History Month and this got me thinking about the relationships between women and their families. It’s proven that children across cultures have brighter, healthier futures when there’s a grandmother in their lives—in fact, a child’s survival improves so consistently that public health accords a name, Abuela Effect (derived from the Spanish word for grandmother), to the phenomenon.
Across time and around the globe, grandmothers make herstory as they enrich their families’ lives with nourishing traditions, many of which are associated with the home—often in the garden and especially in the kitchen. How to garden and how to cook with fresh ingredients are two lessons typically passed on from our grandmothers, ones that I am happy have lasted through so many new generations. By carrying on the traditions by practicing what grandmothers have taught us and using fresh herbs—full of healing nutrients and antioxidants—in our cooking, we are not only paying homage to tradition but are also caring for our bodies (and teaching our families to take care of theirs as well!).
While most of us associate happy memories with gardening, it isn’t always as easy for the plants. Herbs live a hard life in that they grow in the sun and cannot move into the shade to protect against damage from intense rays. Their solution is to rev up the production of a protective sunscreen that happens to have the same nutrients that the human body uses to protect itself against sun damage and other forms of accelerated aging. (We call the nutrients antioxidants because they protect against oxidation, the same chemical process that causes skin to wrinkle, fat to go rancid, fish to smell fishy, and pennies to turn green.) Once a plant begins this process neighboring plants sense the distress and start slathering on sunscreen, too.
Because herbs use similar sunscreens the best antioxidant protection doesn’t come from any single herb. So rather than discuss peppermint and sage, for example, I’d like to highlight herb nutrients here instead.
Carotenoids are antioxidants that make carrots orange and flamingos pink. If you are surprised that green herbs are a rich source of orange-pink nutrients, think again. Each autumn Annapolis celebrates a vibrant display of carotenoids. The red, orange, and gold of fall foliage are from carotenoids that gain their brilliance as the summer coat of chlorophyll becomes threadbare. The colors were in the leaves all along but we only see them once the green fades away.
One carotenoid, called lutein, has a yet-unexplained homing device for the eye. Dr. Steven Pratt, ophthalmologist, my colleague, and author of SuperFoods Rx , explains that lutein from dietary greens helps protect the eye from the sun-damage diseases of macular degeneration and cataracts. He also points out that some patients who don’t eat green leaves have low, nearly undetectable levels of lutein.
Abuela’s herbs help help us from the earliest stages of our development. Herbs are a rich source of folate, a nutrient that has received media attention for its critical role in forming the nervous system of the unborn child. Herbs may also improve the function of progesterone, a hormone that science now thinks can enhance the intelligence of the unborn child. And herbs can improve insulin control, protecting the unborn from adulthood obesity.
Herbs contain vitamin K, which some people know as a problem vitamin. The problem is that vitamin K decreases the effectiveness of certain medications used to prevent blood clots. Out of fear of decreasing the effectiveness of their medications some patients mistakenly avoid eating green leaves. This is a costly mistake. In fact people on blood thinners tend to be among the people who most benefit from vitamin K’s protective role in bone, blood vessel, and everything-else health. There’s no conflict between medication and herbs. Eat herbs and take the required medicine and do both consistently! I concur with Pratt: “Eat two spinach salads a week and tell your doctor to dose the medication accordingly.”
Fresh herbs are better than dried and eating herbs is like applying sunscreen: most effective when done daily. We are more likely to eat fresh herbs if they are within close reach. An herb garden indoors or out might be the best “vitamins” you ever bought. However, dried herbs are a good choice, too. Yes, you can put thyme in a bottle. Store dried herbs in an airtight glass bottle, away from sunlight, heat, and moisture. Do not keep the herbs near a window, stove, or dishwasher. Do not freeze them, since thawing causes moisture to form on them. Herbs should last for 2 years and your health for many more!
Let me leave you with a parting recommendation. Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 10, and Sunday, May 11, 2008, when herstory is made at the Paca House Gardens annual Mother’s Day plant sale!
Annapolis resident Ingrid Kohlstadt, MD, MPH, uses food and nutrients in her medical practice. Dr. Kohlstadt is on the associate faculty of Johns Hopkins, board-certified in preventive medicine, fellow of the American College of Nutrition, and editor and author of Scientific Evidence for Musculoskeletal, Bariatric, and Sports Nutrition
(CRC Press 2006). Learn more at www.INGRIDients.com .