Leisha When I started to really understand microbiology, I quietly moved many of the strong germ-fighting herbs and foods out of my apothecary. I had become uncomfortable with the idea that health meant constantly trying to destroy microorganisms. Those tools began to feel like blunt instruments that did not particularly care what part of an ecosystem they disrupted along the way.
I am interested in gardens, inside and out. I care about soil, terrain, the gut garden and the complicated relationships between the organisms living within us. The world is saturated with germ-war thinking and, imho, I think that approach has contributed to many of the ecological problems we now see both in human health and in the soil.
Clove was one of the herbs that disappeared from my shelves for a while. I knew it as strong, sharp and very useful for something like tooth pain, but its reputation had become so connected with destroying microbes that I did not see a place for it in the kind of terrain work I wanted to do.
Then I began reading the research on clove bud and its major compound, eugenol, and my perspective changed considerably. What emerged from the research was not simply an herb acting against microorganisms. Eugenol was being studied for its effects on the body’s own antioxidant systems, intestinal tissue, liver metabolism, circulation and inflammatory regulation. That was a very different conversation and one that made much more sense to me.
The result is the elixir I make now: a strong, slow water extraction of clove buds, true star anise, cinnamon bark and elderberries. The plants are simmered and reduced into a concentrated liquid designed to be used in small amounts.
Clove, Star Anise, Cinnamon & Elderberry Elixir
This is not an essential oil preparation and it is not a weak herbal tea. It sits somewhere closer to concentrated food medicine, using water, heat and time to draw a wide spectrum of plant compounds into one preparation.
Why Clove Came Back
Eugenol is one of the principal aromatic compounds in clove buds, and it was the research on eugenol that first made me reconsider clove.
In one study, rats were given eugenol orally for 15 and 90 days while researchers examined antioxidant systems within the intestine. After 90 days, glutathione levels in the intestinal tissue were significantly higher, and glutathione-S-transferase activity was also affected.
Glutathione is one of our important internal antioxidant systems. It helps cells manage oxidative compounds and is deeply involved in the way the body processes and clears substances it no longer needs. Finding research showing changes within the intestinal glutathione system made me look at clove very differently.
Further studies have explored eugenol’s relationship with Nrf2, an important cellular signalling pathway that helps switch on many of our own antioxidant defences. These include systems involving glutathione, catalase and superoxide dismutase. In experimental models of intestinal inflammation, eugenol has also helped improve antioxidant enzyme activity while reducing signs of oxidative damage within the tissue.
That is not the picture of a plant whose only value is killing something. It begins to look much more like a plant capable of helping the body manage its own internal environment.
I started thinking of clove less as a wrecking ball and more as a housekeeper. It helps clear some of the oxidative smoke and supports the tissues where digestion, microbes and the immune system are constantly communicating.
That difference matters to me. The goal is not to create a sterile gut. We need a living intestinal ecosystem containing organisms that digest, ferment, transform, signal, compete, cooperate and communicate with us. If the tissue and terrain are healthy, the microbial community has a much better chance of organizing itself appropriately.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon brings another dimension to the formula because of its relationship with digestion, circulation and metabolic regulation. It is rich in polyphenols and has been used as a warming digestive spice for an extraordinarily long time. Modern research has looked particularly at cinnamon in relation to glucose metabolism, insulin sensitivity, blood lipids, oxidative stress and cardiovascular markers.
This is useful because blood sugar is not simply a sugar issue. Frequent glucose swings influence the liver, circulation, hormones, inflammatory signalling and the microbial environment of the digestive tract. The body is a network, and changes in one area continually ripple through the others.
Cinnamon also makes sense from a digestive point of view. Its warmth encourages digestive movement and helps support the signalling that needs to happen when food enters the stomach. I particularly like it when digestion feels sluggish, heavy or fermentative because it gives warmth without the sharp intensity of something such as cayenne.
Together, cinnamon and clove create a nice relationship. Clove contributes strongly to the antioxidant and circulatory side, while cinnamon brings warmth, digestion and metabolic support.
