Marshmallow Root - Mini Episode

Hi, this is Rita Hogan and welcome to the Dogs are Individuals podcast. I'm a clinical canine herbalist and I've been practicing for over 20 years. This podcast is all about your dog through an herbal lens. So let's get to it and dive right in. Hi everyone, how are you doing this week? I am here to talk to to you today about marshmallow Root. So this is a short, easy to share, sharing is caring and a lot of people have questions about marshmallow root, especially marshmallow root kind of versus slippery elm. So this one's going to be about marshmallow root. The next short is going to be about slippery elm. So you can kind of compare and contrast them. First, I want to thank our sponsor of our shorts, right, Real Dog Box. Real Dog Box is a monthly treat subscription and they also have some other great things on their website, like a wonderful nutrition course we'll talk about some other time. But the treat and chew box is really awesome because they're real treats and chews, they make them up every month. They send three bags of freshly air dried treats, organ meats, muscle meats, sometimes seafood treats, different levels. You can kind of like fill out a form and specify, you know, if your dog's big, if your dog's small. I just love this company. So I'm so excited that they're a sponsor of Dogs are Individuals podcast. I think their treats are really perfect for chewers. They're good for mental stimulation, for training, and sometimes meal toppers. And I'm going to kind of like highlight some of their products over the next few months. And I can't wait to tell you guys about them, their meatballs. They are awesome. Okay, so let's talk about marshmallow root. So marshmallow root is Althea Officinalis. That it's is its Latin name. And whenever you're picking out an herb, you want to make sure that you're getting the right one because common names can be a little deceitful. Obviously you're going to use the root. It is geared toward digestion, urinary system and musculoskeletal system. It can add moisture to the body. And, and the way that we use it for dogs and people, we can use it as a glycerate, as a dried herb, as an infusion and as a decoction. And the infusion is like a long steep tea and a decoction is simmering it really lightly on the stove to get a lot of that mucilage out of it. You simmer it in Water and it gets kind of thick and gooey. So the glycerin dosage for an extra small dog, and we're talking about like a little chihuahua, less than 10 pounds, four drops. That's a glycerin dosage. Small dogs are eight drops medium dog, 12 drops large dog. We're talking like a golden retriever, 15, 20 drops, extra large dog Newfie like 20 to 25 drops. And you're going to give that twice a day in the mouth. The dried herb dosage is like an eighth of a teaspoon. For extra small small dogs, a quarter medium half large, three quarter extra large dogs, one teaspoon. And then we can do the standard infusion or decoction, which is my, I would say my most recommended way to do it. We just put it over the food. If your dog eats on like a lick mat or something like that, just give it. When you give the marshmallow root, give it in a bowl. Standard infusion, extra small, eighth of a cup small dog, quarter medium, half a cup large, 3/4 cup extra large dog, like 1 1/2 to 2 cups over their food. Start slow, work your way up. So marshmallow root is a really excellent demulcent and that means that it adds moisture and marshmallow root doesn't interfere with nutrient absorption like heavy slippery elm usage can. Now some people disagree on that. I like to kind of err on the side of caution and not use slippery elm that much. Only if I have to use is endangered. So, you know, as we go down this all natural plant path, we really have to keep into consideration like what we're doing to like biodiversity to plant populations. And that's why I like to use marshmallow root in lieu of slippery elm a lot. And I find it's just as effective for lots of things. So. But I do, I do use slippery elm and I make sure that my slippery elm comes from ethical sources as much as I possibly can. So marshmallow root helps relieve dryness and that's through hydration and it moisturizes like dried out tissues in the body. It definitely can relieve constipation. It can help expel like heat out of the digestive system and the urinary system. It's great for bladder infections or dogs that are prone for bladder infections. Use the infusion. It's very cooling and soothing to the entire gastrointestinal system. If your dog is warm, marshmallow root is great for that. If you don't know your dog's energetics, check out my energetics course on canineherbalism.com I've used marshmallow root for warm and slightly cool dogs. Cool dogs can definitely handle marshmallow root in acute situations. And you can combine it like with a nice ginger tea. Combine it half and half. That'll warm it up. For extra dry constitutions, I would probably combine it with licorice root. Deglycerized licorice root. You could combine a glycerite half and half or like a tea half and half, an infusion half and half or a decoction of both those roots. So in the urinary system, marshmallow can be definitely used for kidneys that are more on the dry side. Especially if you feed kibble. Kidneys are always going to kind of be more dry. Bladder issues are great. Bladder gravel, passing stones, UTIs. It's definitely a gentle laxative. It helps lubricate the stool body and it gently eases constipation. And one of the indications for using