Hello lovely CommuniTEA,

I don't know about you but I am absolutely revelling in this summer energy right now. I love being out in the garden getting my hands in the soil and tending to my homegrown fruit and veg.

This month we are doing something I have been excited about for a long time. We are doing a deep dive on water. Water is so much more than something we drink. It is something we ARE and the science behind it will change the way you look at every glass you pour for the rest of your life.

But before all that we are heading into the hedgerows and gardens for our herb of the month, and I promise you, this one is a little surprise.

This herb of the month is close to my heart as I grew up surrounded by strawberries. My father was a proper, old English strawberry grower and some of those original plants are still growing in my garden to this day. Still producing the most extraordinary tasting strawberries I have ever tasted.

A little tip is to pop straw around your plants as it lifts berries off the soil and away from mud and rot keeping them fresher for longer.

We all know and adore the strawberry, that glorious little jewel of summer that needs absolutely no introduction. But while we have all been busy devouring the fruit the humble leaf has been quietly sitting there doing extraordinary things, almost entirely overlooked.

Strawberry leaf particularly from the wild strawberry, Fragaria vesca has been used in herbal medicine for centuries. It is slightly astringent with a mild, pleasant flavour that makes it one of the most approachable and genuinely delicious herbs to work with. It grows absolutely everywhere in gardens, hedgerows, woodland edges, and probably a crack in your patio if you look closely enough.

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Strawberry leaf has a wonderfully long history in herbal medicine across Europe and beyond.

The ancient Greeks and Romans used wild strawberry preparations for digestive complaints, and the leaves were a staple in medieval European herbalism. Nicolas Culpeper, the 17th century English herbalist and physician, wrote about the strawberry plant extensively, noting it's cooling and cleansing properties and recommending it for everything from inflammation to skin conditions.

In traditional Native American medicine, wild strawberry leaf tea was used to support the digestive system and as a gentle tonic for overall wellbeing. Across Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, strawberry leaf was brewed as a daily wellness tea long before the concept of herbal wellness even had a name.

Safety note: Strawberry leaf is very well tolerated but if you have a known strawberry allergy, treat the leaves with the same caution as the fruit. Always dry or wilt the leaves slightly before using - very fresh wilted leaves can occasionally cause mild digestive upset in sensitive people. When fully dried or used as a fresh infusion (not wilted and left), they are considered very safe for most people.

Health Benefits

Strawberry leaf is genuinely impressive nutritionally and therapeutically.

Here's what it brings to the table:

Digestive support - the tannins in strawberry leaf make it a wonderful gentle astringent, soothing an irritated gut, easing diarrhoea, and supporting overall digestive health. A cup of strawberry leaf tea after a heavy meal is a beautiful thing.

Anti-inflammatory - rich in flavonoids and ellagic acid, strawberry leaf helps to calm inflammation throughout the body. This makes it particularly interesting for anyone dealing with joint discomfort or inflammatory conditions.

Rich in antioxidants - the leaves contain high levels of antioxidants, helping to protect cells from oxidative stress and supporting healthy ageing from the inside out.

Blood sugar support - there is growing research suggesting that compounds in strawberry leaf may help to support healthy blood glucose levels, making it interesting territory for anyone focused on metabolic health.

Diuretic and kidney support - strawberry leaf has gentle diuretic properties, supporting the kidneys in flushing toxins and excess fluid. Beautifully on theme for a water-focused month!

Iron and vitamin C - particularly the wild variety, strawberry leaf contains useful levels of both, making it a lovely gentle tonic for energy and immunity.

Skin health - used topically, a cooled strawberry leaf infusion can be wonderful as a gentle toner or compress for irritated or blemish-prone skin.

Water is the most abundant molecule in the human body. Depending on your age, between 70-90% of you is water.

Your brain is approximately 75% water.

Your blood is around 83% water.

Your lungs are closer to 90%.

You are, quite literally, mostly water. So what you put into your body from it's quality, it's structure, and it's energy, matter in ways that go so far beyond simple hydration.

This month I want to introduce you to some of the most fascinating and paradigm-shifting research in this space, and then our extraordinary special guest Harry Rhodes is going to take us even deeper.

If you have never come across the work of Dr Masaru Emoto, please prepare yourself because once you know this, you cannot unknow it.

Dr Masaru Emoto was a Japanese researcher and author who spent decades studying the physical effect of words, thoughts, music, and intention on the molecular structure of water, documented in his landmark book The Hidden Messages in Water.

Dr Emoto would expose water samples to different stimuli such as words written on paper and taped to the containers, spoken words directed at the water, music played in its presence, focused human intention and then he would freeze the samples and photograph the resulting ice crystals under a microscope.

The results were breathtaking.

Water exposed to loving, positive words and intention like "love," "gratitude," "thank you," "peace" all formed intricate, symmetrical, geometrically perfect and genuinely beautiful crystalline structures.

Water exposed to negative words, harsh music, or harmful intentions formed incomplete, asymmetrical, chaotic and broken crystal patterns.

Distilled water produced relatively simple crystals. Water from clean mountain springs and rivers produced extraordinarily complex and beautiful ones. Tap water from polluted or heavily treated sources produced poor crystal formation. Water that had been prayed over, regardless of the religious tradition of the person praying, produced some of the most exquisitely beautiful crystals of all.

The broader science of water memory, water structure, and the response of water to energetic frequencies is a genuinely active and growing field of research. Dr Gerald Pollack at the University of Washington, whose work on what he calls the "fourth phase of water" (structured, or EZ water), has demonstrated that water behaves in ways that conventional biochemistry cannot fully explain. The implications for cellular hydration, energy production in the body, and the way our cells actually function are extraordinary.

What Emoto gave us was a visual, accessible, emotionally resonant invitation to consider water differently. To consider that what we think, feel, say, and intend has a physical impact on the molecular world around us. And if we are 70% water? That becomes a very personal invitation indeed.