On the territory of our vast country, you can notice thickets of a field plant with yellow flowers. Many do not even realize that this nondescript weed called sweet clover (grass) is a very useful medicinal plant, which is still widely used in cooking as a fragrant spice.
There are many types of this miraculous herb, but useful properties are attributed to only two varieties - sweet clover (yellow) and white. The first mention of the plant was found by scientists in the ancient chronicles of famous Aesculapius, such as Avicenna and Galen. As you may have guessed, we will talk about an extremely useful sweet clover.
Botanical description
Medicinal herb melilot is a shrub plant about a meter high. Belongs to the legume family. You can recognize it by a powerful bare stem and oblong jagged leaves of a rich green hue. At the base of each stem there are yellow flowers, collected in small inflorescences.
A distinctive feature is a pronounced aroma, reminiscent of the smell of freshly cut hay. What is remarkable about the sweet clover? Grass tolerates well.frosts and feels great on arid soils, ravines, pastures, forest edges and mountain slopes. Therefore, its habitat is quite extensive: from the North to the Far East. Often, shrub weed is found among crops, causing a lot of trouble for summer residents.
Collecting and harvesting
The plant should be plucked during the period of active flowering, more precisely, from July to October. For collection, it is better to choose dry weather, since a wet plant does not dry well and begins to rot during storage, and such raw materials are unsuitable for medicinal purposes.
It is better to collect side shoots with tops, although the leaves also contain a lot of valuable elements. After that, it is necessary to lay the grass on a fabric or paper base and dry thoroughly in the attic or in a well-ventilated area. In the process of drying, the raw material should be turned over so that it does not rot and darken. Readiness is determined by the fragility of the stems.
Grass sweet clover: useful properties and ingredients
The plant has a rich composition, for this reason it is used to treat numerous diseases. The substance coumarin, present in the grass, gives the characteristic aroma of hay, and also favorably affects the vital activity of internal organs. It improves blood flow, increases blood pressure and brain activity. When coumarin rots, an equally valuable substance is produced - dicoumarin, which thins the blood, preventing the formation of blood clots.
Plantexhibits bactericidal and astringent effects due to the presence of tannins. And the mucous substances contained in the grass have a softening and enveloping effect. Resins are also present in the composition, of which pharmaceutical companies make bactericidal patches and medicinal infusions. Sweet clover grass, whose properties are due to the content of saponins, has a tonic, diaphoretic, anti-inflammatory and diuretic effect.
The plant has a lot of ascorbic acid, protein, starch, fatty oils, vitamin E, holil and flavonoids. All of these elements and vitamins enhance the healing properties and help fight various ailments. No wonder folk healers highly revere this herb and use it as a sedative, wound healing, antiseptic and analgesic. However, it should be remembered that the plant is poisonous. Therefore, uncontrolled intake is fraught with trouble.
Traditional Medicine Uses
Not only traditional medicine practices the use of this plant. Modern pharmaceuticals also use raw materials for the production of herbal medicines and preparations. The therapeutic effect of infusions and decoctions of this plant has been repeatedly proven. Herb sweet clover, as noted above, is an excellent expectorant, diuretic and antibacterial agent.
It is often used as a mild laxative and carminative. A valuable extract (biogenic stimulant) is obtained from the plant, which is characterized by wound healingaction. Melilot-based preparations are shown for leukopenia, convulsions, migraine, respiratory pathologies and insomnia.
The substance coumarin improves memory, attention, strengthens the heart muscle, and also treats (in combination) gout, genitourinary disorders and diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
Traditional medicine recommends…
Most people prefer herbal preparations, considering them the safest and most effective. Among the popular medicinal plants, sweet clover grass is in the first place. The use is recommended by experienced healers for hormonal imbalance, menopause, diseases of the female reproductive system.
Infusions help normalize the menstrual cycle, relieve debilitating pain and PMS. Use solutions for the treatment of furunculosis, inflammation and wounds: make compresses, wraps, lotions, add to the bath. Such procedures help speed up the healing process and soften the skin. The only thing to remember when using the plant is that it is poisonous and can harm the body if the correct dosage is not followed.
Effective Recipes
1. It is not difficult to prepare a medicinal decoction on your own. This will require 400 ml of cold water and ten grams of grass. Pour the solution into a thermos and leave for half an hour. Take with high blood pressure, neurosis, fatigue, insomnia and migraine one hundred grams twice a day.
