Healthy pocket

Showing posts with label mugwort health benefits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mugwort health benefits. Show all posts

Monday, November 14, 2011

Mugwort

 
Scientific name: Artemisia vulgaris

(Also know as Felon Herb, St. John's Plant, Artemisa, Carline   Thistle and closely related to common wormwood)

Description:

It is a perennial herb native to Africa and abounds on hedge banks and waysides in most parts of England. This tall-growing shrubby plant, has angular stems, often of a purplish hue, rising 3 feet or more in height. The
leaves are smooth and of a dark green tint on the upper surface, and covered with a dense cottony down beneath. They are alternate, pinnately lobed, and the segments being lance-shaped and pointed. The small oval flowers are greenish yellow and are arranged in long, terminal panicles with a cottony appearance.

This shrub has been known since the ancient times and used for centuries as an alternative medicine for its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antispasmodic, hemostatic,  purgative, stimulant, and cleansing
properties. It is also slightly tonic and is of value as a nervine and emmenagogue. Mugwort also has diuretic and diaphoretic action.


Parts Used: Leaves, Stem, roots


The leaves and stems are usually gathered in August and let dry for later herb use. The roots are dug in autumn, cleansed and dried.

Medicinal Properties and Uses:

Constituents: A volatile oil, a sesquiterpene lactone, flavonoids, coumarin derivatives, and triterpenes, an acrid resin and tannin.

* An infusion of the leaves and flowering tops (1 ounce of the herb to 1 pint of boiling water prepared in a covered vessel and given in 1/2 teaspoonful doses, while warm. It is used in the treatment of all conditions
related to the digestive system like bloating, hyperacidity...  and is good for the liver and jaundice.

In similar dose (1/2 teaspoonful), the infusion may be taken cold as a tonic, three times daily.

* As a gargle for sore throat, a wash for sores.

* As a poultice for infections, tumors and to stop bleeding of the uterus.

As a decoction, Mugwort can be used to ease menstrual pain and is also use to reduce and to stop excessive and heavy menstrual bleeding.

* Expel intestinal worms. The leaves have an antibacterial action that inhibits the growth of Staphococcus aureus, Bacillus typhi, pseudomonas, B. dysenteriae, streptococci, B. subtilis, and E. coli.

* The juice and an infusion of the herb were given for intermittent fevers and are good against agues (alternating periods of chills, fever, and sweating associated with malaria).

* As a nervine, it is a popular folklore remedy for epilepsy, palsy and hysterical fits.


THOUGH THE CONTENT OF THIS BLOG HAD BEEN TRIED/TESTED AND HAD BEEN USED
AS FOLK/HERBAL MEDICINE IT IS STILL BEST TO CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE
TRYING THIS.