Such a widespread plant as burdock is probably known to everyone. Thanks to his prickly leaflets, an engineer from Switzerland came up with the Velcro fastener commonly used today.
The plant is actively used in folk medicine. Especially effective is burdock juice, the medicinal properties and contraindications of which we will reveal in our article.
Description
The plant is a two-year-old. It blooms in the second year. The most valuable are precisely the older leaves and the rest of the burdock. In the first year, only leaves grow in it, and then a stem appears, which has a reddish tint. Burdock has a specific smell.
It grows everywhere in the steppe and forest-steppe zones, as well as in forests, although it can be found less often there.
Harvesting of burdock root is done in early spring or late summer and autumn. Leaves are used for decoctions, extracts. They can also be eaten. Many perceive this plant as a weed. Meanwhile, by preparing burdock juice (the medicinal properties and contraindications of which should first be studied) and taking it, you can help yourself to find good health.
Composition
Burdock contains a lot of inulin polysaccharide, proteins and essential oils. It also includes ascorbic, as well as other acids (stearic, palmitic, malic, citric, and coffee), tannins, tar and protein substances, as well as many micro and macro elements: boron, copper, manganese, zinc, iron, tin, and titanium.
The roots contain up to 45% inulin, fat-like and bitter, tannins, mineral salts, bardane essential oil, organic acids, vitamin B.
Leaves are rich primarily in tannins, ascorbic acid, carotene, and essential oil.
By usefulness, the plant is placed on a par with ginseng. This is especially manifested by burdock juice.
Healing properties
And the contraindications of the plant, and its beneficial qualities are manifested in different ways. Consider first its healing properties.
Many women use a decoction of leaves or burdock oil for hair, so that the hair is strengthened, their structure improves markedly. However, the beneficial effect of the plant is not limited to this.
Burdock is used as a bile, sweat, diuretic. It activates the metabolism, the activity of the pancreas, liver, kidneys and gall bladder.
The plant is extremely useful for burns and bites, to relieve itching and inflammation.
For medicinal purposes use seeds, inflorescences, leaves and rhizome.
The latter is used as a natural antiseptic. They treat the musculoskeletal system, strengthen the immune system and fight oncology. In addition, the root perfectly manifests itself as a diaphoretic, diuretic and laxative. It is also widely used in cosmetology, where burdock oil for oily hair and lotions for cleansing the skin are prepared on the basis of the root, especially in the presence of acne in boys and girls or with the aim of tightening the skin of the face in case of signs of wilting.
But the most powerful effect is the juice of burdock prepared from the leaves. The therapeutic properties and contraindications in this case are most clearly expressed. It has the strongest concentration of all the substances that make up the plant.
It very well helps with inflammatory processes. And if you look closely at the shampoos for hair presented on store shelves, in most of them you will find in the composition just the plant we are considering.
But, in addition to leaves, you can make juice from other parts of burdock. However, when used, one should take into account what it is prepared from, since different parts of the plant are concentrated in different parts, which, in turn, affect the body in different ways. Most often, juice of burdock leaves is prepared. The therapeutic properties and contraindications, however, will be studied, bearing in mind one and the other parts.
Inulin, concentrated in the roots of the plant, actively helps in the treatment of diabetes. The fact is that the substance is a substitute for sugar. Therefore, it helps to reduce glucose in the blood and heals blood vessels, as well as the liver. Along with lowering cholesterol, other harmful substances can be neutralized.
Thus, the juice from the roots of the plant will be very effective in the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases and poisoning with heavy metals, plant poisons.
Juice from burdock leaves has medicinal properties and contraindications slightly different. Bardan essential oil has an excellent effect on the skin, has a pronounced antiseptic and antiseborrheic property. Thanks to this, the remedy well treats affected skin, ulcers.
Contraindications
We examined the healing properties of burdock juice. And contraindications, reviews now also examine.
Prohibitions when using a burdock, however, are not so many. Firstly, it is not recommended for pregnant women to drink it, like many other herbs. The same applies to lactation.
