Nerve tonics are herbs which act to tonify, strengthen, and restore the proper structure and functioning of the nervous system. In this episode Nicole (she/her) shares her experiences of working with nerve tonics in long-term recovery from trauma, burnout and chronic stress.

Links & resources from this episode

1. Herbalism, PTSD and Traumatic Stress Course – https://solidarityapothecary.org/herbalismandptsdcourse/
2. Solidarity Apothecary 1:1 Clinic - https://clinic.solidarityapothecary.org/

Find them all at solidarityapothecary.org/podcast/

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Music from Sole & DJ Pain – Battle of Humans | Plant illustrations by @amani_writes | In solidarity, please subscribe, rate & review this podcast wherever you listen.

Welcome to the Frontline Herbalism Podcast with your host, Nicole Rose from the

Solidarity Apothecary.

This is your place for all things plants and

liberation.

Let's get started.

Hello. Welcome back to the Frontline Herbalism Podcast.

I am recording this on a nice Sunday afternoon.

My ex's mum is looking after the babs.

I've been launching my Herbalism PTSD and

traumatic stress course all day long.

Doing the emails, doing the social media,

Also trying to promote all the merchandise for the Calais project.

I'm super grateful if you've ordered a T shirt or a tea towel or a patch.

But yeah, I'm not going to talk for long because I've got to go back to the baby soon

and I've recorded quite a in depth episode about nerve tonics.

Sorry, I went on lots of side rants about gut bacteria and the liver and like all the

things.

But yeah, I hope it is valuable.

Again, just a plug that my course is open to enroll.

You've heard me bang on about it loads.

But like, if anything in this episode speaks

to you,

then please check it out.

Like it only opens twice a year, so you've got

like a bit of time now to join before it, you know, becomes like unavailable again.

And I should promote this more.

But I also obviously run this one to one

clinic and I've got like a, like a free version with a crew called the Black Flag

Herbal Clinic, which is a free clinic for Annika's comrades who want support with their

kind of health.

But I also see like paying clients like one to one.

And if this stuff is like really interesting but you're like,

I can ******* face doing an online course about it.

I just want support because I'm ******* struggling.

Then please reach out.

You know, like I still have.

I had like a real flurry of loads of people

and not being super ******* overwhelmed.

And then I kind of like intentionally stopped

promoting it so that I could catch up.

Like, basically I've only got like 10 hours of like nursery a week.

So by choice, you know, I could get more from the state, but you know, look after my little

one.

He's only tiny.

So, yeah, so anyway, like, if this stuff seems really interesting but you want support with

it and I suggest anyone experiencing chronic illness or burnout or life debilitating

anxiety, like I just strongly encourage folks to reach out for support then, you know,

please, please get in touch with me.

I've got a whole separate little clinic website where it talks about how I work and

the rates and the sliding scale and the Pay plans and things like that.

So, yeah, like, don't, don't hesitate, basically.

But yeah, if you want to just keep learning about herbalism, like, please, please, please

check out the herbalism, PTSD and traumatic stress course.

It's super comprehensive and goes into everything I'm talking about in quite a lot of

detail.

So anyway, I hope you are okay and thanks for listening.

All right, so let's talk about nerve tonics.

So nerve tonics are herbs which act to tonify, strengthen and restore the proper structure

and functioning of the nervous system.

And that probably sounds like a bit intimidating, but say, for example, in the

herbalism, PTSD and traumatic stress course,

I go into, like, a lot of depth around the kind of physiology of the nervous system.

So we look at things like nerve cells and nerve fibers and,

you know, the brain and neurotransmitters.

And once you have that kind of grounding of

what the nervous system means.

Because I think we think of nervous system and

we think of the kind of emotional aspects of it, like, oh, I'm anxious or stressed.

But we often fail to forget that the nervous system is literally its own physical entity.

I don't know if people have seen those funny memes where it's like,

my whole system is nervous and it's like,

you know, like a dissected kind of brain and the spinal cord and like, all the nerves

coming out of it and, you know, it looks like a ******* tree, right?

Which is gorgeous.

But it's like the nervous system actually does have,

like, very physical manifestations in terms of, like, cells and the spine and the spinal

cord and, you know, all of these things.

So,

yeah, like, nerve tonics are really having some kind of effect,

like, specifically on that system.

And I think, like,

they often have, like, a much broader impact of, like, it's not actually just the nervous

system, but because we use them in a state where someone is, like, really burnt out and

struggling.

