Skip to Main Content

The Wild Medicine Solution

Healing with Aromatic, Bitter, and Tonic Plants

Published by Healing Arts Press
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book

Restoring the use of wild plants in daily life for vibrant physical, mental, and spiritual health

• Explains how 3 classes of wild plants--aromatics, bitters, and tonics--are uniquely adapted to work with our physiology because we coevolved with them

• Provides simple recipes to easily integrate these plants into meals as well as formulas for teas, spirits, and tinctures

• Offers practical examples of plants in each of the 3 classes, from aromatic peppermint to bitter dandelion to tonic chocolate

As people moved into cities and suburbs and embraced modern medicine and industrialized food, they lost their connection to nature, in particular to the plants with which humanity coevolved. These plants are essential components of our physiologies--tangible reminders of cross-kingdom signaling--and key not only to vibrant physical health and prevention of illness but also to soothing and awakening the troubled spirit.

Blending traditional herbal medicine with history, mythology, clinical practice, and recent findings in physiology and biochemistry, herbalist Guido Masé explores the three classes of plants necessary for the healthy functioning of our bodies and minds--aromatics, bitters, and tonics. He explains how bitter plants ignite digestion, balance blood sugar, buffer toxicity, and improve metabolism; how tonic plants normalize the functions of our cells and nourish the immune system; and how aromatic plants relax tense organs, nerves, and muscles and stimulate sluggish systems, whether physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual. He reveals how wild plants regulate our heart variability rate and adjust the way DNA is read by our cells, controlling the self-destructive tendencies that lead to chronic inflammation or cancer.

Offering examples of ancient and modern uses of wild plants in each of the 3 classes--from aromatic peppermint to bitter dandelion to tonic chocolate--Masé provides easy recipes to integrate them into meals as seasonings and as central ingredients in soups, stocks, salads, and grain dishes as well as including formulas for teas, spirits, and tinctures. Providing a framework for safe and effective use as well as new insights to enrich the practice of advanced herbalists, he shows how healing “wild plant deficiency syndrome”--that is, adding wild plants back into our diets--is vital not only to our health but also to our spiritual development.

Excerpt

Chapter 4
Tonics
Nourish and Balance

The modern world has its faults, certainly, but it has provided us with some amazing tools and technologies. This is evident in the dramatic cures for infection and acute trauma achieved by medical science. The drugs and procedures used to combat these age-old scourges, which in the past decimated huge numbers of us, are remarkably, almost miraculously, effective. At the same time, however, we are struggling with new sources of morbidity and mortality. No longer is infection the leading cause of disease and death. Now we have chronic inflammation, hypersensitivity, cancer, and heart disease staring us down in our later years. Tonic plants, with their complex combinations of saponins, polysaccharides, and polyphenols, offer a potential solution through their ability to modulate immune function and genetic expression.

Tonics come to us unadulterated from the ecosystem. At very deep levels, they seem to be a necessary part of our xenobiome, the comprehensive chemical environment mostly made of plants, in which the liver evolved. Their use impacts conditions of weakness, deficient energy and immunity, and dementia as well as cancer, inflammatory heart disease, allergies, and asthma. But they are much milder than pharmaceutical drugs. If we are to influence the new diseases of the modern world, we will need to approach them with a slightly different mind-set; these diseases don’t respond well to the strong, direct treatments used for acute conditions.

In the face of altered diets, increased stress, novel chemicals, and a much faster pace of life (as well as a longer life span), we would be foolish to think that a single drug targeting a single receptor site might be able to reverse the years of cultural and ecological effects on an individual human being. Tonics are complex medicines well suited to interacting with our complex physiologies. It’s impossible to overwhelm a chanting crowd by screaming your message by yourself, but get some friends to whisper an interesting thought to their neighbors and the idea might become viral, spreading from person to person, until the chant changes. Medicine is beginning to realize this. Physicians are trying “polypills” for cardiovascular disease in the hopes that intervention at multiple levels might be more effective. Yet nature has been handing us much more complex and multilayered polypills all along: herbal tonics. Their effectiveness against the modern, chronic diseases is beyond dispute, especially when treatment is started early on. In fact, it is very possible some diseases exist, or are more widespread than they should be, because of an absence of these vital plants.

HAWTHORN

Hawthorn’s tonic activity is all about the heart. It opens circulation, reliably decreasing blood pressure, but it opens the heart in other ways too. When used over time even posture changes, shoulders roll back, the forehead lifts, and one can almost see a radiance emanating from the solar plexus. Sure, this “energetic” effect is difficult to objectively capture or assess. But you might be surprised how connected our emotional hearts are to the physical muscle in our chests. Our autonomic nervous systems and our hearts are really part of the same organ system. So many times I’ve seen people, myself included, respond to hawthorn not only with a lower blood pressure and steadier heartbeat but also with a softer, more tolerant, emotional connection to the world.

Hawthorn’s cardiovascular benefits are not limited to controlling blood pressure. In fact, the berry, in extract form, strengthens the contractions of an aging and failing heart. It reduces symptoms of chest pain, shortness of breath, and fatigue that come from a weak cardiovascular system or from poor circulation—in people of all ages. And it does so extremely safely, because, as with most tonics, it’s basically just food. And while exotic fruits such as goji and acai are all the rage these days, I usually recommend you save your money and focus on hawthorn and blueberries instead: they are as rich in flavonoids and as effective as any expensive tonic from far-flung corners of the globe.