specifically marshmallow root is mucus stools. I use powdered marshmallow root capsules for this purpose. Size 00. If you don't know what that means, just kind of look up capsule size. It'll tell you on. Google it. I use it twice a day for constipation along with making sure your dog's getting adequate water and moisture. Start with a half a capsule for small dogs, one capsule twice daily for medium dogs, two capsules in the morning, one in the evening for large dogs, and then for extra large dogs, two capsules in the morning and two capsules in the evening. I would do it for about two to three days and see how their constipation is and then just know that you know your dog. When they're constipated, something's causing excess dryness, so you want to keep that in mind. Marshmallow root moistens mucous membranes in the colon and it provides a really kind of cooling effect for bringing down heat. You can also use marshmallow root for like a dry cough in the lungs or dried out lungs. It can help lubricate that situation and bring moisture there. The musculoskeletal system can also benefit from marshmallow root because it adds lubrication. Definitely use an infusion or decoction here for that and it will help like lubricate the joints. There are marshmallow tinctures out there with alcohol, but I don't find them very effective because of the amount of what's called mucilage. It's like slippery gooey ness of the root when it's mixed with water that comes out and it doesn't make for a good tincture at all. So I usually avoid that. Again, the best way to use it as, as an infusion over the food, it has a sweet taste to it. So it's, it's sweet, it's nourishing, definitely increases elimination through the kidneys. So your dogs might pee a little more, they might urinate a bit more, and it can help with like excessive and infrequent urination. So it's kind of balancing like slippery elm. It again, it affects the kidneys. But marshmallow root has a kind of a greater kidney affinity than slippery elm. And marshmallow is salty and that makes it diuretic. And that is definitely different from slippery elm. Marshmallow root can be used like slippery elm for like dogs that have anal itching or constipation like I was talking about. But unlike slippery elm, marshmallow root can be used for dry joints and muscles. So that's. And another difference between slippery elm and marshmallow is that marshmallow has an effect on the lymphatic system, which slippery elm does not. So some cofactors of marshmallow root, and these are things that kind of help you decide if this root is good for your dog. Dryness, diarrhea, constipation, a dry tongue, inflamed stomach, inflamed joints, gravel in the bladder, urinary stones, blood in the stool, acid reflux, inflamed anal glands, urinary incontinence, arthritis and cracking joints. Those are some of the things that might indicate that your dog would benefit from marshmallow root, especially if they have warm to hot energetics. One thing I do want to say, since I, I brought it up myself, is bloody stool. So bloody stool, if it's bright red, is going to come be coming from the large intestine. And I would caution against using antibiotics for bloody stool for that reason because it's not life threatening. Now you can go. I would highly recommend going to the vet and getting kind of a diagnosis on why your dog might be having bloody stool. But if it's inflammation or I'm not really sure, but here's these antibiotics just in case. I would highly recommend not using them. And that bloody stool should pass. And you can use marshmallow root to clean that up. Plus you could add marshmallow root with a little bit of yarrow tincture, a few drops and that will help with bringing down kind of, you know, how much blood is in the stool. That's marshmallow root. I hope you enjoyed this short and I will talk to you next time. Thanks for listening to this episode of Dogs Are Individuals. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review in your podcast app. And don't forget, sharing is caring. So if you love Dogs Are Individuals Podcast, share it with your friends and family who love dogs. This will help me so much. And remember, as a listener, I appreciate you much. Thanks to Resonant Media, my podcast production team. This podcast is produced by Drake Peterson and edited by Mike Fry. Any questions? Email the show, go to k9herbalist.com click podcast contact in the the menu and then fill out that form and I'll answer any questions here online. Okay, so thank you so much for listening to this episode of Dogs Are Individuals Podcast and I'm going to talk to you in our next episode. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for veterinary care. This podcast doesn't constitute a provider patient relationship. As always, talk to your doctor, veterinarian or health care provider first before starting anything new. And that includes herbs. I'm not a doctor and I don't treat disease or prescribe anything. I'm a traditional herbalist providing herbal support education only. Regarding any products I may suggest the statements made regarding these products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The efficacy of these products has not been confirmed by FDA approved research. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. All information presented here on the podcast is not meant as a substitute or alternative to information from your vet. Please consult your veterinary professional about potential interactions or other possible complications before using any product.