There's actually always loads of stuff going on.

Like, there's loads of potential nutritional deficiencies like the mitochondria, you know,

the kind of, like energy powerhouses in the cells, like, might not be functioning

optimally.

You know, there's like, stuff going on in the digestive system.

Obviously the GI system is super connected to the nervous system.

And there's all this research around the gut microbiome and how it affects mental health

and everything else.

So it's like everything is connected to

everything, which is ******* great for us because it means when we work with a plant,

we can support multiple systems at once.

Because you are just more than a collection of

systems, right? Like you are a whole person.

But yeah, nerv tonics are kind of like incredible allies to I guess support the

entire body to kind of function better.

But with you.

Yeah, like with a kind of, I guess like a focus on the nervous system and you know, with

a focus on someone is very.

Yeah, like kind of burnt out nervously.

And that's like manifesting in issues that we

associate with the nervous system, like anxiety and being in fight or flight and

insomnia and you know, like depression.

Like all of these things that we kind of like associate with the nerves are very supported

by nerve tonics.

But often to address those things, like

anxiety, for example,

maybe you just have a B12 deficiency that a supplement can like really ******* help with.

Does that make sense? So anyway, what I'm trying to say is that

nerve tonics have a really, really, really broad array of potential actions that can be

very supportive.

And knowing the difference between the different options is like ******* powerful

because you can get really targeted and focused.

Right.

And you know, that's what we go into detail in the course is like each plant has its own in

depth plant profile.

So you can like really work with those nuances of like, okay, when is licorice fantastic for

someone with like adrenal issues and when could it potentially raise someone's blood

pressure and maybe their blood pressure is like a fault line for them in their of like

nervous system distress.

So licorice might not be appropriate.

You know, like it's all about the kind of

nuance.

But yeah, some of the different medicinal actions that nerve tonics can have include

helping address nutritional deficiencies.

So for example, like, I don't actually profile like nettle in the, in the course as like a

nerve tonic, but I am like increasingly working with nettle in my like nutritive kind

of energy blends that I often give people who come to me who are like really burnt out or

have like chronic fatigue or long Covid or like these kind of chronic issues.

Like,

yeah, like nettle will have, for example, a lot of vitamins and minerals that can help

address those nutritional deficiencies which can help the nervous system to function

better.

So yes, so a lot of our kind of nerve tonics will often be kind of like rich in those

things that we need.

Like elderberry, for example,

so delicious.

But it's so full of antioxidants and stuff

that I just ******* fab for like a depleted system or any system.

So yeah, I always talk about how elderberry Is like, totally underestimated as a nerve iron

and like a nerve tonic.

But yeah, so addressing nutritional

deficiencies is like one role.

There might actually be a function of that herb in terms of supporting, like, the actual

repair of the kind of like, structure of the nervous system.

So I'll go into this more in the course, but there's a thing called the myelin sheath,

right? Which is this, like, layer of fat that

surrounds all the nerves.

And lots people,

their nerves, like, aren't firing well because they have a deficiency in fat or that kind of

like myelin sheath is damaged.

So they, you know, like, the nerves can't

communicate as like, effectively.

So some herbs actually contribute to kind of the repair of the myelin sheath and the kind

of like reproduction of it.

So for example, skullcap is just like Virginia

skullcap is just ******* amazing at having an affinity with the myelin sheath.

So someone can take a skullcap tea for several weeks or months in the evening, and it will be

acting as a kind of sedative nerve iron, like helping them sleep.

But it will also be contributing to the repair of that myelin sheath, partly because it

contains a lot of B vitamins.

But yeah, and so you can be specifically

focused on something kind of super tangible in the nerves, if that makes sense.

The other aspect is you might be supporting the HPA axis.

So this is the hypothalamic,

the hypothalamic pituitary, adrenal axis.

I can never say pituitary.

I don't know if anyone else can say.

It's like my sister, she can never say

vanilla.

It's like really funny.

She's like vanilla.

Anyway, so the HPA axis is basically the communication from the brain to the nervous

system, like to the adrenal glands, which I go into this in the course, but like,

it's kind of like how our brain tells our body to respond to danger by, you know, sending out

the stress hormones, sending out the adrenaline and the cortisol and that there is

like a particular kind of like, functioning there in terms of like what the adrenals need

or what the brain health needs,

for example.

And so, yeah, you can get herbs that like,

specifically have an affinity with that kind of access.

