Original Sources:
Materia Medica Monthly by Sajah Popham, founder of the School of Evolutionary Herbalism
The Earthwise Herbal Vol. I and II by Matthew Wood
The Book of Herbal Wisdom by Matthew Wood
- Common Name: Red Raspberry
- Latin Name: Rubus idaeus
- Family: Rosaceae
- Parts Used: Leaves and fruit (berries)
- Geographical Distribution: Species of Raspberry can be found all around the world. The rubus genus is established throughout many ecosystems and is a sustainable plant medicine. And while there are many different species, all of which have similar properties, Rubus idaeus is the standard species used in Western herbalism. Traditionally, the berries have been used for food and the leaves as medicine.
- Taste: Astringent, Slightly Sour, Slightly Sweet
Primary actions of Red Raspberry:
Astringent: This taste doubles as an herbal action and makes the mouth and tongue pucker, causing a tightening and drying sensation. This taste is attributed to the presence of tannins, which increase the tone of overly lax tissues and organs in the body.
Nutritive: Red Raspberry is a nutritive and is one of those plants that live between the worlds of food and herbs. Nutrient-dense, you can enjoy the leaf as a daily infusion or consume the vibrant berries by the handful – an easy way to strengthen and cool the blood. This herb builds up and strengthens weakened tissues through its dual nutritive and tonifying qualities, making it an excellent remedy for people with nutrient deficiencies. Red Raspberry is an excellent source of essential vitamins and minerals, such as iron and manganese, which build the blood and restore the body from mineral loss which may have occurred through the excessive loss of fluids.
Hemostatic: Raspberry Leaf also helps to tighten overly lax blood vessels and decrease profuse bleeding. It is a hemostatic herb that can be used to staunch bleeding, such as in the case of menorrhagia, hemorrhoids, and prolonged and heavy menstrual bleeding. It has been used successfully for centuries to treat conditions of damp/relaxation that lead to bleeding and is safe and gentle enough to consume daily.
Emmenagogue: Another way that Red Raspberry supports the health of the blood is with its tonic emmenagogue action. Emmenagogues are often defined, in short, as herbs that stimulate menstruation. However, they do so much more than just this! Emmenagogue herbs generate a down bearing movement of the blood, clear blood stagnation, and encourage healthy circulation, making it valuable for numerous gynecological maladies as well as for cardiovascular and general circulatory health.
Some of Red Raspberry’s emmenagogue effects are attributed back to its astringency, which tones the veins and uterus, resulting in a healthier menstrual flow with fewer painful symptoms. This may be a bit confusing as most people often think of menstrual pain being associated with cramping… wouldn’t an astringent make that worse? Well as it turns out, as Red Raspberry increases the tone of the uterus as a whole, the muscular contractions experienced during menstruation become more efficient and effective and thus less discomforting. As a parturient, it strengthens the uterus to provide a healthy and efficient birth, as well as prevent injury to the uterine tissue.
Physical Organs, Systems and Tissues: These are the primary organs, systems and tissues Red Raspberry has an affinity for.
Mucosa:
Red Raspberry has an affinity for the mucosal membranes as it helps to tighten the lax tissue while cooling inflammation. With Raspberry the strongest affinity here is for the uterus, but it will also effect the digestive mucosa and the upper respiratory system (sinuses and throat). It’s indicated whenever there is hot irritation combined with excess relaxation in the upper respiratory system, a common pattern with hay fever and chronic post nasal drip. The fruits exhibit strong antioxidant effects that inhibit influenza and herpes virus. Dehydrating the fruit, crushing it, and making it into a tea is an effective preventative method during the early febrile stages of many viral infections – a method often traditionally used in Russia.
Uterus/Female Reproductive + Blood/Vasculature:
Red Raspberry’s emmenagogue effects apply quite well to the cardiovascular system, gynecological system, and blood. Blood and energy share a relationship. Whereas blood requires energy for its movement, energy needs blood for nourishment. When blood stagnation occurs, stagnation of energy closely follows and vice versa. Both scenarios can lead to many uncomfortable symptoms and pain. Blood stagnation typically features fixed and sharp pain, while the pain from energy stagnation is often sporadic and dull. Blood stagnation is often the root cause of menstrual conditions, such as amenorrhea and dysmenorrhea. Red Raspberry tones the blood vessels, encourages healthy blood circulation, and clears blood stagnation.
