Having a “Weird Dad” Might Be a Good Thing

My wife came up to me and said our son had eaten some old pepperoni and his stomach wasn’t feeling great. I took one look at some of the pepperoni he was eating from and thought, Yeah… that’s not good. This could turn into a long day.

I found my son, looked him in the eyes, and told him two things: he wasn’t in trouble, and he didn’t do anything wrong. But he did eat some bad pepperoni, and he might end up getting sick. Then I told him we were going to try a few things to help him out.

My mind immediately went into problem-solving mode.

We needed two things:

• A mucilaginous plant to coat and protect the stomach

• An antimicrobial plant to help fight whatever might be growing from that old pepperoni

  
  

I’ve come to really respect mucilaginous plants after a personal experience. One time I ate extremely spicy food and felt like my stomach was on fire. I took slippery elm bark powder, and the relief was almost immediate. Ever since then, it’s been one of my go-tos.

So naturally, I thought of the slippery elm bark I had out in the pole barn.

For the antimicrobial side, anise hyssop came to mind. I had recently seen it starting to leaf out in the greenhouse. I hadn’t studied it deeply yet, but knowing it’s part of the mint family, I figured there was a strong chance it carried antimicrobial properties.

On the way to the pole barn, we stopped in the greenhouse—and I’m glad we did.

I noticed our rose mallow had grown large enough to use, so I had him eat some of that first. It’s another mucilaginous plant, and it was fresh, which I generally prefer over dried. In many cases, fresh plants retain more of their active compounds, especially when it comes to antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.

Then we moved on to the anise hyssop. While we were there, I also saw that the peppermint had come in, so I had him eat some of that too. Peppermint is well known for its antimicrobial effects.

What we were really doing, in simple terms, was using phytochemicals.

Plants produce these compounds to protect themselves—against insects, microbes, molds, and other threats. Peppermint oil, for example, is irritating to many small organisms. That’s part of what keeps them from being eaten or overtaken.

When we consume these plants, we’re also taking in those same protective compounds—and in some cases, we can benefit from them.

In the end, my son felt better and went on with his day.

Now, to be clear: this isn’t medical advice. And if you’ve never eaten a specific plant before, there’s always a possibility of an allergic reaction. That’s something to take seriously.

My kids are used to this kind of thing, so I felt comfortable making those judgement calls. Like anything, the more exposure and experience you have, the more confident you become in your decisions.

Maybe having a “weird dad” isn’t such a bad thing after all.