Like, they really,

like, particularly support the adrenal glands or like, you know, I think this,

I hate to say it, but this is so under researched that like, I think as the years

come, we'll get more and more intel around actually what lots of herbs are doing to the

adrenals, like, in terms of like, positive influences but we know that there's, like, a

handful of herbs that like,

really kind of like, target this kind of HPA axis.

And, like, I hate to say it, but, like, a lot of that is from, like, horrific, violent

animal research,

for example.

You know, I talk about this in the course.

Like, I don't quote studies in the plant profiles where they have, like, abused and

butchered, like, animals, like, in that research,

but I will kind of, like, culturally reference something.

So, for example,

in Russia, they did loads of research around, like, mice and soldiers, and they were looking

at kind of like how long a animal could take to basically, like, collapse with exhaustion,

which is like, ******* horrific.

And that was how they found a lot of the actions of, like, the kind of ginsengs, like

the Siberian ginseng and Korean ginseng and things was they were tested on animals and

could see that they were, like, extending the ability of that animal to, like, endure

stress, which is,

like, ******* horrific.

And then, you know, they tested it on soldiers who were, like,

in, like, you know, situations of, like, hardcore endurance and,

like, you know, sleep deprived and all of this stuff.

And it showed the kind of, like,

effects of,

yeah, these herbs, like, on that stress response in their body.

But, you know, all of these studies, A, they're ******* harrowing, but B, they kind

of, like,

often, like,

defer from, like, traditional use of, like, when a herb is indicated.

Oh, my God, this is such a side rant.

But, like,

for example, like, many of these herbs,

like ashwagandha or, you know, the ginsengs, like rhodiola, for example, like, they are

traditionally used with people who are in states of, like, really intense kind of

debilitation and fatigue.

And, like, their stimulating properties are, like, very focused.

They're definitely not designed to enable people to, like,

kind of, like.

I don't want to say like, abuse their bodies,

but enable people to, like, cope with, like,

situations that are, like, ultimately leading to, like, more and more depletion, for

example.

Anyway, I'm sorry, that was a bit of a side rant, but basically I'm trying to say that,

like, these herbs have a kind of documented effect on this HPA axis.

But I think there's, like, way more herbs and way more interesting research ahead of us that

will show us that other herbs have that effect too.

But there's a, you know, there's a handful of them that are, like, super well researched

because it's, like,

benefited capitalism to, like, be able to commodify these fcking plants so that they can

sell them to,

you know, Whoever to like so that they can ******* keep working at their 80 hour a week

******* **** job.

Do you know what I mean?

Anyway, but yeah, there are lots of herbs that have an affinity with this HPA axis and we can

work with them like skillfully and appropriately.

And that is the benefit of doing kind of like further self education and stuff because I

think it's like very easy when you get into herbalism.

And you know, I definitely fell into this trap of like o adaptogens, like they can help with

stress and so you read all about adaptogens and then you take these adaptogens and

actually they just enable you to ******* burn out harder because you've coped short term and

they haven't actually supported your

nervous system in the way that you've needed which is to have much more kind of like rest

and digest like parasympathetic time.

Because that parasympathetic time is when you actually repair and regenerate your body.

So anyway, so that's what I talk about a lot in the course is kind of like when is it like

you useful and appropriate to use or work with these plants and when is it potentially

harmful.

But yeah, nerve tonics can also help with sleep disturbances, for example.

So I talk about this more in the kind of sedative nervines kind of category in the

course.

But I'm going to record a podcast episode

particularly around these hypnotic sedative plants that can really aid with sleep.

But a lot of the other more general nerve tonics can also aid with,

you know, addressing patterns of insomnia and things which is, you know, how they kind of

end up in this like sexy nerve tonic category.

I've mentioned nutrition already, but they can often provide like antioxidants to aid the

immune system.

For example, yeah, plants like elderberry that I've mentioned or schisandra, it's like

really, really full of like amazing like huge array of different plant chemicals that is

really supportive to different cells.

And like you because industrial agriculture is.

And like buying berries and stuff is like expensive and inaccessible for most people.

Like we are just starving in our cultures of how do we access these amazing like broad

variety of plant chemicals that you would get if you were just foraging, you know, hundreds

of different plants every year.

So yeah, like,

you know, it's a fantastic way of getting these kind of chemicals like into someone's

system so that they can, yeah, aid in kind of reducing inflammation and supporting the

immune system and supporting like repair and regeneration.

Like that's what these kind of tonics are doing.

