🌿Bridging Korean Herbalism w/ America's Modern World with Clinical Herbalist Grace Yoon

In this episode we get to explore the world of Korean American clinical herbalist, and Qi Alchemy founder Grace Yoon. Grace shares her personal journey into the world of herbal medicine, tracing back to her roots and upbringing with her grandmothers her exposure to farming, Eastern medicine practices like acupuncture, cupping, along with herbal stews. 

I loved chatting with Grace as she not only educates on the specifics of Korean herbal practices but also inspires a deeper connection with herbalism's cultural and global dimensions.

02:22 Grace's Journey into Herbal Medicine
06:37 The Power of Traditional Korean Herbalism
11:48 The Importance of Postpartum Care in Korea
21:47 The Challenges of the Supplement Industry and Embracing Minimalism
25:14 Qi Alchemy: Sourcing and Sustainability
28:22 The Impact of Lifestyle on Herbal Medicine
31:49 Discovering Korean Herbs and Their Benefits
45:15 The Future of Postpartum Care and Closing Thoughts

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Transcript

Bridging Korean Herbalism w America's Modern World with Clinical Herbalist Grace Yoon

Welcome back to another episode on the herbalist's path. I am really excited for today's conversation. I don't know where it's going to lead us, but I have an idea that it's going to be super fascinating for me and hopefully you as well. Today my guest is Grace Yoon and she is a Korean American clinical herbalist, author, and founder of Qi Alchemy, which is an herbal company that specializes in growing and sourcing high quality herbs and organic superfoods from South Korea.

So I am I'm incredibly excited to just chat with you, Grace, and to learn about some of the wisdom that you have to share in an area that I'm unfamiliar with. I've studied mostly western herbalism all of my life, so I can't wait to hear about you and your story and what you do. So, thank you so much, Grace, for being here.

Well, thank you so much for having me, Mel, and, um, it's, it's been great to, to just connect with fellow herbalists, um, throughout the country, and being Korean American, I, I feel like there is a, a different kind of perspective, um, that I can share with your audience, so thank you for having me. Yeah, I'm really excited.

I know you'll add so much value and insight to the episode. So, um, One of the things I love to ask my guests, because it's always so fascinating and interesting, is just about your story, like, how did you get into this world of herbal medicine? Because it seems that you really have done so much to help others in the world of herbal medicine, and Yeah, I'd just love to hear about Little Grace.

Yeah, well, uh, Little Grace was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. Um, and you know, one of the few kind of Asians in, in, uh, Dallas at that time. Um, and I had just two amazing grandmothers. Um, my paternal grandmother was a farmer, uh, from South Korea in Paju. And, um, my maternal grandmother was in Eastern medicine.

practitioner. So I grew up, um, eating fresh vegetables and herbs, um, foraging with my grandmothers and also, um, getting acupuncture, cupping, starting from a very early age. Like probably, I, I remember my first cupping session at probably age five when I had this huge amp bite and my ankle was so swollen that my grandmother was like, okay, we're going to cup this and get all the inflammation out.

And it kind of like traumatized me at that time because as a five year old, you're like, what is my grandmother doing with these needles? Um, But it was, uh, such a huge relief right after and I just felt like cured from it. Um, and when I was like around six years old, I had a lot of chronic health issues that these, uh, that Western doctors didn't know how to diagnose.

Um, Shortness of breath, beavers all the time, and it was through my grandmother's, um, their healing soups and, uh, herbal soups and stews and remedies that really enabled my body to heal naturally. And, um, so that's when, that, that was my journey or, uh, kind of, uh, start to, to herbalism. Um, and. You know, having a fresh like, um, so my paternal grandmother who was the farmer, um, she missed her farm so much that back in Korea that she found actually, um, a dry, um, a barren kind of field in Texas.

Um, just full of weeds and trash, so each day she went to that field and started pulling all the weeds and converted it into a beautiful herb garden for all the other Korean grandmothers to just grow crops and, um, a garden, a beautiful garden. So, When I think of that moment, I'm like, wow, like, I want to be like my grandmothers one day, where they like really, really harvested, um, and like took care of the land.