True Star Anise
The third spice is true star anise, Illicium verum. It contains aromatic compounds including trans-anethole, flavonoids, phenylpropanoids and other plant constituents, and it is naturally rich in shikimic acid.
Star anise has a long traditional relationship with the digestive system, particularly where there is gas, stagnation, spasming or discomfort. Modern research has also described antioxidant and spasmolytic activities associated with the plant.
For me, star anise softens the character of the formula. Clove and cinnamon are strong warming spices, while star anise has a sweeter aromatic quality that works beautifully through the stomach and intestines. It helps bring the whole formula back to digestion.
I specifically use Illicium verum, the culinary star anise. This is important because other species in the Illicium family, particularly Japanese star anise, are chemically different and should not be used interchangeably.
Elderberry
Elderberry adds something completely different. The deep purple-black colour of elderberries comes largely from anthocyanins, pigments belonging to the larger polyphenol family. These compounds are part of the berry’s own relationship with sunlight, environmental stress and protection, and they become interesting compounds for us because of their antioxidant and vascular actions.
Elderberries also contain flavonols, phenolic acids and complex plant compounds that have been studied in relation to oxidative stress, inflammatory regulation and immune signalling.
I like elderberry here because I do not want an immune formula that simply pushes the immune system harder. I want something that helps nourish the environment in which immune cells are working.
Immune cells require nutrients. They require healthy circulation. They communicate continuously with the gut microbiome and intestinal lining. They depend upon the liver to process metabolic material and upon the lymphatic system to move fluids, proteins and cellular debris.
Elderberry brings that nourishing quality into what would otherwise be a very warming spice formula. It gives the blend depth, polyphenols and another form of antioxidant support while tying the blood, vascular and immune systems together.
The Gut Is Still at the Centre
The intestine is not simply a tube through which food passes. It contains epithelial tissue, nerves, blood vessels, lymphatic tissue, immune cells and an immense microbial community, all functioning within millimetres of each other.
Everything we eat enters that conversation. The intestinal lining has to manage nutrients, plant compounds, microbial metabolites, hormones, digestive secretions and the enormous number of substances produced during digestion. It also has to maintain a selective boundary, allowing nutrients to move through while maintaining separation between the contents of the intestine and the circulation.
This is where the eugenol research becomes particularly interesting to me. Looking at its relationship with glutathione and antioxidant activity within intestinal tissue moves the conversation away from attacking microbes and toward supporting the environment those microbes inhabit.
Healthy microbes need healthy habitat. This is no different from the work I do with soil. You cannot build a resilient soil food web simply by adding organisms to damaged ground. The structure, moisture, minerals, oxygen, organic matter and food sources all have to support those organisms once they arrive.
The same principle applies to fermented foods and probiotics. We can continually introduce beneficial organisms, but the deeper work is creating an intestinal environment where they have somewhere appropriate to live. This elixir is one small part of that terrain work.
The Liver and Metabolic Terrain
The liver is deeply connected to everything happening in the gut because blood coming from the digestive tract passes directly through it. The liver receives nutrients, plant compounds and microbial metabolites and has to decide what to transform, store, recycle or move onward.
Metabolic stress can build quietly. Changes in liver fat, blood sugar regulation, triglycerides and circulation may develop long before someone feels particularly unwell.
Eugenol has been studied in animal models of fatty liver. In one study using a high-fat diet, eugenol reduced fat accumulation within the liver, improved the microscopic appearance of liver tissue and influenced blood lipid measurements. Researchers were also interested in its effect through the gut-brain-liver axis, an area of research I find particularly fascinating because it reflects how interconnected these systems actually are.
Other experimental work has looked at eugenol when high fructose intake is creating oxidative stress and metabolic changes within the liver. Again, the findings suggest an influence on antioxidant balance and the way the liver handles metabolic stress.
Cinnamon complements this through its research around glucose regulation, insulin sensitivity and blood lipids, while elderberry adds another layer of polyphenols and anthocyanins.
