The Russian land is rich in valuable medicinal plants. Among them, a special place is occupied by marsh cudweed, which is sometimes called swamp (Gnaphalium uliginosum) from the Compositae family. What is this inconspicuous herb famous for and what diseases will it help cure? We will talk about this in this article.
Description
Herbaceous annual plant has a low (up to 30 cm) stem, prostrate-branched from the base and covered with silver-white "felt". The root is short, taproot, rather thin. Leaves are small, alternate. At the base they are narrowed, densely pubescent.
Flowers of light yellow color are collected in small baskets, arranged in bunches or dense heads at the ends of the branches. They are surrounded by radially divergent upper leaves. The fruit is an oblong, light brown or greenish-gray achene with a tuft.
Marsh sushi, whose properties (healing)traditional healers have long noticed, it blooms from mid-June to August. The fruits ripen in October. The plant reproduces exclusively by seeds. From one bush, you can collect up to five hundred seeds that will remain viable for five years.
Distribution
Cudweed grass is found in temperate and cold regions of Eurasia, from Great Britain, Portugal, Iceland in the west to Japan and Korea in the east. Distributed on the territory of the former republics of the Soviet Union, in Eastern and Western Siberia, in the Far East, in the Caucasus.
Prefers fallow and water meadows, swampy banks of rivers and lakes, floodplain forests. Found in vegetable gardens with waterlogged soil and potato fields.
Composition
Marsh cudweed contains many useful substances. Among them:
- carotene (up to 55%);
- flavonoids;
- tannins (4%);
- resin (up to 16%);
- essential oils (0.05%);
- phytosterols;
- traces of alkaloids (gnafalin);
- vitamins B1 and K;
- ascorbic acid;
- thiamine.
Healing properties
Preparations of cudweed marsh have astringent and anti-inflammatory, antiseptic properties. They are able to accelerate the processes of regeneration, epithelialization and repair of ulcerative and wound surfaces of the skin and mucous membranes. In the course of the research, the hypotensive and vasodilating properties of the plant were revealed. The hypotensive effect is associated with flavonoids.
Preparations based on cudweed somewhat slow down the rhythm of heart contractions and have a sedative effect. The therapeutic effect of the plant is due to the influence of vitamins (provitamin A - carotene, which increases the immunobiological properties in pathological processes) and other substances that make up its composition (flavonoids, resins, tannins).
Use in traditional medicine
To date, marsh cudweed has already been well studied. The medicinal properties and contraindications of the plant are known to all traditional healers. It is used not only in folk, but also in traditional medicine. As a rule, preparations based on this plant are prescribed to patients as an antihypertensive agent, which not only slightly slows down the heart rate, but also has a beneficial effect on the circulatory system.
Oil extracts from cudweed stimulate granulation. They are prescribed for the regeneration of damaged areas of the skin caused by burns. Marsh cudweed has also found application in the manufacture of medicines for the treatment of gastric and intestinal ulcers, gastritis.
Cudweed preparations are part of complex therapy for serious diseases of the nervous system. Today, medicines made from cudweed have proven themselves well for the treatment of the initial stage of hypertension.
Use in traditional medicine
Traditional healers have been using the beneficial properties of this plant for a very long time, and I must say, very successfully. They recommend decoctions and infusions for organ ulcers. Gastrointestinal, migraine, angina pectoris, spasms of blood vessels, hemorrhoidal, uterine, renal bleeding.
Decoctions and oil-alcohol extracts are applied externally as lotions, compresses, in the treatment of long-term non-healing wounds, burns, ulcers. Swamp cudweed is part of various fees that are effective in the treatment of cervical erosion, trichomonas colpitis.
Infusion (bath) gives good results with excessive sweating of the hands and feet. We invite you to get acquainted with some methods of preparing medicines.
Infusion
Pour ten grams of cudweed in an enamel bowl with a glass of boiled hot water. Close the saucepan with a lid and put in a water bath for a quarter of an hour. Then cool the composition to room temperature, strain, squeeze out the raw materials. Bring the resulting volume of liquid to the original boiled water.
Infusion is stored in a dark cool place for no more than two days. Taken as an antihypertensive and anti-inflammatory agent, half a cup twice a day.
Decoction
Twenty grams of dry grass, pour 300 ml of boiling water and put on low heat for five minutes, let it brew for about two hours. After that, the composition can be filtered and taken in the same way as an infusion.
Oil extract
You will need six grams of raw materials (heaped tablespoon). It is poured with 200 ml of any vegetable oil (preferably olive oil), infused for ten days, shaking daily, thenstrain.
Using the plant in other areas
Marsh cudweed is used to make an alcohol-oil extract. It has been successfully used in veterinary medicine.
Collecting and harvesting
Processing of raw materials is carried out during the flowering period of the plant. When harvesting, it is necessary to leave 2-3 plants for seeding per square meter of thickets. Plants are dug up with the roots, shake off the ground from it and, without cutting off the root, dry it in the shade, in the open air, turning over several times a day.
In bad weather, you can dry raw materials under a canopy, in special drying chambers (temperature +40 ° C), in attics. The plant retains its medicinal properties when dry for three years.
Marsh sushene: contraindications
This medicinal plant and all preparations based on it are contraindicated for people with hypersensitivity and intolerance to certain components that make up its composition.
It is strictly forbidden to take these medicines to patients suffering from low blood pressure. Usually the plant does not cause side effects, but allergic reactions may occur. In this case, the drug is stopped immediately.
Use swamp cudweed only after consulting a doctor. Too often, self-medication leads to very disastrous results.