2. For similar disorders, you can donext infusion: five grams of the plant (preferably crushed) pour a glass of warm water, leave for about two hours and drink ¼ cup before bedtime.
3. Medicinal sweet clover will help to cope with flatulence. Grass (dry) in the amount of five grams is poured with boiling water (200 ml) and boiled for ten minutes. Cool the broth, strain and consume a tablespoon three times a day.
Infusions
1. The drug is used for colds. When a strong cough appears, prepare such an infusion: stir 20 grams of the plant in a glass of water and warm it in a water bath for 15 minutes. Then add the same amount of liquid, strain and drink half a glass twice a day. Store the solution in the refrigerator for no more than two days.
2. For nervous disorders, a drug is used, for the preparation of which you will need yellow sweet clover grass (10 g) and boiled water in the amount of two tablespoons. Leave for several hours, strain and take 70 g four times a day.
3. For bronchitis and cystitis: pour crushed leaves (large spoon) with boiling water (glass). Infuse for four hours, strain and drink 50 ml three times a day.
Ointments
1. If you are tormented by abscesses or aching joints, then a healing ointment from dry flowers of yellow sweet clover (50 g) and butter (two spoons) will help to cope with these ailments. Connect both components and lubricate sore spots.
2. With hemorrhoids, a set of medicinal plants will help: sweet clover-grass (dessert spoon),mountaineer (5 g), lush cloves (10 g), multi-colored cloves (two spoons). Grind all these components in a coffee grinder, take 20 grams of powder from the resulting collection, mix with melted goose or lard and evaporate in a water bath for 3-4 hours.
3. For varicose veins: pour two tablespoons of sweet clover with a glass of water (hot), boil the mixture until it decreases several times, then filter. Combine half of the drug with two parts of petroleum jelly and lanolin. The ointment is ready to use.
Poultices
1. With a benign formation, fresh leaves of the plant should be crushed and applied to the sore spot. Such compresses can be done with purulent wounds.
2. For poultices and wraps (furunculosis, conjunctivitis, abscesses, acne): pour a glass of dry grass with a liter of water (hot), leave for half an hour and treat.
3. With the same diseases, poultices from sweet clover flowers, which are pre-steamed in boiling water, will help.
Herbal preparations
1. Such a decoction will prevent and relieve migraines: pour a glass of boiling water over a dessert spoon of hop cones and sweet clover. Boil raw materials for five minutes. Insist in a thermos or a sealed container for an hour and consume 50 g before meals (three times).
2. Herbal collection for adnexitis: take five grams of oregano, coltsfoot flowers, centaury umbrella and yellow sweet clover. For 10 g of the mixture you will need a glass of boiling water. Leave the liquid for three hours. Strain the finished infusion, consume 1/3 cup for about a month. Duringtherapy exclude sexual contact.
3. Poultice for rheumatism: pour three parts of chamomile, marshmallow and four parts of yellow sweet clover into a canvas bag. Pour the collection with water and boil for ten minutes. Apply to the affected area.
4. For patients suffering from pancreatitis, we recommend preparing an anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic collection of herbs. Ingredients required: one part each of marsh calamus and thyme leaves, two parts of marigold, plantain, chamomile, sweet clover and ash, three parts of marsh cudweed and galega.
Pour five large spoons of cooked collection with a glass of boiling water. Pour into a thermos, wrap with a thick cloth and leave for an hour and a half. Drain the liquid, and put the herbs on a gauze base, hold the compress for about an hour in the pancreas area, covering with a towel. The course of treatment is 14 days.
Clover grass: contraindications and side effects
The plant is poisonous, so some precautions must be taken when taking it and not to exceed the dosage. Despite the abundance of medicinal properties, it cannot be used during the period of bearing a baby, with low pressure, pathological processes in the kidneys and liver. Undesirable for people with poor blood clotting grass sweet clover.
Useful properties will be nullified if you do not follow the instructions and prescriptions of the doctor. In case of overdose and prolonged use, pain in the abdomen, diarrhea, nausea and even vomiting are observed. There is also a rapid pulse, high blood pressure and arrhythmia.
Clover grass (the instruction warns of certain contraindications) can cause dizziness, fatigue, apathy, weakness and drowsiness. Subcutaneous hemorrhages, an allergic reaction in the form of itching and burning are not excluded. To avoid the above problems and intoxication, we urge you not to neglect the elementary rules of therapy.
