As flu season approaches, now is the perfect time to stock up on one of Urtica Herbal’s artisan herbal preparations. And you don’t need to wait long – they’ll be back at the next Harpenden Sustainability Market, which takes place on the 15th of November on Harpenden Common. As well as flu remedies, they will be bringing a ‘pharmacy shelf’ of medicines for other everyday complaints, including sleep, digestion and aches and pains.
Urtica Herbal is run by Ellie Rose Grimsdale. Ellie retrained as a medical herbalist after spending a decade in medicine, including five years in the London Ambulance Service. After four years of study, she qualified in January and set up her clinical practice in Berkhamsted, where she sees patients suffering from both acute and chronic conditions. She also continues to work as an emergency medical technician.
Products on offer at the market include Happy Bladder Brew, a combination of bearberry leaf, marshmallow leaf, horsetail herb and corn silk specially formulated for people who are prone to UTIs, inflammation or painful bladders, and Marshmallow Root, for digestive support. Other popular products include Quiet Mind Mix for anxiety relief, Sleepy Tea, a sleep-inviting infusion of lime flower, chamomile, lavender, passionflower and tulsi, and Lightning Balm, a blend of St John’s Wort, rosemary and wintergreen for aches and nerve pain.
And if you want to keep coughs and colds at bay, then you’ll want to check out another popular product – Seasonal Shield Mix, which supports the immune and respiratory systems. It contains echinacea to promote immune function and is antimicrobial, which means it directly combats viruses.
Where are Urtica’s herbal ingredients sourced?
Ellie sources her herbal ingredients from a variety of practitioner-only suppliers, which only supply to medical herbalists. All are medicinal, practitioner-grade, and sustainably grown and sourced – ingredients aren’t intensely processed in the same way lab-created medicines often are, which can degrade the beneficial compounds. Some ingredients are responsibly wild-foraged, which means they are not over-harvested and are gathered in a way that looks after the land. No ingredients are tested on animals.
Traditional herbal medicines have seen a surge in demand since the Covid pandemic, with people preferring to look after their health holistically, rather than treating individual symptoms. More people are becoming aware that addressing the root cause of Illnesses and caring for the body as a whole is the way to go.
Treating the root cause, not the symptoms
Before making the switch to herbal medicine, Ellie had become disillusioned with conventional Western medicine. She frequently saw how patients would take multiple medicines, only to be given another when a new symptom popped up. Ellie says, ‘I never want anybody to be on any medicine from me for very long. If I see someone in the clinic for a chronic condition, then I want to make sure we resolve it and eventually withdraw the medicine. I always try to effectively treat the root cause.’
In her clinic, Ellie begins with an initial consultation lasting between 60 and 90 minutes. She discusses symptoms, past medical history, family history, lifestyle and diet, before assessing the health of each of the body systems. She then uses this to build a full picture of her patient’s health before providing medicine to address the root cause and support their symptoms.
Although based in Berkhamsted, Ellie used to work in Harpenden. At the September market, she was very pleased to be back in the town after some time, commenting on its charming, village-like atmosphere.
Join us at the next Sustainability Market on Sunday the 15th of November to discover Urtica Herbal and other local eco and food stalls that promote a more sustainable lifestyle. Visit our markets page for the full schedule of dates. If you can’t make the next market, you can shop online at Urtica Herbal’s website or visit their Facebook and Instagram pages.