Blueberries with Anna Rósa Róbertsdóttir

-- TIMESTAMPS --  

• 00:00 - Introduction
• 03:15 - Anna Rósa’s path to herbalism
• 05:37 - Why Anna Rósa loves blueberries 
• 06:29 - The Icelandic tradition of picking wild berries 
• 07:47 - Anna Rósa’s experience wildcrafting herbs
• 08:58 - Health benefits of blueberries
• 16:14 - Why it’s important to buy organic blueberries
• 17:03 - What the blueberry harvesting season in Iceland is like
• 18:09 - How to freeze blueberries
• 18:56 - Anna Rósa’s blueberry breakfast bowl recipes
• 21:58 - Anna Rósa shares her current herbal projects
• 27:27 - Anna Rósa’s thoughts on how herbs have surprised her

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Transcript of the Bluberries with Anna Rósa Róbertsdóttir Video

Rosalee: Hello, and welcome to the Herbs with Rosalee podcast. I'm your host, Rosalee de la Forêt. This episode is the beginning of Season Two. So, I started this podcast and YouTube channel earlier this year with so much excitement and I had some ideas about how it was all going to work. I have to say, through this year, I've learned a lot and I'm really excited to keep improving the show as I get more experience and more skills along the way. And I just feel really grateful for you all for being here and for all your enthusiasm for the healing plants. Season Two is shaping up to be a lot of fun. I have a lot of fabulous guests lined up and I'm excited to get cozy with autumn plants as we enter the darker time of the year. With Season Two, I also have a new question I'll be asking all guests: What's something you've learned or experienced in your herbal journey that has surprised you? Stay tuned to hear the responses.

Today I'm thrilled to be here with Anna Rósa Róbertsdóttir, medical herbalist, wildcrafter, and author. Anna Rósa is the heartbeat and passionate founder behind Anna Rósa Skincare. She handpicks wild Icelandic herbs to use in her 100% natural non-toxic small-batch skincare products. Anna Rósa Skincare collection is a skincare that empowers because she uses the profits to support organizations dedicated to empowering refugees. Anna Rósa is the author of Icelandic Herbs and Their Medicinal Uses and has been running her own clinic in Iceland for over 30 years. Well, welcome to the Herbs with Rosalee podcast, Anna Rósa.

Anna Rósa: Thank you.

Rosalee: Well, so I want to share. I'm excited to share with folks that this is not actually our first collaboration together. Many years ago, I had the absolute pleasure of visiting Anna Rósa in Iceland, and my husband and I were there over the summer solstice.

So, it's so far north, it barely got dark. I mean, I don't think it really gets dark there. And as a result, we barely slept, not just because it was light outside, but because we were going, going, going the whole time. Anna Rósa was so generous. She took us all over Iceland and it was especially fun for me because I was recording her sharing about Icelandic herbs.

So it was a short trip, but it was an amazing trip. And one that I just remember so well, and I'm just really thrilled to be with you here again, Anna Rósa.

Anna Rósa: Thank you. It was such a fun trip. I remember it very well.

Rosalee: Yeah, for me, just seeing Iceland, and you were just so generous and being able to eat traditional foods and just have a guide to the plants. It was just so wonderful. Well, I am really excited for you to share about how you found yourself on this plant path, because everyone has their unique journey, but yours is really interesting because you had one path in life, and then you took a really big, really big U-turn in that. So I'd love for you to share that with everyone.

Anna Rósa: Mm-hmm (affirmative). I tend to have what I call callings in life. So not religious callings, but I'm called to do things. And it was like that with the herbal medicine. I had just finished my A-levels. I didn't have a clue what I was going to do in life. Absolutely no idea. And there was no pressure, either.

So I just went to work at a mental institute, if I remember correctly. And then one day I read an interview and I didn't know what herbalism was. I'd never heard of people studying it or anything like that. So one day I just read this article in the newspaper, in the Icelandic newspaper about this woman who had just studied herbalism, and I didn't know her, of course. And I just read that article and I was just like, "Yes. I'm going to be herbalist."

Rosalee: I love that.

Anna Rósa: So I've been talking about calling. I just knew it immediately that this was what I wanted to do and to make it a short story, I think the next week I applied to the school or something like that. And within four months, I started studying. I moved to England and started studying. It was just never any question at all; it was weird. That was my first calling in life, I think.

