Most of us have heard of chamomile. Most of us have even had chamomile tea! After a huge departure away from holistic medicine and herbalism in the West, it says a lot about any herb that has stayed popular in our culture. Because chamomile is so well known, we can assume it has profound importance. And in this chamomile monograph, you’ll learn exactly why!
In this chamomile monograph, we are going to get into the herbal actions of chamomile in depth. We’ll talk about its energetics, tastes, medicinal plant parts, herbal actions, body affinities, cautions, chamomile in practice, ways to prepare chamomile, herbal pairings, and where to source your chamomile. Plus, you’ll get the opportunity to download the free chamomile monograph so you can always come back to it if you need to.
Disclaimer
This article is for educational purposes only and shouldn’t be used as a replacement for medical attention or diagnosis. It’s recommended to talk to a doctor before beginning any herbal regimen, especially if you are taking pharmaceutical medication. Because every body is different, the following information may or may not apply directly to you.
Chamomile (Matricaria recutita)
Chamomile is in the Asteraceae family (aka the daisy family) along with a whole bunch of other plants, including sunflowers, calendula, marigolds, echinacea, and even lettuce! There are a couple of species of chamomile most people are familiar with, including Matricaria recutita (or German chamomile,) and Chamaemelum nobile (or Roman chamomile). The two species share simiar herbal actions but do differ slightly. Mainly, German chamomile is much more potent and is, therefore, preferred by herbalists. For the purposes of this chamomile monograph, I will be discussing Matricaria recutita!
Pineapple weed (Matricaria discoidea) is a close relative of chamomile and probably grows wild in your yard! Pineapple weed has identical actions as chamomile, so feel free to harvest it if chamomile isn’t accessible to you!
Chamomile Monograph
In this chamomile monograph, we are going to go over chamomile’s energetics, tastes, medicinal plant parts, herbal actions, body systems affinities, constituents, and cautions.
Chamomile Monograph Video
Energetics & Tastes
Chamomile’s flavor is sweet, aromatic, floral, and slightly bitter, especially if you let your infusion sit for a long time. Chamomile is warming, relaxing, and lightly sedative.
Medicinal Plant Parts
The only parts of the chamomile plant we work with medicinally are the flowers.
Herbal Actions
Chamomile has a variety of herbal actions, including carminative, nervine, sedative, antispasmodic, vulnerary, and cholagogue. Let’s talk about what these terms mean.
Carminative
Particularly potent when prepared in a short, hot infusion, chamomile stimulates blood flow to the digestive system. This action warms the core, improves digestion, and soothes spasms.
Nervine
As a soothing nervine, it helps to relax tense nervous system states. This action is most prominent in the enteric nervous system (the collection of nerves in and around the intestines). If you’re looking for chamomile’s nervine actions, it’s best to prepare the herb in a short, hot infusion.
Sedative
Chamomile is down-regulating. Combined, the carminative, nervine, and antispasmodic actions help pull the body out of a fight or flight state and into a rest and digest state. This action doesn’t directly make you sleepy but can help aid a good night’s sleep when drinking chamomile tea at night.
Antispasmodic
Because of its carminative action, chamomile is antispasmodic to both the lower GI tract as well as the uterus in people who have them.
Vulnerary
Chamomile’s carminative action when applied topically can help soothe skin irritation and help aid in the healing of wounds.
Cholagogue
If you let your tea steep for a long time and let it get cool, the tea becomes bitter. This bitterness helps stimulate digestive secretions and facilitates digestion. This cholagogue action is subtle compared to other herbs more traditionally thought of as bitters.
Body Systems Affinities
Chamomile loves the digestive, nervous, and reproductive systems. Let’s get into it some.
Digestive System
Chamomile stimulates digestive fluids aiding assimilation, soothes spasms in the GI tract, helps expel gas, and even stimulates healing of damage in the intestines. It does this primarily through its carminative action. The increased blood flow to the GI tract helps aid lots of digestive discomfort and tense digestive conditions.
