Chances are you have pulled, sprayed and cursed one of the biggest superfoods growing freely in your backyard. The benefits of eating your dandelions are huge – can you change your perspective to love these pesky little weeds?

Are you open to exploring the healing benefits within this bitter leaf? Imagine if you could take on the characteristics of the Dandelion? Appearing beautiful and noble through all your life changes, able to adapt to stress, responding quickly to challenges with a graceful flexibility…

Back Through Time

The official name for the Dandelion that pops up in your garden is “taraxacum officinale” which translates into the “official remedy from all disorders.”

This dark green bitter leaf and sunny yellow flower was used medicinally all around the globe for thousands of years.

• Chinese Medicine used dandelion tonics for perhaps 5000 years with the earliest written account
in 65 AD.
• Pliny the Elder included a reference to the benefits of Dandelions in is Natural History anthology
in 74 AD.
• African tribes used the herbal medicine for 4000 years.
• Japanese culture used the plant for both medicine and food for thousands of years. In the Americas it was originally planted as support for bees with the flowers planted near hives as early season blooms support the bees before other flowers appear in the spring.

What’s Special About Dandelions?

The deep long taproot that plagues gardeners most is also what makes this plant an amazing healer. This deep root accesses minerals deep within the soil that most other vegetables in the garden are not accessing.

All parts of the plant are edible and provide different benefits in fact together they provide everything required for humans to survive.

• Flowers are lightly sweet and have subtle taste like honey.
• Leaves have a bitter taste that strengthens and tones the internal organs.
• Seeds can be blended with water to create a milk that is packed with proteins , carbohydrates and fats.
• Roots taste like chicory, are used as a coffee replacement, and in the fall and winter are especially sweet and packed with nutrients.
• Even the milky fluid in the stem is used to treat skin conditions and warts.

Benefits of Eating Dandelion Greens

You’ve likely heard it said how healthy they are – even more so than broccoli and kale but are they really?

The vitamin and mineral content of Dandelions are incredibly high compared to other greens. Combine the nutritional aspect of the leaves, flowers and roots you essentially provide for all your needs.

Chlorophyll – extremely high
A Vitamin – more than 200% of your daily value – more than any other greens
C Vitamin – 58% of your daily intake
E Vitamin – 11% of your daily intake
K Vitamin – over 900% of your daily intake
A full complement of B Vitamins from B1, B2, B5, ,B6, B9, and B12.

Trace Minerals include:
Calcium, Copper, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Phosphorus, Potassium, and Zinc.

The health benefits of Dandelions are attributed to everything from; diabetes support, diuretic, improving bone health, treating liver disorders, supporting the gall bladder, clearing problem skin and preventing acne, cancer prevention, cancer prevention, weight loss, regulating blood pressure, supporting anemia and improving digestion.

Ready to Give Them a Try?

Chances are you can find this prolific plant close by. The trick will be finding plants that have not been sprayed. When you do go ahead grab a handful of leaves. Feel free to munch but as a first taste you may enjoy them more mixed with something else.

We are not used to the bitter taste that is prized in Ayurveda especially for cleansing, preparing the body for digestion and promoting clear thinking

Here are a couple easy and more advanced ways to enjoy that handful of greens.

Dandelion Juice

Easy – Toss a handful into your favourite smoothie for an extra boost of chlorophyll and micronutrients.

Advanced – Blend a handful of green leaves (and flowers if you like) with water for a refreshing green juice. Drink before meals to prepare the body for digestion.

Dandelion Salad

Easy – Toss a few leaves into your next leafy green salad to add a unique bitter taste.

Advanced – Make a full salad from dandelion greens. These bitter greens may be more difficult to digest especially if you are prone to Vata Imbalance and bloating. Pre-digest the greens by squeezing orange or lemon juice on the leaves and letting the marinade for at least an hour before you eat.

The bitter taste may take a few tries to get used to. Don’t give up after the first taste your body will adapt to the bitter taste it needs. If you are used to mostly sweet and refined foods this little plant will help to cleanse the body from refined sugars and fats.

Ease into the taste by blending the greens with fruit; apples, oranges or lemons combine well with the leafy greens.

Are You Feeling the Benefits of Dandelion Greens?

Be present and notice your energy. Notice how you feel at the key moments during the day, first thing in the morning, mid-afternoon and when you start to feel tired in the evening. Start tracking your energy to see what helps you feel vibrant and alive.

To find out more on Dandelions and other edible weeds growing near you check out Katrina Blair’s The Wild Wisdom of Weeds for information and recipes.