26/03/2025
Mucilaginous Herbs - What Are They?
Mucilage is a thick, gel like substance produced by plants. In herbal medicine, plants such as slippery elm and marshmallow root are used for the mucilaginous quality to soothe mucous membranes in the body. This may be, for example, an inflamed gut, irritated airways or urinary spasm. Leaky gut can be a key issue when it comes to digestive problems leading to all sorts of other symptoms such as intolerances, skin problems and more - mucilaginous herbs can be great allies in these cases.
The nature of these herbs is that they absorb water (and should be taken with water).Therefore, they act as bulk laxatives, keeping bowels healthy and moving, whilst absorbing any toxins too. An additional benefit is that they are prebiotics to the microbiome feeding the 'good' bacteria in your gut.
Some of the conditions that they can help with are:
~ Heartburn
~ Constipation
~ Cough
~ Gastritis
~ Interstitial cystitis
Herbs that come under this category are:
Ulmus fulva ~ Slippery elm
Althaea officinalis ~ Marshmallow root
Plantago ovata ~ Psyllium husk
Plantago lanceolata ~ Plantain
Verbascum thapsus ~ Mullein
Have you heard of mucilaginous herbs?
