The Humble Dandelion

After a long, harsh winter the popping up of dandelions makes so many people think “ugh! So much yard work coming up to get rid of these weeds!”. I, however, think, “yay! Medicine!”. With their bright, sunny flowers and beautiful green leaves, it is my goal in life to get people to change their minds about these oft maligned little flowers.

Every single part of the dandelion is useful from the flowers that help with SAD (seasonal affective disorder) to the leaves which are unbelievably high in nutrients, to the roots which can help heal your kidneys, liver, and urinary system.

Let’s take a closer look at each part of the dandelion and learn how we can work with this adorable little herb to make our lives better and healthier.

Dandelion flowers are such a fun, sunny color. That golden yellow is so bright it’s almost as if the sun dropped some liquid down to earth and it made a flower. Ok, that might have been the cheesiest thing I’ve ever said, but I’m standing by my statement. And what’s more, dandelion flowers can help you feel sunnier! With their mood-elevating abilities, dandelion flowers can help pull you out of the winter doldrums. Or the summer, spring, or fall doldrums for that matter. Whatever doldrums you are in, dandelion will help.

Dandelion leaves are extremely high in nutrients like calcium, potassium, vitamin A, and natural sodium. In fact, the sodium/ potassium combination makes it an excellent source of natural electrolytes.

There is so much provitamin A in an ounce of dandelion that, as one of my favorite herb books says, “it makes a carrot blush”.  Vitamin A is super important as it helps with cell growth, organ function, immune support, eye health, and protection against cancer. So, it’s pretty important.

Dandelion is also a diuretic which means it helps you pee and flush bad stuff out of your body. With many prescription diuretics, you can lose a lot of minerals through your pee, but with dandelion, you gain more than you lose.

Dandelion root is a gentle laxative when things are a little stagnant, helps heal the liver, and it gets things moving through your digestive system more efficiently and effectively.

The list of benefits from the humble dandelion goes on and on, but suffice it to say, its health-giving abilities are vast. So, how do we get these health benefits? Many, many ways actually! The easiest way is to just go outside, pick some from a good spot that hasn’t been sprayed with weed killer (sad face), wash them up a bit, and throw them in a salad. They are delicious and the bright flowers add such a fun pop of color to your salad! 

Another easy way to enjoy the benefits of dandelion root is to make them into a vinaigrette salad dressing. You can use clean, fresh roots for this that you dug up in your yard or you can use dried roots. Place a handful in a jar and fill the jar with vinegar. Pretty much any type of vinegar will do. My first preference would not be white vinegar, though. Let the dandelion root steep in the jar for at least a week then filter out the roots. Mix the vinegar with olive oil or your favorite salad oil and any other herbs that seem fun. The standard ratio of vinegar to oil is 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil. For the herbs, my Nostalgia Italia seasoning blend, Super Nutritious Herb Blend, or Herbs de Provence work great here. I also like to add in a bit of honey because I like my dressing on the sweeter side. Sometimes I will add in a spoonful of sour cream to make it a creamy vinaigrette. Anyway, it’s super easy to make and customize your own vinaigrette and when you start with an infused vinegar, you get all of those health benefits too!

You can make tea from the flowers or leaves or make a decoction from the roots. You can tincture all parts of the plant or infuse it in honey. There aren’t too many ways you can’t use dandelion really. You can purchase dried dandelion root in my online herb shop.

So, the next time you see a bunch of dandelions in your yard, don’t kill them, eat them!