Want to know how to use wild herbs and greens for spring detox? Continue reading this article and see what are the best herbs and greens for spring cleanse and how to use them properly. But first.
Spring wild herbs and leafy greens are rich in vegetable fibers, vitamins, enzymes, minerals, and phytotherapeutic principles, which is why they are required by the body to regain the energy lost during the winter season. If you want to learn how to use these miraculous wild herbs and greens for spring detox, here are the top spring greens for a body cleanse with their exact use and properties. Let’s get to see what are the best leafy greens for spring detox.
In This Article You Will Find:
9 Top Wild Herbs and Greens for Spring Detox
1. Nettle
(Urtica dioica)
Nettle is one of the richest plants in chlorophyll, which makes it a phenomenal detoxifying wild herb because it alkalizes the blood, urine, and other body fluids. Plus, it rebalances the hormones, especially the gonads (ovaries/testicles), the adrenals, and the thyroid gland, which are also the most severely affected by food toxins. The volatile substances, which give the specific aroma of spring nettles, have a very intense antibiotic and diuretic effect, making it one of the best greens for spring detox.
- Composition: essential amino acids, carbohydrates, amines, sterols, chlorophyllins, plant hormones, enzymes, histamine, formic acid, potassium, iron, magnesium, vitamins A, B1, B2, C, and K, carotene, tannins, salts minerals, etc.
How to Use Nettle for Spring Detox
- Nettle Salad. For best detox effects, eat raw nettles, in salads, rubbed well with a little salt (to prevent stinging) alongside dandelion leaves or lettuce, or make fresh nettle juice. Have the salad in the morning on an empty stomach for at least 7 days. There are no limits for the nettle detox, the longer you do it the better.
- Steamed Nettles. If you have a more sensitive digestion, slightly boil the nettles so that they become tender, but eat them as plain as possible with a little olive oil and salt. Eat them warm. You can also drink the resulting water two hours after meals.
- Nettle Juice. To make the juice, add 100 g of fresh nettles in your blender, alongside 150 ml of spring water (or distilled water). Blend well, strain through a cheesecloth, and have this juice every day. Drink the nettle juice right after juicing, in order to enjoy the maximum healing properties. You can add some lemon juice to it, to prevent oxidation and enhance its detox properties.
- Fresh Nettle Tea. For a complete spring detox, include nettle tea made from fresh young plants every day for at least 4 weeks. To make the tea, infuse a teaspoon of young nettle tips in 1/4 l (a cup) of boiling water for 2 minutes. Drink three cups a day in small sips, first on an empty stomach, and the other two throughout the day. Nettle tea is also amazing in weight loss.
- Nettle Seeds. Fresh and dried nettle seeds contain vitalizing plant hormones. They are amazing natural energizers fighting fatigue and exhaustion and can also boost memory. Crush the nettle seeds in a mortar and mix them with a little raw honey or water. Have a tablespoon three times a day before meals for at least 2-3 weeks.
Why Is Nettle One of The Best Greens for Spring Detox
Nettle juice is amazing against anemia, it detoxes the blood and even fights menstrual problems. Two to three tablespoons of fresh nettle juice per day is a great diuretic in kidney and bladder diseases, hemorrhoids, hemoptysis, epistaxis. This juice flushes out excess uric acid and helps cleanse the kidneys. More so, nettle alkalizes the body’s pH, decreasing the acidity of blood, saliva, and urine thus boosting the body’s immune response to infections and cancer and cures many of the metabolic or digestive diseases.
Fresh wild nettle salads can prevent the formation of malignant tumors, especially gastric cancer. It is highly recommended in gastritis caused by tobacco and coffee abuse. Gargling with nettle juice prevents tonsillitis, canker sores, and gingivitis. To top it off, enjoy two cups of fresh nettle tea while doing the spring detox. Nettle is one of the top wild greens for spring detox.
2. Dandelion
(Taraxacum officinalis)
Without a doubt, dandelion leaves are some of the most powerful wild greens for spring detox among all leafy greens. Their bitter taste makes them an excellent liver and gallbladder detox, and they have strong laxative, diuretic and depurative effects.
Although scientists haven’t yet pinpointed the active anticancer principle in dandelion, experiments have shown the beneficial action of this plant for colon cancer, anal, and liver cancer.
