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Recipes with Tarragon: Quinoa Stuffed Red Bell Peppers with Tarragon
Spring Blood Thinner
Spring is softening the soil, and the promise of a lush backyard garden is sweet compensation for the dark days of winter. Are you fantasizing about your culinary herb garden, picking and choosing the green leaves that will flavor and speckle this year's coming meals?
Don't forget about the anise-flavored tarragon. Get it growing in your windowsill as the winter withers. You might need it - tarragon is your springtime friend.
Blood tends to be congested and thick in the spring. Luckily, you can look to flavorful ingredients like raw onions or bright garlicky pestos to help get fluids moving. Try a pesto made with tarragon. Tarragon's aroma relaxes and dilates blood vessels, removing any restriction to circulation. The herb's hot pungency stimulates the heart and destroys a lingering winter chill. Tarragon's drying qualities reduce spring water retention as well, releasing water weight and restoring tone to puffy skin.These blood-moving and pressure reducing properties help reinvigorate the blood and flush the lymphatic system.
Tarragon not only clears the blood and gets it moving, tarragon reduces platelet adhesion and the clogging of blood vessels. It may be beneficial in cardiovascular disorders involving clotting.Tarragon belongs to the Artemisia genus, a genus that features prominently in many worldwide herbal heritages, including Chinese medicine and Western herbalism. The delicious leaves show up in cuisines from France to Russia and beyond. It's common knowledge; tarragon is delicious and good for you.
Recipes with Tarragon: Asparagus with Mustard & Tarragon
Cleansing the Blood
Turn to beautifying bitters in springtime, which is the time of year when nature nudges us to flush and cleanse our insides. Tarragon is one bitter-flavored helper. Its bitter taste cleanses the liver, encourages the production of bile, and purifies the blood. Some herbalists recommend soaking the bruised leaves in apple cider vinegar for a few hours, and then taking a spoonful of the medicated vinegar before eating to aid digestion and detoxification.
Famed British gardener John Evelyn said of tarragon, just as it was becoming a favored culinary herb in his homeland: "'Tis highly cordial and friend to the head, heart, and liver."
Historical uses of the herb affirm Evelyn's hunch, and much more. Medieval herbalists regarded tarragon as a treatment for snakebite.The ancient Greeks chewed the leaves and wedged them near a problematic tooth to treat the pain. In Chinese medicine the herb is turned to for menstrual difficulties, digestive support, and to assist with loss of appetite.
About Tarragon
The name tarragon is a corruption of the French esdragon, derived from the Latin dracunculus, which means a little dragon.
Buying & Preparation
Make sure you get French tarragon instead of the other varieties often sold at stores. Fresh tarragon grown at home is best. It is said to be difficult to grow from seed and may be best purchased as a start. The herb is an excellent companion plant, helping to protect other plants in the garden from insects, which dislike its smell and flavor. Tarragon is a perennial that likes hot, sunny soils with minimal water retention.
Cooking Tarragon
Tarragon is one of four "fines herbes" of French cooking, grouped with parsley, chives, and chervil. Its flavor works well in chicken and fish marinades, as well as in egg dishes. At least one master chef declared that scrambled eggs with the right amount of tarragon are a bit of heaven. Tarragon is the main flavor of the rich Barnaise sauce, and tarragon vinegar. Tarragon adds a special zing to a spring salad with radishes.
Ever drink a green soda? Tarragon flavors a bright green carbonated beverage popular in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia. This popular, verdant drink captures the freshness and effervescent impermanence of spring. In Slovenia, tarragon spices a traditional sweet cake called potica. Be cautious when cooking tarragon in soups, as the Hungarians do, because of its strong flavor.
Whenever there is a call for green herbs in a recipe, turn to tarragon. The herb will bring a bright, interesting flavor - swirled into a creamy soup, as a hummus topping with olive oil, in a lemony vinaigrette, or in a Greek yogurt dipping sauce for roasted veggies.