So that's my, my kind of start to herbalism. I love that so much. Um, I'm one of the first that I know of in my family that practices herbalism on the regular. So I didn't have this passed down from my previous generation. So when I hear stories like this, it's just, it's so incredibly beautiful and inspiring.

And it's one of my missions is to help more moms and grandmothers pass this information down again, like it used to be. Thank you. And just how beautiful and fortunate that you had those grandparents around. I think that's so neat. So I'm, I'm really curious with that. Did your grandmothers pass along recipes and herbs as you got older and the knowledge of those guys?

Definitely. But you know, there was no written recipe. You just. Through a, a few things here and there and measure and, and based on like, uh, like who you're, you know, making the herbal remedies to, um, so like, I remember probably one of my first kind of herbal, kind of culinary wise herbal foods was acorn jelly.

Um. And so we would forage acorns, and my grandmother would like soak them for hours, like several hours, and uh, sun dry them, and we would make this amazing just acorn jelly, and um, acorn has one of the highest proteins, um, and so, uh, in Korea, they make it like a flour based jelly, with acorn. Um, so that was something that, that was really memorable.

And, and obviously she passed on that type of recipe to us. Also kimchi, like growing up, I ate kimchi all the time with all my meals. And now it's just so crazy to see how kimchi is like So mainstream now, you can buy it at Costco and it's like, Oh, this is from my country. And, and it's just a beautiful thing to, to, uh, recognize that people are, uh, realizing the, um, just the power of herbs and, and just like the nutritional, nutritional value of fermented foods.

Right. The way kimchi was made in the beginning is for a very long shelf life. Korea was very poor at that time, post Korean War, so they fermented almost everything. So in a way, it's, you know, the fermentation process is to preserve, um, our foods so we can have it longer, you know? And to save money for your family, but yet it's so amazing for our gut health.

Like, I didn't even think that it was like created out of a time like that. I had never thought of that. I was just like, Oh, more fermented foods are really fantastic and can really help with your gut health. That's awesome. Yeah. And, and so, uh, one of the traditions in Korea that we have is called Kimjang.

So, uh, your whole community within your village, you make Big batches, like gallons of kimchi together to, um, to store for the rest of the year. Neat. So, and then you like trade it 'cause there's over 200 types of kimchi. Um, so I, I do think that that is one of those staples in your fridge that you could, you know.

It's like sauerkraut, right? It's really great, full of probiotics, great for your gut health, and usually most people like it. I mean, sometimes it could be an acquired taste, but I would say if People like spicy and sour. That's like the perfect thing. Yeah. I love kimchi. I love spicy. My daughter does not, but she tends to love Asian foods in general.

So I'm hoping maybe I can like, be like, this is an Asian dish. Does she like pickled foods? She loves pickles. Like straight pickles, sauerkraut. She's not such a huge fan of, um, Has she tried pickled radish before? I hate radishes, so I'm not going to bring radishes into our home. Um, there is a Korean version of pickled cucumber.

Yeah, she might like that. That's something we could probably get her into, I would imagine. That, that is really cool. I'm curious, I, so, You have this book, the Korean American Apothecary, or Korean Herbal Apothecary, right? Do you talk about any kimchi recipes in there? I do talk about kimchi and their, their, um, how it originated.

Um, I, I talk about a lot of the different spices, um, and sauces, uh, vinegars that Koreans use in their everyday like culinary. Um, so those are things like, for example, persimmon vinegar. Um, you don't really see that in your grocery store, but Koreans use persimmon vinegar all the time. Um, another, you know, and we have seaweed.

All the time. I mean, seaweed just has so many great health benefits, um, especially for postpartum moms, so that's one of the cultures, um, uh, traditions that Koreans have, like, uh, we have postpartum centers. in, in Korea. And I, I'm not sure if you've heard of these postpartum care centers. So after a mom gives birth to their child, they go straight to the center and they have a whole staff of Nurses, massage therapists, chefs, um, like babysitters, it's, because the whole philosophy is, um, in order to raise a healthy child, you need to have the, the mom be nourished and restored from giving labor, um.

