By Blair Doucette

/

January 24, 2025

0 Likes7 Views0

Fennel is an herb that is equally as delicious as it is beneficial. It’s such a good one to keep in your herbal pantry. Fennel seeds are well known for their carminative properties. That means they’re good at dissipating gas. For centuries, people have used the seeds of fennel plants for many therapeutic purposes, specifically for aiding digestion, which in turn helps us absorb more nutrients. This sweet umbel also acts as an anti-nauseant and helps prevent stomach spasms due to indigestion. With its sweet yet stimulating flavor, adding it to just about anything is easy. 

Common name: Fennel 

Latin name: Foeniculum vulgare

Part Used: seeds, leaves, stems, and flowers

Benefits: Helps with digestion, dispels gas, anti-inflammatory, supports the upper respiratory tract, helps support heart health, helps regulate blood pressure, moves Qi, reduces phlegm

Taste: sweet, pungent/spicy, anise

Energetics: warming, promotes healthy circulation of Qi

History of Fennel as a Medicinal Herb

Fennel is one of the oldest medicinal herbs in the world. The earliest records show that the Mesopotamians used fennel as early as 3000 BCE for culinary purposes. Throughout generations, traditional Chinese medicine has utilized fennel for its warming stimulation of appetite and to suppress indigestion. Likewise, in modern alternative medicines, it’s still used to help move Qi and restore a healthy yin-yang balance. In Ayurvedic medicine, fennel has traditionally been revered for its ability to balance the three doshas. In Medieval times, fennel was seen as magical, and those who were superstitious would plug up the keyholes of their front doors with fennel on St. John’s Eve to ward off evil spirits.

 

Greek mythology also heavily features fennel. One myth tells the story of Zeus taking fire away from the people, only to have a sympathetic titan named Prometheus sneak an ember of fire away from Zeus by hiding it in the stalk of a fennel plant. Today, giant fennel (native to Greece) is still used in rituals to carry fire embers.

Benefits of Fennel

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, fennel can help alleviate lower abdominal pain by moving qi and balancing the kidney, liver, spleen, and stomach. It’s also effective at relieving digestive complaints such as bloating, acid reflux, and overfullness. 

Modern studies show that fennel is high in calcium and vitamin C, which can help with bone health and fight oxidation. It’s also highly anti-inflammatory and may help with menstrual and menopausal symptoms. Additionally, since the days of Hippocrates, mothers have used fennel to stimulate breastmilk and alleviate colicky babies. This superfood has so many benefits that it has long been in the medicine bags of doctors all over the world. 

Recipes

After Dinner Tea Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 grams chamomile
• 1 gram bee balm
• 1 gram orange peel
• 1 gram ground fennel seed

Directions

• Combine the above amount of each of herb and place in a tea strainer inside a jar or mug.
• Pour 8 ounces of hot water over tea strainer and cover.
• Steep for 25-30 minutes.
• Remove tea strainer and enjoy.
• To make a larger batch, simply multiply the ingredients (for a pint of tea double the amount of each). Larger batches of tea can be stored in the fridge and re-heated (covered) for a couple of days.

Golden Roast Fennel Mashed Potatoes

If you have any trouble with digesting heavy meals, adding herbs like fennel to a classic recipe can help with any after-dinner gas or bloating

Ingredients

• 3 pounds golden potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 cups yellow onions, sliced
• 2 1/4 pounds fennel, sliced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375˚F.
• Follow the prep technique next to each ingredient.
• Combine fennel and onions with half the oil and place in an oven-proof pan, cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and puree in a food processor until smooth. 
• Steam or boil the potatoes. Remove from the steamer or drain. 
• In a mixer, mash the potatoes, folding them in the fennel puree with the remaining olive oil and the seasonings. Do not overbeat. Serve hot.