The healing power of herbs

Photos by Mikey Yabut

Long before modern medicine, humans relied on plants for survival, healing, and longevity. Across ancient civilizations—from Egypt and Greece to China and the Philippines—herbs were considered sacred tools for restoring balance inside the body. And today, science is rediscovering what traditional healers always knew: Certain herbs don’t just add flavor to food—they actively heal.

In a world overloaded with chemicals, pills, and stress, these simple green leaves remain some of the most powerful medicines available.

Among the most powerful and accessible healing herbs are dill, basil, and mint. These three green allies work on digestion, inflammation, hormones, the nervous system, and even cellular detoxification. Together, they form a natural triad for whole-body healing.

Dill: The digestive healer and detoxifier

Dill may seem like a simple kitchen herb, oftentimes polarizing—you love it, or you hate it. But it is one of the strongest natural digestive and detoxifying plants. It contains calcium, iron, magnesium, and flavonoids. These compounds allow dill to act as a natural antibacterial, digestive enzyme stimulant, bile flow enhancer, and help reduce gas and bloating.

In traditional medicine, dill was used to calm colic in babies and to relieve stomach spasms. Modern science confirms this—dill relaxes smooth muscle in the intestines, allowing trapped gas to move out and digestion to normalize. Dill stimulates the liver and gallbladder, helping the body release old bile. Bile carries excess estrogen, toxins, and metabolic waste. If bile flow is slow, hormones get recirculated instead of eliminated. This leads to estrogen dominance, weight gain, and inflammation—and adding a little dill in your meals helps correct this.

For people healing from medication-induced weight changes or metabolic stalls (such as SSRI or GLP-1 use), dill is especially powerful because it improves fat digestion and hormone clearance.

Basil: The stress and inflammation controller

Basil is more than a fragrant leaf—it is an adaptogen, meaning it helps the body handle stress. Stress is one of the biggest causes of hormone imbalances, weight gain, insomnia, inflammation, and immune suppression. Basil contains compounds like eugenol, linalool, and rosmarinic acid that help to reduce cortisol, blood sugar spikes, and inflammation.

Basil directly calms the nervous system. When the nervous system is stuck in “fight or flight,” digestion shuts down, fat burning stops, and healing slows.

Mint: The nervous system and gut reset

Mint is one of the fastest-acting healing herbs. When you inhale or consume mint, it immediately relaxes spasms, reduces nausea, lowers anxiety, and improves bile flow. Mint works through the vagus nerve, the main nerve that controls digestion, mood, and inflammation. Mint also helps reduce leptin resistance—a hidden cause of stalled weight loss.

Why these three herbs work best together

Dill, basil, and mint target three different but connected systems: dill with liver and digestion, basil with hormones and stress, and mint with the nervous system and gut. Together, they improve detox, lower inflammation, calm the nervous system, and regulate appetite.

These herbs, when combined in a delicious salad, help with medication weight gain, hormone disruption, reduce bloating, improve fat burning, and support the overall nervous system. Paired with my spiced yogurt dressing that adds a bit of protein, this salad is a surefire cleanser. Adding herbs to food can also increase nutrient absorption by up to 30 percent.

Herbs do not force the body to change. They remind the body how to heal itself: dill to cleanse, basil to balance, and mint to soothe. And together, they restore the natural intelligence of your metabolism, hormones, and nervous system.