And so one of the main soups that they, they consume, um, during this postpartum time, usually it's four to six weeks, um, is seaweed soup. So, um, you know, seaweed has full of iron, um, and minerals. So that, that is a really amazing restorative soup. Um, and we also consume it during our birthdays. Nice. As like a loving gift to nourish your body and soul for the next year to come, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Sounds so beautiful. When you were talking about these postpartum centers, I'm like, can we just stop the episode right here and blast this out to the entire United States? Because moms here get so little care and so little love. It's really disgusting because Making a human being is the hardest job any person can do in the world, yeah, yeah.

And they're like, here you go, go back to work. Exactly, and like, other parts of, uh, the world, they really, Take care of the, the, uh, women and, you know, like in Korea, they, we have universal health care. And so this postpartum care is part of your insurance, you know, it's, it's very affordable too. Acupuncture, all of these massage therapies, very affordable.

Um, I can get an acupuncture session for 10. Wow. That is so amazing. I keep speaking to my partner, how I'm like, we really got to move out of the United States. And I hadn't thought of Korea. They were all talking about Japan because Oh yeah, Japan has really great Do they? Yeah, I mean, their lifestyle is, um The thing about Japan and Korea though, like If you work in, in corporations, you work really, really hard.

Um, and so there's that other side as well, but in terms of just your everyday diet and, you know, lifestyle, I would say it's a lot healthier. Yeah, my daughter's obsessed with sushi and with seaweed, and my partner is a ski bum, so we think about Japan for that, and he works in the ski industry, so it's like, let's go skiing in Japan and go eat sushi all day every day.

Yeah, oh my gosh, your, your family would love it. I'm sure we would, but it sounds like Korea would be amazing too, with all of that, the care for human beings, like how beautiful. Yeah. Totally. Yeah. Um, and, and it's, so now, actually, surprisingly, in New York, there is a Korean postpartum care center in New York City, but it's very expensive.

So I do think, um, there's hope for America to kind of create a, new ways for moms to kind of care for themselves after post labor. Um, and so, yeah, I mean, there's one in New York at least, and hopefully, oh, actually, I heard LA too. Nice. Yeah. Expand. It's really interesting that you bring that up, like you could get acupuncture for 10 bucks in Korea, but here, you know, Much respect to acupuncturists and all of the natural healers.

It's definitely a more elitist kind of thing here. You have to have a lot of money like this Korean labor and, and postpartum care center in New York costs a lot of money, right? But also you were talking about how you're seeing kimchi in Costco and as an herbalist and an educator, like I'm watching, and I'm sure you are too.

The herbal revolution just exploding, especially since the pandemic. And so maybe we are in that middle of that resurgence that like, hey, wait a second, what is going on here in the United States? Like, why are we being taken care of so poorly? And you know, it, I don't care to get into politics. I think, um, COVID was a wake up call for a lot of people, and, um, I was actually in South Korea during that time.

I felt safer there than living in, um, the States at that time, and the way they kind of, are just so careful and meticulous about their citizens health. It's amazing. Like you have a 24 hour TV station that talks about health and wellness practices. They interview doctors on like preventative care. I mean, so it is very integrative with Eastern and Western like, uh, medicine, uh, and.

They, they just know that prevention, uh, preventative care is really essentials to avoid chronic pain. Um, and so I do think that we need to go back to our ancestry, back to the land, back to natural resources instead of just following the mass, mass production of things. Yeah. And I mean, even with our land, if you think about monocropping, um, one of my mentors, uh, Catherine Hunsiker, I don't know if you know her from Wish Gardens.

Absolutely, I love her so much. Actually, I'll be recording a commercial after this episode for Wish Gardens. Oh my gosh, that's amazing, yeah. You know, she is one of those OG western herbalists and um, yeah, she, during the 70s, she was protesting against monocropping and now it's like coming full circle where like, we have ruined our soil and um, all, all of the GMOs that are in our foods, it's just, um, we, we really have to be more mindful about How we purchase goods, um, how we make our foods too for, for the sake of our kids and the future.

So yeah, um, that's, I don't know where I'm going with this, but. I couldn't agree more on all of those statements and I, you know, I feel like the awareness of that is heightened so much. I'm actually very Also a part of this self sustaining, self sufficient living bundle at this very moment of time of recording this when the episode comes out it'll be gone but it's all about baking sourdough breads and growing your own organic food and herbalism and raising your own livestock and living off the land and taking better care of The land because when we're taking better care of the land, we're taking better care of ourselves.