How to Use Dandelion for Spring Detox
- Dandelion Stems. Harvest the stems when the plant has not yet flowered, and the active detoxifying principles are at their peak. Consume 5-10 such stems every day, 2-3 before the 3 meals of the day, on an empty stomach. Have them on the day they were harvested, or at most 24 hours after harvest (for this, keep them in the refrigerator in an airtight bag, so they don’t dehydrate). Dandelion stems are extremely bitter, almost unbearable, but their effects on health are well worth the effort. Follow this detox cure for at least 14 days, continue for a month if you suffer from chronic illnesses (diabetes, psoriasis, cancer, etc).
- Dandelion Leaves Salad. Cu the dandelion leaves into small pieces and consume as such, without anything else, or add them to leafy green salads (no dressings). Chew them well before swallowing. Don’t eat anything 15 minutes after eating the dandelion leaves. Follow the spring detox cure for at least 14 days, continue for a month if you suffer from chronic illnesses (diabetes, psoriasis, cancer, etc).
- Dandelion Juice. Dandelion leaf juice has miraculous effects in all liver diseases. Consume half a glass in the morning and another one in the evening, on an empty stomach. For best detox results, follow the cure for 2-3 months alongside a strictly vegetarian diet, without fried foods and processed foods. Make a strong combination by mixing equal parts of dandelion juice and parsley leaf juice to boost the immune system and for its strong antiviral effects.
What Makes Dandelion One of The Best Greens for Spring Detox
Dandelion is one of the top wild greens for spring detox, especially when it comes to the liver and bile. Dandelion juice is highly recommended in all chronic liver issues, including type A, B, and C hepatitis, chronic hepatitis, and cirrhosis, as well as constipation, kidney stone, and acne. Dandelion salad is amazing for all bile problems, such as biliary dyskinesia, gallstones, cholecystitis, and dyspepsia, as well as type II diabetes. More so, dandelion is one of the best wild greens for spring detox if you suffer from varicose veins, hemorrhoids, atherosclerosis, chronic rheumatism, as well as allergic skin reactions, psoriasis, and dermatitis.
3. Spinach
(Spinacia oleracea)
Rarely do we find in nature a plant that stimulates the process of growth and regeneration of the body so quickly, while supporting the body cleanse. Spinach leaf juice is loaded with vitamins and minerals, making it one of the best greens for spring detox.
Raw spinach is highly recommended for kids, the elderly, and for people recovering after an illness.
- Composition: Spinach is very rich in mineral salts (sodium, calcium, phosphorus), vitamins A, E, B1, B2, B6, C, K. It is poor in protein – 2%, carbohydrates – 7%, lipids – 0.5 % and has a very low energy value, 18 kcal/100 g.
How to Use Spinach for Spring Detox
- Spinach Juice. This is one of the best ways to detox during spring. To make it, add 200 ml (one cup) of water in the food processor or mixer, and then gradually add two handfuls of chopped spinach leaves. Pour it in a ceramic bowl and let it sit for 2-3 hours, then strain it. Drink the spinach juice right after straining it. For best detox results, drink one cup of spinach juice on an empty stomach, preferably in the morning. To improve its taste you can combine it with a little carrot or lemon juice at first. You can add the spinach remains to your daily smoothie, it’s amazing. Important! Never cook spinach on fire, because it becomes toxic to the body.
- Spinach Juice & Pollen. For chronic pancreatitis, post-pancreatitis pancreatic insufficiency mix 100 ml fresh juice with 30 g bee pollen (powder) per day, and have this on an empty stomach.
- Spinach Salad. Enjoy a daily salad of fresh spinach leaves, a little bit of lemon juice, and sea salt.
- Spinach Seeds. Mix 100 g of finely ground spinach seeds with 400 g of raw honey and have one teaspoon three times a day; it has a strong laxative effect and works great for constipation and hemorrhoids.
What Makes Spinach One of The Best Greens for Spring Detox
Spinach is one of the top greens for spring detox, especially for anemia, asthma, influenza, ischemic heart disease, hypertension, palpitations, diabetes, obesity, heavy menstruation, atherosclerosis, chronic pancreatitis, and pancreas conditions. It is also a mental toner, a great natural aid for spring asthenia, depression, or feeling low. It has powerful remineralizing effects and fights off worms.