Since burdock juice is very concentrated, allergic reactions are possible. As with all herbs, in the case of burdock, individual intolerance may occur. Therefore, deciding to use the juice as a therapeutic agent, you should begin to do this with small doses and small concentrations. So the body will get used to the action of the drug. And if a negative reaction is noticed, the intake of burdock is simply stopped.
Application
Juice from burdock leaves shows beneficial properties and contraindications when prepared from fresh leaves. They contain vitamin C so much that the amount exceeds 6 times its presence in lemon. In addition, as indicated above, there is a huge amount of essential oils and various acids.
Juice is used for a variety of diseases. It prevents the formation of salts and has an antitumor effect.
Culinary dishes
Not only in traditional medicine are burdock leaves known. In cooking, they are also used. Consider a few simple dishes.
To prepare the salad, you will need a glass of cut leaves, a tablespoon of horseradish, two tablespoons of green onions and four tablespoons of sour cream. The burdock is thoroughly washed, dipped in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then dried, cut and all the ingredients are added.
Also leaves of burdock, like coltsfoot, are wrapped in cabbage rolls.
Soup can be prepared from both roots and leaves. To do this, add three chopped potatoes to boiling water (one and a half liters), pass the semolina with burdock and onions in oil, add tomato paste, stew and put the billet in the soup. At the end, add spices and herbs.
Interesting from burdock will turn out jam. For its preparation, 50 milliliters of vinegar are poured into a liter of water, a kilogram of burdock roots is passed through a meat grinder and boiled.
Another recipe includes, in addition to burdock roots, sorrel leaves. For cooking, take 400 grams of the first ingredient, 200 grams of the second, boil so that they become soft, rub through a sieve, add a kilogram of sugar and boil again until cooked.
But how to cook mashed potatoes. For four potatoes, take a glass of burdock roots, previously chopped, two hundred grams of cheese, six cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of sour cream and spices. Sliced potatoes, chopped rhizomes, seasonings and salt are placed in boiling water. When the potatoes are boiled, the water is drained, sour cream, grated cheese and pepper are added.
You can also make burdock with sorrel and even make a spicy Korean dish.
How to cook juice
Prepare a drink in the following way. Through the meat grinder, peeled and slightly dried leaves are passed, after which the resulting slurry is squeezed. The liquid can be drunk without any additives (on how to take the juice correctly, read below).
In this form, it is convenient to make juice in the summer, when the raw materials grow right at home. But for the winter it can be cooked. Then add alcohol to the juice and get tincture. To do this, take half a liter of juice, 100 milliliters of pharmacy alcohol and half a kilogram of honey. Such a tool can be stored for two years.
Another thing is freshly squeezed juice from burdock leaves. Medicinal properties, shelf life are the most important components that depend on each other. Unlike tinctures, juice is stored much less. However, compared with other juices, this period is also significant. It can be kept in the refrigerator for several weeks.
How to drink juice
If the juice is taken for treatment purposes, then it should be drunk in a course lasting from two weeks to a month. In case of ovarian and kidney disease (cyst), it is drunk before meals:
- in the first days - in the morning and in the evening for a teaspoon;
- in the next couple of days - three times a teaspoon;
- on the remaining days of the course - three times a tablespoon.
The same dose is enough for liver disease (taken before meals). But with urolithiasis, you can only half a teaspoon three times a day for a month.
In diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, juice from burdock leaves also exhibits medicinal properties. Then it is allowed to drink half a tablespoon before meals also for a month.
For burns, wounds, ulcers, warts and even snake bites (by treating the affected area), burdock juice can be used.
The therapeutic properties and contraindications (reviews of people who have tried the drug, confirm this) are incommensurable.
Reviews
Looking at the comments left by users, you can find a lot of enthusiastic reviews. After all, this tool is so effective, while being accessible to everyone and completely free.
Especially many reviews are left by women rinsing their hair with a decoction of burdock. Those people who are treated by him as a medicine are fewer. But perhaps thanks to this article their number will increase.
Conclusion
Now, knowing what the medicinal properties and contraindications of burdock juice, the recipes from it, you are sure to try this remedy. After all, only in this way can you find out how effective for you are the methods of alternative therapy described above.