David Winston what’s blooming in your garden? (June 15, 2010)
Welcome to a new feature where David shares his thoughts inspired by what’s going on now.
 
“Calendula is starting to bloom in my garden with its beautiful orange flowers. While calendula is a common herb very few people seem to understand the full range of its uses. Calendula can be used topically as well as orally and of course it is wonderful in a range of skin care products.”

“Calendula is probably best known as a vulnerary or wound plant and it is used in both homeopathy and herbal medicine for cuts, scratchers, scrapes, abrasions and bruises etc. It also has similar activity internally and so it can be used for inflammation, irritation and bleeding, especially of the gastric mucosa; it has benefit for conditions like gastritis, gastric leaky gut syndrome and IBS. It has the same sort of vulnerary action in the oral mucosa and so it can be used for things like gingivitis, bleeding gums.”

“In addition, and this is something that most people seem to be unaware of, internally calendula is also phenomenally effective as a lymphatic. I usually combine it with other lymphatic herbs such as Violet leaf, Red Clover, Burdock root, Echinacea for enlarged lymph nodes and, although it takes a fairly long period of time, it can also be used for things like cystic breast disease and general lymphatic stagnation. And you often see that with people who are the proverbial couch potatoes, where there's a lack of exercise they have a tendency toward obesity, a tendency towards getting frequent colds, they probably have allergies and so for people like that calendula can be really useful especially as a tonic herb; maybe in the spring and autumn especially during allergy season because it also stabilizes the mucosal membranes reducing histamine response and so helps reduce allergic response.”

“I forgot to mention that calendula also makes a really good gargle for sore throats especially a combination of calendula and sage. Adding Echinacea to that combination is phenomenally effective for sore throats, strep throat and other irritations of the mucous membranes. You can also use calendula in a netty pot for things like sinusitis, fungal sinusitis and nosebleeds. In addition to all of those things let us not forget that calendula is traditionally used in an oil base or in an ointment base not just for wounds and but for a range of skin conditions especially where the skin is flaky and dry. It also has benefit topically as a hair wash for dandruff.”

“And of course let's not forget that those orange and sometimes yellow flowers are rich in luteine and luteine is very effective carotenoid used to strengthen the eyes and so calendula can be used for helping to prevent diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration and improve the eye health in general. And so this is an herb that has a multitude of uses.”