"If the dried herb formula asks for 2.5 to 5 grams per cup, you would double that if it's fresh."
Anthia Koullouros is a clinical naturopath, herbalist and the founder of Apotheca in Surry Hills, where she sees patients and blends herbal tonics by hand. In more than 30 years practising herbal medicine, she has watched "this whole world go from something people just whispered about to something in every single supermarket aisle". Lee called her "old school wisdom for modern people". She joined Lee and me on episode 21 of The Lee & Irene Show.
Anthia's love of herbs started when she was 11 or 12, reading her parents' copy of How to Get Well by Paavo Airola. Her Greek Cypriot family grew their own food and herbs, and she would make up medical conditions so she could treat herself. "Maybe I was an old apothecary in a past life."
She spent 16 years building Ovvio into one of Australia's most respected organic tea brands. Every ingredient was certified organic, and chefs at restaurants like Aria had blends made just for them. After bringing in investors, she was "diluted, diluted, diluted" and walked away. Anthia took the best of what she had created and started again. "I'm going to pull out all the juicy good bits of it, the stuff that I put in, and I'm going to recreate it again." Some of her restaurants even waited for her to come back. There was so much of Anthia's story that rang so true for me.
You can listen to the full episode here:
Here are the 3 things I learned from our chat with Anthia
1. Kitchen herbs need a bigger dose to work as medicine
Anthia calls herbs like chamomile, fennel, peppermint, cinnamon and ginger "kitchen garden herbs". You can use them in food as medicine, but in clinic they're prescribed in a much more concentrated form. "Each herb has a therapeutic reference range or dose that will yield a therapeutic action."
Fresh and dried herbs differ in concentration by weight. With fresh herbs, Anthia says it's "usually double the amount of a dry". So if a dried herbal tea calls for 2.5 to 5 grams per cup, you would double that with fresh herbs. If you grate fresh turmeric over your scrambled eggs, use a couple of teaspoons.
Rosemary is a good example. It's paired with lamb because "rosemary helps cut through the fat because it stimulates bile flow." But "you need a lot more rosemary than just adding it to a lamb roast." Anthia suggests a rosemary tea or tincture instead.
2. Audit everything that comes out of a packet
Anthia gets her patients to do a food audit. They look at the ingredients of everything they eat that comes out of a packet, and compare one brand against another. "It's not just looking at the nutritional panel."
Cottage cheese is one of the first foods she looks at, because everyone is eating it for protein right now. The one she likes is Barambah Organics, because "it's just milk and the culture." I bought it once because I thought, oh, healthy organic cottage cheese. I opened it and it looked like ricotta. Anthia says "I think that's the thing we have to get people used to." Other brands list a big paragraph of ingredients, including acid regulators and other additives.
Protein powders are the other one. Some "read like breakfast cereals", with so many additives. Her advice is to read "everything after the word ingredients."
3. Take digestive bitters before you eat
Digestive bitters are a blend of bitter-tasting herbs, usually taken as drops in a little water. Gentian, dandelion root and globe artichoke are some of the bitter herbs traditionally used to support healthy digestion.
Anthia's tip for anyone who eats on the run is to take digestive bitters 15 minutes before a meal. "Bitters stimulate digestive juices. They create the counterbalance to fight flight, which is called rest and digest."
Even thinking about bitters gets your saliva going, which cues your stomach that food is on the way.
Anthia's teas for getting your mojo back
I asked Anthia if there's a tea for women who have been through the wringer and need to get their mojo back. After everything she'd been through, she created two.
Hypnos: named after the Greek god of sleep, with hops, passionflower and lavender. Anthia drinks it during the day for those big fight or flight moments, and at night for sleep.
The Graces: named after the divine nymphs of Greek mythology, and made while Anthia was going through perimenopause herself. It has geranium, rose petal, lavender, rosemary and sage, and a lot of it is grown in her mum and dad's garden.
Anthia's teas are online at Apotheca by Anthia, along with her book, I Am Food. Or visit her in store at 346 Bourke Street, Surry Hills, open Tuesday to Saturday. In Sydney, you can also drink her teas at Bills, Chiswick, Fratelli Paradiso, Gertrude & Alice and the Solomon Group restaurants.
Listen to the full episode
We also talked about wild yam and the herbs Anthia uses for menopause. You can listen to episode 21 of The Lee & Irene Show on Spotify, Apple or your favourite podcast app.
About the Author
Irene Falcone is the founder of Clean Nectarine and co-host of The Lee & Irene Show. She started her first clean beauty business in 2011 with $100 in her garage and grew it to $20m in four years. She has spent over 15 years reading the backs of beauty and wellness labels, is a Telstra Business Women's Awards winner and an EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, and has been featured on A Current Affair, The Project, Sunrise, Channel Nine Mornings and Sky News.
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