With the advent of spring, small suns dot the yellow carpet with lawns, lawns, edges, roadsides. Thanks to light fluffy seeds spreading in the wind, dandelion grows wherever plant life is possible, except in areas of permafrost and lifeless deserts.
Dandelion in folk medicine
The healing properties of dandelion flowers have been known for many centuries. Traditional medicine uses all parts of the plant - roots, leaves, flowers - to improve liver and kidney function, normalize digestion, increase overall tone, cleanse the blood, and also for cosmetic purposes. Its effect is due to the high content of useful bitterness - taraxacin, as well as flavonoids, inulin, carotene, essential oils and tannins, protein and organic acids, trace elements important for humans (zinc, selenium, calcium, manganese, phosphorus), as well as vitamins A, B2, C. Decoctions and infusions from different parts of the plant are used for various diseases. So, leaves and roots are effective as a diuretic, choleretic, anti-inflammatory, anthelmintic, and also as an antipyretic for colds. The bitterness in the leaves stimulates the production of gastric juice and improves appetite. Dandelion flowers have a different effect. Their healing properties are fully manifested in alcoholic infusions.
To prepare a healing potion, 50 grams of inflorescences need to be filled in with 0.5 liters of vodka, closed and put in a dark place for two weeks. For pain in muscles and joints, the best rubbing agent is not found. Another way is to fill a dark bottle with freshly picked dandelion flowers, pour alcohol or triple cologne, and put in a dark cool place for three weeks. Filtering is optional. With colds, aches in the body and joints, this rubbing agent will become a real ambulance.
The healing properties of dandelion flowers can also be used in the form of water infusions and decoctions. To prepare them, you need 10 flowers (fresh or dry), pour a glass of boiling water and simmer for fifteen minutes in a water bath. Then strain and take three to four times a day for a tablespoon to reduce pressure, with bloating, to normalize stool. It is useful to drink a decoction of dandelion flowers several times a day for respiratory diseases and tuberculosis.
The healing properties of dandelion flowers in home cosmetology
First of all, it should be noted that in any case, the use of folk remedies from dandelion is well reflected in the condition of the skin. It cannot be otherwise: after all, they cleanse blood vessels, intestines, normalize sleep, increase tone, and therefore, have a beneficial effect on appearance. In addition, decoctions of the leaves and flowers of the plant are an excellent lotion for cleansing and toning the skin of the face and body. Dandelion juice successfully treats skin diseases - eczema, boils and other inflammatory processes, reduces corns and warts. Sometimes, to obtain the effect, it is enough to attach a crushed dandelion to the sore spot several times.
Flowers - medicinal properties in the diet
Everyone heard these nice phrases: wine from dandelions, jam from dandelions. But few know how to cook them. Meanwhile, there is nothing complicated about this. For jam, you need to collect 400 dandelion inflorescences, cut into slices two lemons with zest, pour a liter of boiling water and cook for ten minutes. Insist for a day, then strain, add one and a half glasses of sugar, cook until thick and hot pour into banks. Jam goes perfectly for tea. And in the morning it can be taken on a teaspoon on an empty stomach - this is an excellent tool for cleansing the biliary tract and liver, for raising tone.
As for wine from dandelions, it is prepared even easier. The main thing is to collect a liter jar of flowers. Fold them in a container, pour three and a half liters of boiling water and leave to infuse for a day. On the second day - strain, add citric acid (two teaspoons), sugar (1 kg) dissolved in water, a few raisins to the liquid. Insist in warmth for several days. Who made homemade wine knows that when fermented, a lid with a rubber tube or a rubber glove is put on a jar or bottle to allow air to escape. The wine will be ready no earlier than in a month. The healing properties of dandelion flowers are fully preserved in this low-alcohol drink that tastes like champagne.
Dandelion is included in the diet of not only patients, but also quite healthy people in the form of spring salads, juice, coffee from the fried plant roots, tea from inflorescences.