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AYURVEDA'S GUIDE TO VITALITY & WHOLESOME NOURISHMENT
Your Ayurvedic diet is tailored to your individual body and your specific imbalances.
With an Ayurvedic diet you feel joy and satisfaction because what you are eating truly nourishes and balances you.
Disease results from diets and lifestyles that are incompatible with your nature.
By eating a personalized diet matched to your body, you experience optimal health.
See How it Works.
Ayurveda assesses metabolic imbalances through 20 main biocharacteristics
(gunas).
Aggravating them weakens your body and causes imbalance.
By knowing which biocharacteristics are habitually imbalanced in your body, you will be able to identify and correct metabolic imbalances before you get sick.
Every biocharacteristic has an opposite which balances it (i.e. hot balances cold).
You restore balance by favoring diet and lifestyle choices that increase the opposite biocharacteristic.
Taste is used to sense the most basic properties and effects of food.
Each taste has a specific medicinal effect on your body.
Cravings for food with certain tastes indicate your body is craving specific medicinal results from food.
Taste is experienced on the tongue and represents your body's reaction to foods.
Sweet taste causes physical satisfaction and attraction whereas bitter taste causes discomfort and aversion.
Kapha should use less sweet taste while Vata and Pitta would benefit from using more sweet taste.
One of the first signs of illness is that your taste and appetite for food changes.
The six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent.
Do you crave foods with any of the tastes below?
Ayurveda is a metabolic theory of medicine that explains individual health, tendencies, and disease patterns through the concept of doshas, which can be understood as your metabolic patterns and tendencies.
Each dosha reflects a distinct metabolic nature and describes strengths & weaknesses in bodily function, and how these affect energy levels, digestion, susceptibility to disease, and many other tendencies.
Your metabolic nature not only affects your physical characteristics, but also influences your mental thought patterns, confidence, and enthusiasm.
Ayurveda balances these metabolic strengths & weaknesses to support your body's vitality and prevent recurrent disease cycles. This support is a critical aid, especially in chronic or incurable disease conditions.
The 3 metabolic body types
(doshas),
are Catabolic (Vata), Metabolic (Pitta), and Anabolic (Kapha).
Through dosha, Ayurveda empowers people to identify metabolic imbalances early, break repetitive patterns of disease, and cultivate habits that support long-term vitality and well-being.
Ultimately, these metabolic patterns also provide a framework for understanding yourself, including body, mind, and spiritual tendencies.
Ayurveda & Greek Medicine were the dominant form of medicine along the Silk Road from England to China and South Asia.
They work by assessing your metabolic type, patterns, and nature.
Greek medicine recognizes 4 metabolic temperaments, Melancholic, Choleric, Sanguine, and Phlegmatic.
Cold and dry with a slow, variable or erratic metabolism. Colicky, tense. Withdrawn, pensive, anxious, and hesitant. Analytical, intelligent, detail oriented and creative. Prone to ojas depletion, dehydration, an overactive nervous system, and depression.
Has a hot and dry metabolic nature. Enthusiastic, vibrant and bright. In excess burns up fluids and ojas, irritable. Corresponds to high bilirubin in the blood that irritates and heats up the body and liver.
Herbs or spices with volatile essential oils that present strong aromas. Aromatic oils shock, refresh and numb tissue, with the end result of relaxing, opening and clearing stagnant fluids in tissues.
Medicinal Benefits, Uses & Herbal Actions of Tarragon
Experiences are Personal
Experiences vary according to the person and constitution. Individual results may vary.
The list of herbal-actions below has not be approved by the FDA and should not be used to treat a medical condition.
Stimulates the release of gas. Helpful for bloating or cramping abdominal pain. Propels food downward. Carminatives typically expel gas by relaxing the muscles of the intestines.
An herb that strengthens spleen function by improving strength of the blood. Spleen tonics Builds agni, brighten the person's appearances & firms up tissues.
GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid, reduces nerve excitability. It is the body's primary inhibitory neurotransmitter. Thus, it promotes relaxation, calm, and sleep.
An agent that kills microorganisms or inhibits their growth. Antimicrobial is an umbrella term that can be broken down into specific categories of target microorganism, such as anti-bacterials, fungals, and virals.
Restores the proper function of the body by cleansing the blood and balancing blood chemistry. In Ayurveda terms, they pacify Pitta in rakta. They were traditionally used to revitalize and detoxify after a long winter.
An herb that inhibits clotting, dissolves clots, thins the blood, or destroys platelets, therefore reducing the tendency of blood to form clots. They are useful in cardiovascular disease, clots, and stroke. Aka anticoagulant.
Strengthens and tones the heart (heart-tonic). Cardiac tonics are used to treat a wide range of heart issues from arrhythmia, to cardiac insufficiency.
A vasodilator is an herb that widens the blood vessels by the relaxation of smooth muscle cells within the vessel walls, thereby increasing circulation systemically or to a local area.
Herbs that promote urine formation, thereby flushing the kidneys and urinary tract while eliminating any excess water retention. As diuretics reduce water retention, they are often used to reduce blood pressure.
Cholagogues stimulate the production & release of bile from the liver & gallbladder. This refreshes and cleanses these organs, as well as increases bile in the small intestines.
Tarragon may be beneficial for these symptoms.
The suitability of any food for a condition is highly dependent on the individual.
Please see your doctor before using this food to treat a medical condition.
We will use this information to better predict food that helps you.
CONTRAINDICATED FOR THESE SYMPTOMS
Tarragon may be harmful or contraindicated for these symptoms.
Please see your doctor before using this food to treat a medical condition.
Herb Drug Interaction Risk
Here are some potential herb drug interactions with Tarragon. Please see your health care provider for more information.
Alterative: Anything that strengthens or cleanses the liver can clear drugs more quickly, requiring a higher dose.
Analgesic: If the mechanism of pain relief is narcotic, do not combine with antihistamines.
Antiplatelet: Avoid if taking blood thinners.
Blood-thinner: Patients on warfarin (coumadin) and other anticoagulants, or who have clotting difficulties, should take special caution to only use blood thinners under the supervision of a medical doctor.
Cardiac-tonic: Caution when taking alongside cardiac pharmaceuticals. Inotropic herbs (that affect heart contractile strength) may interact with digoxin.
Cholagogue: Anything that strengthens or cleanses the liver can clear drugs more quickly, requiring a higher dose.
Diuretic: Diuretics may clear pharmaceutical drugs more quickly, lowering the effect. Avoid if taking water pills or pharmaceutical diuretics.
View other ingredients for Spring
Tarragon is recommended for Spring. Check out these other Spring foods here.
Eating Ayurvedically makes you feel nourished and energized. Food digests with ease when
right for your body type (dosha). Healthy digestion is seen as the cornerstone of well-being in
Ayurveda. Healthy digestion generally prevents illness. If you do get sick, a strong digestive fire
reduces the severity of illness and increases your resilience. It also improves your mood. Once
you begin eating Ayurvedically, you will feel refreshed, vital and strong.
John Immel, the founder of Joyful Belly, teaches people how to have a
healthy diet and lifestyle with Ayurveda.
His approach to Ayurveda is clinical, yet exudes an ease which many find enjoyable and insightful.
John also directs the Joyful Belly College of Ayurveda,
offering professional clinical training in Ayurveda for over 15 years.
John's hobbies & specialties include advanced digestive disorders, medieval Catholic philosophy,
& botany. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University.
His wife and family of 7 kids live in Asheville, NC.
“You always seem to know what I'm looking for in my researching, I open your letter and there it is... The same thing I'm looking in to... Thank you. Excellent info..."
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* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
The information and products on this website are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any
disease.
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