This week, we will turn to another rose family herb - hawthorn. When thinking of an herb for heart health, hawthorn immediately jumps to the mind of many an herbalist. The slightly tart berries get a lot of the attention, but the leaves and flowers are actually much more potent medicine and have quite a bit of research showing their powerful nourishing effects on the cardiovascular system. As one of my mentors Dr. Deborah Frances says,

“A flavonoid-rich, nutritive tonic, hawthorn enhances cardiovascular health by decreasing inflammation, opening coronary vessels, lowering blood pressure, and generally strengthening the function and integrity of cardiovascular tissue.”

We begin our journey with herbs this year with the humble flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum).

This plant was one of the first domesticated by humans and has been used since the stone age (1). The fibers have long been spun into linen and the seeds have been used both as food and for the oil which makes up about 33% of the seed’s mass (2). Aged flaxseed oil is also known as linseed oil. One might assume that there isn’t much to write about this humble little seed, but you would be mistaken.