Many nerve tonics can also really help kind of with the production of various kind of like

neurotransmitters.

So they can like really help with that kind of

like, you know, like brain chemistry stuff.

For example, like St. John's Wort is like super researched in terms of its impact on

serotonin.

And like, again, I think this is like a super

under researched area which is just going to change like all the time.

I was going to go on a side rant about adhd, but I'm not.

But I'm just saying that like, I think that there's going to be more and more interesting

stuff coming out around how plants influence like neurotransmitters and how that is

connected to like the microbiome in the guts.

Like,

it's just.

Yeah, it's just like eternally fascinating

herbalism.

Okay. NERV tonics can also often support the liver.

And so the liver in our body is like metabolizing like our stress hormones and our

kind of environmental demands.

And often herbalists.

That's somewhere that herbalists will kind of

like focus in terms of supporting someone.

Like been supporting a client recently with

endometriosis and gave them like an inflammation support blend.

I can't remember what was in it now, but I've got it written down.

But it was definitely like elderberry schisandra nettle.

And they asked for a refill and I said, do you need a refill of anything else?

Like the pain blends? I sent them like California poppy and cramp

bark and they were like, no, like I don't need the more of the pain blends because I actually

haven't been in much pain since taking the inflammation support blend and my itching has

gone down.

And itching is often a sign that your liver is kind of unhappy.

So anyway, we can support with these nerve tonics to kind of support someone's like,

organ system that is like potentially struggling the most.

And for people in a state of like burnout and depletion, often it is this kind of liver gi

stuff that's like really struggling to cope.

And that's often because we've had unrelenting levels of stress hormones in our bodies and

often we're hitting a place of burnout because there's been some sort of pattern of,

I don't want to say self neglect because that puts the onus on the person.

And often it's like, because the person is just trying to survive, like unsurvivable,

difficult things.

But there's often A kind of, like, pattern of, like,

neglect in the sense that someone's maybe been,

like, overworking massively, been in, like, acute,

serious, hardcore stressful situations for a long time.

Or.

Yeah, like, they've had a chronic illness which is just kind of like, depleting them

over and over and over again.

So it's like, yeah, often it's kind of like the liver that is this, like,

access option to recovery because we can support the liver to sort of like, like

eliminate and sort of bio.

Assimilate things that the body needs to,

like, function well and just, yeah, reduce these kind of levels of inflammation.

And because when we have high levels of inflammation, like, that's like, really with

the stress response.

I think we think that stress is what triggers

the stress response.

Like, oh, my landlord was a ****, or, you

know, I had this abusive relationship, or I've got precarious housing.

And like, all of these, like, massive external things are major, major, major drivers of

stress.

But there are also other drivers of stress that are, like, internal, if that makes sense.

And that includes things like, you know, like food intolerances or, you know, a *******

parasite or some challenging overgrowth in a certain, like, super dodgy, gnarly bacteria.

Like, there are also these, like, internal stresses.

And when someone is, like, extremely inflamed or their immune system is kind of

dysregulated,

then they're often just, like, coping with that body's stress response.

And that's why it's so amazing to support the liver.

Oh, my God. I hope this episode is not alienating people of just this *******, like,

rant.

But I just want to do a good job in talking

about why these herbs are ******* amazing and all the options that they give us.

Okay, so the next thing is that nerve tonics can often improve circulation,

and often they can improve circulation to the head.

So, for example, tulsi or vervain or even betony, they're, like, very indicated for

people that get headaches or migraines.

And that's often because of a kind of, like,

cerebral circulation challenge,

you know, as well as liver issues and states of tension and things like this.

But, like, there are certain nerve tonics that are, like, really fantastic at kind of aiding

that blood flow.

And there's also a category of plants called nootropics, which help get blood to the brain

so that someone's able to, like, concentrate better.

And again, capitalism's doing its best at trying to, like, commodify these and put them

in, like, fake coffee blends and all of this.

****.

But yeah, there are herbs that kind of like, offer that to people.

Okay. And then I've mentioned the gut bacteria already, but, like, like a number of nerve

tonics also have like, specific affinity with the gut bacteria and the gut flora.

And oh my God, it's such a massive episode to talk about gut bacteria and like, mental

health, PTSD stuff.

But, like, our microbiome in our bodies

massively shapes our kind of mental health and our perceptions of the world and everything

else.

So when someone is often in a state of like, extreme burnout or depletion, you can

guarantee that there will be some dysbiosis in their gut.