Rosalee: Wow. I love that so much that you were just so certain and then you just really acted on it. I mean, you moved to go study plants in England. I mean, that's... Wow.

Anna Rósa: I didn't have a choice. That's what I call it. It's a calling in that sense. I really didn't have a choice. It was just, that's it. You're going to be an herbalist. And I mean, everybody thought I was completely and utterly nuts. I mean, literally everyone I knew, so, yeah. You have to have some guts to do it, I guess, but for me it was just like, I had no choice at all.

Rosalee: Yeah. Well, I love that story. It does give me goosebumps just because it is so powerful, but also just knowing you and what relationship you have, what a deep relationship you have with plants and how incredibly immersed you are with plants. It just make sense now, of course, the plants called you…

Anna Rósa: Exactly.

Rosalee: ... and that was what you had to do. And that's what you did.

Anna Rósa: You can't say no when they call you, you know?

Rosalee: Yeah.

Anna Rósa: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Rosalee: Yeah. And today, I was really excited when I saw what plants you wanted to talk about because this is a plant I actually associate with you. So we're going to talk about blueberries, like blueberries and bilberries and crowberries. And what made you choose this delicious plant for today?

Anna Rósa: Well, to start with, it's the easiest medicine to give to my patients. I mean, everybody wants to eat blueberries. And so I think you should utilize it as much as you can because of that. Secondly, I pick them a lot for myself. I eat them every day and I make lots of recipes, so it had to be a recipe with it. So I thought blueberry immediately. And well, I just love them, of course, but who doesn't? So I mean, it is such an easy thing to add to your diet every single day and you have prevention for all kinds of diseases and you can use it to cure diseases as well. So it's an essential thing to have in your diet for me. So that's why I picked it.

Rosalee: And in Iceland, do you get all, do you get blueberries and bilberries? I know crowberries are there, but do all of them grow there?

Anna Rósa: Yeah, yeah. But they're different from the blueberries you have in the States where there are bushes, where you can easily pick them. Those are wild blueberries. So they're tiny, totally at the ground level, and much, much harder to pick. And I was just looking at the bushes in the States. And I was like, "This is blueberries? This is easy." And bilberries, they just grow amongst each other, wild blueberries and bilberries and as you said, crowberries. And it's plenty all over the country and it's a big tradition. It's always been, I mean, I was raised picking berries as a child, as a normal thing to do, basically. You gathered berries for the year and I still do.

Rosalee: Oh, that's interesting to hear, in that, one thing that I really love about you and how the ways you manifest as an herbalist is that you do a lot of wildcrafting, you go out there and you harvest a lot of plants, which you then use in your wonderful skincare products. I love on Instagram seeing your harvests. And I love when we were there, you were always looking for places or sharing-Over that Ridge is one of my favorite yarrow spaces or something like that.

Anna Rósa: Exactly. Yeah, I'm totally immersed in harvesting in the summer and it is the most fun part of my business basically, of my clinic, is to gather the herbs. For me, it's like a meditation, I would say. I do it alone. I don't want anyone with me so I can spend days just gathering herbs. And the other thing is, when I started practicing, it was difficult to import herbs and half of them were illegal and it was such a hassle. So I just started using the Icelandic herbs much more than anyone else was doing and inventing things with them as well, because it was literally out of necessity in the sense that I had such difficulties in getting hold of herbs. I do import some, but my majority is always the Icelandic. Icelandic herbs are wildcrafted and I just love it, that's it.

Rosalee: I got on this tangent because I love your wildcrafting ways. But let's bring it on back now to all these wonderful blueberries; they're delicious, we know that. And you said that you love recommending them to your patients because they love them. But what are the medicinal gifts that you especially love about blueberries?

Anna Rósa: Well, there is this story about, it was in the Second World War. I'm sure you know this story, that it was discovered that in the Army, the pilots who flew in the night and ate bilberry jam had better eyesight than the ones who didn't. And after that, they started to research it for eyesight. And I think I've used it more for eyesight than anything else. Literally every patient who comes to me with any kind of eyesight problems will get blueberries. Absolutely, insistent on that. And even sometimes supplements as well. One reason for that is my personal experience with them because I'm nearsighted -- my optician calls it a university eye, meaning that I read all the time, so never stop reading.

