Have you ever read an article about an herb that claims it treats or cures such a wide variety of illnesses, and you wonder: how can that be? They’re exaggerating. No herb can do all that.

The truth is, there is no miracle plant – and I teach in my herb school that there is no magic bullet either, nor a miraculous way to cure an illness. Commercialism has led people to think there is a miracle herb just waiting to cure every health issue they have. Unfortunately, this has come about thanks to the adoption of antibiotics--synthesized drugs that really do have a quick and targeted healing action, but they often come with consequences.

Instead, herbalists need to learn about herbal actions, as these are the properties that help an herb function medicinally. When you learn about an herb’s actions it will become apparent that some plants are widely versatile and can indeed be used in a (seemingly miraculous) variety of illnesses. There are plants that have multiple actions, or traits, that allow them to be useful in a variety of seemingly different situations.

Herbal Actions or Properties

Take poison ivy, for instance. When our skin rubs against this poisonous leaf or root, it gets inflamed, reddened, and itchy. The red pustules swell up and the blisters become painful, wet, and weepy. Also, consider mouth sores: when we’ve eaten something spicy, or we contract a mild herpes virus that causes cold sores, or when we have an irritant on our teeth that bruises the inside of the cheek, these sores can become red, swollen, and painful, and they often form blisters that can pop and ooze.

Finally, consider a child who is suffering with diarrhea. It can be a dangerous condition for someone who is dehydrated because it pulls fluids from the body. But (at the risk of turning you off), let’s examine the symptoms: the child experiences wetness; gushing fluids; cramps; and both acute and chronic diarrhea that can leave the bottom feeling sore, irritated, and blistery.

At first, it seems these three illnesses have nothing to do with each other. However, you’ll notice that all of their symptoms have something in common. While they occur in different parts of the body (the skin, the mouth, and the digestive tract), they all exhibit wetness, blistery pain and pustules, redness, swelling, and weepy sores.

THIS is where knowing the herbal actions is useful. Rather than saying this one plant is only good for this, and this other plant only addresses this… we can look at a whole category of plants based on their characteristics and apply them broadly to categories of symptoms.

The Common Sense of Herbal Actions

In the three cases listed above, the most logical type (or category) of healing agent would be something that dries up moisture, soothes irritation, and reduces swelling. If we think about herbal actions, we’re looking for herbs that are 1) astringent (dries up moisture), 2) soothes irritation (emollient), and 3) anti-inflammatory (reduces swelling). These three actions could be the basis of any formula we develop to support someone with any of these conditions – even though the conditions range from poison ivy contracted on the skin by touching a vine, to cold sores in the mouth because a teenager’s braces are irritating, to diarrhea experienced because of a virus, a bacteria, or anxiety.

These seemingly very different conditions can be experienced by children, adults, and elderly, and even pets. They are wildly different conditions and illnesses – yes, because they present with similar symptoms, we can look at just a tiny handful of herbs and know that we will address the key problems experienced with each one. The herb isn’t a magic cure or a miracle plant; but it possesses certain traits (such as being astringent) that makes it applicable to these specific situations.

A Key Astringent: Sage

For instance, consider sage (Salvia officinalis). If we’re addressing any of the three illnesses mentioned above, we could look at sage and know that it’s a smart choice for our remedy simply because we know it is astringent. Other astringent herbs to consider are ladies mantle, oak leaf or bark, goldenseal, yarrow, witch hazel leaf and bark, and raspberry leaf. But let’s stick with sage for a bit because it has several things about it that make it so easy and natural to use in any of these situations:

1. Sage is easy to grow. As a cultivated kitchen herb, it’s easy to find. We can grow it in gardens and in terra cotta pots. It thrives outdoors and often survives indoors, too.
2. Sage is safe. As one of our long-term culinary herbs, we know that sage is GRAS (generally regarded as safe) and as long as we don’t overdo it in our foods, it is beloved as a flavoring agent and ingredient in many dishes in cultures around the world.
3. Sage is simple to harvest. Children can snip off a sage leaf with gusto, sniff it, inhale its unique fragrant scent, and learn to identify it easily.
4. Sage dries quickly. It’s not full of moisture and prone to spoilage; instead, it’s easy to hang a bunch of sage from a beam or in a paper bag to dry it for future use.

Because of these qualities, sage is a smart choice for all three of the above illnesses. Its leaves can be used as a topical poultice or a compress; an antibacterial and astringent rinse; a chew; a salve; an infused oil; and even a hot cup of tea (personally, I prefer add honey to counteract sage’s “parchy” taste).

In the cases mentioned above, sage can be used as a remedy in a variety of ways for each situation. For poison ivy, brew a strong “tea” of sage, strain it, and pour the tea over the rashy area. Alternatively, soak the infected skin in a pot of the strained tea. For cold sores in the mouth, sage can be chewed, or a rinse can be swished, or ice cubes of strained sage tea can be sucked, or frozen strained and sweetened sage tea can be poured into an ice pop, or sage-infused vegetable oil can be dabbed onto the inside of the cheek to the affected area.

Finally, for cases of diarrhea: it’s important to identify the cause so that an emergency situation can be ruled out (such as bacterial or viral infection). But for mild cases, or where gastric distress is a result of anxiety, sage can be drunk as a tea (sweetened or not) to calm the insides and support the retention of fluids. (Similarly, this is why astringent herbs such as sage and goldenseal, pictured below, should be avoided by breastfeeding mothers: the herbs will dry up everything— including breast milk.)

Formula Examples

Look at the remedy examples here to see how you might use herbs in the cases above. These formulas could be developed based on the 4-Tier Formula structure I teach in The Bellebuono School of Herbal Medicine, making it easy to blend herbs and taking away the overwhelm of having so many choices. Feel free to develop your own, and use this as a guide or basis for your work.

Example #1: 

Poison Ivy Remedy

Tier 1 (tonic) = Eleuthero (as a tea, internally)

The other herbs are topical, as a rinse:

Tier 2 (specific) = sage

Tier 3 (corollary) = yarrow

Tier 4 (vehicle) = oats milky tops or grains, soaked or cooked

Example #2:

Cold Sore Remedy

Tier 1 (tonic) = Lemon Balm (as a tea, internally)

The other herbs are topical/oral, as in infused oil:

Tier 2 (specific) = Echinacea or Licorice

Tier 3 (corollary) = St. John’s wort

Tier 4 (vehicle) = sage or thyme

Example #3:

Diarrhea Remedy (as a hot tea)

Tier 1 (tonic) = Tulsi

Tier 2 (specific) = sage

Tier 3 (corollary) = plantain

Tier 4 (vehicle) = yarrow

Learning More About Herbal Medicine

Now you see why a single herb might be touted as a “miracle cure” when in fact, it’s the result of an herb’s action being applied to a variety of situations. Be wary of “snake oil medicine” sellers who claim their product cures everything.

But also be grateful for a knowledge of qualities of plants that enable us to accurately identify when a plant’s chemistry will allow it to be helpful during a variety of circumstances. Learning about herbal actions (and about herbal healing in general) is a strong foundation upon which to build a healing profession or to care for your family, your homestead, and your community.

For more information, check out our classes such as “Herbal Actions” and other in-depth courses in herbal medicine.