What is the body asking for?

Bay laurel

Laurus nobilis

The soup leaf of the Mediterranean — a pot shrub whose dried blade flavors broth and beans.

indigestion

Burdock

Arctium lappa

The burr that invented Velcro — a deep bitter root for skin and sluggish digestion.

indigestion

Catnip

Nepeta cataria

A grey mint that sends cats sideways and, as a mild tea, settles people the other direction.

indigestion

Chaga

Inonotus obliquus

A charcoal-like birch canker simmered as a deep, vanilla-earth tonic — harvest with restraint.

indigestion

Chamomile

Matricaria chamomilla

A small daisy used for centuries as an evening tea for restlessness and mild digestive cramp.

indigestion

Chives

Allium schoenoprasum

The mildest kitchen onion — a perennial snip for eggs, and a gentler cousin of garlic’s folklore.

indigestion

Cilantro

Coriandrum sativum

The herb people argue about — leaf for salsa, seed for digestion. A two-crop kitchen annual.

indigestion

Cinnamon

Cinnamomum verum

The inner bark that built a trade — blood-sugar folklore, a kitchen spice, and a tropical tree.

indigestion

Dandelion

Taraxacum officinale

The lawn's bitter physician — leaf as a potassium-rich diuretic, root as a liver bitter.

indigestion

Dill

Anethum graveolens

Feathery kitchen green and a caraway-cousin seed — the pickle herb, also an after-dinner chew.

indigestion

Fennel

Foeniculum vulgare

Anise-sweet seed for gas, colic folklore, and after-dinner breath.

indigestion

French tarragon

Artemisia dracunculus var. sativa

Anise-leaf of French kitchens — a sterile clone you buy as a plant, then tarragon-vinegar the rest of your life.

indigestion

Garden sage

Salvia officinalis

The grey kitchen sage — a drying, aromatic leaf for sore throats and rich food.

indigestion

Ginger

Zingiber officinale

A tropical rhizome for queasy stomachs, cold hands, and dull inflammatory ache.

indigestion

Goldenseal

Hydrastis canadensis

A threatened woodland root, bitter and berberine-yellow — not an everyday immune tonic.

indigestion

Green cardamom

Elettaria cardamomum

The queen of spices — a tropical ginger whose green pods scent chai, coffee, and after-meal folklore.

indigestion

Hops

Humulus lupulus

The beer flower — a bitter, estrogenic sedative that also climbs the shed.

indigestion

Hyssop

Hyssopus officinalis

A blue-spike Mediterranean bitter for the chest — a bee plant with a camphor edge.

indigestion

Lemon balm

Melissa officinalis

Lemon-scented mint for fretful moods, a racing mind, and cold-sore lips.

indigestion

Lemon verbena

Aloysia citrodora

An Andean shrub that smells more of lemon than lemon does — a digestive and evening leaf.

indigestion

Lemongrass

Cymbopogon citratus

A tropical clump that puts lemon in soup — fever-and-digestion folklore with a wok pedigree.

indigestion

Licorice

Glycyrrhiza glabra

Sweet root that soothes mucosa and supports adrenals — and can raise blood pressure if overused.

indigestion

Lion's mane

Hericium erinaceus

The pom-pom fungus eaten as crab-like food and taken for focus and nerve support.

indigestion

Marshmallow

Althaea officinalis

A velvety marsh mallow whose root and leaf soothe raw mucosa.

indigestion

Meadowsweet

Filipendula ulmaria

Creamy meadow plumes that smell of almond and aspirin — a stomach-kinder willow analog.

indigestion

Milk thistle

Silybum marianum

Spiny purple thistle whose seeds are the classic liver trophorestorative.

indigestion

Oregano

Origanum vulgare

A hot Mediterranean mint — pizza leaf, and a traditional winter antimicrobial tea.

indigestion

Oregon grape

Mahonia aquifolium

A holly-leaved west-coast shrub whose yellow root is a bitter berberine cousin of goldenseal.

indigestion

Parsley

Petroselinum crispum

The garnish that is actually a mineral-green — a kitchen herb with a traditional kidney-and-breath record.

indigestion

Peppermint

Mentha × piperita

A hybrid mint whose menthol cools the gut and opens the sinuses — classic after-dinner leaf.

indigestion

Poria

Wolfiporia extensa

A buried pine fungus used in Chinese soups for dampness, gut, and calm — a sclerotium, not a mushroom cap.

indigestion

Rosemary

Salvia rosmarinus

A resinous Mediterranean shrub for memory, circulation, and roast potatoes.

indigestion

Spearmint

Mentha spicata

The sweeter garden mint — less menthol fire, more green candy. A children’s and after-dinner leaf.

indigestion

Sweet basil

Ocimum basilicum

The pesto leaf — a cooling kitchen mint for digestion and summer nerves.

indigestion

Sweet marjoram

Origanum majorana

Oregano’s sweeter kitchen cousin — a tender Mediterranean mint for digestion and a quiet evening cup.

indigestion

Turmeric

Curcuma longa

Golden rhizome of South Asian cooking, taken for stiff joints and low-grade inflammation.

indigestion

Wormwood

Artemisia absinthium

The bitter of absinthe — a powerful digestive bitter whose essential oil is a neurotoxin in excess.

indigestion