This is an important distinction here, as many emmenagogues work by either directly stimulating blood flow with their pungent warming properties, by dilating blood vessels to increase its circulation, or with a bitter, downward bearing, fluid draining effect. Red Raspberry is really neither… here it is toning the blood vessels in a way that it is able to flow through nice taught vessels, rather than getting stuck in slack vessels.
Red Raspberry is a tonic emmenagogue which means that it tones uterine tissues that are overly lax and encourages healthy blood flow by improving the quality of the blood. When the uterine tissues lack tone, the muscles and mucosa become loose and flabby, making it difficult to contract and expel the endometrium and menstrual blood. At the same time, the vasculature becomes lax, leading to further blood stagnation (think of a varicose vein).
The combined astringent and emmenagogue effects of Red Raspberry make it an exceptional herb for menstrual health. It is used to treat dysmenorrhea (painful menses) and menorrhagia (excessive/heavy bleeding). Since many menstrual conditions relate to the quality of the blood, and oftentimes, blood stagnation, Red Raspberry is an excellent herbal medicine to use in the treatment of many conditions related to menstruation irregularities. It tightens, tones, and strengthens the uterine lining, thus increasing the efficacy of muscular contractions. This property is very important to understand about this plant and is a key to its unique properties.
Pregnancy, Birth, & Postpartum:
Red Raspberry leaf has a rich traditional use for fertility, pregnancy, during childbirth, and postpartum. It is generally considered a remedy to support both male and female fertility through its ability to strengthen reproductive tissues as a tonic and nutritive. Once pregnancy is achieved, it is classically used to prevent miscarriage, reduce complications during pregnancy, and to facilitate a healthy and efficient childbirth.
As noted previously, the leaf has an affinity for the uterus and strengthens the uterine tissues with its nutritive and astringent qualities— the nutrients nourish both mother and developing fetus. This all helps to prepare the uterus and pelvic muscles with optimal muscular tone to aid in the birthing process so contractions are more effective and the muscles have more strength. It also provides the body with several essential vitamins and minerals necessary for a healthy pregnancy, such as C, E, and chelated iron. It tones the uterus, encourages healthy lactation and milk supply, and restores the reproductive system after childbirth. The hemostatic property is useful for postpartum bleeding, hemorrhage, and to help expel the afterbirth.
Digestive:
Astringents like Red Raspberry are used to tone tissues in the GI tract when there is excess relaxation in the tissues, which are addressed through its tannins. These compounds bind, tone, and tighten tissues to regulate permeability and curb excess discharges. Some of the main symptoms of relaxation in the gut include: acid reflux, diarrhea, leaky gut, chronic loose stool, poor assimilation of nutrients, hemorrhoids, and hernia.
In the gut, Red Raspberry reduces inflammation, provides healing to the mucosal membranes of the GI tract, and staunches bleeding. A general suggestion for astringents that affect the gut is that if used alone for too long, they can inhibit food absorption across the gut wall. Although this is more likely to occur with stronger astringent herbs, it’s still important to keep this in mind and use Red Raspberry in a balanced way.
Red Raspberry astringes the blood vessels, tightens swollen and congested mucus membranes, and staunches bleeding from the stomach and intestines through its hemostatic effects. This makes it an applicable remedy for treating gastric ulcers or acid reflux, which is often due to relaxation of the sphincter between the esophagus and the stomach. The fact that it also sedates excess heat and irritation makes it particularly suitable for these conditions, which are usually marked by a lot of inflammation and heat type pain.
Since leaky gut is a classic gastrointestinal symptom of damp/relaxation and Red Raspberry is indicated for all digestive conditions related to this tissue state, it should come as no surprise that this herb is used to treat this syndrome. Leaky gut means there is an increased intestinal permeability, which allows toxins and bacteria to pass through, resulting in impaired digestion and elimination. Red Raspberry tones the relaxed and atonic mucosal membranes, working to restore the tissue to optimal functioning and addressing the root of leaky gut. Another symptom related to damp/relaxation is hernias, which occur when the internal organ protrudes through the wall of muscle or tissue that usually contains it. This can lead to heartburn, GERD, and general aching, pressure, and pain. Abdominal massage, visceral manipulation, and sometimes surgery is used to treat the hernia. Once the organ is repositioned into its correct place, you can use astringent herbs, such as Red Raspberry, to strengthen the connective tissues of the muscles to prevent it from occurring again.
