This perennial plant with delicate pink flowers has long been used by many peoples as a spice and as a medicinal herb. Oregano has many beneficial properties and a pleasant spicy aroma. Since it is widespread throughout Eurasia, except for the Far North, it is used very widely. Not only
oregano herb is used as a seasoning and alternative medicine
. The benefits and harms of it have been investigated by official medicine, and it is recognized as a good antiseptic and antiviral agent.
Plant description
This beautiful fragrant flower can be found everywhere: on the edges of the forest, clearings, among shrubs. She loves sunny places and often grows in vast thickets. This plant is unpretentious and not very demanding on the soil, so in many countries oregano is cultivated. In addition to this name, you can find many more: oregano, motherboard, mint or frankincense. What does this weed look like? The plant usually grows in height from 30 to 90 centimeters, has straight reddish stems, pubescent with small hairs. Rhizome is powerful, creeping. Oregano can be recognized by pointed ovoid leaves with a spicy aroma. The flowers are pale pink, numerous, collected in inflorescences. This grass blooms throughout the summer.
How is oregano grass used?
The benefits and harms of it have long been known among the people. This herb is widely used in cooking as a seasoning. It goes well with many other spices and is suitable for meat and vegetable dishes. And in Russia, oregano was added to kvass and beer. It is also grown to produce essential oil, which is useful for many health problems. Official medicine uses oregano to produce cough medicine and kidney disease. But the most widely used this herb in the people. Since ancient times in Russia they love fragrant tea with oregano, and recipes of traditional medicine very often include this plant. How can this be explained?
What is part of oregano?
The flowers and greens of this herb contain many essential oils. They include thymol, sequitepenes, granyl acetate and free alcohols. Oregano contains a lot of ascorbic acid and vitamin K, as well as tannins. Its useful properties are also explained by the presence of a large amount of carotene, iron and manganese. In addition, oregano contains a lot of rosmarinic acid, making it a powerful antioxidant.
Useful properties of oregano
- This herb stimulates the secretion of gastric juice, therefore it is used for chronic gastritis and anorexia. Oregano improves appetite and normalizes digestion. Often used for nausea and indigestion.
- Use this plant as an expectorant for colds, bronchitis and asthma. Rinses relieve pain and swelling with tonsillitis and tonsillitis.
- Oregano has a calming effect, helps with insomnia and neurosis, relieves nervous tension and a sense of anxiety.
- The strong antibacterial properties determine its widespread use as a disinfectant for washing wounds.
- Oregano normalizes metabolic processes in the body and can lower cholesterol.
- Oregano essential oil relieves headache and toothache.
- This herb is widely used for cholecestitis and gallstone disease, as it effectively removes biliary colic.
- Outwardly, it can be used for abscesses, boils, and itching. It also treats dandruff and baldness.
- Oregano is very useful for women, it is no coincidence that this herb is popularly called the motherboard. It normalizes the hormonal background and the menstrual cycle, improves the condition with menopause and stimulates the contraction of the uterus.
What form is this herb used for?
You can collect oregano from June to August in dry weather. Cut green parts of the plant with a sharp knife at a height of 10 centimeters from the ground. Dried grass in a well-ventilated room in bunches, or spread out a thin layer on a wire rack. When the stems break when bent, you need to separate the leaves and flowers from them. Dried raw materials are stored in hermetically sealed containers. Use oregano in the form of a decoction or alcohol tincture. Dried chopped grass is added to food as seasoning or brewed as tea. It can be used not only internally, but also externally. In folk medicine, oregano is widely used. The benefits and harms of this plant are well understood, and anyone who wants to use this plant needs to know everything about it.
Who is contraindicated in using oregano?
- You can not drink decoctions and tea with this herb for children under 7 years old, as it can cause a delay in sexual development in boys or, conversely, its acceleration in girls.
- It is undesirable to consume a lot of oregano for men, as this can lead to impotence.
- Oregano is contraindicated during pregnancy, because it stimulates the contraction of the uterus and can cause a miscarriage.
- Do not use this herb also for individual intolerance or allergic reactions.
Traditional medicine recipes with oregano
- A decoction of this herb is done in a thermos or in a water bath, so it better displays its beneficial properties. Usually take 30 grams of raw materials per liter of water. Used for gastritis, epilepsy, headache and colds.
- From neurosis, insomnia and nervous disorders, herbal preparations are used. Such a decoction has a good sedative effect: oregano, mint and valerian root in equal proportions are brewed and drunk like tea.
- Very often, herbs are used to relieve premenstrual syndrome. In this case, oregano and St. John's wort have the best effect. They have a similar effect and complement each other. You need to brew them in a ratio of two to one, and drink the broth before eating. Sometimes 1-2 days of intake are enough, but in some cases it is worth drinking this broth for several months.
Oregano in cooking
There are not many herbs that are so widely used as a seasoning. The most famous of them are mint, thyme and oregano. Since ancient times, these plants have been used in the culinary of many countries. Oregano is added to soups and meat dishes, it goes well with mushrooms. Often it is used for flavoring drinks and pastries. It is widely used for pickling and pickling vegetables and mushrooms. Oregano goes well with various other seasonings and herbs. It gives the dishes a spicy aroma and contributes to their longer storage.
Too many people use oregano grass . The benefits and harms of it, although well studied, are not known to everyone. Therefore, do not abuse it.