I do not see these plants as doing the liver’s work for it. I see them as providing compounds that can support the biochemical environment in which the liver has to do its work every day.
Blood, Circulation and Fibrin
This is another reason I became interested in this combination. In Live Blood Analysis, I frequently see red blood cells beginning to stack together, plasma becoming heavier and fibrin becoming more prominent. The individual red cells lose some of their beautiful free movement and the microcirculation can become less efficient.
I am interested in supporting circulation without forcing it. Clove brings warming aromatic compounds and eugenol’s relationship with oxidative regulation and vascular health. Cinnamon contributes warmth and has been studied in relation to several cardiovascular and metabolic markers. Elderberry provides anthocyanins and other deeply coloured polyphenols associated with vascular and antioxidant support.
Star anise keeps digestion involved because blood quality cannot really be separated from what is happening in the digestive tract. Digested nutrients and microbial metabolites are constantly entering the circulation, passing through the liver and becoming part of the chemical environment surrounding our blood cells.
This is why I particularly like this elixir when I see heavy circulation patterns or strong fibrin in blood work. I am not trying to attack the fibrin. Fibrin is an important repair protein. I am interested in supporting circulation, protein metabolism, liver function and the oxidative environment that may be contributing to the body remaining in a heightened repair state.
Oxidative Stress Is Not the Enemy
Oxidation itself is not something we want to eliminate. It is part of life.
We breathe oxygen, produce energy, digest food, move our bodies, think, repair tissue and respond to our environment. All of those processes involve oxidation.
Problems begin when oxidative demand continually exceeds the body’s ability to regulate and repair it. This is where our own antioxidant systems become so important. Glutathione, catalase, superoxide dismutase and many other enzymes are continually working inside us. They are not supplied by one miracle antioxidant pill. They are systems the body itself builds, regulates and uses.
The eugenol research interests me because it suggests interaction with these endogenous systems. Cinnamon brings its polyphenols, star anise its aromatic compounds and flavonoids, and elderberry contributes a particularly rich source of anthocyanins.
Each plant is bringing different chemistry into the same conversation. That is how I like formulas to work.
The Immune System
Elderberry makes this formula particularly interesting from an immune perspective, but I think it is important to understand immunity as something much larger than stimulating immune cells.
Much of our immune activity is associated with the gut. Immune cells are continually sampling and responding to information coming from food, microbes and the environment. The intestinal lining, mucus layer and microbial community all influence those responses.
The liver participates by processing material arriving from the digestive tract, while the lymphatic system carries immune cells, proteins and fluids through the tissues. Good circulation ensures that nutrients and immune components can reach where they are required.
An immune system that is constantly being pushed is not necessarily a healthy immune system. What I want is immune resilience and regulation, and that requires nourishment, good circulation, a diverse microbiome and healthy tissue.
Elderberry’s anthocyanins and polyphenols fit well within that approach. Beside clove, cinnamon and star anise, it gives us an elixir that supports several of the systems upon which healthy immunity depends.
Why a Water Extraction?
Preparation changes a plant. Clove essential oil is chemically different from a clove bud simmered in water. A powdered spice behaves differently again, as does a tincture. The extraction method determines which plant compounds are concentrated and how strongly they are delivered.
For this elixir, I wanted a slow water extraction. The spices and elderberries are cooked and reduced, drawing their water-soluble compounds into a concentrated liquid. The result is strong, but it remains a whole-plant preparation and is very different from taking highly concentrated essential oils internally.
High concentrations of isolated eugenol can behave very differently from culinary or water-based amounts. Laboratory studies have shown that eugenol at very high concentrations can become irritating or damaging to certain cells, which is precisely why preparation and dose matter.
Strong medicine does not require enormous doses.
How I Use the Elixir
Because this is concentrated, a small amount is sufficient. Most adults can use 1 to 2 tablespoons diluted in a little water daily, while someone who is very sensitive can begin with 1 teaspoon and increase gradually.