Nervous System
It’s pretty well known that chamomile helps to calm an anxious nervous system, but how does it do this? Chamomile has a particular affinity for the enteric nervous system, aka the collection of nerves in and around the intestines. Because it stimulates blood flow to the intestines, it helps bring blood flow and nourishment to this nervous system, allowing for down-regulation. The down-regulation of this nervous system stimulates the down-regulation of the rest of the body.
Reproductive System
Because chamomile stimulates blood flow to the intestines, it also brings extra blood flow to the uterus in people who have them. This extra nourishment helps soothe cramping and PMDD symptoms.
Notable Constituents
- volatiles (proazulenes, faresine, alpha-bisabol, spiroether)
- flavonoids (anthemidin, luteolin, rutin)
- bitter glycosides (anthemic acid)
- coumarins
- tannins
Cautions When Working with Chamomile
Chamomile is very safe for everyone and particularly suited to children. However, if you are allergic to other members of the daisy family (ragweed, goldenrod, dandelions, marigold, yarrow, etc.) then it’s possible you’re allergic to chamomile, too. Feel free to do some experimenting if you’re up for that!
Chamomile in Practice
With its carminative, nervine, and antispasmodic actions, chamomile is well indicated for lots of conditions.
Food Anxiety, Picky Eaters, & Eating Disorders
Whether you’re a picky eater, are dealing with an eating disorder, or have general food-related anxiety or trauma, chamomile can help gently move you past those barriers. As an Autistic person with texture sensitivities, food can be really difficult for me to eat sometimes. Chamomile can help soothe such aversions and increase appetite, including in people dealing with food restriction. And if you struggle with binge eating, chamomile can help decrease the anxiety behind the binge eating so you have more autonomy.
Of course, if you’re dealing with a serious issue that’s impacting your health, it’s always best to find a trustworthy mental or medical health practitioner to discuss it with. Food is a touchy topic and you’re not alone in this struggle. You deserve to find freedom!
Digestion-Related Anxiety
Chamomile is well-known as an anti-anxiety herb. However, it’s common to throw terms around like depression and anxiety without explaining what’s really going on. Like all relaxing and sedating herbs, chamomile isn’t going to soothe all forms of anxiety. Specifically, chamomile soothes digestion-related stress. However, it just so happens that virtually everyone in the West deals with a lot of digestion-related stress! If fact, it’s likely digestion issues are the cause of a significant portion of the anxiety you feel, whether you realize it or not.
Because of chamomile’s carminative action, it helps bring warmth and nourishment to the enteric nervous system. This helps soothe and down-regulate anxiety in and around the intestines which diminishes a significant source of anxiety in the body. This profound regulation of the enteric nervous system then signals to the rest of the body that it’s safe and, therefore, can help soothe other anxious parts of the body, too.
Tension-Related Insomnia
I love drinking chamomile tea a few hours before bed. The deep carminative and antispasmodic actions of the tea help profoundly relax my body and get it ready for sleep. Although chamomile doesn’t directly induce sleep, it does help shift the body into a parasympathetic (or “rest and digest”) mode, which is necessary for sleep. I like pairing chamomile with ginger for extra warming and soothing actions. Be careful, though: drinking a big mug of tea right before bed may wake you up in the night to pee!
Anxious & Energetic Kids
Chamomile is great for kiddos of all ages, especially those who typically experience anxiety or ADHD-type symptoms that get in the way of their success. Our schooling systems in the West aren’t set up for us ADHD folks, and although that needs to change, there are ways we can help our ADHD kids adapt so that they’re successful in the world. Giving your kids strong chamomile infusions or even whole, fresh chamomile flowers will help calm fidgety bodies and allow them to focus. However, this should always be paired with exercise outdoors! Chamomile shouldn’t be used to “rid” kids of their energy or ADHD. So, make sure your kiddos are getting the movement they need, too!
Anxious & Energetic Dogs
If you have an anxious pup, chamomile can help them chill them out. This includes on days they have to go to the vet or do something they typically don’t enjoy. Chamomile will also help your pup out if they’re usually pretty energetic but need to lay low temporarily, like after surgery. Just put a some dry flowers right into their food for them. It’s unclear whether chamomile is safe in the long term for dogs, so you should only stick to giving them chamomile in temporary situations! And remember to use German chamomile, not Roman!
