Children are introduced to this wonderful plant in the second grade of high school. Therefore, there is hardly a person who does not know what plantain is. The therapeutic properties and contraindications to the use of most drugs based on it have been studied quite well by official medicine. The chemical composition of the ground parts of the plantain is so unique that this modest weed is used on an industrial basis for the manufacture of the drug Plantaglucid. Many peoples have long used leaves and seeds of plantain for food, which is an excellent prevention of heart, lung, and stomach diseases and, among other things, contributes to the overall strengthening of the body. In some regions of Russia, psyllium is called boil grass, cutter, or cut grass, due to its wound healing properties.
So, today we will consider what plantain has medicinal properties and contraindications. Prescriptions for potions used by traditional healers to treat many diseases will also be presented to you (if you know, maybe you will find several suitable options for yourself). But first, a little theory.
Medicinal plantain species
More than 200 plant species of the plantain genus are known in the world. Therapeutic properties and contraindications were found in only a few of them. In case of problems with the digestive tract organs - constipation, diarrhea, colitis and metabolic syndrome - plantain ovoid helps well. Its ground parts contain saponins, mucus (40% in its seeds), vitamins C, K, tannins, alkaloids, bitterness, fatty oils and acids. This kind of plantain has long narrow leaves without veins and ovoid inflorescences on thin high peduncles. The same healing properties have the seeds of plantain sandy, growing in low bushes. Its habitat is the regions of Transcaucasia, the south and temperate latitudes of Europe. In some countries, this plant is cultivated for the manufacture of medications.
There are types of plantain (seaside, olenerogy) whose medicinal properties have not yet been confirmed (the plant is undergoing clinical trials), but people have long eat their leaves as a vitamin supplement to salads and soups, and the seeds are used as spices.
Lanceolate plantain
Another species is widely used in medicine - lanceolate plantain. The therapeutic properties and contraindications of it are also quite well studied and proven. The leaves, seeds and even rhizomes of this plant have a rich chemical composition, including flavonoids, carbohydrates, mucus, cholesterol, fatty, phenolcarboxylic and organic acids, sitosterol, campesterol and stigmasterol. Use a lanceolate plantain for diseases of the respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, genitourinary system, skin ailments, pulmonary diseases, various injuries. You can recognize this plant by the dense rosette of rather large lanceolate leaves with longitudinal veins. Its flowers, collected in inflorescences of ears, are located on long thin peduncles. The sizes of these "spikelets" are small, 3-5 cm, and the color is gray-purple, less often gray-white.
Large plantain
This is the most famous type, widely used for treatment, especially in traditional medicine. Most often, this plant can be found along the roads, why it was already called plantain. The medicinal properties and contraindications of drugs from it were confirmed in clinical trials. The benefits of large plantain are so great that it is cultivated in many countries. The appearance of the plant is quite recognizable. The leaves are large, wide, petiolate. They are given particular strength by highly noticeable longitudinal veins located both in the leaf blade and in the petiole. Peduncles of a large plantain reach a height of 50 cm. The flowers are collected in a tight narrow spike, having a length of 20-25 cm. The seeds are very small (up to 1 mm), ripen in dense seed bolls. Large plantain blooms from May to September, the seeds ripen throughout the flowering period. Long peduncles swaying in the wind scatter them far from the mother plant. You need to have the knowledge and experience to collect plantain seeds correctly, so they are quite expensive.
Chemical composition
In folk medicine, plantain grass has been used for hundreds of years . The healing properties and contraindications of this plant are determined by its unique chemical composition. The leaves and seeds of a large plantain contain:
- polysaccharides (dietary fiber);
- mucus (about 11%);
- aucubin;
- bitterness;
- carotenoids;
- choline;
- vitamin C;
- vitamin K;
- factor T;
- organic and fatty acids;
- trace elements.
The seeds of large plantain, in addition, contain saponins, tannins, fatty oil, fiber, oxalic acid, and about 44% of the mucus in them.
Application area
In folk medicine, plantain leaves are most often used. The therapeutic properties and contraindications of this raw material are such that they are successfully used for:
- various skin injuries (cuts, bruises, burns, boils, ulcers, purulent wounds);
- cancer of the lungs and gastrointestinal tract;
- diseases of the genitourinary system (inflammatory processes in the kidneys, bladder, ovaries);
- problems with the digestive tract (gastric ulcer, gastritis, colitis, dyspepsia, duodenal ulcer);
- pulmonary diseases (bronchitis, tuberculosis, asthma);
- whooping cough;
- hay fever;
- lack of appetite;
- insomnia;
- some heart diseases;
- hypertension
- infectious diseases (streptococcus, staphylococcus);
- infertility (due to a violation of hormonal activity).
