If you’ve spent any time in herbalism spaces, you’ve probably heard marshmallow root and slippery elm recommended for just about every digestive complaint going. Acid reflux? Marshmallow root. Leaky gut? Slippery elm. IBS, gastritis, inflammation? Both, cold-infused, on an empty stomach.
I’m totally not knocking this. I recommended marshmallow root for a client of mine just this past weekend!
The herbs are incredibly popular, and the recommendation usually comes with some version of the same explanation: the mucilage coats the GI tract and soothes the lining.
Pause there for a second. Mucilage (myoo-sil-ij).
[I actually say “myoo-sil-ahj” but I also pronounce 93% of words wrong so be thankful you’re reading my words and not listening to me butcher them lolol]
If that word made you pause, good. Mucilage shares a root with mucus, and the overlap runs deeper than the spelling. It’s the plant kingdom’s own gel-forming substance, and to understand what it actually does when it hits your gut, yo…