So I have university eyes and I'm sure people understand what I mean. And so my near-sightedness has gradually gotten worse all the time, even though it should have stopped a long time ago because I read so much and it was getting slightly worrying. And so I think it's about 10 years ago, I decided to tackle this, basically because it was just going on and every two or three years, I had to have new glasses, that kind of thing. And so I decided to add blueberries to my diet and at least one deciliter, even a cup full every single day. And Triphala, actually, so I added those two things. And that was the only change I made in my life. And the next time, I think it was, after at least a year or maybe two years, I went back to the optician and he just looked at me like, what have you been doing?

He knows my profession and he's in favor of it. What have you been doing? It's actually not just stop. It's actually, your eyesight has gotten a bit better, which is unheard of. So the near-sightedness actually went back a little bit and that was blueberry and Triphala, those two together, without a question. And then I really knew the power of blueberries. And of course, I loved them. Before I did this, I was picking blueberries and then putting them in the freezer and then forgetting about them and maybe using them for cakes. And now after this, I started to invent recipes.

So I would definitely eat them every day. So they became part of my morning ritual. So ever since then, at least for the last 10 years, I've eaten blueberries for breakfast. So that is, eyesight is the main one, but the other big one is cancer. It has been researched for killing cancer cells. And it is such a nice thing to add to the diet. And it's an easy... And when you're dealing with cancers, well, I do at least, then you use so much medicine. I use a lot of tinctures. A lot of tea and decoctions, and this is the pleasure bit of it. So absolutely essential to have the blueberries there. And I make people eat up to a cup full per day.

It depends. I mean, it'll get hard on the diet if you eat too much, it'll give you diarrhea if they're fresh, basically. But if you eat too much of them, but half a cup easily. I mean, that's what I eat every day, usually. And cancer patients tolerate a lot, I've discovered, much more than others. In some, for some strange reason, I'm always like, "Are you sure you can tolerate all these amounts I'm giving you of everything?" It's just no problem, in most cases.

So blueberries, absolutely. Cancer and sight. That's how I think of them. You can use them for a lot, lot more. For your skin, for example, it's full of anti-inflammatories and anti-oxidants. Very good for the skin. It varies, blueberries and crowberries every day or any kind of berry. And loads, loads more.

Rosalee: Just adding to what you said, I definitely think of the sight. And then I really think of blueberries and all the blue berries as being strongly able to modulate inflammation. And since that is such a big issue for so many people and the benefits of it just ripple out and out and out because as we address inflammation and it's not like blueberries are the only thing for chronic inflammation, but certainly, they make a strong impact. And like you said, they're pleasure medicine.

Anna Rósa: Exactly.

Rosalee: Taking this disgusting-tasting thing three times a day, you force yourself to do it… Well, like you said, it's a joy and when you get results like you did, I love that because there is that inspiration. You're like, "Oh, okay, I'm going to do this every day."

Anna Rósa: Exactly. I mean, I was only hoping to maybe manage to stop the always gradual worsening of my sight, but to actually make it reverse a little bit that was quite... and it's not reversed more, but it's kept like that for years now. And I'm very sure it wouldn't have done if I hadn't done those two things. I'm absolutely sure of that because this had been happening over 20 years, very regularly, was not something which was going to stop on its own accord. There's no question about that. He was also sure of it. He's quite fond of me, my optometrist, now I think.

So, yeah, they're versatile. And they do just about everything. They're quite well researched as well. And I know pilots today, they call me, "Should I take blueberries?" That kind of thing. I say, "Yes, you should absolutely."

Rosalee: Absolutely.

Anna Rósa: Pilots here in Iceland are all into blueberries.

Rosalee: Yeah.

Anna Rósa: So they're also, they're fun for the digestion. There's another story I have when I was a child, growing up. We were often given, all Icelandic children of my generation, were given this packet soup, which was this full of sugar and all kinds of rubbish, but it had dried blueberries in it. And it was an Icelandic version. And when you had a stomach ache, you got that soup basically because of the dry blueberries, because dry blueberries will stop diarrhea. Dry, or boiled, blueberries will stop diarrhea. But when they're fresh, they will give you diarrhea if you eat too much. So it has that balancing effect depending on how you prepare them, and people don't quite realize that, but we always remember that soup, quite a delicious soup, full of sugar, but talk to anyone in my generation, they recognize this method in Iceland.

Rosalee: Oh, this summer I fell in love with blueberries all over again. And I started making blueberry smoothies and I would just take a cup of blueberries. I just eyeball it, put it in the blender, and then add oat milk and chia seeds. And that was all I put in there and did it all up. It was very thick, shared it with my husband. It wasn't just for me. And it was just so cooling in these hot summer months and so delicious. Oftentimes it was so hot here, this summer, that that was dinner. It was just the only thing we could really handle for dinner.

