As the earth & its creatures wake up around us this month, you will probably feel a corresponding surge of energy that’s inexplicable for any other reason than the coming of spring. To encourage that energy & assist in the transformation from spongy winter self to honed & toned summer self, many cultures traditionally detox in late winter & early spring through limiting the intake of food, cutting out certain foods, & receiving the assistance of nourishing & detoxifying plants.

One of the first “aha moments” I had when I started learning from plants was when I realized a few of the most well-known volunteers that go wild throughout Philly’s vacant lots are powerful detoxifying & tonic plants. Many would call these “weeds” or “invasives” because gardeners didn’t plant them & they have a tendency to take over, but I’ve learned to look at them as messengers of what the land, people, & animals around them might need. Plus, the more that they’re harvested for food & medicine, the less out of control they’ll become. Ah, balance. Here, some common spring plants granting permission to use them to cleanse our insides:

Dandelion (Taraxicum officinale), young leaves & roots: If you can’t identify this, you’ve never been outside & have never made wishes. Bright yellow flower, floaty white seedpods, serrated leaves, & another goodly taproot. A powerful diuretic that helps kidneys & liver to remove toxins from the blood. Good for treating skin issues, weight loss, digestive disorders, bladder infections, & more. Harvest leaves before it flowers in spring & dig roots in the fall of a plant’s second year for greatest energy.

Knotweed (Fallopia japonica), roots & shoots: This one’s a doozy. A perennial that can get to be 10’+ tall, it’s roots will outcompete most other plants, & they grow as runners (a colony with one shared root system). Luckily, the early spring shoots are edible—think crossing asparagus & rhubarb—& the roots contain the highest known concentration of resveratrol in plants. Resveratrol is the same powerful antioxidant found in red grape skin/red wine, which is also seeing lots of research in the treatment of Lymes Disease. Do our landscapes a favor & harvest it!

Nettle (Urtica dioica), leaves & roots: Perennial that likes moist, shady locations & will give you quite a burning sting if you’re not respectful—or most likely if you touch it at all. High in iron, Vitamin C, & chloryphyll, the leaves are used for anti-inflammatory properties, as a hair tonic for follicle stimulation & to aid with greasy hair, to treat urinary tract infections, & as a blood-cleansing tonic. Root is used for allergies, liver ailments, & improving sex drive in women & men.

There are tons of other medicinal plants around, but this is a good start. While you’re using these herbs, try cutting down on certain foods & the quantity you eat. Studies show that a modified fast (i.e. cutting down as opposed to not eating at all) will have lasting benefits for the whole body including lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.