Dandelion (Latin: Taraxacum officinale), or common dandelion, has many medicinal properties, thanks to which it has been used in natural medicine. The dandelion has, among others antidiabetic and potential anticancer properties, it also supports the work of the liver. Check what other healing properties dandelion has, what is the action of dandelion and what use this herb has.
Dandelion - what kind of plant is it?
Dandelionor common dandelion, dandelion, grows wild throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas - most often along roads, in meadows, in bushes and as a weed. It is worth knowing thatdandelion is not dandelion.
Few people know that the dandelion has many medicinal properties, thanks to which it has been used in natural medicine.
For medicinal purposes in autumn, the roots of older plants are harvested by digging them out of the ground, washed, removing the above-ground parts and dried in a heated drying room or in natural conditions.
In the spring, when the plant develops a rosette of leaves and shoots with flower baskets in a bud state, the entire aboveground part is cut and dried in the shade and air circulation.
If we discard flower shoots after the herb is harvested, we will get dandelion leaves after drying.
During the flowering period, the whole blooming flower baskets are also collected, which, after drying in the shade and in the air, give the next raw material - the flower of the common dandelion.
What does a dandelion look like?
The dandelion forms a vertical, cylindrical, fleshy root, from which in the spring sprouts leaves arranged in a rosette, and then several flower-bearing shoots.
Leaves are lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, more or less deeply indented, glossy, green.
Stems are actually stalks up to 25 cm long, raised, hollow inside, ending in single baskets, up to 5 cm in diameter.
The baskets contain only dorsal yellow ligular flowers. It blooms from April to July, then again. Throughout the plantthere is a bitter white, stinging milk juice.
Worth knowing
Dandelion and dandelion
Dandelion is often colloquially but incorrectly called a dandelion.These are two different plants . The name "dandelion" is reserved for plants of the genus Sonchus in the Polish botanical nomenclature.
Dandelion is an edible and healing herb. The common dandelion usually has several stems growing from one place very close to the ground. There is only one flower on each stem and these stems have no leaves.
Creates characteristic infructescences called dandelions and a leaf rose next to the ground.Dandelion is a weed.It is not popularized as an edible plant in Poland. The dandelion has one long stem with side shoots and tiny leaves.
Dandelion - anti-cancer properties
Dandelion has anti-cancer properties. So say scientists from Canada. They found thatthe condition of some cancer patients improved after drinking dandelion tea(containing dandelion root extract).
Dandelion root powder is 6 to 10 times more potent than what you can buy in a store and is freeze-dried, you mix it with water and drink it.
The study includes 6,000 doses of tea and 30 patients with blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphomas that do not respond to traditional treatments.
Most of the reactions I saw are short-lived, but I think it is a signal that it is worth experimenting further- says one of the authors of the study.
Dandelion - anti-diabetic properties
Common dandelion also has a slightly anti-diabetic effect .² The plant contains carbohydrate - inulin as a reserve substance.
This substance has a positive effect on the regulation of the body's carbohydrate metabolism. It slows down the absorption of sugar from food into the blood and lowers the glycemic index of food consumed.
Its use in food is beneficial for diabeticsbecause it can additionally lower blood glucose levels.
Therefore, in herbal medicine, dandelion is used as a supplement, usually in combination with other herbs, in pre-diabetes and in the onset of diabetes (including proper diet).
Dandelion - diuretic properties
Dandelion exhibits diuretic properties by increasing renal glomerular filtration.
The ability of some dandelion substances to form complexes soluble in the water environment with harmful metabolites formed in the human body is also important.
There isit is a detoxifying and cleansing action, which some call it cleansing the blood.
Modern phytotherapy recommends the use of dandelion preparations in diseases with impaired renal function and reduction of the daily amount of urine, in edema caused by insufficient circulation and kidneys, as an aid in rheumatism, gout (gout), obesity.
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Dandelion improves digestion
Dandelion stimulates the production of bile by the liver and facilitates its flow through the bile ducts to the duodenum.
The contractility of these ducts, especially of the gallbladder, increases, and thus the stagnation of bile is prevented.
Dandelion active compounds also have a beneficial, albeit limited, effect on the secretory function of the pancreas, and thus on the normalization of the entire digestive process. In addition, dandelion has a stimulating effect on the secretion of gastric juice.
Natural medicine recommends the use of dandelion preparations in many diseases that cause liver damage and reduced bile production, especially in convalescent states of post-viral hepatitis, in stagnation of bile in the gallbladder, in the risk of cholelithiasis and its beginnings. Dandelion is also used in gastric acid deficiency.
In digestive problems, it is worth reaching fordandelion root decoction .
Dandelion root decoction - recipe
To prepare a decoction of dried dandelion roots, pour two tablespoons of crushed roots into half a liter of boiling water and continue to simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes.
After cooling, strain. The decoction prepared in this way is drunk 2-3 times a day before eating as an aid in digestion, choleretic, as well as a detoxifying and diuretic.
Dandelion strengthens immunity
Has a beneficial effect on the phagocytic activity of white blood cells and is believed to also stimulate the production of interferon, substances with antiviral properties.
Thereforedandelions can be used in general weakness in the elderly and convalescents and in increased susceptibility to infectious and viral diseases.
Dandelion for weight loss
The inulin contained in dandelion is characterized by low caloric content (150 kcal / 100 g) and a delicate sweetness. It is approx. 10 times less sweet than sugar.
In addition, inulin can suppress appetite and increase the feeling of satiety, and thus improve control over the amount of food consumed. Its use brings many he alth benefits, which may also be helpful in the era of the obesity epidemic.
Dandelion for skin diseases
Dandelion applied externallyaccelerates the healing process of skin damage , fights warts and warts. For this purpose, compresses made of fresh leaves or of white juice released by them at the time of breaking are used.
Dandelion - syrup. Recipe for dandelion syrup [TO VIDEO]
According to an expertAlina Krychowska-Ćwikła, MD, PhD, gynecologist-obstetricianDandelion and birth control pills
Do the following medications / herbs reduce the effectiveness of birth control pills? Do you possibly need to keep a distance? These are nettle (nettle tea), chrome, dandelion root, fig opuntia fruit extract, elderberry tea, horsetail tablets / tea, raw garlic.
Dr. Alina Krychowska-Ćwikła, MD, PhD, gynecologist - obstetrician: Good morning! The best rule of thumb is not to combine medications with herbs. Herbs have a great influence on the effectiveness of hormonal contraception. All types of herbal preparations contain many different non-standardized substances, hence their interactions are difficult to predict. Herbs that can weaken its effects include St. John's wort, angelica or black cohosh, chasteberry, saw palmetto, licorice, hops, wild yam. Chromium, which is part of, among others, slimming preparations, has the ability to maintain an appropriate level of glucose in the blood, which regulates the appetite. However, it may impair the absorption of the hormones given with the pill. Nettle, elderberry, field horsetail and garlic used by Mrs. should not affect the contraceptive effect. Regards
Dandelion - contraindications
Dandelion can cause allergic reactions, so allergy sufferers should use it with extreme caution. So far, there is no reliable data on whether dandelion can be used by pregnant women, breastfeeding women and young children.
The dandelion should not be used by people:
- taking medications chronically (dandelions may interact with some medications)
- with peptic ulcer disease andduodenum
- with acidity
- with kidney disease
- with cholelithiasis or biliary obstruction.
