By: Angelica Fisher, Intern with OUR Ecovillage – Instagram: @angel_fish254
Lovage (Levisticum officinale) is a botanical that acts as a mild diuretic which supports the body’s water ways by helping to flush out excess fluid. Due to this quality if you are struggling with kidney stones this herb will help stimulate urine flow without the loss of electrolytes.
As a tea both the leaf and stalk have been used for sore throats and tonsil problems, rheumatism/arthritis, and to aid digestion. The leaves and stems of lovage will infuse any dish with a strong, celery-like flavour.
To incorporate this medicine into your food try it in scalloped potatoes, chicken soup, pasta sauce and you can also sneak a little lovage into a salad to give it some depth. Add the lovage early enough into your cooking to be sure its flavor absorbs into other ingredients!
Be sure to pull the leaves off the stems (they are quite stringy) before putting them into your dish, and then save the highly flavourful stems for a soup stock or tea.
