The people have long studied the benefits and harms of Kalanchoe health. The plant is used to treat various diseases. Its indispensability in everyday life is associated with healing properties and unpretentiousness, willingness to provide assistance at the right time. Many call Kalanchoe a home doctor, and this is so: a storehouse of vitamins and minerals contained in the plant contribute to healing. However, Kalanchoe should be used with due care.
Homeland of the plant
Once the tropics gave the world Kalanchoe. The island of Madagascar in South Africa is the birthplace of the plant. Stocking up moisture in leaves and stems to survive in an arid climate, the flower synthesizes a whole complex of useful biochemical compounds necessary for life. There are many types of plants in the tropics, but at home we grow Cirrus Kalanchoe and Degremon, which have healing properties.
The legend of the Kalanch flower
The miraculous healing of a Russian sailor on an island in South Africa has been known since the eighteenth century. A dangerous fever struck down the sailor of the merchant ship, and therefore he had to stay on the African island to die. But fate gave him sympathy from the locals, who said that to save life, you need to eat the leaves of the Kalanch plant, which means “health” in translation. I must say that this flower grew on the island very abundantly, and the patient, heeding the advice of the natives, was healed. It is easy to guess that the Russian sailors, taking their comrades from the island, took with them a medicinal plant, which later spread throughout the world.
Variety of nutrients
Nature generously endowed the plant with everything that could prolong life. A storehouse of trace elements, enzymes, vitamins and minerals that determine the energy value of the plant. The use of Kalanchoe for a person is obvious, since in its composition are found:
- trace elements: iron, magnesium, zinc and aluminum;
- beneficial acids: oxalic, ascorbic and tannic, fruit;
- polyphenols;
- glycosides;
- vitamins A, B, C, E, P;
- water.
No wonder the plant is called home ginseng.
Healing properties
Kalanchoe, the benefits and harms for the body of which we are studying, are widely used:
- with colds and viral infections;
- for cleaning blood vessels;
- elimination of external inflammatory processes;
- healing of wounds and burns, frostbite;
- strengthening immunity;
- accelerating the release of bile;
- skin treatment;
- in gynecology;
- pain relief;
- in cosmetology;
- to slow down the aging process.
In addition, Kalanchoe leaves, the benefits of which are undeniable for the body, purify the air of toxic compounds and metals.
Why with caution
Before using Kalanchoe, the benefits and harms must be studied in detail in order to avoid unpleasant side effects. The plant can cause allergic reactions, including in extreme degrees of manifestation, when you can’t do without medical help. It turns out that it is necessary to use Kalanchoe without fanaticism, starting with small dosages and gradually increasing them. So, the plants begin to use the juice with a few drops to check the reaction of their body.
During pregnancy, it is better not to experiment. Breast babies Kalanchoe juice is diluted with water in a dosage starting with two drops.
Chronic hepatitis and liver diseases, of course, are the reason why treatment with a unique plant is impossible, because the condition of the disease can be aggravated.
I must say that any treatment in the presence of chronic diseases, in order to avoid complications, should be preceded by a doctor’s consultation.
Folk recipes
In folk medicine, juice, ointment and alcohol tincture of the plant are used. Also, the leaves of the Kalanchoe flower, the benefits for the body of which have long been proven, are eaten, applied to wounds, sore joints. Beauticians around the world love the plant and know many recipes to improve the condition of the skin, nails and hair.
It is very important to grow a flower correctly. The soil should be natural, without chemical fertilizers, it is unacceptable to use various chemical fertilizers, otherwise it can not be used in treatment. Only clean soil and water for irrigation will preserve the medicinal value of the plant.
How to make Kalanchoe juice
Do not water the flower for seven days, and then cut off a few large leaves, put for five or seven days in a cool dark place, for example, on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, wrapped in a cloth.
To prepare the juice, grind the leaves in a ceramic bowl, bring to a state of porridge-like mass and squeeze through twice the folded gauze. The juice of a healthy plant has a bright green color and a pleasant smell, has a positive energy. It is best used once, but can be stored in a cool place for no more than a day.
When to apply juice
In the people, most often juice of a Kalanchoe is instilled into the nose for colds and viral infections, nasal congestion. But the range of its application is much wider:
- in the treatment of herpes, lips should be lubricated with juice five times a day;
- in order to relieve ear inflammation, drip dropwise into the ear canal;
- to treat gums, rub juice into the gums three times a day, rinse your mouth, diluting the juice with water;
- inflamed maxillary sinuses can be cured without surgery, instilling three drops of juice every four hours, then rinsing the mouth with juice diluted with water;
- to treat skin rubbed damaged areas of the skin (so warts and age spots, dermatitis go away);
- tonsillitis is treated by rinsing the throat with juice diluted with water in equal proportions;
- in gynecology, by treating certain areas;
- in cosmetology to cleanse the skin, improve color and elasticity;
- in the treatment of tuberculosis, five milliliters of juice is combined with one hundred milliliters of warm water and drunk on an empty stomach four times a day for four months;
- with peptic ulcer, drink juice three times a day for a teaspoon.
