A Tasty Herb to Improve Your Digestive Health

Posted February 29, 2012

Guest post by Nicola Chatham.

I came to gardening out of a need to take extreme responsibility for my food. Due to an infection in my gut of the water borne parasite ‘giardia,’ my intestines became highly sensitive to pesticides and I wanted to know exactly how my food was grown.

Basically, pesticides gave me the sh#ts, not to mention a whole lot of pain, inflammation, and a sensation like my gut was on fire.

So when I came across an organic, Permaculture designed community garden just around the corner from me, I began attending workshops and helping out at the working bees to build my organic gardening muscles.

It was there I first came across a herb growing like a vine, known for its properties to help heal digestive problems.

Known as ‘Ceylon spinach,’ it’s a funny mix of a very green flavor with a slippery texture all its own. In the video below, my friend and herb expert Dee Humphreys and I share how to grow it, and a surprising recipe.

 

 

Just a word of warning from someone experienced in the strange, unique properties of this plant – don’t try to add it to you green juices! I did, and the entire jug had to be thrown out since the gelatinous texture was too similar to drinking slime for this little health seeker.

It looked like the stuff they used in Ghost Busters to catch monsters.

If you have young children, on the other hand, putting it through the juicer could be an extremely fun science experiment!!! Make your own ‘organic slime’ at home.

Hmm.

But seriously, Ceylon spinach is very palatable and in fact delicious when chopped up raw and added to salads.

And now? My gut is thousands of times better and I’m sure all this organic food and healthy lifestyle has played a huge role.

 

If you’d like to get some Ceylon Spinach, try hitting up these Australian suppliers:
Green Harvest
Mudbrick Cottage

Or if you’re overseas, try searching for it by the names of Ceylon Spinach, Malabar Spinach, and Malabar Nightshade.

For even more in-depth information on the health properties found in Ceylon spinach, you may like to visit Isabel Shiphard’s excellent fact sheet.

 

If you enjoyed this post, please remember to click the ‘like’ button and share it on social media with those nearest and dearest to you. You never know who could benefit from some home-grown, digestive health tips.

 

Wishing you a great month, Wellness Warriors, and thanks to all of you who have already joined my free weekly newsletter ‘Sprout!’ It’s fantastic to have you in our global, organic gardening community.

If you haven’t yet signed up, come on over to NicolaChatham.com and join Sprout! to get my free weekly ‘how to’ organic gardening videos and tips.

 

Author bio: Nicola Chatham is an organic gardening coach and permaculture designer. She helps people who are busy or recovering from illness set up low-maintenance, organic gardens that produce healthy and delicious food with minimum time and effort. Sign up for her free weekly newsletter ‘Sprout!’ here.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/NicolaChatham
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SproutCommunity

 

Positive affirmation for the day: I allow my innate wisdom to guide my decisions.

 

 

 

MAKE PEACE WITH YOUR PLATE: HOW TO END YOUR TORTURED RELATIONSHIP WITH FOOD.

HAVE YOU BOUGHT YOUR COPY OF MY NEW E-BOOK YET? CLICK HERE TO READ WHY THIS BOOK WILL PUT AND END TO THE VICIOUS CYCLE OF DEPRIVATION, BINGING, AND GUILT FOREVER.

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