And when we're conscious of taking better care of ourselves, we want to take better care of the land. And it's, it, again, it comes full circle, right? Mm-Hmm. . It's just really beautiful seeing how many people, again are, are waking up to it and Totally. Yeah. And I. I hope, I really, really hope that this sustains, right?

That, uh, we continue to be aware of these things and educate ourselves, right? Um, herbalism is a very broad subject to, um, and a lot of people think it's like hocus pocus or mystical, but it's, There's science behind it too, and if we really understand and educate ourselves on the health benefits of herbs and, you know, where, where things are coming from, then I think we'll be more conscious about helping the environment, right?

And, um, for the future of, of our families. Um, so yeah, I, I do think that, you know, There's hope, but there, people like us need to just build more awareness in this subject. Yeah, there is hope and there's a lot of work to be done. Yes. And unfortunately there are, you know, I feel like I'm going to get too political in it, but there's just so many people out there that are in control.

Uh, the government, and the money, and the laws, and, you know, they've got the money, and so they will pay to try and silence people like you and I, silence people like Catherine, but we still have to play the game in some ways, but the game now becomes this And that's raising of awareness and that's where the power of things like podcasts and things like social media and brilliant authors writing books and people that really care getting out there and sourcing herbs and foods in a sustainable way is absolutely absolutely how it has to go.

Yeah. Yeah. And, um, I, I know that like even the supplement industry, there's just like new supplements coming out and it's like, Really, can we just focus on where, focus on improving, like educating people on why they need to take these instead of like trying to sell another product and it's, um, yeah, it's really frustrating, but I do think brands like Wish Garden and like the Um, uh, I don't know if you know Hannah Kroger, um, she was a Master Western Herbalist, uh, in Boulder, Colorado too, from the fifties.

She opened up the first, like, uh, I think she, she's from, uh, she was a nurse in Germany and brought her family, uh, in Colorado, to Colorado in the fifties and was one of the first to, um, create, um, a natural food market here. So, you know, when you hear about these wise women and how they I mean, it just happened organically, you know, and that's how Plant medicine should be.

Mm hmm. So. Yeah, absolutely. And it's so funny that you bring up the supplements and, and Wishgarden of all companies. Wishgarden is a company I've loved forever and I met Catherine at the Naturopathic College here in Portland, Oregon at Traditional Roots Institute and I had my product line there. She had Wishgarden there and she was teaching and like.

We just connected so incredibly well and now today with the supplements industry and influencer marketing and all of this junk that is out there, like I get pitched every day from another company about, will you promote my products? Will you promote my products? And I'm like, hell no, I won't because I don't know you.

Number one, like, the companies I'm supporting are people I know. I know them because they've been doing this for a long time. I know that their heart is in it for the betterment of the planet and the betterment of the people, not just because, wow, natural remedies are trending today, so I'm gonna go online and pick somebody else's recipe, put it in a formula, throw a bunch of money at it, and hope that it sells.

Like, As somebody who also started an herbal product line and I did it because I wanted to save the planet. That was my whole why behind it. Yeah, I just wanted to share like how Koreans take herbs and it's in that pearl like shape and that's like historically from like the Chosun dynasty like um, uh, that they made the Hwan.

It's called Hwan in Korean, um, but Yeah, it's, uh, it's really interesting how, um, yeah, people are just making more products and, and it's like, we, there's already a lot that is out there, like, I think now it's for us to practice, like, minimalism and going back to the basics of things and just make, trying to make our own remedies, um, um, And so yeah.

Yeah, I'm a huge fan of making my own remedies. It's what I do now today is teach others how to make their own remedies, but there also comes this point when it takes a long time, and we're all busy in the society, and I speak to moms, and moms are busy, and as cool as it is to make everything, It also takes a lot of time, unless you have that community built around you, where you can, you know, trade and mix and match, and teach your children how to do this, which is absolutely magical, but it really just brings me to your company, Qi Alchemy, and I want to just hear more about it, and what you do, because again, I'm not Korean, I was born in Germany, and uh, I've lived in the United States for 41 years, so.