Ointment preparation
Collect thirty milliliters of plant juice and add fifty grams of petroleum jelly heated in a water bath. The composition should be mixed well and allowed to cool. You can add a few drops of sea buckthorn oil. Ointment can be prepared on fat with badger, chicken, lamb, fat of baked milk, which will enhance the therapeutic effect. Store at room temperature.
Ointment application
An ointment made from Kalanchoe is used:
- in the treatment of trophic ulcers and boils it is simply irreplaceable;
- to treat cracked heels and dry skin of the feet;
- with exacerbations of psoriasis;
- in cosmetology, to soften rough areas of the skin, corns;
- for the treatment of sore joints.
How to cook alcohol tincture
The leaves and stems of the plant should be finely chopped and poured with vodka or alcohol, in the ratio of four tablespoons of pulp to two hundred grams of vodka or one hundred grams of pharmacy alcohol. The resulting tincture must be placed in a ceramic or dark glass container and kept for twenty-one days in a dark and cool place.
The use of alcohol tinctures
Kalanchoe-based alcohol tincture is used:
- with otitis media, drip two drops of tincture in your ears at night, condensing with cotton;
- with varicose veins, rub your legs at night;
- to improve vision, take tincture inside by a tablespoon;
- for the treatment of pressure sores;
- with prostatitis, drink fifteen milliliters of tincture on an empty stomach once a day;
- for gastritis, mix fifty grams of tincture with three tablespoons of honey, add one tablespoon of propolis oil, which should be prepared in advance by mixing one hundred grams of propolis with one hundred grams of butter and melting in a water bath (gastritis and the initial stage of peptic ulcer can be treated for thirty days when taking the drug twice a day);
- in case of hair loss, mix fifty grams of tincture with three tablespoons of honey, castor oil and egg yolk (the composition is applied to the scalp three times a week for two hours for two weeks, and then, after a month break, repeat the procedure.
Kalanchoe in official medicine
The pharmaceutical business also did not disregard the healing properties of Kalanchoe, which leaves great hope for humanity for the survival in the world of tablets and injections. Juice and tincture of the plant, prepared industrially, can be bought in pharmacies without a doctor’s prescription. An excellent anti-inflammatory agent used in surgery and therapy, in the treatment of wounds of non-healing, purulent tonsillitis, pressure sores and trophic ulcers, frostbite and burns. In dentistry, alcohol tincture of the plant is used to treat periodontal disease and other gum diseases. Kalanchoe-based drugs are purchased by medical facilities.
Also, the plant is used for anemia, especially for children. The treatment of blood diseases is not an easy task for doctors. Incredibly, eating Kalanchoe in children helps restore blood formation. In progressive medical institutions, officially included in the menu as an integral part of salads are shoots of leaves of Kalanchoe, in the common people “babies”.
Home cosmetics
The health benefits of Kalanchoe have been proven, as well as for external beauty. A few tips for facial skin care will help to maintain youthfulness and good mood.
So, if you apply Kalanchoe juice on clean skin before bedtime three times a week and gently rub it in the face, neck and décolleté, the skin will receive nutrition and a powerful impulse for renewal. After such a massage, ten minutes later you should wash yourself with warm water, and then apply a baby or night face cream. Skin regeneration is carried out gradually.
Healthy nails are a rarity, especially after gel polish. The chance to restore the nail plate remains if you refuse this procedure and apply applications from Kalanchoe leaves twice a day for a month. Nails will no longer be brittle, their healthy color and growth will be restored.
Hair is the main decoration of a woman and should look healthy. Strengthen the roots of the hair will help the juice or tincture of the plant. If you use juice, then rub it abundantly into the scalp before bedtime three times a week, leaving it overnight. So dandruff will disappear, hair follicles will strengthen, a healthy shine will appear. For emergency enhancement of hair growth and in case of loss, a composition based on tincture with Kalanchoe should be used. In this case, egg yolk, honey and castor oil are added to the tincture, the composition is brought to a homogeneous mass and rubbed into the hair roots in a heated form every other day for a month. The hair will not only strengthen, but also acquire natural firmness, elasticity and begin to grow vigorously. Tincture with Kalanchoe, in this case, can be done on cognac, which will enhance the effect.
The delicate skin of the lips needs care no less than the face. To avoid microcracks and dry lips, you should use the juice of Kalanchoe leaves, rubbing it with circular movements of the pads of the ring fingers for two minutes twice a day for a week. Then, after taking a week break, repeat the departure. This massage is especially relevant in the winter and in August, when the scorching sun dries out the skin.