Important! The consumption of spinach in large amounts is not recommended for people suffering from liver disease, rheumatism, kidney stones, and bowel inflammation.
4. Patience Dock
(Rumex patienta)
In the spring, patience dock is one of the top wild greens for spring detox along with nettle, wild garlic, and dandelion. This wild spring plant is rich in calcium, potassium, iron, magnesium, vitamin C, with the same amazing detox properties as spinach. It has a laxative action due to the chrysophanic acid it contains. Patience dock leaves are harvested from March to May and they are some of the best leafy greens for spring detox.
How to Use Patience Dock for Spring Detox
Fresh Salad. Patience dock leaves salad is recommended to consume 5 times a week, for at least a month (100 g/day).
Cold Macerate. Macerate 20-30 g fresh chopped leaves in 1 liter of cold water for 24 hours. It has strong diuretic, detox, and laxative effects.
Infusion. Scald 2 tablespoons of dried and grossly chopped leaves in 250 ml of boiled water. Bring to a boil, turn the heat off and allow to infuse for 30 minutes, then strain. Sweeten with raw honey to taste. To enjoy its detoxifying effects, have 3 cups of this tea every day.
Decoction. Add 4 tablespoons of chopped root or seeds in 2 cups of water (500 ml), and boil over low heat for 5 minutes in a stainless steel or enamel pot. Strain while hot through a gauze or cotton cheesecloth and add fresh water over to make for the evaporated water, so that you have 2 cups of tea at the end. Sweeten with raw honey to taste. This is the quantity for one day.
Important! Breastfeeding women should avoid eating patience dock leaves because the anthraquinone derivatives contained in the plant can pass into breast milk and can cause mild diarrhea to infants.
Patience Dock – One of The Best Greens for Spring Detox
This wild plant has amazing liver cleansing properties, is a strong natural laxative and anti-diarrheal, and helps cleanse the body to get it rid of the toxic load during the winter days. It is great for diabetes, obesity, intestinal transit disorders, anemia, rheumatism, and lung conditions. More so, it is one of the best wild edible plants, delicious in soups and salads. This simple wild plant is one of the top leafy greens for spring detox.
5. Sorrel
(Rumex acetosa)
Close relative to the patience dock, sorrel is another one of the top wild greens for spring detox. In addition, is one of the most delicious wild plants you can pick yourself from the wild, or buy from local organic farms, or even grow it yourself. Sorrel multiplies through seeds. Compared to patience dock, sorrel has a more pronounced sour taste due to its higher oxalic acid content, and it can be harvested starting with March to the summer season.
Important! If you suffer from gout, you should not use sorrel for long periods of time.
How to Use Sorrel for Spring Detox
Fresh leaves. The maximum daily portion of sorrel leaves for an adult is 70-100 grams, in cures of 14 days. Pause and resume if needed. If you exceed this dose you may experiment demineralization, digestive disorders, dizziness, nervous disorders so it is not recommended.
Infusion. Scald 2 tablespoons of dried and grossly chopped leaves in 250 ml of boiled water. Bring to a boil, turn the heat off and allow to infuse for 30 minutes, then strain. Sweeten with raw honey to taste. To enjoy its detoxifying effects, have 3 cups of this tea every day.
Decoction. Add 4 tablespoons of chopped root or sorrel seeds in 2 cups of water (500 ml), and boil over low heat for 5 minutes in a stainless steel or enamel pot. Strain while hot through a gauze or cotton cheesecloth and add fresh water over to make for the evaporated water, so that you have 2 cups of tea at the end. Sweeten with raw honey to taste. This is the quantity for one day.
Why Is Sorrel One of The Best Greens for Spring Detox
Sorrel leaves stimulate digestion, have detoxifying effects, neutralize the poisons accumulated in the body from the increasingly polluted environment. These leaves are used to treat the following conditions: heavy metals poisoning (mercury and lead), indigestion, lack of appetite, allergy, and allergic eczemas. Sorrel leaves juice is used to treat migraines, vomiting (1-2 tablespoons every one or two hours) peripheral nerves paresis, and as an adjuvant in hemiplegia (1/2 cup in the morning and another one in the evening, before bed). Just like its close relative, sorrel is a powerful detox, laxative, and anti-diarrheal, where you add the fact that it tastes really good, compared to other wild spring greens. Sorrel is one of the top greens for spring detox.
