Greetings, foodies. Guess what? It’s going down to 4 degrees tonight. Guess what else? I saw that in Fargo, ND, the windchill is going to be -54 degrees FAHRENHEIT! Is that even livable? What happens to your house, do the walls literally just shatter? Where are your dogs? Does fire actually still… work??? Honest questions. I struggle with 30 degrees. I can’t even comprehend weather that cold. My hands and lips are already crusty from this cold weather, I lotion about every 45 minutes, drink about 8 bottles of water… everything is just so DRY.

Queue to a friend of mine at work giving me a nice  big bag of dried chamomile flowers from Barefoot Botanicals. I have some jojoba oil that I’m going to infuse with the chamomile for dry skin. I love to use that kind of thing rather than store-bought lotions, that way I’m sure of what’s in them. I had a bad reaction to a lotion I thought I really liked that was seemingly “natural” – smelled like coconut, had coconut oil in it, was made by a small business, etc. I come to find out, the ingredients were artificial, sourced overseas and god knows what I was actually using. Maybe a few drops of an essential oil I’m feeling (lavender, ylang ylang, maybe some citrus), and I have myself a nice skin oil.

Speaking of, I want to  share with you a lot of great things you can use chamomile for. It’s definitely a useful thing to keep around the house, so be sure to go grab some and stock your pantry with it! Unfortunately Barefoot Botanicals is out of stock, but you can find some to order online here!

5 Great Everyday Benefits of Chamomile

Anti-Itch Remedy for Bug Bites

Chamomile is great for reducing the pain and itchiness insect bites due to the elevated levels of quercetin and luteolin, two types of flavonoids found within the buds. For lack of some science-y stuff, it it contains stuff that suppresses the production of certain enzymes that your body produces as a response to the bug bites. Drinking a cup of chamomile tea is great, but a bath with a few tea bags couldn’t hurt!

Better Sleep

Having trouble sleeping? A cup of chamomile tea before bed has been known to act as a calming agent due to the flavanoid it contains, apigenin. This bonds to benzodiazepine receptors in your brain that are known to reduce anxiety and stress, making it easier to sleep.

Relief from Acid Reflux

Chamomile is known to calm an upset stomach, but it’s also useful for acid reflux, which is something I am VERY happy I know. Studies have shown that it can calm the muscles within the digestive tract and can support a proper pH within your stomach acid by inhibiting helicobacter pylori, a bacteria that contributes to stomach ulcers.  A helpful tip would be to drink this after a large meal to aid in digestion.

Minor Scrapes, Cuts and Burns

Using chamomile as a natural means to help heal superficial wounds has shown to be highly effective. In a scientific study, a trial showed that the antimicrobial properties of chamomile helped speed the process of epithelialization (skin cell regeneration) and wound contraction (further healing). In addition to disinfecting, you can heal your boo-boos faster with chamomile!

Sun Burn Relief

Who’s had sunburn? Yeah, not proud of the number of times I’ve let this happen… but it does. Remember those anti-inflammatory properties of chamomile I mentioned before? It’s great for reducing inflammation after a long day out in the sun. That, coupled with its ability to promote faster skin cell generation, may greatly reduce the pain of a pesky sunburn.

Hopefully these tips make your life a little easier and give you a little boost with all this cold weather. Enjoy!

-S

Sources:

Chamomile: a herbal medicine of the past with a bright future. Srivastava, Shankar, Gupta, 2010. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2995283/

Chamomile: An ancient pain remedy and a modern gout relief – A hypothesis. Hamed, Ali, Sanaz, Afshin, Afagh, Feb 2012. https://academicjournals.org/journal/AJPP/article-abstract/F0DF1C635194

Functional foods with digestion-enhancing properties. Marco Valussi, 2012. https://doi.org/10.3109/09637486.2011.627841