Adapting to life without coffee

By Kitty Lynn

Sometimes it’s hard to get out of bed in the morning. You need that extra little push to get on with your day. Many of us depend on that one, two or ten cups of coffee. But did you know that coffee if drank every day or multiple times a day can make you more tired?

It can contribute to that jittery, bug eyed anxious feeling you get at the pit of your stomach. Ultimately our bodies need to be nourished and cared for not pushed to their extreme. Sometimes that’s unavoidable.

Having a cup or two of coffee isn’t bad but drinking an herbal tea can help support your body and help you feel calmer and more relaxed.

There isn’t a herbal tea blend that can be the exact same as coffee but there are herbal teas that can stimulate you, taste rich and delicious and  help replace that steaming hot cup of java.

There are three plants when combined together that can make a delicious coffee substitute:

Dandelion Root

Everyone knows dandelion this yellow flower popping up on lawns, garden beds and ditches. Some people eat the leaves in salad but you can also drink the roots in tea.

You can roast the root in the oven, boil it fresh or make a tea of it dried.

Dandelion root is a little sweet and a little bitter. It helps give you an appetite, aid an upset stomach, support your liver and clear up skin conditions like eczema.

Burdock Root

You know those annoying burrs that catch onto your hair and clothes when you’ve been walking in the bush? Well dig it up and make a tea out of it! Burdock also has a sweet bitter taste. Burdock can be harvested between its first and second year so you want to harvest the smaller plant’s roots in the late fall.  It can also be used roasted, dry or fresh.  Burdock can help clear up acne, eczema, rashes or psoriasis. It helps you digest fats and to poop easier.

Chickory Root

Chicory Root is known by its little blue flowers seen on road sides and fields. It tastes bitter sweet. It helps to clear congestion, indigestion, constipation and diarrhea.

If you are looking for a Healthy Roots Indigenous Challenge to substitute coffee Check out this recipe!

  • Coffee Substitute Recipe
  • 1tablespoon Chicory Root
  • 1tablespoon Burdock Root
  • 1tablespoon Dandelion Root
  • 3 cups of water

To roast roots: Cut up the roots. Place them on a cookie sheet and put in the oven at a low temperature. This can also be done on a low heat on the stove top. Roast lightly until completely dry.

To dry roots: Chop them up while they are fresh and lay them on a screen or cloth. Keep them in a dark place with lots of air flow and make sure they are completely dry before you put them away in a jar to store.

How to make the Tea

Grind up the roots

Put 3 tablespoons of the mixture in a pot with 3 cups of water

Bring to a low simmer on the stove for 10-20 min

Pour and strain. Add whatever you like and drink!

Gathering Tip: Harvest roots in places that are cleaner, away from traffic and fields that spray pesticides.

These roots and herbal coffee blend will soon be available from The Our Sustenance Apothecary 2676 Fourth Line.

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