Like, there will be some issues around some sort of overgrowth of either like some sort of

bacteria or maybe,

you know, like some other organism or like a fungal overgrowth and that will start to like,

influence someone's kind of like, mental health, like, often quite severely.

I mean, ******* hell, there's like so much research around this.

Like, there's a book, I'm trying to remember what it was called, but they looked.

I'll try and dig it up.

But they looked at the gut bacteria of, sorry,

trigger warning here, of several people who had killed themselves and they found like a

disturbing trend of like, several of them having like, quite an extreme parasite

connected to cats.

And, you know, that might have been a fluke because it was like a really small sample

size, but it's such a massive emerging field that we're still trying to understand is just

like, what are the relationships between your microbiome and your,

like, mental and physical health.

So, yeah, a lot of the nerve to tonics, I

think,

do have like a really strong relationship to the guts, like licorice, for example.

Yeah. And I think,

you know, or they have like a bitter action like vervain, for example,

or betony, which I've mentioned, are fantastic nerve tonics.

And they're often really signaling to the digestion through this bitter action to, you

know, release digestive enzymes and like, process food better.

And God knows what else is going on down there when you take them.

So it's like, yeah, it's just.

Just another aspect of fascinating herbal

stuff.

Nerve tonics can also directly relieve nerve pain, such as sciatica.

Like herbs like St. John's wort have second to none levels of affinity, for example, with

that hardcore kind of nerve pain and repair.

And yeah, also blood sugar.

Oh my God, that's a whole other thing.

But yeah, lots of nerve tonics can have an effect on the kind of all their blood sugar

stuff like the insulin potential, insulin resistance, things like this that can you

know, really be kind of influencing someone's energy and mental health.

So basically, there are, like, so many ways that these amazing plants can help you recover

from chronic ******* stress, from burnout, from high levels of depletion, from chronic

illness.

But, yeah, it is a challenge learning about all of them individually and learning about

which ones are appropriate and for how long and stuff like this.

Which is why I go into depth, depth in the herbalism, PTSD and traumatic stress course

about them.

So, yeah, I'm gonna talk about a few of them individually.

I don't think I'm gonna have the time to go into all of them.

Maybe I could do like a part two or something.

But I'm gonna talk about a couple of critical

ones.

Not critical ones.

Like, I don't have my favorites.

They're all amazing.

But basically, I've got limited childcare, so I'm just gonna go for it and talk about a

handful of nerve tonics so that you get a feeling of what this looks like in practice.

Practice.

And yeah, we'll go from there.

All right, so let's start with milky oats.

But just.

I want to say that oats in general are just amazing for the nervous system.

I personally eat oats every morning, as does my baby.

I don't like that overnight.

No, thanks.

You'll probably be like,

but yeah, but oats in general are just, like, fantastic for the nervous system and for the

nerve cells.

And, like, there's loads of research around

oats and blood sugar and like, all of the things.

But milky oats are kind of like harvested in that kind of, like, latexy, like, milky stage.

If you Google me, milky oats, you'll see what I mean in a picture.

But that's why it's like a ball ache, because you have to harvest them at a specific time,

so you can't just, like, easily make them, if that makes sense.

So if you are a grower and you have any spare milky oats, I get through, like, buckets of

it.

So anyway.

But, yeah, but milky oats, I have found the glycerite incredible, but the tincture is also

fantastic.

And I don't.

I'm not like a big alcohol tincture girl, but I do think certain plants,

like, you know, extract into alcohol much better, which is, you know, like a whole

massive thing.

But I find even for people who are quite

tincture intolerant,

that milky oats seems to just go down really well.

So, yeah, so, yeah, they're really kind of Fantastic for all sorts of reasons,

one of which is they actually contain what's McCall tryptophan and like different amino

acids that often if someone is having like intense anxiety, for example, they often will

have a kind of deficiency.

Please don't hate me, vegans.

Like, I've been vegan for like nearly 25

years.

But like,

people struggle often with having enough protein in their diets of any diet of whatever

you're eating.

But often that kind of like amino acid

complexity and balance often goes like quite far, like array.

And I hate to say it but like, people often go vegan at a certain stage of their

politicization and then they get kind of like heavily involved in stuff and then they get

very burnt out.

And it's normally because they've been throwing themselves at the deep end with loads

of chronic stress.

But also I wonder if there is just a

connection to just having this kind of like depletion in terms of like nutritional

deficiencies and things like B12.

Like, like I've said a hundred times, I'm like such a B12 drug dealer in my clinical practice

of like, just take B12s.

