Due to the fact that dandelion roots are useful, its use is quite popular not only among healers, but also among professional doctors and pharmacists. This plant is 5-50 cm tall (perennial). Its root is usually vertical and thick. Castings of it are grouped into a rosette and reach 25 cm in length. Despite the fact that they differ greatly in different plants, as a rule, they are pinnately lobed or pinnatipartite with lobes serrated along the edges directed towards the ground. Inflorescences are baskets. They have a wrapper of many lanceolate dark green leaves. The basket is on hollow receptacles.
The most famous, of course, are not dandelion roots, the use of which has long found its niche in medicine, but its fruits - achenes well carried by the wind with tufted parachutes. Because of its healing properties in the old days, this flower was called "overcome-grass".
Due to the substances that contain dandelion roots, their use is recommended for many ailments. In particular, the plant contains the carbohydrate inulin and various proteins. In addition, it contains tannic and mucoussubstances, fatty oil, sterols, potassium and calcium s alts, organic acids, resins, sugars, glycosides, flavonoids. The leaves of the plant are rich in iron, vitamin C and phosphorus.
What is useful dandelion root is known to all doctors and traditional healers. In particular, it is used to treat gastritis with secretory insufficiency, diabetes mellitus, chronic and atonic constipation, and diseases of the gallbladder, spleen and kidneys. It is also useful in the case of cholecystitis, cholangitis, hepatitis. Dandelion roots have also been used for cholelithiasis, to improve the condition in case of sclerosis. They are used as a sedative and sleeping pill for disorders of the nervous system, they also help to improve metabolism, with breast ailments (mastopathy, tumors).
Dandelion root exhibits medicinal properties and is used in various medicinal preparations. It is added to the composition of the choleretic collection used during pregnancy. A mixture with chicory helps with fatty liver. Combining the root with yarrow and calendula, you can get a drug that enhances the work of this organ. It is also useful for the prevention of hair loss. A decoction of the root is used for eczema and rashes, and an oil extract from it is used for burns and radiation damage to the skin.
There are contraindications for preparations from it. It is impossible to carry out treatment with dandelion roots in case of a tendency to diarrhea, with duodenal ulcerintestines and stomach, gastritis, acute conditions with obstruction of the biliary tract, individual rejection. In addition, it is better not to use it in large doses during pregnancy and lactation.
Dandelion root is harvested in September-October. According to studies, it is during this period that it contains the maximum amount of inulin. Drying of raw materials is carried out in two stages: first, it is dried in air until the milky juice is released, then in the oven or in the attic until the roots become brittle.
