Raise your hand if you were taught that all dietary fat is bad. It’s OK if you did; the sugar and anti-fat lobbyists made sure that was at the forefront of media conversation from the late 1960s until about 10-15 years ago. Fat is used to store energy, make hormones, and transport vitamins. It also insulates the myelin sheath that protects our nerves, makes up the cell membrane that protects our cells, and makes up 60% of our brain.

Enter lavender. Whether you’re inhaling its soothing aromas via essential oils, tasting it paired with strawberries in a slightly sweet fruit tart, rubbing the flowers between your fingers to smell its ever-so-faint perfume, or drying it out to put on display, lavender is calming, soothing, and emotionally uplifting.