Five Cooling Herbs to Help you Beat the Heat
There's a particular kind of British disbelief that arrives every summer, somewhere around the third consecutive day of proper heat: the sense that our houses, our wardrobes, and quite frankly our nervous systems simply weren't built for this. As a medical herbalist, I see it in clinic every year — clients arriving flushed, irritable, sleeping badly, reaching for the same iced everything and wondering why they still feel wrung out by mid-afternoon.
Herbal medicine has been dealing with heat for a very long time, just not always British heat. Traditions from the Mediterranean, the Middle East, India and further afield have spent centuries working out how plants can help the body manage warmth — not by fighting it, but by cooling from the inside, calming an overheated mind, and supporting the systems (skin, circulation, digestion) that do the hard work of keeping us in balance.
So while everyone else is queuing for the last fan in B&Q, I want to talk about what's growing in your garden, sitting in your spice rack, or waiting quietly in the herbal apothecary — because some of the most effective cooling remedies are also some of the simplest.
1. Peppermint (Mentha × piperita)
Peppermint is the obvious place to start, and for good reason. That instant sensation of coolness you get from a peppermint tea or a dab of peppermint oil on the temples isn't just psychological — it comes from menthol, a compound that activates the same cold-sensing receptors in the skin that respond to actual low temperatures. Your body registers "cool" even though nothing has physically changed temperature at all.
Beyond the sensory trick, peppermint has a long history in European herbal practice as a digestive remedy, and this matters more in hot weather than people realise. Heat tends to sluggish the appetite and unsettle digestion — that heavy, bloated feeling after eating in a heatwave is a familiar complaint in clinic. Peppermint's carminative action (easing trapped wind and calming an irritable gut) can help here, and its mildly relaxing effect on tense muscles extends to the smooth muscle of the digestive tract.
How to use it: A simple infusion of fresh or dried peppermint leaves, left to steep for five to seven minutes, makes a genuinely refreshing iced tea — brew it double-strength and pour over ice. Bruised fresh leaves added to water with cucumber and lemon are an easy way to get the benefit without any faff at all.
2. Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
If peppermint cools the body, lemon balm cools the mind — and in my experience, the mental heat of summer (the irritability, the poor sleep, the wired-but-tired feeling that comes with warm, restless nights) is just as worth addressing as the physical kind.
Lemon balm has been used in European herbal medicine since at least the medieval period as a gentle nervine, meaning it has a calming, mood-lifting effect on the nervous system without sedating you into a stupor. It's often reached for during times of nervous tension, and its light lemony flavour makes it one of the most pleasant herbs to drink on a warm evening. There's also some traditional and modern interest in its use for supporting sleep, which is no small thing when a heatwave has you lying awake with the windows open and every neighbour's fox screaming outside.
How to use it: Fresh lemon balm leaves make a lovely cold infusion — simply steep a generous handful in cool water in the fridge overnight. It also grows enthusiastically in almost any garden or pot, so it's one of the easiest cooling herbs to have on tap all summer.
3. Hibiscus (Hibiscus sabdariffa)
Not a plant that grows readily on a Herefordshire allotment, but one that has earned its place in this list many times over. Hibiscus flowers, most familiar as the tart, ruby-red base of many fruit teas, have a long history of traditional use across Africa, the Middle East and Central America as a cooling, thirst-quenching drink, often served specifically during hot weather.
What I find particularly useful about hibiscus is its sourness — a natural thirst-quencher in a way that sweet squash simply isn't. There's also a reasonable amount of research interest in hibiscus and cardiovascular health, particularly around supporting healthy blood pressure already within a normal range, which is a nice bonus for a herb that also happens to taste wonderful served over ice.
How to use it: Steep dried hibiscus calyces in freshly boiled water for ten minutes, strain, then chill. It's naturally quite sharp, so a little honey or a few mint leaves balance it beautifully. Made strong and poured over ice with a slice of lime, it's one of the most genuinely refreshing drinks I know.
4. Cucumber (Cucumis sativus)
You'll find cucumber in every salad drawer rather than every herbalist's dispensary, but it deserves its place here precisely because it's so overlooked as a piece of kitchen medicine. Cucumber is over 95% water, and alongside that hydrating bulk it carries a modest amount of potassium and other minerals that support fluid balance — genuinely useful when you're losing more through sweat than usual.
There's also a gentle cooling quality to cucumber in several traditional systems of medicine, where foods and herbs are categorised by their warming or cooling effect on the body, cucumber sitting firmly in the cooling camp alongside mint, melon and lettuce. Whether or not you subscribe to that framework, the practical experience of eating cold cucumber on a hot day speaks for itself.
How to use it: Beyond the obvious salad, try blending cucumber with mint, a squeeze of lime and a little cold water for an instant cooling drink, or simply keep slices in the fridge to lay across tired, puffy eyes after a broken night's sleep.
5. Elderflower (Sambucus nigra)
I couldn't write about British summer herbs without including elderflower, which tends to bloom right as the weather starts to properly warm up — nature's timing is occasionally rather thoughtful. In traditional European herbal medicine, elderflower has long been used as a diaphoretic, meaning it gently supports the body's own cooling mechanism by encouraging a light, easy sweat rather than the sudden, uncomfortable overheating that can come with a muggy day.
It's also wonderfully light and floral, which makes it one of the most drinkable herbal preparations there is — hardly a hardship as remedies go. If you've got an elder tree nearby (and in the UK, the chances are good), late spring and early summer is the moment to harvest the flowers while they're fully open and fragrant.
How to use it: A classic elderflower cordial, made by steeping fresh flowerheads in a sugar or honey syrup with lemon, is the obvious choice, diluted generously with cold sparkling water. If you'd rather skip the cordial-making, a simple infusion of dried elderflowers, chilled and served with a slice of lemon, is nearly as good.
A Few Words of Caution
As with any herbal remedy, it's worth checking these are appropriate for you, particularly if you're pregnant or breastfeeding, taking medication, or managing an existing health condition — herbs are gentle, but they are genuinely active, and interactions do occasionally occur. If you're ever unsure, a conversation with a qualified medical herbalist is always worthwhile before starting anything new.
Bring the Kitchen Cabinet to Life
If this has whetted your appetite for using the plants around you as medicine rather than just seasoning, I'd love to have you along to my Kitchen Medicine Club. It's a monthly online club where, each month, you'll receive a box of herbs and equipment straight to your door, along with a PDF guide, video instruction and a live webinar — everything you need to actually make your own remedies from the herbs you likely already have close to hand. Members also get exclusive discounts on my in-person workshops.
Boxes go out on the first Monday of every month, so there's always a fresh reason to get your hands green. You can find full details and join the club over at Fettlewell.co.uk — I'd love to see you there.