Nourishing Herbal Infusions: A Daily Path to Plant-Powered Wellness
One of the biggest turning points in my wellness journey came when I began integrating nourishing herbal infusions into my daily life. The herbalist most responsible for bringing this practice into modern herbalism is Susun Weed, whose teachings shaped not only my healing but much of my approach to plant medicine.
Over fifteen years ago, in my mid-twenties, I was coming off several years of antidepressant use and dealing with severe fatigue, brain fog, and exhaustion. After trying a naturopathic protocol involving multiple supplements, my health crashed even harder — I could barely stand without dizziness, and basic functioning felt nearly impossible.
It was the week before Christmas, I was pet-sitting for a friend, and I spent most of it glued to the couch. During that time, I picked up my friend’s copy of Susun’s Healing Wise. I learned about nettle infusions and their ability to nourish the adrenals and kidneys — something that aligned with what I now recognize I was partly dealing with: HPA-axis dysregulation. What struck me most was Susun’s emphasis on nourishment instead of fixing or forcing change. Susun’s critique of the Western heroic (and patriarchal) approach to healing resonated deeply with me as I was experiencing its repercussions firsthand.
By coincidence (or fated synchronicity), my father had a bag of dried nettle he’d once purchased while experimenting with a hair tonic. I quickly made my first nettle infusion and drank a few cups daily for about two weeks. The improvement was dramatic — my energy returned, and I felt a renewed sense of vitality. I made it off the couch.
It wasn’t until years later that infusions became a regular part of my wellness routine, but once I fully embraced them — rotating through a handful of mineral-rich herbs each week — my health, stamina, and mental clarity shifted noticeably. Even when fatigue resurfaced in later years, herbal infusions were consistently restorative. The benefits of nourishing herbal infusions have been profound for numerous friends, family members, and clients.
And this makes sense: an herbal infusion is far more concentrated than tea and offers far more plant material than a tincture or capsule. It's akin to incorporating nutrient-dense plant foods into your daily hydration habit — only in a form that’s deeply bioavailable and easy to absorb. Read my article on healthy diet and human evolution to learn more!
What Are Nourishing Herbal Infusions?
Nourishing herbal infusions are long-steeped extractions using a full ounce of dried herb per quart of water. Instead of steeping for just a few minutes like tea, these herbs are infused for 4 hours (or overnight) to extract vitamins, minerals, proteins, and other nutritive compounds.
Unlike tinctures, capsules, or typical herbal teas, nourishing herbal infusions provide food-like levels of nourishment. This aligns with what we know about human evolution, that cooking and water-extracting plant foods significantly increased nutrient availability for our ancestors. Plant cell walls are incredibly hard to break through. Essentially, sealing the plant matter in a boiling liquid crucible for several hours does the trick. The dark color of the infusion, when compared to a typical tea, proves how effective it is for pulling out essential vitamins and minerals.
When you drink a quart of nettle or oatstraw infusion, for example, you’re ingesting the full equivalent of an ounce of whole plant material in a single day — in a highly absorbable form. Common infusion herbs are also wild foods, and connect us to a more ancestral form of nourishment that our bodies quickly recognize. Nourishing Herbal Infusions are herbs as food —a powerful, sustainable way to get more nutrition into your daily diet.
Why Slow Steeping Matters
Susun Weed’s method emphasizes:
Using herbs with low essential oil content: Highly aromatic plants (like peppermint, rosemary, lavender, or thyme) contain volatile oils that can be irritating or taxing to the liver and kidneys when extracted in large quantities over time. Avoid mint family plants when making nourishing herbal infusions, especially since they often contain high levels (though they make excellent teas!)
Long steeping for maximum nutrition: Four or more hours allows for optimal extraction of essential micronutrients: minerals, flavonoids, vitamins, proteins, and polysaccharides — the foundational building blocks of nourishment. I usually make them at night before bed and strain them the following morning.
