Drink Your Minerals
Herbal teas for magnesium, potassium, calcium, and more
It’s a hot, humid summer day. You keep drinking water, hoping it will get rid of your unquenchable thirst. Except it doesn’t. You keep drinking and you somehow quench for water even more.
This is a common occurrence when your water lacks minerals. In fact, it’s not water that hydrates you but rather the minerals that are supposed to be in the water that provides hydration.
Because our water lacks the minerals we need, we stay forever thirsty while also suffering from brain fog, fatigue, and bloating- all issues related to mineral deficiencies.
Not to mention that because of industrial farming, our soil and therefore our produce has also been stripped of nutrients. Now, we have to take supplements and monitor our blood levels just to ensure our health is in a good place.
It’s not supposed to be like this. In reality, the water we drink and the food we eat should be enough. Our ancestors didn’t have to purchase methylated B vitamins or liposomal vitamin C packets to have decent amounts of energy or an active immune system.
According to one study done in 2004, the mineral levels in our food are 38% lower than they were in the 1950s. Imagine how this percentage has probably increased in the last 20 years.
While there are many different factors contributing to this, the rise of monocrops is a large reason for this. Farmers are growing the same crops in the same plot of land year after year, tilling the soil until it has nothing else to give. They aren’t allowing biodiversity to flourish in the soil from natural fertilizers like manure or from rotating the type of crop being grown.
Instead, pesticides and herbicides are sprayed, killing anything and everything other than the single crop they are growing.
Then, our water is stripped of its mineral content due to all of the treatment it undergoes just to be “clean”. Even then it is filled with hormonal birth control, high amounts of arsenic, and supplemental fluoride. You need to strip it to nothing in order for it to be truly safe to drink.
Not to mention, many of us now suffer from gut issues like IBS and leaky gut, making it near impossible to absorb any of the minerals we are actually getting through our food. Instead of simply depending on our food for vitamins and minerals, we need to supplement in other ways.
Except, who wants to be taking 20-30 pills every day just to meet basic health requirements? Luckily, herbal teas are a great way to increase your mineral content in a way that is easily absorbed by the body.
Mineral-rich herbal teas
Since following my friend Lindsey, founder of Drink Symbi, I’ve been introduced to herbalism and its power to heal the body. Herbs, and the teas made with them, can provide us with so many minerals needed to reverse a lot of our chronic health issues.
There are a few that I’ve consistently incorporated into my diet in the last year or two in order to help me with various health issues. These are the ones that I believe everyone can benefit from.
Stinging Nettle
“Stinging nettle has antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, analgesic, anti-infectious, hypotensive, and antiulcer characteristics, as well as the ability to prevent cardiovascular disease, in all parts of the plant (leaves, stems, roots, and seeds)”(Nutritional and pharmacological importance of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica L.): A review).
Interestingly enough, this is the first thing that pops up when you Google “stinging nettle health benefits”! This study highlights all of the amazing benefits of nettle including its ability to protect chickens against parasites, cure infertility in animals in India, and enhance milk quality in cows.
But this is a whole other topic. Stinging nettle is an amazing source of:
calcium (481mg)
potassium (334mg)
phosphorous (71mg)
magnesium (57mg)
My mom and dad recently went on a trip to Asheville, North Carolina, and took a foraging class where they picked stinging nettle. This is one of those common “weeds” that you can find in many wooded areas that is actually quite the superfood!
After learning about it from an experienced forager, they now understand the health benefits of plants like this that grow in the wild. If you live in areas with damp, fertile soil, try foraging some nettle for your own teas! Just make sure you wear gloves- there’s a season it’s called stinging nettle.
Dandelion
I still remember reading about dandelions in the 7th grade. I think the book we were reading in our literature class contained a recipe for a dandelion salad, so my friends and I were motivated to forage some for extra credit.
We headed to an unkept yard in the neighborhood (one that all the parents deemed ugly and made the neighborhood look a mess), where we found a field of dandelions we could pick for our salad. We picked the leaves and yellow heads of the plant and removed as many ants as we could.
We mixed it with some nuts for an extra crunch and olive oil and brought it to our teacher the next day. We thought it was gross at the time, our teacher eating weeds from a neighborhood yard, but turns out it was one of the best things he could eat.
