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Rolling heat waves. Unusually high humidity. A supersized El Niño on the horizon, which stands to spike temperatures to unprecedented degrees.
Summer in Los Angeles may not have broken any heat records — yet — but the relentless hot weather may be more than you’re able to endure, at least comfortably. Especially without AC at home. Personally, I’ve launched a full-scale assault on the sweltering weather, including consulting heat researchers for strategies on staying cool at home.
Which have worked to varying degrees so far.
So what next? I’d been hearing a lot about Ayurvedic herbalism, which has been used in India for thousands of years to help people cope with the heat, among other conditions, naturally and holistically. Herbal remedies — in both Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine — are not a medical treatment for heat stroke and other heat illnesses, but they may bring relief in warm weather, some experts say, particularly when prepared by a clinical herbalist.
“You have to, of course, make sure you have enough fluid first — water is key,” says Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, director of UCLA’s Center for East-West Medicine. “But many of the cooling herbs, like chrysanthemum and honeysuckle, which are anti-inflammatory, and peppermint, for sure, are used for heat symptoms. Some of the chemicals in the herbs are helpful in maintaining the metabolism so that it’s not superfast and generating more heat in the system.”
Herbs aren’t a cure-all, Hui cautions. They won’t lower your actual body temperature significantly on their own, or every time. Much depends on what’s raising your body temperature in the first place — if you have a fever due to an infection, for example, see a doctor rather than ingesting peppermint.
“But they’re antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory and are cooling,” he says of some herbs. “And they reduce the feeling of heat. They work in a mild manner with the body’s physiological system bringing the system back into balance.”
The CDC warns that electric fans can actually raise your body temperature in extreme heat. Learn the safe temperature limits and expert-backed ways to beat the heat.
I was still undecided on the benefits of herbs to keep cool. But — willing to try nearly anything on a recent stifling afternoon — I made a trip to Anima Mundi Apothecary, in Venice. The “high vibrational” herb shop offers “plant medicines for body, mind & wellness.” It’s the brainchild of clinical herbalist Adriana Ayales, who grew up in Costa Rica with a background in rainforest herbalism. She also trained with shamanic communities throughout Central and South America. Her Anima Mundi Herbals is based in Brooklyn, N.Y., where the company manufactures herbal tinctures, elixirs, teas, herbal supplements and other botanicals. It also has shops in Soho in Manhattan as well as Uvita in Costa Rica. The Venice location opened in 2023.
The apothecary is part herb shop, with a wall of more than 100 organic or wild crafted herbs, in jars, from small farms in Southeast Asia and Costa Rica as well as Oregon, Washington, Vermont and upstate New York; it’s part co-working space, with an adjacent “tonic bar” serving chilled elixirs, mocktails, “longevity shots,” teas and medicinal lattes; and it’s part event space, with a lushly landscaped courtyard adorned with a firepit, rose quartz crystals and blooming white sage, lavender, lemon verbena and passion flower, among other plantings. The apothecary hosts meditations, sound baths, tarot card readings and massages there to help bring the mind and body into balance.
The herbs at the shop support Ayurvedic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, rainforest herbalism and American eclectic herbalism, Ayales says. “All of the traditions, including European, we involve in the blending of formulas,” she says. “Every ecosystem has their own set of plants that can greatly help healing in so many ways. It’s medicine for the people, grassroots herbalism that you see throughout the world.”
I had just one thing in mind when I arrived, however: cooling herbs. The AC in my car was on the fritz and I arrived red faced and sweaty. My iPhone overheated on the way over and stopped working immediately upon arrival. A shop attendant shuttled me into a shady spot by the tonic bar, where the mixologist began mixing me cooling drinks. In the meantime, Aria Krylova, who’s worked at Anima Mundi for several years, put out the store’s top cooling agents for me to try.
First on the list: rose water “beauty myst,” which Krylova says is frequently requested during heat waves. “We call it a beauty mist, but it’s used Ayurvedically to cool down the body,” she says. “It’s just rose flower and distilled water. Rose is very anti-inflammatory. I like to put it in the fridge. And you come back home from a hot day, before you’ve turned on the AC, and it feels like heaven.”