But anyway, so yeah, milky oats contain

different vitamins.

They also contain vitamin B6.

Oh my God. And B6 is like such a massive factor for people with premenstrual tension.

Like, there's been loads of studies around people with PMT or PMDD where, you know, like,

their kind of manifestation of PMT is like really extreme, like suicidal levels of like,

distress.

And often,

yeah, there can be like a vitamin B6 deficiency going on.

And like, supplements are amazing but they're often like, like not absorbed easily,

especially if someone's got like gut stuff going on.

So yeah, I think milky oats have this like secret be complex amino acid thing going on

which makes them like amazing for the nervous system as well as just kind of like calming

the nervous system.

And then like oats in general have a really fantastic kind of impact on kind of like

metabolism and like blood sugar stuff, which is like another factor for lots of people.

So.

So yeah, milky oats is definitely one of my faves that I put in lots and lot of blends for

people recovering from chronic stress.

You can also have like oat straw tea which

like contains like many of the same kind of nutrients and is one of the ingredients in my

nervous system.

Soother tea.

I can't remember what it's called, but it's

like one of the teas that nerve nourish, nerve nourisher tea, which is one of the teas in my

herbal care packages that go out to people experiencing state violence different ways,

like people experiencing repression or supporting someone in prison,

things like that.

So yeah.

So Milky Oats, this is amazing.

Okay, so next up is Vervain and I just put a post on the old Instagram about Vervain after

I had a really full on nervous breakdown like several years ago now,

before I did my like clinical training and stuff.

And yeah, like, like,

I mean, it's a long story if I went into all of that, but like, basically Vervain was like

one of the critical herbs that I worked with like in my recovery.

And again, I use Vervain a lot with people that are struggling with kind of burnout.

And Vervain's got this like really wonderful kind of like gentle kind of like gen.

I don't want to say sedative, but it is a bit sedating.

Like this kind of relaxation effect on the nervous system,

like kind of this like relaxant nerveine, but basically helping us shift into kind of more

like parasympathetic kind of rest and digest state.

But I find that Vervain is like really fantastic where there's like chronic straits,

chronic states of tension.

And I think a lot of people in states of like intense chronic stress are often very kind of

like tense.

And I think a lot of like type A workaholic

organizer re types are often like, I will keep going, I will keep going, I will keep going.

Like they have that tension and that hyper responsibility and that often will manifest in

like musculoskeletal pain and neck pain and migraines and things like this.

And I find that Vervain is like really effective at supporting people to a like

access that more parasympathetic state, but also just to kind of like reduce that tension

across like the whole system.

System.

And like I mentioned earlier, like Vervain has like a real affinity for the liver and often

people who are in that kind of like heat kind of rage state.

So on my Instagram post I shared how, you know, like I was so highly activated.

Like it was just like a two month PTSD episode of just like intense flashbacks, like extreme

anger and rage, like you know,

nightmares, like throwing up, Like I would vomit anytime a friend of mine would call from

prison.

Like I would physically vomit.

Like it was such a like high energy, high activation state compared to when someone for

example, is like seriously depressed.

Even though vervain is also fantastic in that state too.

But I do think because it's got such a cooling kind of cold action.

That's what makes it very good for people that have a lot of like heat and activation with

that kind of fight or flight.

Because, you know, like, some people are much more like depleted in the sense of like a kind

of shut down, frozen depressed state.

And they benefit from herbs which are kind of

like uplifting, like St.

John's Wort or lemon balm, for example.

Whereas I feel like vervain is just.

Yeah, it just has that kind of like cooling,

kind of like dampening, even though it's not like a very damp plant.

But it's just got that kind of like chill the **** out kind of vibe.

Do you know what I mean?

It's also strongly associated with people with like insomnia.

And I think again,

you can get insomnia for all sorts of reasons, like all sorts of nutritional deficiencies,

trauma, like all the things.

But you can also get insomnia because there is so much like over activation, like there's so

much like anxiety and racing thoughts and yeah, just like fight or flight, like

sympathetic energy.

And vervain is just like fantastic at kind of supporting people in that state.

Like, I think, I don't know if people have seen that book, the Ethnobotany of the British

Isles, I think it's called,

by David Allen and Gabriella Hatfield.

I could just be completely making that up, but

that's from my memory.

But they've looked through like folk records and different kind of like herbal books and

all the things to put together.