I was re-introduced to dandelion tea last summer by a functional medicine practitioner who helped me with some of my hormonal imbalances. Dandelion tea is known to detoxify the liver, helping clear the skin and rid the body of toxins due to its ability to increase the flow of bile. Because of this, it’s great for women’s hormone health and anyone looking to decrease their toxic load.
Dandelion is also high in the following minerals:
potassium (218mg)
calcium (100mg)
B1
B12
I now drink dandelion tea, with 1 tsp of maca, after lunch every day! It’s become a nutty, earthy flavor that I crave. Even our dog Lincoln loves eating dandelion plants every time one sprouts up in our year! If animals are instinctively drawn to it, there must be something to it.
Oatstraw
I’ve been drinking oatstraw nearly daily for months. I first learned about it from Instagram and ordered a huge bag of it in bulk from Mountain Rose Herbs. This mixed with nettle is a great daily tea to replenish minerals and stay hydrated. Plus, I love the grassy taste!
Minerals in oatstraw include:
calcium (300mg)
manganese (22mg)
zinc (15mg)
B12
B6
vitamin E
silica
magnesium
All of these minerals help to make oatstraw a bioavailable herb that is great for your adrenals, brain, gut, bones, and teeth.
Red raspberry leaf
You’ve probably heard of pregnant women drinking red raspberry leaf to give them an easier labor, or even induce it. While it’s known to be an herb that supports women’s health, it is so much more.
Red raspberry leaf is an herb I was first introduced to by Drink Symbi, as it makes up a large part of their Cycle Harmony blend (one of my favorites). Red raspberry leaf is great for menstrual cramps but also helps in staying hydrated. It contains a large amount of antioxidants and is even said to help support digestive health.
It contains the following minerals:
potassium (450mg)
calcium (400mg)
magnesium (100mg)
iron
manganese
vitamin C
It’s one of those herbs that really helps with everything! It also makes any herbal blend taste fruity and delicious.
Hibiscus
While hibiscus is more so a flower than an herb, it makes for an excellent tea! Like red raspberry leaf, it’s fruity and helps support women’s cycles. It’s another one included in both Drink Symbi’s Daily Hydration and Cycle Harmony blends.
Hibiscus also contains antioxidants called anthocyanins, which have anti-inflammatory properties. It helps to soothe the digestive system and even aid with constipation due to its magnesium content.
Hibiscus is high in the following minerals:
calcium (123 mg)
potassium (119 mg)
magnesium (29 mg)
phosphorous (21 mg)
vitamin C (6.8mg)
Our favorite farmer Emily of Bene Vivendo is known for growing beautiful Roselle Hibiscus in the Phoenix area. I first tasted her fresh hibiscus last year and have been hooked on its flavor ever since. In fact, we even planted some of her roselle seeds in our garden this spring!
Look out for tons of hibiscus recipes come the fall, including how to dry your very own hibiscus and use it to make tea.
HTMA Tests
You may be wondering, why are you so obsessed with minerals? While we often think about consuming enough vitamins, minerals haven’t gotten much love until now! However, in order to function properly, we need to have not only enough of certain minerals but also the right ratios.
Last summer I learned about something called an HTMA test. This test stands for Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis and quite literally asks you to cut out chunks of your hair in order to test its mineral content. The root of your hair most accurately reflects the amount of minerals you currently have stored in your body.
The test tells you:
your metabolic type
mineral ratios
heavy metal content
single mineral content
It is extremely powerful in identifying where you are deficient and the kinds of minerals you need to focus on getting more of, or even less. For example, I was low in magnesium and manganese, two minerals you find a lot in herbal teas. The HTMA test also showed me that I had low ratios of calcium to magnesium and iron to copper.
Now, I can properly supplement with herbal teas that contain these minerals in order to balance my ratios and increase the minerals I am low in. Then, I can retest to see how adding the herbal teas has affected my previous numbers.
Take action:
Order an HTMA and work with a functional practitioner to understand your results. Start incorporating herbal tea blends into your daily routine to help with the health struggles you are facing.
I recommend starting with Drink Symbi’s Cycle Harmony (for females), Daily Hydration, and Liver Support. I also recommend buying nettle and oatstraw in bulk from Mountain Rose Herbs, infusing them in hot water, storing them in the fridge, and drinking them daily!
What herbal infusions are your favorite? I’d love to hear your suggestions!
Enjoy the energy of the full moon 🌕
Madison