Upper Respiratory:
When damp/relaxation affects the upper respiratory system, symptoms often feature a runny nose, postnasal drip, itchy, watery eyes, a sore throat, allergic reactions to pollen, and discharged fluids that are thin, clear, and watery. This latter quality of the fluids is actually a key indicator of the damp/relaxation tissue state, as thick, green, yellow, congealed fluids are more indicative of damp/stagnation.
The sinuses will drain down the throat and into the lungs, resulting in a cough, and due to excessive secretions, the glands can become inflamed- such as the tonsils, adenoids, and mucous membranes. Pain and irritation in the back of the throat is common, along with constantly clearing the throat, breathing in through the nose can lead to fluids entering the back of the throat which can be felt. Circulation to the brain is poor, and the mouth hangs open since nostril breathing has become obscured, which leads to the body drying out further. As this tissue state imbalance progresses, the vessels can become overly lax, resulting in poor circulation and gas exchange in the lungs, which causes systemic low energy.
When treating damp/relaxation respiratory conditions, it is best to use drying astringents and often remedies with some cooling or inflammation modulating properties. Possessing both of these qualities, Red Raspberry provides gentle astringent action, making it a useful gargle for a relaxed sore throat and is a prized herb used historically to soothe laryngitis, tonsillitis, and other forms of sore throat. Raspberry leaf is also used as a mild astringent tonic for the eyes, useful when they’re red, inflamed, sore, and constantly watering.
Laryngitis is the acute inflammation of the larynx. It is commonly associated with a sore throat, the common cold, or overusing the voice. Laryngitis often occurs with a viral infection, swelling, painful swallowing, dryness, and a cough. Treatment typically includes a similar approach you would take when treating a sore throat – using demulcents to soothe dry mucosal membranes, astringents to reduce swelling and tone mucosa, and antiseptic herbs to eliminate pathogens. While the leaf is usually used today, traditional Russian approaches favored the berry. In this approach, the berries are boiled, and the liquid formed is drunk to treat cold and flu symptoms, decrease lung inflammation, fight infection, reduce fevers, and expectorate mucus. Gargles were used to treat sore throats and respiratory tract infections, while decoctions of the leaf were used to soothe coughs, tonsillitis, quinsy, and high fevers.
Energetics: Energetics give us a way to distinguish how a specific plant will affect the temperature, moisture, and tonal quality in a person. A plant’s temperature quality can either be warming or cooling. Its moisture quality can either be drying or moistening. Its tonal quality can either be relaxing or tonifying. There are of course plants that can be neutral in a certain quality.
Energetically, Raspberry leaves are cooling, drying, and astringent. The cooling effects make it a valuable remedy for illnesses or symptoms related to the heat/excitation tissue state, while its drying and astringent qualities highlight this herb as a key plant medicine for the damp/relaxation tissue state.
Contraindications and Safety
• Contraindications: Red Raspberry is a traditional herb that has been used as a pregnancy tonic for years. That said, it is important for pregnant women to definitely communicate with their physician or midwife about any herbs they’re taking to make sure it’s all good.
Red Raspberry has shown antigonadotropic activity (in vitro), which means that it may suppress the activity or downstream effects of one or both of the gonadotropins, follicle- stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone. Dr. Francis Brinker says in his book “Herb Contraindications and Drug Interactions” that it is contraindicated where there is a history of precipitate labor and antigonadotropic activity.
If reading these contraindications has you feeling thrown, rest assured that Red Raspberry has been used safely for centuries throughout the world to encourage safe and healthy pregnancies.
• Energetic/constitutional side effects: The overextended use of Raspberry leaves can lead to a drying effect. Therefore, it is best to combine this plant with moistening and nutritive herbs to prevent this imbalance from occurring.
• Herb-Drug Interactions: Red Raspberry may accelerate the coagulation of the blood with internal use. Thus, it is wise to avoid combining this herb with medications that thin the blood or promote coagulation. Raspberry leaves and seeds reduce post-radiotherapy gamma- radiation resistance, something to consider if this is a treatment you face.
The tannin content in Red Raspberry binds to iron, specific metal ion minerals, and vitamin B1 (thiamin). If you take these supplements, try to space them apart to prevent this interaction from occurring. The tannin content binds with alkaloids as well, so it is best to avoid the formulation of herbs high in these two constituents together.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. If you are interested in experiencing the power of this plant for yourself, check out our shop!
See you on the next post,
Patryk Chrzanowski
In-house Herbalist