Frequent use for cumulative benefit: While infusions can help address acute issues, their greatest power lies in regular consumption — much like incorporating leafy greens into your daily diet.
Top Herbs for Nourishing Infusions (with Key Benefits)
These herbs are deeply nutritive, low in volatile oils, and safe for long steeping. Here are some of the most common, along with their nutrient profiles and traditional uses (and ones I use frequently):
Nettle Leaf (Urtica dioica)
Rich in: calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, silica, vitamin K, chlorophyll, protein
Supports: adrenal health, kidney function, energy, inflammation modulation, seasonal allergies, skin/hair health
Hands down, my favorite nourishing herbal infusion! It’s energizing and deeply nourishing.
Oatstraw (Avena sativa)
Rich in: calcium, magnesium, B vitamins, silica, trace minerals
Supports: nervous system regulation, restorative sleep, stress recovery, skin/hair health
Most people find this their top favorite in terms of flavor profile. It’s also known to kick up sexual stamina ;)
Linden Leaf & Flower (Tilia spp.)
Rich in: mucilage, flavonoids, antioxidants, quercetin
Supports: anxiety, nervous tension, cardiovascular health, digestion, and cools inflammation
Since Linden is used more for its mucsilagenous and anti-inflammatory properties (it’s lower in minerals and protein), making this at 1/2 strength is fine. It can also be expensive from herb suppliers, so this saves money.
Try it heated with honey, especially in the colder months.
Hibiscus Flower (Hibiscus sabdariffa)
Rich in: rich in antioxidants, flavonoids, minerals
Supports: blood pressure regulation, heart health, also cooling inflammation
I often make this at 1/2 strength (using only a half ounce) as the full strength infusion is very strong in flavor. Alternatively, I sometimes mix it with a half-ounce of Elderberries to sweeten it up and add additional antioxidants.
Red Clover Blossoms (Trifolium pratense)
Rich in: calcium, magnesium, phytoestrogens, protein, vitamins A and B-complex
Supports: hormone balance, lymphatic movement, skin health; may have anti-cancer benefits, especially from estrogenic breast cancers
Over the years, this one has become rather pricey, so I don’t buy it as much. You may also want to use with caution with blood thinners as it does have some mild blood thinning properties.
Hawthorn Leaf & Flower (Crataegus spp.)
Rich in: flavonoids, antioxidants, minerals
Supports: heart health, circulation, nervous system, blood pressure modulation
This is one of my favorite herbs for addressing cardiovascular issues and something I recommend incorporating daily beyond midlife to keep the heart healthy and well nourished.
Elderberries (Sambucus nigra)
Rich in: minerals like potassium and calcium, antioxidants (like anthocyanin), flavonoids
Supports: immune health, antiviral activity (specific to influenza viruses), respiratory system support
While fears surround Elderberry, it’s a very safe herb, especially when infused or tinctured from dried berries. The high antioxidants are supportive of immunity and cardiovascular health.
Astragalus Root (Astragalus membranaceus)
Rich in: polysaccharides, saponins, trace minerals
Supports: immune resilience, energy, lung and spleen health (TCM).
Definitely an herb to add to your infusion rotation during the winter months for additional immune support.
Marshmallow Root (Althaea officinalis)
Rich in: mucilage, calcium, zinc
Supports: gut lining, urinary tract, mucous membranes, and exceptional digestive aid
You can also reuse the herb again as a cold water infusion. After straining, put it another jar and fill to the top with water and place in the fridge. Strain again to get more mucilage out of it.
Burdock Root (Arctium lappa)
Rich in: inulin, minerals, antioxidants
Supports: skin health, digestion, liver support
Burdock has a long history of use as a liver supportive tonic and for increasing flow and movement within various bodily systems. It tends to work slowly, but it’s a deeply nourishing food source. Also known as Gobo root—it’s a common vegetable in Asian cuisine and is easily found in Asian food markets (though usually in raw, not dried, form).