The best way to prepare the berries as an ongoing heart tonic is to cook them into a thick, rich, unsweetened jam. I like to use fresh berries, but if you have none you can rehydrate dry ones by soaking them in barely enough water to cover them and leaving them overnight. Take the berries and cook them in a steel pot over low heat, stirring and mashing them in the process (a fork works fine for this). After an hour or so you will have a rich, reddish orange mass interspersed with the hard seeds. At this point pass the pulp through a vegetable mill—the old kind with the hand-crank handle that goes around in circles. This separates the seeds, which can be discarded. If you’re familiar with canning, you can reheat the hawthorn pulp and preserve it that way. Alternatively you can simply fill eight-ounce jars about three-quarters of the way and simply freeze your jam. Take about two tablespoons of this medicinal treat daily as is—spread on toast, mixed in oatmeal, or however suits your fancy. A most delectable way to take your medicine!

Safe, foodlike, highly effective when used habitually, and often quite tasty, these red fruits embody all the best qualities of a tonic. Though their effects are most pronounced on the heart, pharmacological research shows that they can substantially affect inflammatory balance and epigenetics as well, which may be part of why they are so helpful to the cardiovascular system. It continues to puzzle me why their use is not more widespread in the modern health care system. Perhaps it has become hard for us to trust that medicine might be found, already perfectly complete, hanging off a scraggly, thorny tree on the edge of a weedy farm field. Are we really trying to say that there can be no good remedy without human tinkering? Or have we become afraid of that which is unhybridized and uncontrolled?

About The Author

Photograph by Anne K. Dougherty

Guido Masé is a clinical herbalist, herbal educator, and garden steward. The cofounder and codirector of the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism, he is a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild, the American Botanical Council, and United Plant Savers. He lives in South Burlington, Vermont.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Healing Arts Press (March 24, 2013)
  • Length: 328 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781620551516

Browse Related Books

Raves and Reviews

“Guido has written a classic. What is most masterful about Guido’s teachings and writing is the way he weaves folklore, tradition, and science flawlessly together, making a sensible, cohesive argument for the daily use of these common and important plants.”

– Rosemary Gladstar, herbalist and founder of United Plant Savers and author of Rosemary Gladstar&rsqu

“An essential title for those interested in alternative medicine, especially for the additional information in the extensive notes and bibliography.”

– Library Journal, August 2013

“A twenty-first-century herbal filled with the wisdom of authentic herbalism. Not only are vital skills of herbalism imparted in a friendly and grounded way, but the book is brimming with insights and wisdom from an herbalist who truly walks his talk.”

– David Hoffmann, FNIMH, RH, medical herbalist and author of Medical Herbalism

“In The Wild Medicine Solution, Guido Masé presents a beautiful tapestry of writing that weaves together the colorfully rich tradition of herbal medicine around tonics and bitters, which are among the most important classes of botanicals for human health. Great information. A delightful read. The real solution to the health care crisis!”

– Roy Upton, RH, Doctor of Ayurvedic Medicine, executive director of the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia

“There are those who incorporate everyday plants into their diet, knowing this is herbal healing at its best. Guido Masé goes one step further. Here’s the science that makes clear why direct plant medicine rocks. Tonics, bitters, and aromatics enliven our meals as well as stimulate our life force. Read this book and dare to be healthy!”

– Michael Phillips, author of The Holistic Orchard and The Apple Grower

“Whether you are an aging boomer looking for the best ways to stay healthy; a prepper worried about the end days; a sage femme guiding women toward wholeness during pregnancy, birth, and menopause; or a surgeon curious about integrative medicine, you will find ideas here that may overturn your current conceptions of health. This book is a short course on a deep matter, with plenty of practical, do-it-now examples to support your own health and engage in true preventive medicine. It is a gift of green blessings to us all.”

– Susun S. Weed, author of Healing Wise and A Wise Woman Herbal

“Since ancient times we have been told that bitter and aromatic herbs can improve our health and well-being, but most Westerners avoid these beneficial herbs. Guido Masé, on the other hand, gives us convincing historical and scientific reasons for using them as well as simple recipes to help us enjoy them.”

– David Winston, RH, author of Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief

“In The Wild Medicine Solution herbalist Guido Masé elegantly weaves human history and biology with the history of herbal medicines, offering readers compelling reasons to reharmonize with nature and reintegrate herbs as medicines into their lives. A good read and a beautiful presentation.”

– Aviva Jill Romm, M.D., herbalist, midwife, and author of Vaccinations and Natural Health after Birth

“If you have to deal with the stress and stressors of modern life, please read this. Accessible to non-science geeks and very appealing to those who like some soul served up with their science, this book is also a good one for skeptics who want scientific proof before they’ll buy into the validity of using herbs.”

– Vaguely Bohemian, April 2013

“A natural adjunct to the current real food movement, this book is a resource you’ll want to return to again and again.”

– Anna Jedrziewski, Inannaworks.com, May 2013

The Wild Medicine Solution is a love letter to wild plants. From peppermint to dandelion root, Guido Masé writes with a fervent, irresistible intensity about the capacity of wild plants to restore humanity’s physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.”

– Alizah Salario, Spirituality and Health, May 2013

“In The Wild Medicine Solution: Healing with Aromatic, Bitter, and Tonic Plants, herbalist Guido Mase skips the laboratory-created supplement aisle and instead focuses deeply on how to use three plant categories for mind and body wellness...Mase adeptly explains how these special plants work in consistent and predictable ways to improve neuromuscular tone, aid digestive and metabolic activity, and even adjust our genetic expression, the way our cells read our DNA. Creating wild botanically based soups, salads, teas, spirits and tinctures make it easy to regularly include these plant categories into our lives.”

– Gail Lord, Spirit of Change, June 2013

“Whether for everyday well-being or in dealing with dangerous diseases, plants offer natural options for improved health. The Wild Medicine Solution and Herbal Antivirals help put plant power in the reader’s hands.”

– Lisa James, Energy Times, July 2013

Resources and Downloads

High Resolution Images