Sage for Your Digestion

The Marvels of Sage

Upon looking up sage, I realized some of its marvels. There are many so bear with me here.

Some of the most notable are that is helps the production of bile which eases the load on the gallbladder. This herb is especially important if you have had your gallbladder removed. Sage is often used in sausage because of its ability to break down fats.

Okay, so personal rant about its' greatness for a moment. I made some SUPER SCRUMPTIOUS sugar free peanut butter cups the other day (recipe will follow soon) and got a tad bit carried away with "tasting" them. They had a lot of coconut oil in them so I had a belly ache afterwards.

I had read about sage helping with the digestion of fat, of which coconut oil is famously high in, so I chewed on some leaves for about ten minutes, sucking on the juices. After those ten minutes my stomach ache was completely gone! Like seriously, GONE! Now this will only work if there is too much fat consumption too quickly but, still! It is quite an exciting discovery.

Rant over.

Some other exciting uses are that it:

-rebuilds strength after a long term illness

-helps regulate menstruation/hormones

-dries/regulates fluids in the body (often used as an ingredient in deodorant)

-helps cold, flu-antiseptic (prevents growth of disease), astringent (causes contraction of tissues such as skin to stop bleeding)

-aids with mouth inflammation

-helps in drying up mother's milk supply

So, you can see why I love this herb and why you should keep it stocked in your cupboard. It's da bomb dot com!

There are a few things you must know about taking this herb though. If you are nursing and DO NOT wish to dry up your milk supply then do not take much of this. It will affect the supply if consumed in significant doses. Also, it can cause digestive upsets in some people or in large doses so, this is not recommended.

I began my sage growing adventure because in all honesty, I knew nothing about it and thought it might be an interesting experience. Well, boy was I in for a surprise as you can tell!

For one, I have a greenhouse so, most plants tend to have an edge over some that would be grown outside. But SOOOOO much work has gone into making this greenhouse that it is wonderful plants love it because I would be crushed if all that work went to nothing.

I live on the edge of a desert so a greenhouse was necessary for anything to grow. The freaking Mesquite trees are struggling here! Mesquite trees which grow in African deserts are struggling! That should tell you a little about how necessary it was to have a greenhouse. Also, there is an RO (reverse osmosis) system in the greenhouse as well because our well water is so hard it will actually turn the plants white. But, I digress.

I bought a little sage plant from Lowe's because I am still working on the art of growing plants from seeds. They still seem to struggle with germinating. I will be talking about this in later posts. I planted my little plant in the center area of my greenhouse a little too close to the wall so when it gets cold, I'm sure it will struggle. But thus far it hasn't gotten terribly cold so no problems.

After several months and a few scares of wondering if it was dead or not, my sage plant is huge! I'm talking two feet high and two feet wide. This is after the first spring/summer season. Sage is a perennial so it will continue to come back every year as long as there isn't extreme heat and humidity (mildew is sage's nemesis).

It is also drought and heat tolerant for the most part making it an excellent choice for one of the first herbs to try to grow for someone who has little experience with plants (me at the time).

Sage does well in zones 5-8 and farther south as long as the humidity and heat aren't Sahara Desert hot which they can be during some summers. I've heard good things from many people in different zones though, so I wouldn't stress about it too much.

Since my plant is so large and I hate for herbs to go to waste, I have been drying my sage in a dehydrator (I super love the velvety feel of the leaves so sometimes I just pick them for fun). Winter is approaching and, I don't want any of that precious sage going to waste. As I began drying the sage to use it as a spice, it occurred to me that it can do so much more than just taste good and thus this post was born!

Plus, I have to add that sage is toddler approved! My 17 month old will go out to the greenhouse with me and just eat sage leaves. Which is pretty cool in my opinion. It's so versatile and well liked by most people that there really is no reason why you can't have one in your garden!

I hope you enjoy using this herb as much as I have! Let me know if you have any questions or comments! :) Give me a shout out and let me know what you love to do with sage!

Blessings!

Kelsie

(The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.)