This kind of book where they're like

documenting kind of traditional knowledge from things that are only recorded rather than kind

of oral history.

And I think I could, I could just be ******* pulling this out my ***.

But from memory,

I think that they talk about how vervain was like associated for people with like quote

unquote hysterical Syria,

which anyone will know is like a kind of like extremely patriarchal label put on feminized

people of basically like PMT or depression because of patriarchy.

But like,

that's what I mean by this like level of fight or flight tension, this kind of hysteria, like

heat energy sense.

Vervain is like very cooling and calming.

It's also just got all these affinities with the nerves in this like nerve tonic sense.

So it's one of the herbs used for people struggling with shingles for sample.

And I think that's because it has this action on the nervous system, like, and on, you know,

the kind of like nerve cells and things and fibers.

But it also,

you know,

back to the Microbiome stuff has a lot of antimicrobial properties.

And there's research around vervain and, you know, they've tested it in petri dishes

against, like, various bacteria and stuff, and it actually is, like, quite an underestimated

antimicrobial herb.

Um, and, you know, maybe that's what's going on.

Like, it's a bitter and it's helping, you know, our liver and our kind of whole GI tract

to function better.

But who ******* knows? Maybe the hysteria is because of some *******

gut bacteria that vervain has a selective,

you know, targeting response to, you know, to killing.

Like, who ******* knows?

Oh, my God, I watched such a good webinar the other day about.

About herbal support in terms of the microbiome and which herbs, like, kind of a

broad spectrum, just like, mashing all the good guys as well as the bad guys.

And which ones are a bit more selective and which ones are, like, prebiotics and help

certain bacteria reproduce and, oh, my God, it is so fascinating.

Maybe I should, yeah, try and interview some people about this because I just love it.

I've literally got a microscope tattooed on my leg, by the way, from when I was studying,

like, soil microbiology stuff.

So, yeah, this is just, like, interesting to me.

Me,

anyway.

But, yeah, that's a little bit about vervain.

So just wonderful nerve tonic.

People who are, like, super burnt out,

debilitated,

but also with high levels of activation.

I will always go to vervain.

It, I think, is like a bit of an a gog and is contraindicated for people in early pregnancy.

So, you know, like, with any herb that I talk about on the show, like, please research it

thoroughly before working with it.

Oh, yeah.

The other thing I was going to say about

vervate is this affinity with the head.

So, like, often a lot of, like, headaches and migraines coming from that place of tension

and activation, but also coming from this, like, liver axis.

So,

yeah, vervain's your herb.

And also, I think has this, like, traditional response, like, traditional use around

nightmares,

which, again, is just all nervous system stuff.

But,

yeah, so anyway, that's all about verb vein,

Right. So the last herb I'm going to talk about in the nerve tonics section is evening

primrose.

And this is like one of the more kind of like, mainstream or, like, commodified herbs, I

would say, in terms of, like,

like, cultural awareness.

And, like, for example, you can go into

Holland and Barrett and get, like, evening promos capsules, for example.

But my experience of Evening Primrose again, I did like a. I sound like such a ****, don't I?

Post on Instagram.

Unfortunately, my livelihood is based on like outreach and encouraging people to join this

course so that I can sustain all the solidarity work.

So like, forgive me for the social media references, but I did this post on Instagram

that was about evening primrose.

And sadly I shared my kind of.

I associate evening primrose with my ex girlfriend Anna,

and our relationship and it being quite volatile,

not because of them in any way, but because of me.

And at the time my mood being like dramatically affected by premenstrual tension.

And like my PMT was terrible because my stress response was like completely out of control in

terms of like untreated, unprofessional, processed trauma from like prison and all this

stuff in my childhood and all that,

blah, blah.

But yeah, like when I kind of broke up with them, I was like super premenstrual and like

completely out of control and just spontaneously did it.

And then,

you know,

a few weeks later they told me, right, I'm going to Rojava where they died and they never

came back.

Like, not even her body.

And I just knew that I had to get my ******* PMT like under control because I was just

destroying relationships like all around me.

And evening primrose was really the herb that I worked with.

And you can get like capsules.

And I do think the essential fatty acids in

evening primrose are what gives it its like nerve tonic actions.

So I think, like I've said loads of times, like our nerves,

like, and our nervous system, it needs fat to function.

And so many of our kind of like nervous system related problems are because we have a

deficiency of fat.

I hate to say it, but especially for vegans, like, so you really gotta be on it with like

the ******* olive oil and the avocados.