Anna Rósa: It sounds like a very healthy dinner. I think I might try that recipe. Oat milk, chia seeds, and blueberries?

Rosalee: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Anna Rósa: Yeah, sounds delicious to me. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean you do anything with them, so easy to add it to your diet.

Rosalee: It really is.

Anna Rósa: I would say though because I can tell people to buy the Icelandic one, which are wild, but I would say you definitely have to buy certified organics in the States because they are very well known for being absolutely full of spray or whatever you call it. The pesticides.

Rosalee: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah.

Anna Rósa: I've actually, last summer, I got a reaction, such a bad reaction it took me months to get rid of it around my mouth because I ate some, and I haven't touched them since then. That was the pesticide without a question, huge reaction. So be careful of that and splurge on the organic ones without a question, if you're going to use them for medicinal purposes.

Rosalee: Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for sharing that. What is the harvesting season for berries in Iceland? I imagine it's pretty short.

Anna Rósa: It is short, like all seasons in Iceland, in terms of harvesting. They are very, very short compared to other countries. It's actually still going on. I did harvest mine in the middle of August, so it's September, middle of September. So it's three weeks, depending if the frost comes, then they're destroyed. But I think you can still get some. They're on the last leg basically, but about the middle of August, something like that. It's very short, but plentiful; it's all over the place. So easy usually, to go, and get some, but, hard work, very hard work, like all the wildcrafting is, usually.

Rosalee: Yeah, yeah. Where I live on the dry of the mountains, there's lots of blueberry you-pick farms, but like you're saying, they're pretty big shrubs and so you just stand and pick and it's fun to do that and go and harvest your own and eat while you harvest. And it's usually, a pleasant day and it's fun with other people. So that's a big tradition here to do that.

Anna Rósa: Beautiful, just like strawberries, you do that with strawberries, too. Yeah. And I advise people to freeze them without anything. Before, people were adding sugar when they were freezing. I just put them in little bags and just throw it in the freezer. And you just pick a lot, if you go to a farm like that and freeze it for the winter, it's the easiest method. And there has been research – because I'm often asked this – doesn't the quality go down with the freezing? Actually, there's been done research on it, I think in Finland. And it was hardly any decrease in vitamins or antioxidants or the inflammatory properties or anything like that. It was just like it didn't matter at all if they were frozen. So definitely freeze them. It's the best method, I think.

Rosalee: Yeah. Yeah. So many gifts of blueberries include not only their health benefits but how easy it is to preserve them for later.

Anna Rósa: Yeah, exactly.

Rosalee: For the listeners, as you probably know by now, I love to share recipes when we talk about these wonderful plants. Recipes are a wonderful way for you to get involved and create your own experience with herbs. Because it's one thing to hear cool facts about blueberries, but an entirely different thing to form your own relationship with this plant through observing, tending, and of course, tasting.

Anna Rósa has given us some recipes for making your own breakfast bowls. And these are so delicious and really a wonderful and easy way to get these powerful inflammation-modulating herbs into your life. And she gave us a couple to choose from. There's this super food breakfast bowl for glowing skin, and a breakfast quinoa with blueberries. You can download your recipe cards using the link above this transcript. And Anna Rósa also generously included a handout on blueberries, which includes a lot about their health benefits and the research that's been done with them. Anna Rósa, I'm so excited to share these recipes. I know people are going to love them.

Anna Rósa: I do hope so. The thing is, I'm an extremely routined person in some ways, only in some ways, of course. And that porridge, I think I ate it every morning for five years.

Rosalee: I love it.

Anna Rósa: When I was traveling, I missed it so much and I made it because it's a gluten-free recipe. So I made it for my patients because a lot of them have intolerance to gluten. But I eat all my recipes; this is all something that I make for myself. But after five years, suddenly I woke up one morning. I thought, "Well, I've had enough of this porridge now." And so I made the next recipe. It is the super bowl recipe you got. And I think I'm on my second year now on that bowl.

Rosalee: I love it.

Anna Rósa: So let's wait another four years and then I'll wake up one morning, this won't do it anymore. I have to make a new one. I'm pretty slow in that sense.

Rosalee: I'm very similar in a same way, I will eat this same thing over and over again until I'm over it. 

