The potential health benefits of dandelions in your diet
Dandelions pop up overnight to blemish a perfect green lawn and crowd out the petunias in your flower garden. But instead of going to war with the ubiquitous yellow weeds, you might want to welcome them into your kitchen.
“Dandelions are herbs, and herbs have many health and nutritional benefits,” says registered dietitian Nancy Geib, RD, LDN.
Why should you add them to your diet? Let us count the ways.
Nutritional benefits of dandelions
Dandelions pack a whole lot of vitamins and minerals into a small plant. “They’re probably the most nutritionally dense green you can eat — outstripping even kale or spinach,” Geib says.
Dandelion greens, in particular, are a great source of vitamins and minerals such as:
Besides being chock-full of nutrients, dandelions contain compounds that may help prevent health problems. Unfortunately, scientists don’t focus a lot of attention on wild herbs and plants. More research is needed to confirm everything dandelions can do, Geib notes.
“Still, some research points to several benefits of dandelion,” she says.
Provide antioxidants
Dandelions contain several different types of antioxidants throughout the roots, leaves and flowers, Geib says. Antioxidants protect your body against free radicals — rogue molecules that can damage your body’s cells and make you age faster.
Reduce inflammation
Chronic inflammation in the body plays a role in a long list of serious health problems, including cancer and heart disease. One way to stay healthy is by eating foods that fight inflammation. Add dandelion to your anti-inflammatory diet: Lab studies have found that compounds in these plants can dial down inflammation.
Manage blood pressure
Dandelions are rich in potassium, which makes them a natural diuretic. In other words, they make you pee. Diuretics are often used to help control high blood pressure.
Control blood sugar
Dandelion has been used around the world as a natural way to control Type 2 diabetes. Researchers are still investigating that link, but studies in animals suggest that the compounds in dandelions might help reduce blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.
Lower cholesterol
Lowering cholesterol is a key step to reducing the risk of heart disease. Studies in animals have found that extracts from dandelion roots and leaves can naturally lower cholesterol levels.
How to eat dandelions
“The great thing about the dandelion is that every part of the plant is edible,” says Geib. She shares her tips for preparing this free-range herb:
Greens: Dandelion leaves are on the bitter side, but they have a spicy kick similar to arugula. Try tossing some fresh, washed leaves into a salad. To take the edge off the bitterness, you can also cook them, Geib says. Soak the leaves in cold, salted water for 10 or 15 minutes, then cook them in boiling water until tender (no more than five minutes). Finish by sautéing the boiled greens with some olive oil, onion or garlic. Top with Parmesan cheese.
Flowers: Dandelions’ sunny blossoms give color to a salad. Use them fresh or dried to make dandelion tea — or brew dandelion wine. You can try infusing them into oil or vinegar, too, Geib suggests. (Dandelion-infused oil can also be used to make a salve that’s great for muscle aches.)
Roots: Roasted dandelion roots are used in a tasty drink similar to coffee. You can find dandelion-based coffee substitutes at health food stores.
Dandelion supplements
Can you get the goodness of dandelion from supplements and extracts? Possibly, though the science isn’t clear, Geib says. And since there is not a lot of research on dandelion supplements, there aren’t clear dosage guidelines.
Most foods pack the biggest nutritional punch if you eat them fresh — and dandelion is probably no exception, she adds. But if you’re not a fan of their flavor (or the plants are out of season), talk to your doctor about whether dandelion supplements might be beneficial.
Make sure to chat with your healthcare provider if you take certain medications. Dandelion supplements may interact with some drugs, including:
Lithium.
Blood thinners.
Certain antibiotics.
Diuretics (aka water pills).
Some heart and blood pressure medications.
Should you add dandelions to your diet?
Dandelions have a lot going for them, but there are some things to know before serving them for dinner. You can pick the blossoms right from your yard, “but — if you’re harvesting wild dandelions — make sure you’re picking them from an area you know hasn’t been treated with pesticides or other chemicals,” Geib cautions.
You don’t need to eat them every day to reap the benefits (though you could if that’s your jam). Geib suggests approaching them like any other herb and adding them into the rotation as part of a varied and colorful diet.
“Dandelions are really wonderful for their nutrition and medicinal value,” Geib says. “Don’t be afraid to try something out of the box.”
