Some conversations just feel like medicine. This one delivers decades of clinical wisdom on women's health, straight from the heart of herbal practice.
Dr. Judith Thompson is a naturopathic doctor, herbalist, and Dean of Herbal Medicine at the American College of Healthcare Sciences. She has spent her career working with women from postpartum to perimenopause, and the plant wisdom she shares in this episode is the kind you'll want to listen to twice.
Where Plants and Women's Health Meet
Judith grew up in Paraguay, in a home where herbs were just part of life. It wasn't until a near-fatal car accident at 23 that she truly understood what plants were capable of. Her mother's response was simple, gentle, and rooted in the same kitchen medicine she had always known: chamomile tea bags laid gently over swollen eyes, and Malva Sylvestris infusion dabbed onto healing skin day after day. The results were remarkable, and they changed the direction of Judith's life completely.
Clinical Wisdom You Won't Hear Everywhere
From supporting newborns through their first tender days with a teaspoon of chamomile or lemon balm tea, to calendula sitz baths for postpartum mamas, to walking women through perimenopause with maca and evening primrose, Judith shares the herbs she has reached for again and again throughout her clinical career. She also talks openly about vaginal tissue support, HPV, and how green tea and vitamin E became powerful allies for many of her patients.
This is the kind of conversation that makes you want to stock your pantry and call your herbalist.
The Everyday Herbs She Trusts Most
Some of the most practical wisdom in this episode is also the simplest. Judith talks about why nettles were her go-to for pregnant mamas, why oats belong in every woman's daily routine, and how something as simple as parsley and celery water became part of her own healing story. She also shares her love of red raspberry leaf as a safe daily herb for women at any stage of reproductive life, and the digestive bitters she has been known to pull out at dinner parties.
Simple, accessible, and deeply effective.
The Intention Behind the Medicine
One of the most powerful moments in this episode is when Judith shares what a mentor once observed about the herbal formulas he made himself versus the ones prepared by someone else from the exact same herbs.
The results were different. And it says everything about the relationship between the herbalist, the plant, and the person being served.
Connect with Dr. Judith Thompson
You can find Judith on LinkedIn, where she regularly connects with students, practitioners, and fellow plant lovers. She is also involved with the Sustainable Herbs Initiative, an organization working to ensure the plants we love are sourced and grown with care. Eclectic Herb is proud to be a member as well.
Tune In
If you love plants, work with women, or are simply curious about what herbal medicine looks like across a whole lifetime, this episode is for you.
Find Eclectic Herb's freeze-dried nettles, oats, parsley, celery, chamomile, lemon balm, and calendula at eclecticherb.com and come find us at @eclecticherb on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
*This is for educational purposes. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. All products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent diseases.