Remember: never give your pets essential oils! Never feed them essential oils and never put them directly on their skin. Even the essential oils of generally safe plants can be poisonous to them.
Ways to Prepare Chamomile
There are a few ways to prepare chamomile in practice. Let’s talk about them!
Short Infusion Tea
A short hot infusion is best if you’re looking for chamomile’s carminative and nervine actions. To make a short infusion, let your tea steep for no more than 20 minutes. It also works best if you make the tea strong by adding a lot of herb material. If you’re making a quart of tea in a glass jar, for example, I recommend adding about an inch of herb material to the container.
Long Infusion Tea
Long infusions are best if you are looking to work with chamomile’s bitter and antispasmodic actions. To make a long infusion, let your tea steep for at least 30 minutes, if not closer to a couple of hours. I like adding chamomile to a blend and letting it sit overnight. Again, be sure to add lots of herb material!
Tincture
Although it’s not my preferred way to work with chamomile, tinctures are still an effective option, especially if you’re looking for chamomile’s bitter actions. I like adding chamomile to warming bitter blends!
Compress
Particularly if you’re looking to work with chamomile to help heal wounds or irritation on the skin, making a compress will be very helpful. You can also just put a warm tea bag full of chamomile on the area you need it. The tea bag works on the eyes especially well if you are dealing with conjunctivitis.
In Food
I love adding chamomile to food. Cookies, cakes, smoothies, summer salads, and more! Its floral flavor makes it a truly amazing addition to lots of dishes (and pairs particularly well with ginger!) Plus, adding chamomile to food is a great way to get more chamomile into you and add some variety to your life!
Chamomile Herbal Pairings
Not only does chamomile pair nicely with so many herbs (my favorites listed below) but these pairings also complement the herbal actions of both herbs.
Sourcing Chamomile
Chamomile is super easy to grow, so I recommend growing it yourself! Growing your own herbs is the best way to develop a deeper relationship with the plant and to ensure high-quality herb material. These abundant little plants will produce flowers all season! If you’re looking for seeds, you can buy chamomile seeds here. You can buy German chamomile, Roman chamomile, or a variety pack.
If you can’t grow your own, then I recommend finding a local herb farmer to support. This ensures high quality and also supports your community. You can also try buying herbs from your local apothecary.
If you’re looking to buy herbs online, then I really recommend buying from Mountain Rose Herbs. This company consistently provides top-tier quality products and has many checks and balances to ensure social and environmental responsibility. Here, you can buy dry chamomile flowers, chamomile flower powder, chamomile tincture, essential oils, and more!
Free Chamomile Monograph PDF
More Herbal Monographs
Want to learn about more herbs? In my online Materia Medica, you will find all of the herbs I have written about. Here, you can click on any herb you want to learn about and you’ll get a thorough herbal monograph that’s always being updated, just like this one. Plus, you can download the free monograph for every herb! Learn more here.
The Best Herbalism Books
There are hundreds of herbalism books available on the market. A quick Google search can be really overwhelming! Especially when the top search results from Amazon and Goodreads seem to be unreliable.
In this article, I’ve gathered all of my favorite herbalism titles in one place to share with you. If you don’t know where to start, that’s ok! The books are organized by type and I’ve written descriptions to let you know which I suggest in which situations. Plus, all of the books here are trustworthy, so you can follow your curiosity and pick which books stand out to you!
Summary: Chamomile Monograph
Chamomile is a culturally very important herb. And now you understand why! In this chamomile monograph, we discussed everything you need to know about how we work with this plant in an herbal practice. You now know its energetics, medicinal plant parts, herbal actions, body affinities, and cautions. You also know how to work with chamomile in practice, ways to prepare chamomile, its herbal pairings, and where to source your chamomile. Plus, you got to download the free chamomile monograph for you to reference anytime.
What are your favorite ways to work with this herb? Adding chamomile to any tea blend is always so joyful for me. Leave your thoughts in the comments, I would love to hear from you!
Thanks for reading and happy crafting!
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