6. Lesser Celandine
(Ficaria ranunculoides)
The leaves and the roots of lesser celandine are known for their beneficial effects in improving venous blood flow. They are used in the treatment of hemorrhoids or varicose veins, especially, both internally and topically (leaves juice cataplasms). This simple plant is also used to decorate green spaces, because they form luscious green carpets in early spring. But more importantly, lesser celandine is one of the most powerful leafy greens for spring detox.
How to Use Lesser Celandine for Spring Detox
You can use freshly picked leaves to prepare simple salads or green soups. To make the most delicious detox salad, mix two handfuls of young lesser celandine leaves, with a few lettuce leaves, a chopped green onion, finely chopped parsley, fresh dill, and add fresh lemon juice and a little olive oil on top. Shake and serve daily. Follow this amazing spring detox for two weeks, while consuming 50 g of fresh lesser celandine leaves every day.
Important! The maximum daily dose is 100 g of fresh leaves for adults and 50 g for children (<10 years). If you eat it for the first time, reduce your daily quantity to half until you get adjusted to it. Pick the lesser celandine leaves when the plant has not yet bloomed, because, when its yellow flowers are in bloom, the plant is rich in a substance called protoanemonin that makes it toxic, and the leaves can only be used only topically (cataplasms) at this point.
Why Is Lesser Celandine One of The Best Greens for Spring Detox
This is one of the best wild greens for spring detox, due to its natural abilities to improve digestion and elimination. The slightly bitter substances in fresh lesser celandine leaves stimulate salivation, gastric secretion and peristalsis of the digestive tract. More so, it is loaded with natural Vitamin C, which is exactly what we need when we come out of winter.
Lesser celandine leaves are also famous for their anesthetic and anti-inflammatory properties. They help reduce allergic sensitivity, relieves skin inflammation, prevents aggravation of respiratory problems that occur during pollination. They support a massive elimination of toxins from the body, thus cleansing the skin. If you want healthy skin for the summer, eat lesser celandine leaves salad in the longest possible cures, alongside a diet rich in cereals, vegetables, and raw fruits. This is, undoubtedly, one of the best greens for spring detox.
7. Lettuce
(Lactuca sativa)
Although lettuce is so popular, few people know that organically grown lettuce is one of the best leafy greens for spring detox. Lettuce is poor in protein and fatty substances (1-2%), but rich in minerals: 5 mg sodium, 150 mg potassium, 15 mg calcium, 25 mg phosphorus, 0.4 mg iron, and vitamins: A, B1, C – 50 mg, K and E, and especially in plant fibers, which prevent colon cancer.
Eating lettuce salad regularly can help prevent and treat diabetes, obesity, sterility and infertility, constipation, high blood pressure, and even hair loss. Consumed regularly by pregnant women, lettuce has proven to support the good development of the fetus and prevent involuntary abortion.
How to Use Lettuce for Spring Detox
- Fresh Salad. It is consumed as such, in the form of salads, mixed with other raw vegetables, oil, salt, and lemon juice. Used extensively at dinner, it promotes the installation of peaceful sleep, fights constipation, and causes the evacuation of the food bowl the next morning. Enjoy at least 150-200 g of fresh organically-grown lettuce every day for at least a month to enjoy its detox effects.
- Cold Macerate. Put 80 g of chopped lettuce leaves are put in a liter of water for 24 hours. The lettuce macerate has antiseptic, calming, and diuretic effects. It is recommended for intestinal inflammation, nephritis, nervous and sexual hyperexcitability, and spring asthenia.
- Lettuce Seeds. The seeds are generally used in respiratory diseases, because they soothe a cough, and have antiasthmatic properties. Finely ground 100 g of lettuce seeds and mix with 400 g of raw honey. Have 1 teaspoon per day in the morning.
Why Is Lettuce a Top Greens for Spring Detox
Lettuce is one of the best leafy greens for spring detox because of the bitter active substances it contains that stimulate digestion and metabolism, detox and tone the liver, intensify the intestinal transit, clean the blood vessels, and regulate the activity of certain endocrine glands, amongst others. Needless to say, lettuce is the most widely-consumed bitter food-medicine with detoxifying effects. This is one of the best leafy greens for spring detox you can enjoy in your salads.
