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From the bestselling author of Body into Balance, clinical herbalist Maria Noël Groves offers a comprehensive guide to the best herbs and natural practices to boost your gut microbiome, decrease your risk of chronic disease, and alleviate conditions like SIBO, leaky gut, irritable bowel syndrome, and GERD. A healthy gut is the key to good overall health—both physical and mental—and researchers are beginning to uncover the links between an unbalanced gut microbiome and chronic conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, and cancer.
As a clinical herbalist with decades of experience, Maria Noël Groves has helped patients of all ages resolve their digestive complaints and related health issues by teaching them how to adopt healthier dietary habits, employ herbs to alleviate digestive issues and improve digestion, and incorporate balanced lifestyle practices—resolving their diseases and dramatically improving their quality of life.
List of contents
Section 1: Foundational Concepts
1 Why Digestion and Gut Health Matter How Food Moves Through Your Body
Benefits of Healthy Digestion
Ensuring Healthy Digestion
When to Give the Gut Some TLC
Common Roots of GI Problems
Downstream Effects of GI Distress
Mind-Body-Gut Connections
How Long Does Healing Take?
2 Basic Herbal Concepts How Herbs Support Digestion
Energetics
Herb Safety
Listen to Your Body
Section 2: Digestion and Elimination
3 Anatomy and Function Upper GI Tract: Break It Down (Digestion)
Lower GI Tract: Absorb or Eliminate It
4 Herbs to Enhance and Stimulate Digestion Herbal Action: Bitter
Artichoke Leaf
Dandelion and Chicory
Bitter Recipes
Herbal Action: Relaxing Bitter
Chamomile
Catnip
Lemon Balm
Wood Betony
Relaxing Bitter Recipes
Herbal Action: Carminative
Fennel
Dill
Mints
Ginger
Korean Licorice Mint and Anise Hyssop
Holy Basil/Tulsi
Carminative Recipes
Herbal Action: Sour
Vinegar
Schizandra
Sour Recipes
5 A Good Poop Bowel Movements: What's "Normal"?
Ensuring Healthy Bowel Movements
Fabulous Fiber
When You Need a Bigger Push
Herbal Action: Colon Modulator
Yellow Dock
Herbal Action: Astringent
Cinnamon
Rose
Moving Right Along: Motility and Spasm Support
6 Improving Microbiome Health Microbiome Terminology
Build the Bugs: Microbiome Support
Did Probiotics or Prebiotics Make You Worse?
A Low-FODMAP Diet: Pros and Cons
Herbal Action: Antimicrobial
Bee Balm, Oregano, and Thyme
The Berberines
Yarrow
Elecampane
Alder Bark
Antimicrobial Recipes
Section 3: Soothe and Heal the Gut
7 Gut Repair When and Why to Support Gut Repair
The Five R's of Gut Repair
Herbal Action: Demulcent
Marshmallow
Licorice Root and DGL
Aloe Inner Gel
Herbal Action: Vulnerary
Plantain
Gotu Kola
Meadowsweet
Calendula
Additional Herbs That Support Gut Healing
Gut-Healing Recipes
8 Damage Control: GI Concerns Fire in the Hole! Addressing Heartburn and GERD
Fire Within: Gastritis and Ulcers
Intestinal Permeability and "Leaky Gut"
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Thoughts on Disordered Eating
9 Food Allergies and Sensitivities The Big Picture: Why We Develop Food Reactivity
Common and Less Common Food Reactions
The Slippery Slope
Identifying Food Allergies and Sensitivities
Avoid or Minimize?
Strategies That May Reduce Food Reactivity
Herbal Action: Allergy and Immune Modulators
Nettle
Reishi
10 Common Ailments and Diseases of the GI Tract Constipation
Diarrhea
Dry Mouth
Dysbiosis
Dyspepsia (Sluggish Digestion)
Gallbladder Issues
Gas and Bloating
Gastritis and Ulcers
Gastroparesis
H. pylori Infection
Heartburn and GERD
Hemorrhoids
Hiatal Hernia
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Leaky Gut (Intestinal Permeability)
Nausea
Nervous Indigestion
Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
Glossary of Herbal Actions
Recipes
Appendix
Assessment Tips
Common GI Patterns
Remedies at a Glance
Taking, Harvesting, and Making Herbal Remedies
Resources
Index
About the author
Maria Noël Groves is the author of Herbal Remedies for Sleep, Grow Your Own Herbal Remedies and Body into Balance. She is a clinical herbalist and herbal medicine teacher with more than two decades of experience, and a registered professional member of the American Herbalists Guild. She writes for numerous publications including Herbal Academy’s The Herbarium, Taste for Life, Remedies, Herb Quarterly, and Mother Earth News. Her business, Wintergreen Botanicals, is based in Chichester, New Hampshire.
