"With green smoothies we can use the full potential of wild medicinal plants!"

Interview with naturopath and phytotherapist Andrea Wichterich about " Medicinal plant smoothies for women "

"In the chlorophyll of green plants, Mother Nature gives us the full healing power of 'sunlight made material'; chlorophyll is probably the most important and healthiest component of our food! Anyone who consciously selects medicinal plants for specific concerns and indications receives a wealth of vital and mineral substances, vitamins, enzymes, secondary plant substances and other valuable ingredients - and no other method of preparation makes these better available to our organism than a green smoothie."

The alternative practitioner Andrea Wichterich, author of the guide "Medicinal Plant Smoothies for Women", imparts exciting knowledge about important local medicinal plants and has compiled numerous smoothie recipes for the treatment of women-specific complaints and concerns, for health, vitality and hormonal balance.

For you, drinking smoothies made from medicinal plants is not a fad, but rather an expression of a new health awareness. What characterizes this?

Andrea Wichterich: For a long time, our western lifestyle was shaped by the illusion of linear, limitless growth processes and a mechanistic worldview. In the long run, this has led to the overexploitation of nature and often of our bodies. We have given up responsibility for repairing the damage caused, believing that we only need to see the right specialist and take the right chemicals to experience healing. This system has now led itself to absurdity, and more and more people are looking for a lifestyle based on sustainable use of resources and the interconnectedness of all life. They are looking for a (re-)connection with nature and - beyond romanticism and the denial of progress - the reminder that they too are participating and are part of it.

This also includes taking responsibility for maintaining the health and healing of body, mind and the environment - the search for healing methods that are in harmony with nature or arise directly from it. Knowledge of the medicinal and nutritional plants on your own doorstep, the knowledge of how to prepare and use them is part of this and is currently experiencing a renaissance. Building on an ancient heritage, there are new, contemporary forms of preparation - e.g. in the form of green smoothies.

Green is considered the color of life, and the healer Hildegard von Bingen saw a higher power at work here. What is so special about the "green power" that clearly works in and through plants?

Andrea Wichterich: Hildegard von Bingen saw viriditas , the green power, as a superior active principle in all living things - comparable to the Chi of the Chinese or Prana of the Indians. She described "the soul as the greening power of the body". We need this "green power" to live, and plants give us plenty of it. They owe their green color to the chlorophyll that they produce from sunlight in the process of photosynthesis - for this reason, the green of plants can be described as "sunlight made into matter". Chemically (and energetically) related to our red blood pigment, it fulfills numerous functions in our organism; chlorophyll is probably the most important and healthiest component of our food. Many studies demonstrate its health-promoting and healing potential. Chlorophyll nourishes us, but also plays a crucial role in the elimination of environmental pollutants and toxins, as well as in the balance of our acid-base equilibrium. Hardly any food gives us more chlorophyll than green wild herbs (only freshwater algae have more of it), and hardly any form of preparation makes it more available to our organism than a smoothie.

They also like to refer to green smoothies as a “magic potion” or “elixir of life”. Why do they have such a positive effect on health and quality of life? Can there be any side effects?

Andrea Wichterich: Green smoothies are true miracles of vital substances. They contain plenty of chlorophyll, the healing qualities of which I have already mentioned above. Vitamins, minerals, secondary plant substances, enzymes and many other ingredients are also available to us in the smoothie in a highly broken down form that optimizes their absorption into our organism.

Due to the strong excretory and cleansing properties of smoothies, temporary detoxification reactions can occur as side effects, such as headaches, nausea, mushy stools and/or flatulence - especially if the digestive system is not yet used to consuming wild plants. In this case, the plants can be taken in lower doses at first and the dose gradually increased.

The focus of your book is on herbs and medicinal plants that are used to prevent and treat women-specific illnesses. What is the relationship between the ancient knowledge of herbal medicine and the primal female power in nature?

Andrea Wichterich: Long before our ancestors settled down – during the Stone Age, which makes up a large part of our evolutionary history – we were hunters and gatherers. For thousands of years, women were responsible for collecting and preparing plants; to this day, this knowledge and this access is deeply anchored in our souls. Communication with the earth and all its creatures was probably much more immediate and direct back then. People did not see themselves as separate from nature, but inextricably interwoven with the great web of life. To this day, for indigenous cultures, the earth is our mother. All life (especially that of plants) that she creates – in the act of love with Father Sun – and all creatures are animated. They emerge as children from the polarity and balance of male and female forces.

Almost all life processes are based on a finely tuned balance of the nervous and hormonal systems, which are sometimes subject to strong fluctuations. How can we withstand the diverse influences and demands of the modern lifestyle or balance them harmoniously?

Andrea Wichterich: Our body and mind have self-healing powers and an incredible potential to compensate for the damaging influences of a modern lifestyle. If the balance is so disturbed that it leads to manifest illnesses, an attitude that does not see the disorder/illness as an enemy, but rather seeks to understand its clues and messages, helps. This creates an awareness and a refined perception of the influences that harm us and those that are good for us. Without dogmatism and opinions about what is right, our lifestyle often changes on its own and we spontaneously reach for foods and remedies that help us to resonate in harmony with our nature. Learning to trust our own body's wisdom and remembering who we are at the core of our being are, in my opinion, the keys to neuronal and hormonal balance - especially in our time.

Your recipes are not meant to be seen as fixed guidelines that are to be copied 1:1, but rather as an encouragement to playfully come into contact with the green world and to create your own recipes. Are there, however, certain guidelines that must be followed?

Andrea Wichterich: Yes, of course. You should never collect and consume plants that cannot be identified with 100% certainty! In addition to an intuitive, feeling approach to the plants, cognitive knowledge of their traditional use and indications and contraindications is just as important (especially since we are only just beginning to follow our intuition again and to open our perception channels to subtle qualities). Our intuition never deceives us when we follow it, but often what we believe to be intuition is not genuine, but based on whims and opinions.

It makes sense to select smoothie plants based on their indication. For example, if I suffer from a kidney infection and mix a lot of nettles into my smoothie, this can irritate the kidneys even more. In this case, antibiotic plants such as goldenrod and plants that protect the mucous membranes such as dead nettle make more sense. Since many plants can also have an abortifacient effect and pregnant women (and their therapists) in particular often suffer from great uncertainty about which plants and remedies they can consume, I have paid particular attention to the chapter on "Smoothies for pregnant women".

Furthermore, the motto "more is better" often does not apply; instead, all plants should be dosed carefully if there is any uncertainty about their tolerability. Regular intake over a long period of time also requires consultation with an experienced phytotherapist.

Book tip:
Andrea Wichterich: Medicinal plant smoothies for women. With 27 smoothie recipes for health, vitality and hormonal balance. Mankau Verlag, 1st edition October 2016, flexi-brochure, 16.8 x 24 cm, full color, 159 pages, €15.95 (D) / €16.40 (A), ISBN 978-3-86374-326-0.

Link recommendations:
More information about the guide "Medicinal herbal smoothies for women"
To the reading sample in PDF format
More about our author Andrea Wichterich
To the Internet forum with our author Andrea Wichterich