Well, where in Germany? Wiesbaden, outside of Frankfurt. Okay, okay. Um, I have a dear friend who lives in Freiburg. Nice. Yeah, I left when I was four, and then I didn't go back until I was 31. And, um, so, still have very much German roots. Yeah, I feel like Germans have Very high standards with like food qu, you know, and you can't just sell a, a supplement in Germany.

there's a lot of, um, barriers to entry, which I think that the US should start doing more. Wouldn't that be great ? Yeah, for sure. . But I, I do think the FDA is trying to crack down on like the supplement industry, but hopefully they target the. The bad ones, right? Yeah. It becomes such a conflicting kind of thing.

Like, you know, again, I ran my own herbal product line. I played by the FDA rules, but I also knew how to get really wordy with my verb or like witty with my verbiage on the packaging, because there's so much that you can't say and so much that you can't do per the FDA. And so it's like this fine balance Let the people make their medicine and also play by the rules because if you go on to Etsy and you see some of the stuff on Etsy, you know, things like clear see through St.

John's Wort oil, like buy my St. John's Wort oil and I'm like, you don't know what you made at all. Um, and like the claims and things that go on in there or just the big people that had the money to throw it into a supplement business with. Nothing backing it or having big pharma trying to use the FDA to, you know, flag certain really amazing supplement companies that are doing well.

So, yeah, yeah, it's, it's a hard, um, journey, I would say, but I do think that. Like you said, the more people who are aware and educated about this type of lifestyle is, um, there's just going to be more of us. Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's really important that you just mentioned lifestyle. Right? Because I don't think this would be the case in Korea, but here you probably see this where those that are turning to this world of herbal medicine, I talk about this a lot, but one of the biggest things that I get asked every time is, what herb do I take for this problem?

Or. What is this herb going to, what's it good for, you know, and to understand that it's not just take an herb to mask your problems like we are taught in western medicine today, but it is a lifestyle. It's a whole lot of healing. Totally, and it's finding the root cause of the problem. The, the pain, right?

Or whatever condition that you have, right? And that takes time and that takes a change or shift in, in your lifestyle as well. You can't, I think that, um, in America we're conditioned to find quick fix solutions. Like this probiotic is going to just Fix your gut health or, you know. Ta da! You don't have to shift your diet at all.

No, there's no one solution. It's, it's, um, and it's, you kind of have to be your own alchemist, right? And your own, uh, herbalist to figure out which herbs, how they kind of react to your, and adapt to your body. Um, and so, uh, in terms of like, Koreans are, are daily If you have you had Korean food before a little bit, but aside from kimchi, a few other things, but I do love kimchi.

Yeah, if you go to a Korean restaurant, they usually have several mini dishes and Those are essentially all herbs that you're consuming, right? And that is our daily diet. Um, and so, and then you have your rice, you usually have a side of some type of fermented soup. Um, and so it's, it's this holistic kind of lifestyle that you are, are practicing, right?

And, um, you know, for me, Growing up with Korean grandmothers, it was just, um, you know, second nature. But, um, for, for your average American who grew up eating a lot of, um, you know, instant foods or, you know, burgers, fries, whatever, it's also just making sure that. You are balancing out like your nutritional kind of, um, the nutritional foods, right?

There's no nutritional intake in eating french fries or tater tots, um, and so being able to make that shift in your lifestyle, um, is really hard, you know, and so I think Being part of a community like yours or, you know, um, just accountability is so important in those times. Um, so, yeah, I, I think that, um, lifestyle is a big part of, you know, Absolutely.

Absolutely. So speaking on that, I really want to learn about some Korean herbs and some of the more common ones. Um, and yeah, just let you just kind of flow in that way. Yeah. If you don't mind. Okay. So I, uh. One of the kind of most common herbs that Koreans use, um, that they consume, like, for food, but also for skincare, because, you know, k beauty, I'm not sure if you know anything about k beauty, but it's very mainstream, there's a lot, um, The big like, uh, beauty companies like L'Oreal and Estee Lauder, they do their research and development in Korea.

Oh. For, yeah, for skincare. Um, and so we think, I think we know a thing or two about like, mixing herbs with skincare. Um, but I will, I will interrupt to say that your skin looks fabulous on this screen. So if that's any testament, well, we, we do a lot of when you, when we talk about lifestyle with, with just, um, skin care is a big part of it too.