Springtime recently arrived where I live, with an abundance of dandelions to enjoy. That’s the operative word, “enjoy”! Fresh or dried (and for the roots, roasted), you can’t make dandelion tea the wrong way. Find out your preference. Roasting gives the roots a “coffee” flavor, and a great season to harvest them is autumn, if that’s what you have where you are now. Most of the time I use the roots, leaves, and flower blossoms for tea fresh, just add simmering hot water to the cleaned plant. Of course, fresh has its own taste; find what works best for you. Sometimes it’s worth it to go to the extra steps to achieve a certain taste; other times, “quick and easy” works just fine. Use the plant however you wish, “it’s all good”: raw or roasted, finely chopped or… sometimes I use hot water to extract some of the goodness on the whole entire plant (not chopped), and then eat the cooked plant afterwards. Lots of sauces dress up the dish if you don’t want it plain. Yesterday, for instance, Hollandaise sauce made a great topping. I would love to hear your favorites! I have dried leaves on a window screen and also have used a dehydrator. For many thousands of years before dehydrators, people have loved eating dandelions! And they each can share their favorite recipes! One fun thing you might like is to ask people and see what they say! I did that yesterday and heard about “wilted dandelion salad” with mushrooms. Included in the feedback will perhaps be stories from childhood or previous generations. You might discover a treasure trove! And I would love you to write and share! Ruth
Thanks to Canadian singer Allan Rankin for granting permission to use his song for the video, Don’t Kill the Dandelion. Allan Rankin is a Prince Edward Island singer-songwriter, former senior public servant, and writer. Over a career spanning more than thirty years, Allan held senior positions in the provincial government, and also worked as a policy adviser in Ottawa. Be sure to check out his website.. http://www.theislandheartbeat.com/
Would you like a cup of dandelion tea? Well, does the cup come with a dandelion pattern? And how about your tablecloth, placemats, napkins? Do you know a company called Dandelion makes eco-friendly dandelion blossom yellow forks, spoons, and bowls? Dandelions decorate the world in many ways. Smile – and discover your favorites!
We strive to bring you all family-friendly things dandelion on these pages, and hope you return to browse – and shop, if you like, and we hope you do – often!
When I bought my Nokia cell phone, the first thing I did was choose this dandelion picture as the wallpaper:
Form English (or Australian!) words from “dandelion tea”? Use no abbreviations, no proper nouns or pronouns, no improper words, no informal alternate spellings (like nite for night), and no slang. All the letters, organized for your convenience: consonants: d d l n n tvowels: a a e e i o
How many words can you make in 1 minute? Take the challenge & play! Answers:
A A: a (ad) add addle ade aid aided ail ailed ale alit alone alto an anal and annal anneal anoint anointed anon ant ante anti at ate atone atoned
D D: dale dandelion dead deaden deal dealed deed del [vector differential operator] (deli) delta deltoid den denote denoted dent dental dented dentin dial dialed did die died diel diet dit dite dited dine dined do doe don donate donated done donned dot dote doted dude [ranch] dun dune
E E: eat eaten edit edited eel el elated elation eld elite ell end ended entail entailed eon
I: id ide [fish] idea ideal idle idled in inane indeed indolent inlet inn innate ion iota it
L: lad laden laid lanate land landed lane laned late lateen latin lead leaded led lei lend lended lent let lid lie lied linden line lined lint lion lit load loan loaned lode loden loin lone lot lotion lotioned
N N: nada nail nailed nat nation national neat neaten need neon net nil nit no nod node noel non none not note noted
O: oat odd ode oil oiled oint old olden (oleo) on one
T: tad tail tailed tale talon tan tanned tea teal te [note] ted tee teed teen teil [tree] ten tend tendon tenet ti [note] tiddle tide tided tidal tilde tile tiled tin tine tined tinned toad toddle toil toiled told ton tonal tone toned tonned
Try making a sentence—or phrase—or two, if you like! It landed and no one noted it. … a tail on a lion …a dial tone...
Phrases using each dandelion-tea letter once: nation dealed;national deed…
We hope you add to our dandelion-tea word game and welcome your comments!
Eighth Most WantedWHAT? Summer Brew! Whew! The news reports that Fantôme Pissenlit, from Belgium, is actually a very good beer. I personally would not know, although I loved visiting Belgium; I do not drink beer, but my husband does—ask him! Why beer on a tea site? This beer is made from… you guessed it! …dandelion tea!!!