And I know they're expensive,

but like getting that kind of like nourishing fat into your body, you know, like walnuts and

nuts and seeds, like,

it really helps the nervous system to work.

Well, I know lots of people have problems

digesting fats and that is again part of the stuff of how the digestion really affects the

nervous system, et cetera, et cetera.

But yeah, like, you can work with like evening primrose capsules, for example,

to help address like deficiencies in fatty acids, which will massively improve things

like anxiety.

But you can also work with evening primrose, like as a tincture or as a tea.

I've pretty much mostly worked with it as like an alcohol based tincture.

I haven't had the pleasure of, of trying to make a glycerite yet with evening primrose.

But yeah, it's as a tincture I found it just, it just worked on like so many other levels.

So like it does have this kind of like slight sedating action but not in like a kind of like

sedative nervine way but just in a kind of like general relaxant effect on the nervous

system.

And it can have like an actually kind of like spasmodic action on the digestive system.

And I think again like, I think it's working as a nerve tonic through that kind of like GI

axis as much as anything.

But yeah, the kind of like essential fatty acid content is the thing that is like really

transformative for people with all sorts of like hormonal related challenges.

And I think that evening primrose again has this like affinity with like the liver for

example.

And that is often why a lot of people are struggling, struggling with things like

depression other than just you know,

like late stage capitalism and all the trauma and oppression.

But like also because our,

you know like detoxification systems and our GI system aren't working well, you know, also

because of chronic stress and industrial agriculture and all the things.

So evening Primrose has this like real affinity with the liver.

A bit like vervain.

But yeah, the kind of essential fatty acids make it really fantastic for issues like acne

for example as well.

It has an effect like quite a recommended

effect on high blood pressure.

So you know, there's all this like cardiovascular affinity as well.

And yeah, I think it's also very like cooling in general but not in a like a cooling bitter

way like vervain or Bethany, but in a kind of like more mucogenesis way.

Like evening primrose has actually traditionally been used in like cough syrup

and stuff.

So anyway, I am going to stop talking now

because I've got to go back to the bubs.

But I hope this episode has been interesting and I hope it sparked your interest in

potentially working with nerve tonics to help your nervous system.

And I hope you can see how it's not just as simple as like, oh, I'm going to take this hub

for that.

Like this **** is like quite complicated in terms of like the actions and the chemistry

and all of this stuff.

And that's why I spent many, many, many months

slash years learning all this stuff, but many months putting together the hubblers and PTSD

and traumatic stress course because I wanted to Communicate this information to people that

I was supporting.

Supporting in a way that was, like, accessible and digestible and not overwhelming.

So in the herbalism and PTSD course, like, we go sort of step by step, really, of looking at

the physiology of the nervous system, how it all works, like the different parts, how

things are connected.

You know, we look at things like nutritional deficiencies relating to PTSD symptoms and how

the body expresses distress.

And then we can go into deep dives.

Like 32 plants are like, you know, sometimes

it's like over an hour long, me talking about a plant.

Okay, a lot of them are a lot less than that.

But, yeah, like, it's comprehensive in terms of you will come away hopefully with an

understanding of, okay, I'm supporting this person or I'm supporting myself.

And this hub may be appropriate because of being in this category, but also because of

these specific actions and these affinities.

Um,

so, yeah, so anyway, it's open for enrollment as we speak.

As I've mentioned everywhere, it's no one turned away for lack of funds, so please don't

think that money is a barrier.

I'm aware there's, like, loads of other

barriers, like, you know, childcare and time and energy and all other things, but it's

lifetime access.

You can work through it as slowly as you need.

There is no pressure to, like, attend things

live.

You could join now and, you know, start

working on it in the summer or next year.

Year.

But yeah, I think it's, like, a really useful resource in, like, understanding all of this

stuff.

So if it's, like, sparked your curiosity,

please check it out.

And I will be back soon.

Later on this week, I'm going to be talking about cardiac nervines, so herbs with an

affinity for the cardiovascular system.

I'm also going to do, like, a similar episode

about, like, sedative and, like, hypnotic nerve irons.

And then we're going to do one about relaxing nervines as well.

I mean, nope, not relaxant stimulating nerve irons.

I've already done one about relaxing vines, which you've hopefully checked out.

So, anyway, thanks for listening.

I hope there's been some value here and yeah,

take care.

Thanks so much for listening to the Frontline Herbalism podcast.

You can find the transcript, the links, all the resources from the

show@solidarityapothecary.org podcast.