I mean, you know, skin, our skin is the biggest. It's an important organ in our bodies and so it's really important to take care of it too. Um, but I would say mugwort is one of those healing herbs. It's anti bacterial. Um, in Korea it's called sook. Um, and it was created during, um, the Joseon dynasty. Uh, one of the first Korean dynasties.

Um, and basically it, um, is um, a lot of women take this during postpartum too, as like a bath soak. It really helps, reduces inflammation, um, it's anti fungal, um, and it's also mixed in a lot of Korean skincare products. Um, so it's, yeah, so, and then also it's, uh, mugwort is used in, uh, Korean cuisine too. So traditional rice cakes, um, and you can mix it in rice as well.

So yeah, it's, it's really great for just menstrual pain as well. Um, and, uh, the bath, uh, bath culture, like bath houses and spa culture in Korea is like, um, That's what you do with your family activity, like at least once a month, you just go to these bathhouses and just soak in like mugwort or, you know, what's another one?

Um, they, they have like rose petals too in some of the baths. Um, but yeah, the, I would say mugwort. is one of those, um, everyday herbs that Koreans take. Um. I love that. I've never really, like, I love mugwort and have used it for a very long time, but it's not something I really thought of instantly as, as skin care.

So that's, I mean, I think with as bitter as it is and just helping the liver function better, that's going to go to skincare right away, but that's really cool to think about. So, I know Artemisia It's bitter to eat weed here. Yeah, most people hate it here. I've done some classes teaching people all on, on Mugwort, and I'm just trying to think back, like, did I talk about skincare specifically there or not?

Because it was Yeah, it is a bitter herb to consume, so that's why I kind of recommend using it as like a bath soak or a foot soak, um, if you don't like the taste of it. Um, or like in, infuse it in like, an oil. for your skin. Oh, that sounds lovely. I love that tip. That's, that's fantastic. Yeah, um, I would also say red ginseng is really notable in Korea especially.

We are known to produce the best red ginseng in the world. And in terms of like, cultivating it, um, It takes about six years for it to mature and for, for it, um, for, uh, farmers to harvest it, um, and I know ginseng in general in the Appalachian, it's becoming more and more endangered, and what's interesting about red ginseng in Korea is that the government Pretty much owns most of the ginseng in Korea.

That's how prized and coveted they know the value of these medicinal, um, roots. Um, so I, I thought that was really interesting how the Korean government is very involved in preserving these types of herbs, um, and making sure that the farmers, uh, you know, I don't know if there are many farmers in America that You know, grow herbs as a crop, but in Korea, it's very common, and they work, um, with the Korean government.

So that's really great. Yeah, you know, they're guaranteed. So the government gives, you know, guarantees a certain amount to purchase the ginseng every year. So it also helps, you know, farmers to know that they, they're going to get paid a certain amount from the government. I love that because I see that you have Red Ginseng on your website available for people and I'm getting this hunch that you really care a lot about your sourcing and the sustainability of what you're sharing with people too.

Yeah, so our family, we have, um, a small farmhouse in Korea and, uh, we grow our own herbs, um, as well as source. From local farmers that we know. Um, and one thing that I wanna do eventually is try to source the best quality herbs all around the world, um, for, with local farmers. Um, and so I think sourcing is probably one of the hardest things to to make, um, quality formulas.

And, you know, it's, uh. Herbs that are native to certain countries. It's like, that's where you want to source. And so red ginseng is that highly prized herb from Korea. Yeah, and I'm curious if you want to share what are some of the great ways that red ginseng can help people. Oh yeah, I mean, well, red ginseng, to me at least, it's considered the king of all herbs.

Um, it just has so many health, um, benefits. Uh, everything from like, even mental health. Um, it helps focus, there's a lot of studies, um, now that shows that it helps. And I don't know if I can say this publicly because I'm so nervous. Yeah, but I'll say it, but there are studies that show, uh, a delay in dementia when people take, um, red ginseng, uh, and red ginseng goes through, um, a hot cold fermentation process and that's why it's called red ginseng instead of, like, You know, white ginseng, or just regular ginseng, um, and through that fermentation process, you can, that fermentation process helps produce more saponins, which is a phyto, um, chemical that helps with, uh, lowering inflammation levels, um, it, um, It also helps with people with diabetes, um, so it, it, it's one of these, and you just take small doses of it.

