Hi, I'm Dr. Glenn Nagel and today we're at Mountain Rose Herbs and we're talking about
finding a decent demulcent, the kind of demulcent that's not too dry,
the decent demulcents, something that can help this wise guy.
I'm looking for a decent demulcent, one that does the trick, a slimy gooey mass that's nice and
thick, that helps dry mouth when saliva is scant, or use it at home as a personal lubricant.
Most folks they say they don't like Dr. Slime but in the world of herbalism,
I'm sublime. A decent demulcent, a smooth slimy mass, a decent demulcent, the issues of my past.
First we crawl out of the ocean so deep, get out of the muck and grow feet,
we fall in love and ocean we go in a hormonal haze that has a demulcent flow.
Decent demulcent, one that's not too dry. A decent demulcent that will help this
wise guy. A decent demulcent to calm my tissues, a decent demulcent, you know I got a lot of issues.
First there's cinnamon, everyone's favorite spice.
Put it in your coffee, tea, or apple pie would be nice. It's soothing, and astringent, and supports
your blood sugar, but if you leave it in the cup all day it forms one big booger.
Althaea is a mucilage, a white fluffy ball it can't be, it's pure mucilage, a fluffernut you can see.
It grows behind every garden, behind every door, and it's the best herb if you are poor.
Ulmus fulva, it's a hard line to say, it's from the slippery elm tree down Appalachian way.
The inner bark is peeled off in long big strips .
It's a nutritive mucilage, just don't step on it or you'll slip. Now there's Fucus the seaweed with
its own slimy alginates. It's been shown by some to help your weight. It smells like the beach in
not so complementary way, and it would have a very different meaning if it had a letter k.
Symphytum is the healing herb, oh very school, you can kick this bluesman, oh what a fool.
The root is slimy, the leaf is less. Keep it to the skin as that would be best.
I'm a decent demulcent, one that's not too dry, a decent demulcent help this wise guy,
a decent demulcent, soothe my tissues, a decent emotion solves some of my issues.
I need a decent demulcent, one that's not too shy,
a decent demulcent, help this wise guy, a decent demulcent, soothe my tissues,
a decent demulcent, you know I got a lot of issues. Bring home that decent demulcent
blues. Demulcent is a slimy gooey mass that comes from plants and so we have five kinds of herbal
demulcents and I want to talk about each one and how to use them because demulcents can be
used for anything that's hot, dry, or irritated, because they're cooling and they're soothing.
And if you use demulcents on the skin that's called an emollient, and so that
can help with dry skin, cracked skin. And so we'll start with the two classics
and the first one is marshmallow. Althea officinalis. The wonderful thing about marshmallow, it's a
perennial, it's easy to grow, you can dry the root, you can use it fresh. The mucilage is
almost the purest. It's very clear and it's very non-flavored, just a slight astringency.
And so you can use that originally for making marshmallows. The second one is also a classic
and that's slippery elm bark. Ulmus fulva. And that's the inner bark of the slippery elm tree.
The musligin there is also very sweet and very mild, so it can be used for people that have
challenging palettes. It's also a little bit more nutritional because it's the inner bark
of a tree, it has lots of minerals and a little bit more sugars and so traditionally that was
mixed into say like applesauce or apple juice to make a slippery elm gruel. The key thing with all
the demulcents is always to use cold water. If you use hot water it makes lumps in your gravy. Cold water,
you can keep the lumps from forming. Then we have comfrey: Symphytum officinalis.
And that's only best used topically and so that demulcent can be used in salves and creams
and it's really great on the skin. Then we have everybody's favorite: cinnamon. This is the quills
or the bark of cinnamon. Cinnamon's unique. It's by far the most flavorful one because of the
wonderful cinnamon flavor. But it also has an astringent property and a soothing property.
So in herbal medicine when you have two opposites you call that... astringent and soothing... you would
call that a tonic because it could be used for somebody with a dry condition or a moist condition
because it has both properties. That's probably why it's one of the world's most commonly used spices.
Cinnamon, love that one. And then the final one is the sea plant. that is the fucus
or the bladder wrack. On the shore of the beach where they grow the bladder wracks
have little pods and when you crack them open, you see clear gel. It kind of looks like aloe vera
of the sea but it has a seaweed kind of flavor and smell so it's not pleasant for everybody.
But if you wanted to make a cold infusion of these you fill any of these jars up with
cold water put the lid on, and set them... stir them up and set them in the fridge overnight,
strain them out, and when you strain them out, you get... I have here a seaweed gel made from Chondrus crispus,
or irish moss, which is another great seaweed, and it forms a beautiful carrageenan-rich
seaweed smelling, seaweed flavored demulcent and if you see ... when I pour it,
this is how you tell something is a demulcent. As you slide it between your fingers
it will be slippery. Even tinctures can have demulcent effects. That way you know it has those natural
slippery demulcent properties. And so the seaweed gel could be used in making foams, it could be
used in beauty products on the skin, it could be used as a drink, it could be put into smoothies.
So these are the herbal demulcents, the top five. Get to know them, you can use them. Thanks!