Anna Rósa: Yeah, most people like variety, but not me. I'm like, I put on the same t-shirt, same color for years if I can, basically. But I don't have to think about things. I like that.

Rosalee: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Well, especially if it's just so yummy and delicious, then it's just fun.

Anna Rósa: Well, exactly. And you don't have to think about it. You're just making the same thing because you like it. And like I say, I'm on the second year, I think, with the super bowl recipe. And I absolutely love that one.

Rosalee: Oh, I can't wait to hear from everybody and how much they love it. Well Anna Rósa, so one thing that I really love about herbalism is just all of the creative ways that people bring it to life and everyone's unique ways of diving into the plant. So I'd love to hear what herbal projects that you have going on that you'd like to share about?

Anna Rósa: Well, I think I've had the second calling in life. Let's put it that way. So I'm in the process of transforming the way I work at the moment because I've had a calling to work with refugees in the Middle East where I have actually never been. So I'm in the process of setting up a non-governmental program on my own, an independent charity, basically. And I want to go in there, into the tented settlements and work with the refugees to make ointments and other herbal products with them and for them only. Not to sell somewhere else because I think it's extremely needed. And I think the knowledge is there. I think they only need the support from the outside, like me coming in. I'll come with the money, let's buy the raw materials we need or pick it if we can. And let's just make things for you instead of what has usually been done is that people set up a business and then they export it and the money goes back or somewhere or another.

I figured out you'd have to do it this way. I don't know if anyone is doing exactly this, but I think it's going to work well. And I'm going to take the profit from my own company and my skincare company, which I'm exporting products now with the purpose of increasing my profit. So I can take the profit and make this a sustainable operation with that. So my business will provide it. I will also go, and ask the government, but I like being independent, you know?

Rosalee: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Anna Rósa: And I'm not going to have somebody saying, "You can't do this." Of course, I can. And so long as I have the money. And so I think I'll just go and do it. And it is being arranged for me on the other side to some extent. So we'll see what comes out of that. And I have some hopes that I can start next year, but this has been, I've been both mulling over it and preparing it for quite some years now. So it's not an idea I got yesterday kind of a thing, but I woke up one morning and I thought, "I have to do this." Why shouldn't I go and help people? I mean, that is what herbalism is all about. I just, I'm used to change the direction of my life completely again. And again, I have no choice in it. That's how I feel about it, basically.

Rosalee: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Anna Rósa: So a bit of a weird one, but I think it's going to be fun more than anything.

Rosalee: Yeah. It's a powerful thing your callings, because you get them and you listen and I have no doubt that you're going to just carry it forward.

Anna Rósa: I'm very lucky in that sense. I don't have doubts. It's just like, "Yes." Now you have this voice in my head saying, and I'm not that schizophrenic, saying, "Now you have to do this." And I listen and okay, then. I know what happens if I don't listen, I've learned that. I think people don't listen enough to themselves, basically, but I'm very lucky in the sense how strong I have these kind of callings, as I call them.

Rosalee: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Well, I know we've talked offline about this and it sounds like such an incredible project and I know you've put so much into it and you have all these things being organized and I'm really looking, I'd love to have you back once things are in place. I think people would love to hear about what that experience is. 

Anna Rósa: Yeah, let's aim for that.

Rosalee: Yeah.

Anna Rósa: That's a nice idea. I haven't thought of that. Yeah. No, as I say, I mean, COVID has been stopping it for the last year. I would have already been there if it wasn't for COVID, I think, but I am hoping, if it all goes well, that I will manage to go there at least next year and see the possibilities. I mean, do the women want to work with me? Which herbs are there? That kind of thing. I mean, you have to think of the basic things, but I somehow, I don't have much doubts. I think it's going to be such a nice challenge and such fun, and I could tell you that.

Rosalee: Earlier you told me, everyone needs ointments.

Anna Rósa: Yeah, and I have been making ointments for decades, like all herbalists, and it's such a simple thing to do. You need the oil and you need beeswax and jars and the herbs. And bear in mind, it's not going to be electricity. You have to make it over a fire, that kind of thing, you know?

So you have to have the most basic things because you are going back to basics when you start working like that. And maybe that's what I like about it, you know?