It can be taken in the morning, during the day or before a meal, depending upon why you are using it. For digestive support, I particularly like taking a small amount before food because the warming aromatic herbs begin engaging the digestive system before the meal arrives.
This is not something I see as a harsh cleanse or a short course that needs to be pushed through. It sits comfortably beside real food, fermented foods, mineral-rich broths, herbs, movement, sleep, sunlight and time outdoors.
Because clove and cinnamon are physiologically active plants, anyone taking blood-thinning or glucose-lowering medications should take their combined effects into consideration. I also do not use concentrated clove preparations during pregnancy or nursing, for young children, or for people with epilepsy or seizure disorders.
And Under Everything, Soil
I always come back to soil. Clove trees, cinnamon trees, star anise trees and elder plants do not simply manufacture eugenol, cinnamaldehyde, anethole and anthocyanins for us. They are living beings embedded within ecosystems of fungi, bacteria, insects, roots, minerals, water and climate.
Their chemistry is partly a record of those relationships. The aromatic compounds and pigments that interest us are molecules the plants themselves use to navigate their environments. They respond to sunlight, insects, microbial relationships, injury, drought, minerals and the organisms living around their roots.
When we drink a slow water extraction of these plants, we bring some of that chemistry into another ecological system.
Our microbes meet it first. They transform many plant compounds into new metabolites, and those metabolites continue the conversation with the intestinal lining, immune cells, liver, circulation and nervous system.
That is the part that continues to fascinate me. The same ecological principles that determine whether a plant thrives in living soil appear again inside the human terrain: food, minerals, structure, communication, diversity and relationship.
I once removed clove from my apothecary because I thought its strength made it incompatible with the microbial world I wanted to nurture. Understanding its relationship with the body’s own antioxidant systems changed that perspective.
Now, combined with cinnamon, true star anise and elderberry, I see it as something quite different: a strong, warming plant formula designed to support circulation, liver metabolism, digestion, oxidative regulation, immune resilience and the microbial terrain without making microbial warfare the goal.
The Clove, Star Anise, Cinnamon & Elderberry Elixir is made at Living Ground as a concentrated slow water extraction and bottled for our Apothecary.
Clove, Star Anise, Cinnamon & Elderberry Elixir
References
Vidhya N, Devasena T, Karthikeyan S. Antioxidant effect of eugenol in rat intestine. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology. 1999. Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10865886/ (PubMed)
Damasceno R O S et al. Anti Inflammatory and Antioxidant Activities of Eugenol. Pharmaceuticals. 2024. Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39598416/ (PubMed)
Li H et al. Eugenol alleviated nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in rat via a gut brain liver axis involving glucagon like peptide 1. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. 2022. Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35508252/ (PubMed)
Damasceno R O S et al. Anti Inflammatory and Antioxidant Activities of Eugenol: An Update. 2024. Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/385773306_Anti-Inflammatory_and_Antioxidant_Activities_of_Eugenol_An_Update (ResearchGate)
Vidhya N et al. Antioxidant effect of eugenol in rat intestine. PDF copy. Link: https://scispace.com/pdf/antioxidant-effect-of-eugenol-in-rat-intestine-2etffq73nq.pdf (SciSpace)
Robinson J L et al. Neurophysiological Effects of Whole Coffee Cherry Extract in Older Adults with Subjective Cognitive Impairment. Antioxidants. 2021. Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33498314/ and open access: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7909261/ (PubMed)
Antonelli M et al. Health Promoting Effects of Goji Berries Lycium barbarum. 2024. Link: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-9976/40/1/1 (MDPI)
Zeng X et al. Effects of Lycium barbarum on Lipid Profiles: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. 2023. Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10545344/ (PMC)
Kakici I, Gezer C. Goji berry Lycium barbarum consumption is related with decrease in serum lipids and body fat in healthy individuals. 2025. Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/18785093251382509 (SAGE Journals)
Rompelberg C J et al. Inhibition of rat, mouse, and human glutathione S transferase by eugenol and its oxidation products. Chemico Biological Interactions. 1996. Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8620581/ (ScienceDirect)