Usually in Korea, they take, um, take it as a tea. You can take ginseng tea. They even have like ginseng chocolates, uh, in Korea. But small, just small doses of it, uh, and I, I, I really think it's like one of those, um, just amazing herbs and, but it's expensive, um, yeah, so. But so is the not taking care of yourself today.

That's true. So it's a choice. It definitely is a choice. Um, and so I highly recommend Red Ginseng. Um, another one, I mean, should I share another one? Yeah, I will also, I just want to like interject quickly because I heard you and felt your pain when you're like, I'm not sure if I can say this because I remember like as clinical herbalists and as product makers, there So much that we cannot say and that's one of the great joys I have and not having a product line now I can teach people the truth and I can shout it loud and you know there are studies showing it so just my heart goes to you and feeling your your moment there and thank you for saying yes there are studies that back it up so yeah yeah so if if the FDA comes after me I can show these yeah and they're not going to because it's not like you're Yeah, structure, function, claim on your packaging right now.

Yeah, exactly. Um, but I do think that, um, going back to the roots of, of, uh, plants and these herbal remedies, um, bracken root, for example, is, um, um, that's the root of the fern. Um, we consume on a regular basis and we make it. Sorry, I just got excited. I'm like, so you're talking like Brackenfern, like the, yes, I don't know the Latin name at all, but I know it grows so much that I'm always pulling it out of my yard and thank you, or my garden area.

That's fascinating. I think yeah, please do. I would love it because I'm an organ and birds are prevalent. Yeah. And it's so, so nutritious. Um, and this is kind of, this is what I'm talking about. When Koreans have these like small dishes of all these different types of herbs, it's because our country was so poor, we were just like foraging to eat.

And we made these like very nutritious, Um, uh, herb dishes. So, yeah, the, the bracken, fern, you can eat. Although, for some reason, while I was doing research, um, people warned that it's poisonous or whatever, but it really, I mean, Koreans take it as a cuisine very much. That's so fascinating and exciting to learn.

I love that about plants. There's been a few plants in, well, so many plants in my journey that, um, I have taught me the most amazing lessons where at one point, like Burdock, I'm, I see you love Burdock, but when I, one of my great stories of Burdock, it kind of relates to the Brackenfern, like where I'm like, get out of my yard, get out of my garden, before I knew what Burdock was, because I have an Aussie Shepherd Border Collie mix, and he's almost 15 now, but when he was a young pup, we lived on some land, and There was burdock everywhere, and of course, of course, those burrs would get into his beautiful fur, and it was so frustrating, and I remember this one time where I was like, Darn this plant!

When I finally realized it was coming, where it was coming from, and I, I ripped it out of the ground, roots and all, and took it over to the fire pit, and I remember thinking, I bet this plant has some good medicine. And I was so mad at the plant at the time and then I think six months later there was this connection where I was reading about different herbs and this woman was sharing information on burdock and she had a picture of the seeds in her hand online and I was like, Those are the seeds.

That's the plant. And it just made this funny little connection. So that's how I feel about Rack and Fern right now. Where, where was that? In Oregon. In Oregon. Yeah. Oregon has so many just amazing, just wild herbs grown everywhere. Yeah. And it's such a gift to know about them. Like I, I remember when the pandemic hit, I, I live in the foothills of Mt.

Hood, in a really beautiful rural area, and I'm like, this is fine, I have a whole herbal apothecary, I know the plants outside, like, nobody's on the trails, sweet! This is great! Of course it was scary seeing all the changes in the world, but I could not have felt more grateful to know how to live among the land.

Totally. That's awesome. Anyways, yeah, I would love recipes on Bracken. Oh yeah, yeah, I'll definitely send you that and some of my products for you to try. That's so exciting. Um, this has been really, really fun and I'm so grateful that you brought up the postpartum care. I really, really am. That is so important.

And talking about the nourishment, not only the nourishment in the food, but the nourishment in the touch and the care and the emotional support that moms so desperately need. Yeah. So, um, you know, there's Korean. version of doulas called sanujori and basically they stay with the mother for about six to eight weeks and they help Not only care for the baby, but they do all the cooking.