8. Garden Orache
(Atriplex hortensis)
In Romanian folk medicine, the three known varieties of garden orache (with red, green, and yellow leaves) were frequently used during spring, to cure the most diverse of health problems. The reason is that garden orache is one of the best leafy greens for spring detox.
It has depurative, diuretic, remineralizing, vitaminizing properties, being used in gynecological, liver, and kidney diseases. Its seeds have a purgative effect (1/2 teaspoon powder twice a day).
How to Use Garden Orache for Spring Detox
- Fresh Salad. The best way to enjoy the detox properties of green orache is to have as many fresh salads as possible.
- Juice. Fresh garden orache leaves juice is a great flush for excess sexual hormones, balancing hormones out. Follow a 28 days cure for best results, by drinking a glass three times a day before meals. Start the treatment when the moon is waning.
- Seeds. The seeds have a purgative effect (1/2 teaspoon powder twice a day).
Why Is Garden Orache One of The Best Greens for Spring Detox
Garden orache is one of the most effective leafy greens for spring detox. It is known to cure a wide range of imbalances and illnesses, including ovarian and breast cysts due to hormonal imbalance (juice), acne, and other skin problems and allergies. The aerial parts of this leafy green have anti-inflammatory, emollient and anti-infective effects on the upper respiratory tract. Also, the leaves of this plant lower fever. Thus, it is a great adjuvant in bronchitis and asthma.
9. Parsley
(Petroselinum crispum)
Parsley is mostly used as a spice, but few know that is one of the top leafy greens for spring detox. Over time, it has been proven its healing effects in hypertension, dysmenorrhea, alcoholism, smoking, kidney disease, and food poisoning. Its leaves and roots are rich in mineral salts such as sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, and vitamins A, C, B1, and B2. This explains the remineralizing and toning properties of parsley, and this is the reason why parsley is one of the top leafy greens for spring detox.
How to Use Parsley for Spring Detox
- Parsley Leaves. Eating 40 g of fresh parsley leaves a day, together with the Oshawa diet and other home remedies can help heal malignant tumors. It is recommended to consume 20-30 g/day of fresh parsley leaves to cure alcohol and smoking addictions. More so, fresh parsley leaves help cure bad breath (halitosis).
- Leaves Juice. It acts as a natural emenagogue. Drinking 100 to 150 ml/day of parsley juice a few days before menstruation, can help alleviate irregular and painful menstruation. You can add 20 g of bee pollen to it for more powerful effects. Fresh parsley leaves juice applied on the face 2-3 times is also a home remedy for freckles.
- Whole Plant. Finely chop parsley root or the whole plant: leaves, root, and seeds and take 1 tsp of the mix before meals, keep it under the tongue for 7-10 minutes, then swallow. It has powerful hypotensive, antiasthmatic, and diuretic actions. Parsley seeds (a pinch before meals) have an aphrodisiac effect.
Why Is Parsley One of The Best Greens for Spring Detox
Parsley leaves have been known as a medicine since the Middle Ages when the famous Arab physician Avicenna mentioned their therapeutic effects in his writings. Yes, parsley is that good. It has a powerful cleansing ability, and studies have confirmed this. It helps lower and stabilize blood sugar levels in diabetic patients, it has a strong liver repair effect, fresh parsley is an adjuvant in cancer, and an amazing cure for recurrent infectious diseases due to its power to naturally boost the immune system. Parsley is one of the best greens for spring detox, no doubt about it.
Bottomline
In spring, there are many of us suffering from colds, flu, or viral respiratory conditions. Such pathological manifestations, as it is known, are specific to the cold season. If they occur during the transition from winter to spring, this is a sign that the body is excessively “overloaded” with toxins from the heavy “winter” diet, environment, and lack of exercise.
Read Also: 9 Most Delicious Edible Wild Plants and How to Cook Them
Most importantly, this is an alarm that the body needs a full spring detox. The herbs and wild greens for spring detox abovementioned, are probably the best greens that you can use for the spring detox. These leafy greens for spring detox keep the body healthy, vigorous, and strong, in harmony with Nature and the Universe.