In a Jul 15, 2009 post in Inventor Spot, Serious Fun for the Inventor in All of Us, “Don’t let the fact that dandelion tea is the basis for the Pissenlit, which is usually made with barley malt and hops. ( ‘Pissenlit’ means ‘piss in the bed’ in French, and uncooked dandelions are said to have a diuretic effect.) A peppy Belgian brew that pours amber, the flavor is described as acidic or very citric, depending on the reviewer. Orange makes a strong appearance as does spice.”
Come springtime, workers get to harvesting bushels of dandelions from the fields around the scenic farmhouse brewery. They remove the yellow flowers to dry in the sun, and then soak them a few days in water. They ferment the thick, dark dandelion “tea” and transform it into Pissenlit, a traditional drink also made from barley malt and hops. The result resembles a classic saison ale: golden and spritzy, strong and flavorful, having a distinctive hop bite. Even if it’s a strain to taste the brewed dandelion tea, it’s definitely in there in the bottles.
Gives a whole new meaning to “tea time”!
Beer is a beverage imbibed countless thousands of years. Noteworthy side effects can include addiction to alcohol; as always, keep on the proper side of the law, and concerning participating in this popular pastime, proceed at your own risk.
I wanted a cup of dandelion tea. Sounded sweet and simple, until I wondered if I preferred tea made from the blossoms, leaves, or roots—the roots roasted, or not.
Reminded me of the foreigner arriving in New York City, not knowing a word of English, getting hungry. He formulated a plan: follow someone into a restaurant, and if what they ordered looked good, try ordering the same thing himself. Things went quite well, as he listened to the folks ahead of him order bean soup; it looked appetizing, and smelled good. “What will you have?” “Bea-n Sou-p, pl-ease!” He enjoyed eating it that meal… and ordered it the next meal, and the next. Now he wanted anything but bean soup. He got in line, unknowingly behind regulars — who placed a ham sandwich order. He didn’t understand a word anyone said, and waited to see what showed up. The sandwich looked very appetizing, and a whole lot different from bean soup. When it was his turn, he repeated in his best English, “Ha-m Sa-nd-wi-ch, please!” “Plain or rye?” “…??? … ??? … … Bea-n Sou-p, please.”
Blossoms? Leaves?? Or, roots??? Well, I made dandelion tea using the whole plant!
Dandelions belong to the big sunflower family Asteraceae (formerly Compositae), along with over 10% of the world’s flowers. Blossoms are organized into an involucrate pseudanthium in the form of a head (or capitulum). This immediately recognizable characteristic-even from a distance-makes dandelions and their relatives the easiest, and possibly largest, family of flowering plants to identify.
The successful floral configuration surprises almost everyone; indeed, a dandelion is not simply one flower, but perhaps a hundred. Each flower makes a dry-seeded fruit (an achene) attached to a downy parachute, forming the fluffy white puffball every child likes to blow away into the wind (and then make a wish).
Composite blooms are mostly two types of flowers: ray flowers (outer “petals”, as pulled off a daisy, “…loves me, loves me not…”) and disc flowers (inner center, like the “eye” in Black-Eyed Susans). This exclusive asteraceous inflorescence likely ensures being the best-represented plants in any chosen backyard.
Dandelion relatives include herbs, shrubs, and some trees, food and ornamental plants such as:
With Kevin’s Low’s kind permission, we will show you here his photographs of a dandelion relative (white ray flowers as “petals” surrounding yellow disc flowers clumped in a central cluster) that is “growing wild all over the place” in Malaysia:
We look forward to learning the name of this plant and if it is edible/medicinal, perhaps like chamomile tea… If you know, please write us your comments! Thanks! We look forward to hearing from you!
Common activities children like to do with dandelions include plucking a bright yellow blossom and holding it under someone’s chin “to see if they like butter”, and forming a golden crown, necklace, or bracelet by making a cut in one flower stalk and inserting the blossom of different flower stalk into it, one after another.
A folk name for dandelion, yellow gowan (gowan: yellow kind of a common daisy) refers to the blooming dandelion’s bright golden yellow. Is there any other color?
Click the Pretty Pink to order these dandelion relatives.
Founded in 1999, eVitamins carry over 25,000 products and are
directly integrated with over 600 different manufacturers to ensure
they sell only authentic and genuine products at the lowest price.
By delivering the freshest products to their customers at the lowest
price, they will consistently provide the best value for their
customers worldwide who shop for health and beauty products online.
Get free shipping and a 10 year warranty on Hurom juicers!
VitaNet
A
wide selection of teas and many exciting all-natural products.
Click here for 17,000+ discount vitamins &
other health products!