They help with bath soaks, massage therapy. So they're very well trained to do, to kind of multitask when, especially when the mother is recovering and she's like sleep deprived. Um, so, uh, and that, that type of, Care is, um, is universal in Korea, like every woman gets it, so I hope, I really hope that one day in the U.

S., like, postpartum care is part of our insurance, you know, and part of just our everyday care. That's necessary to raise healthy children. And a mandatory paid two months off of work. You know, um, that would be so beautiful. It would really. Improve everything. So many everything. Yeah. , it really, really would.

This has been so amazing, grace. I am so glad that we got to connect and I wanna make sure that everybody that is listening can connect with you as well. Like I wanna talk with you forever and ever, and I'm definitely gonna invite you to teach inside of Aary Mama. Um. But how can the listeners today connect with you and make sure that they are getting high quality red ginseng and grab your book and all of those things?

Yeah, so my website is just Chi or in korea it's pronounced key q i alchemy. com or uh on instagram key alchemy at key alchemy and um you can purchase my book on amazon or through my website so and it's the korean herbal apothecary That's amazing. Are you on Bookshop yet? Bookshop. I think I am. Great. I have a book resources link and just one of my ways to support more women in business and small independent bookstores.

So I'll definitely link to your book there as well. Um, So exciting. Yeah. And if anyone is in the Colorado Boulder area where I am, um, I'll be doing a book signing in April at the Boulder Bookstore, which, um, should be really great. Um, and you can find that information on my website. That's so fun. Boulder is such an amazing area.

I haven't been there in so long, but I have. friends there, and Wishgarden, and Catherine, and um, some other Ski Bum friends that live there. Um, did you ever connect with the people I'm trying to think of the name of their company off the Colicloths. Collard Cloth? No. They made like beeswax wraps and things.

Oh. We used to see each other at trade shows when I ran my company. Very cool. Okay, Collard Cloth. How do you spell that? K H A L L A. Though I just recently looked them up and I'm not sure if they exist as a company anymore, but hopefully. They're solar based? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. They're also 1% for the planet company as I was, so I always love seeing those kinds of Yeah.

I, I'm 1% too. Yay, . Yeah. I, I, I'm trying to switch over to B Corp. Um, but it's expensive. Mm-Hmm. . So It sure is all those things take so much out of a, a small business and Yeah. Yeah. Um, and it, it just, uh, I mean, you, you obviously know it's creating a product line is. Costly. Yes. . That's part of what made me stop after 12 years.

Yeah. If you wanna source the right, like quality herbs and all the time that you make it, it's, yeah, it's very costly. And, and also importing it like where I, I import my, my, um, the herbs, uh, from Korea. So that can be costly too. So that's why hence that sort of higher. price point on my products. But it's so worth it, you know, and I get where you're coming from as a product maker.

Like when I ended a tin of my tea was 17 bucks, but today with the change of like how herbal prices have skyrocketed, how the packaging has skyrocketed, how the labels, how every little Same. Like, I'm looking back now and the prices of my packaging are more than two times of what they used to be for one unit of packaging.

And I'm just like, oh, I'd be selling my teas at like 25 bucks a tea. But I mean, if you want quality, you want quality. You gotta pay for it. Yeah. At least in the United States. Yeah. And, and the time that you're, you know, formulating and all that stuff too. So, um, but thank you so much Mel for having me. Yes, thank you so much.

I am really so grateful that we've connected. Likewise. And I'm sure I'll see you soon. Yes, absolutely. We will stay connected. Have a great day. You too. Bye.

Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of The Herbalist's Path. Being on this journey with you is absolutely incredible. If you dig this episode, please leave me a review on your favorite podcast platform. Player and share it with your friends so that together we can make herbalism hashtag spread like wild flowers.

On another note, I must mention that while I know you're getting some good info here, it's important to remember that this podcast is purely for entertainment and educational purposes and is not intended to be a substitute for medical treatment. While the information in this podcast is absolutely relevant.

Herbs work differently for each person and each condition. That's why I recommend you work with a qualified practitioner, whether that be another herbalist, a naturopath, or your doctor. So thank you again. I am truly honored that you're tuning into these episodes and on the path with me to make sure that there's an herbalist in every home.

Again! Don't forget to share this episode with your friends so that we can make herbalism. Hashtag spread like wildflowers!