Rosalee: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Anna Rósa: But mainly, I just think those are people without any resources whatsoever. So let's give them some herbal resources. And I know there is tradition, huge tradition. The women are going to know it much better than me. I mean, there's no question about that. So you just have to open up the discussion, I think.  What they know and what they like to do, and then we’ll do it. That's how I think of it. I'm not worried about that I don't know anything because I know the knowledge will be there.

There's no question in my mind about that. It's always in traditional societies, like in the Middle East, there's going to be herbal knowledge. There's no question about that, much more than in Iceland, for example.

Rosalee: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Well, thank you for sharing about that. And like I said, I really look forward to hearing how all of that develops. It's a big adventure.

Anna Rósa: Me, too.

Rosalee: Well, the last question I have is one that I'm asking all of my guests for Season Two, and I'm looking forward to hearing your response. That question is, what's something you've learned or experienced in your herbal journey that has surprised you?

Anna Rósa: I thought about this a little bit and two things came up. One of them is how extremely powerful the herbs are, much more powerful than we think, because I have seen all these incurable diseases being cured over and over again. I've been working in my clinic for 30 years now, and I have no counts on how many times, because generally in Iceland, people come to me as a last resort; they don't come to me in the beginning. They come when they have been sick for 20 years or whatever. So I get all the difficult diseases. All the not common ones and so forth. I hardly ever get something easy, basically. And so I've seen it a lot and the herbs absolutely do it. Of course, you have to change the diet and your mind and all that, too, but the herbs are really, really powerful.

And I didn't realize when I was studying how powerful they are, much more than we think. And the second thing is, we don't think of them as an acute thing, but they really are too. I've had a few occasions where I've had to apply quickly something and sort of without having any resources or any sort of preparation or anything. And I've seen them do pretty good miracles on the spot. And we forget that too because we are so used to not working in any kind of emergencies. I mean, there's what—7Song’s the only herbalist in the States who is working like that?

Rosalee: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Anna Rósa: For example, I remember one case where I had, this is a few years back, there was a young boy who I had been treating for a while and he got stomach cramps. And his stomach cramps were so bad that he was administered morphine, usually.

And he got the cramps while he was sitting in my office and there was no morphine. There was nothing else. So I remember I had, I think I had read an article by jim mcdonald on Acorus. So I decided on the spot, I would give him Acorus for those stomach cramps and I didn't have a dropper, so I just gave him too much and I could see the change like that. There could've been a risk, yes. But what were you going to do? He was extremely sick that I had to pick him up somehow and Acorus did it. I think I gave him half a teaspoon. I mean, huge amount compared to what you're supposed to. He didn't die. He got absolutely better within a minute. And I mean, we're talking about getting morphine for this, and this was a regular occurrence for that guy.

Rosalee: Wow.

Anna Rósa: So miraculous, just in front of me, just because I remembered reading something from jim mcdonald and I didn't have a dropper. So I gave him a bit much. After that he had a dropper full of Acorus with him wherever he went and applied it himself.

Rosalee: Yeah, wow.

Anna Rósa: So you should think of them how powerful they are. I think that is the thing I've learned absolutely the most in those 30 years without a question, and we should remember it. It shouldn't be something like, "Yeah, they might do something or might not." You have to believe in it too, you know?

Rosalee: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Anna Rósa: And if you are absolutely strongly convinced, you will convey that message to your patients. That is the only thing, call it placebo, whatever you like, but it works and that's all that matters in the end.

Rosalee: Well, I'm definitely a believer in blueberries now. I'm excited eating blueberry breakfast bowls. So yeah.

Anna Rósa: So delicious, yeah.

Rosalee: Well, thank you so much for sharing all of this with us. Thanks for being here with us, Anna Rósa, and I really look to hearing from you as things develop with your project and really grateful for all the time you spent with us today.

Anna Rósa: Thank you so much for having me. It's been a pleasure.

Rosalee: Don't forget to click the link above this transcript to get free access to Anna Rósa's breakfast bowl recipes. 

You can also visit Anna Rósa directly at www.annarosaskincare.com.

Before you go, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter below so that you'll be the first to get my new videos, including interviews like this. I'd also love to hear your thoughts about this interview and your relationship with blueberries, bilberries, crowberries; leave your comments below. I deeply believe the world needs more herbalists and plant-centered folks. I'm so glad that you're here and a part of this herbal community. Have a beautiful day.

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Rosalee is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Healand co-author of the bestselling book Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She's a registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild and has taught thousands of students through her online courses. Read about how Rosalee went from having a terminal illness to being a bestselling author in her full story here.