Plantain seeds, medicinal properties and contraindications
For medicinal purposes, plantain seeds were used by Avicenna. Much attention was paid to this natural medicine by the healers of Ancient China. With the help of psyllium seeds, constipation and diarrhea were treated, they were used for tumors, bleeding, inflammation of the eyes and internal organs, dysentery. Nowadays, plantain seeds are even more widely used in folk and official medicine. The therapeutic properties and contraindications of drugs created on the basis of this raw material allow them to be used to cleanse the body of toxins and toxins, restore the microflora of the stomach, treat prostatitis and some types of infertility, fight against excess weight and strengthen immunity. Also, preparations from the seeds of plantain help to remove plaques of "bad" cholesterol in the blood vessels, control blood sugar, get rid of hemorrhoids, and improve skin condition.
Plantain in cosmetology
This unique herb is used not only to treat diseases, but also to maintain a fresh and flowering condition of the skin of the face, improve hair condition, relieve foot fatigue and soften the skin of the hands. When making baths or preparing ointments and creams, especially for the face, you should not just forget that, being a medicinal plant, plantain has healing properties and contraindications. The reviews of those who chose this raw material to solve their health problems are extremely positive. Plantain helped a lot to become parents, get rid of gastritis, cough, excess weight. In cosmetology, this representative of the plant world is also in demand. With the help of this natural doctor and cosmetologist, women regain their youth and beauty. Doctors do not recommend resorting to his help only to those for whom drugs based on this plant cause allergic reactions.
Some recipes:
1. Contrast wiping the neckline and face. It is necessary to prepare a decoction of dry (or fresh) raw materials of plantain and water, taken in a 1: 1 ratio, insist, divide into 2 parts. Put one in the refrigerator, leave the second at room temperature. When rubbing the skin, alternate a cold broth with a warm one.
2. For tired legs. Prepare a bath, pour plantain with boiling water (proportions can vary, more often take 30 grams of raw material per 1 liter of water). Cool a little. Do such a foot bath for at least 15 minutes.
3. For the hands. A cream of plantain is prepared on the basis of a decoction of leaves and butter. Instead of a decoction, you can use powder from dry raw materials.
4. For dry hair. Prepare a rinse aid. To do this, pour a glass of boiling water in a spoonful of raw plantain and insist.
Contraindications
Like all medicines or medicinal herbs, plantain has medicinal properties and contraindications. Children under 2 years of age and pregnant women can use it only after consulting a doctor. Most often, pediatricians prescribe plantain syrup to babies (as an antitussive). The difference between this drug is its concentration, which can adversely affect the gastrointestinal tract of small patients. In addition, treatment with plantain is not recommended for people suffering from high acidity and thrombus formation, as well as for those who have individual intolerance to drugs from this plant. With some types of gastrointestinal ulcers, the use of plantain medicine can only be prescribed by a doctor. Seeds should not be taken with asthma and children under 6 years of age.
ethnoscience
There are several hundred recipes from this plant. Here is a small part of them:
1. For any skin injuries, including purulent wounds, use an ointment from the powder of dry leaves of plantain, for which the raw materials are mixed with petroleum jelly or vegetable oil in a 1: 9 ratio. With fresh cuts, the plantain leaf can be chewed and applied to the wound.
2. For all diseases of the lungs, accompanied by the separation of sputum, as well as gastritis and ulcers of the digestive tract, drink plantain infusion. It is prepared in many ways. We offer 5-7 grams of dry raw materials (leaves, seeds) pour 200-220 ml of boiling water, cover, insist, strain and drink before meals in a tablespoon. The same infusion can treat inflamed eyelids.
3. For hypertension, a tincture of plantain is used, which is prepared by adding 20 grams of dry raw materials to a glass of vodka. All this is placed in a container of dark glass and is not infused in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. They drink tincture, adding to the water no more than 30 drops.
4. Plantain syrup is drunk for the same diseases as the infusion. It is prepared as follows: fresh raw materials and sugar (honey) are layered in a glass container, compacted (crushed) and insisted for 2 weeks, after which the syrup is separated from the rest of the mass and stored in the refrigerator.
Plantain Seed Recipes
1. With constipation at night, drink a glass of warm water with half a teaspoon of seeds.
2. With prostatitis and sperm lethargy, a tablespoon of the raw material is poured with a glass of water, simmer on low heat for 5 minutes and three tablespoons are drunk three times a day.
3. In case of female infertility, three times a day they eat a spoonful of dry seeds, be sure to drink it with a large volume of water, or pour the same spoonful of seeds with a glass of boiling water, simmer on low heat for 5 minutes, insist for up to 40 minutes and drink this infusion several times a day in the dining room spoon.
4. Husk seeds are consumed with plenty of water to reduce appetite and weight correction.