Comfrey Leaf (Symphytum officinale)
Rich in: allantoin, minerals, chlorophyll
Supports: tissue repair, bone health, inflammation modulation
This herb is somewhat controversial, but I’ve used it safely as a frequent infusion for over a decade. Read my article about herbal safety to learn more. This is my absolute favorite herb for reducing pain and inflammation from injuries and quickening healing.
You can rotate between herbs weekly or follow your body’s intuition and needs. Try different ones. You may not like some but love others. Go with what you resonate with. Note the plant parts used for each plant when making an infusion. This is important. Whether leaf, flower (or both), root, or, in the case of oats, the full oat stalk, these parts concentrate the most nutrition (or certian medicinal constituents) or are the safest parts to ingest in concentrated form.
Nourishing Herbal Infusion Benefits
When used consistently, nourishing herbal infusions can help improve numerous health issues. They're not just “tea” — they’re essentially mineral broths made from many wild or weedy plants with deep earth access. These are plants that are incredibly tough and adaptable to numerous extreme environments, and they've evolved to consolidate nutrition optimally.
That’s why they help with:
Fatigue
Nervous system support
Hormone modulation
Bone density
Strengthening of teeth
Immune strength
Skin and hair health
Digestion and repair
Electrolyte restoration
Recovery from burnout, stress, or chronic depletion
How to Make a Nourishing Herbal Infusion
Here’s the Susun Weed method:
Boil 1 quart of water.
Measure out 1 oz (by weight) of dried herb and place it in a quart-sized jar.
Pour the boiling water over the herb, filling to the top. Pro tip: you may need to stir the herb a bit before filling the jar all the way. Herbs like nettle, oatstraw, red clover, or comfrey often clump on the top. I use a chopstick!
Cap with a lid and let it steep for at least 4 hours (or overnight).
Strain using cheesecloth, mesh strainer, or nut milk bag.
Refrigerate and finish within:
24–48 hrs for high-protein herbs like nettle or oatstraw
Up to 5–7 days for hibiscus, linden, marshmallow, or comfrey
Compost the spent herb, feed it to plants, or return it to the land!
Try to drink the full quart in a day as part of your fluid intake. Think of it as nutrition-infused hydration — not a “tea” or “supplement.”
You’ll find a broader conception of infusions from other herbalists. Infusions are just technically defined as longer-steeped teas, and the amount of herb can vary. Nourishing Herbal Infusions, Susun’s approach, is a specific way of using herbs as a daily (or near-daily) food-based preparation rather than merely a medicinal remedy.
Integrating Herbal Infusions into Your Lifestyle
I often drink my infusion before turning to plain water (though I'll drink green tea more often), especially since I work out several days a week and live in the dry climate of San Diego County. You can:
Sip it warm or chilled
Add lemon or honey if desired
Use it in smoothies or broths
Start with just one herb and one quart a week, and observe how your energy shifts. Warrning: you might soon get hooked like me and many of my friends, family, and clients!
Additional Tips
Wide-mouth Mason jars are ideal for making herbal infusions—they make it much easier to add and strain herbs, and they’re affordable and reusable. If you already make tinctures or other herbal preparations, you'll get plenty of use out of them.
Use a digital scale. They’re more accurate.
If you prepare more than one infusion per day, consider using a 2-quart Mason jar or having a pair on hand. Just double the standard recipe by using 2 ounces of dried herb to 2 quarts of water.
For those in cold climates—or during colder months—make sure your jars are at room temperature before pouring in boiling water. Sudden temperature changes can cause cold glass to crack, wasting both your herbs and your infusion (and making a mess!)
Try to stick with one herb per day, but it’s possible to play with combinations. For example, I like to occasionally combine Elderberries and Hibiscus (1/2 oz each) for a delicious, antioxidant-filled delight.
My two favorite resources for buying bulk, high-quality dried herbs:
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