FOREVER fennel

Emblica officinalis

Fennel is best known as a culinary herb, all parts of the plant are edible. Fennel not only improves digestion, but also can reduce bad breath and body odor .  Fennel also acts as an excellent digestive aid to relieve abdominal cramps, gas and bloating. If you expect to eat a vegetable that you have trouble digesting, like cabbage, try adding fennel seeds to your recipe. The Greek name for fennel was marathon , it was derived from "maraino", to grow thin, reflexing the widely held belief that drinking fennel tea would have a slimming effect.

The uses for fennel go far beyond the kitchen however, fennel has been used as a medicinal herb  since the time of the early Romans and Greeks.

Fennel teas are useful for chronic coughs and act as an expectorant to help clear mucus from the lungs, syrup prepared from fennel juice was formerly given for chronic coughs. Oil of fennel relieves muscular or rheumatic pains and is warming and soothing in massage oil blends. Women may also benefit from the estrogenic properties of fennel.