On the territory of our vast country you can notice the thickets of field plants with yellow flowers. Many do not even realize that this nondescript weed called clover (herb) is a very useful medicinal plant, which is still widely used in cooking as a fragrant spice.
There are many types of this miraculous grass, but useful properties are attributed only to two varieties - medicinal (yellow) and white clover. The first mention of the plant was found by scientists in the ancient annals of famous Aesculapius, such as Avicenna and Galen. As you may have guessed, we will talk about an extremely useful sweet clover.
Botanical Description
Medicinal grass clover is a shrub plant about a meter high. Belongs to the legume family. You can recognize it by a powerful bare stalk and oblong serrated leaves of a saturated green hue. At the base of each stalk there are yellow flowers collected in small inflorescences.
A distinctive feature is a pronounced aroma, reminiscent of the smell of freshly mowed hay. What is remarkable about the sweet clover? The grass tolerates frosts well and feels great on arid soils, ravines, pastures, forest edges and mountain slopes. Therefore, its habitat is quite extensive: from the North to the Far East. Often, shrubby weed is found among crops, delivering a lot of trouble to summer residents.
Collection and Harvesting
The plant should be plucked during the period of active flowering, or rather, from July to October-month. It is better to choose dry weather for collection, since a wet plant does not dry well and starts to shed during storage, and such raw materials are unsuitable for medicinal purposes.
It is better to collect lateral shoots with tops, although the leaves also contain a lot of valuable elements. Then you need to lay the grass on a fabric or paper base and dry thoroughly in the attic or in a well-ventilated area. In the process of drying, the raw materials should be turned over so that it does not rot or darken. Readiness is determined by the fragility of the stems.
Sweet clover grass: useful properties and components
The plant has a rich composition, it is for this reason that it is used to treat numerous diseases. The coumarin substance present in the grass gives a characteristic aroma of hay, and also favorably affects the vital activity of internal organs. It improves blood flow, increases blood pressure and brain activity. With the decay of coumarin, an equally valuable substance is produced - dicumarin, which dilutes the blood, preventing the formation of blood clots.
The plant exhibits a bactericidal and astringent effect due to the presence of tannins. And the mucous substances contained in the grass have a softening and enveloping effect. Resins are also present in the composition, of which pharmaceutical companies make bactericidal plasters and therapeutic infusions. Melilotus grass, whose properties are determined by the content of saponins, has a general strengthening, diaphoretic, anti-inflammatory and diuretic effect.
The plant has a lot of ascorbic acid, protein, starch, fatty oils, vitamin E, chol, and flavonoids. All of these elements and vitamins enhance the healing properties and help fight various ailments. No wonder folk healers highly revere this herb and use it as a sedative, wound healing, antiseptic and painkiller. However, it should be remembered that this plant is poisonous. Therefore, uncontrolled reception is fraught with trouble.
Use in traditional medicine
Not only traditional medicine practices the use of this plant. Modern pharmaceuticals also use raw materials for the production of herbal medicines and preparations. The therapeutic effect of infusions and decoctions of this plant has been repeatedly proven. Medicinal sweet clover grass, as noted above, is an excellent expectorant, diuretic and antibacterial.
Often it is used as a mild laxative and carminative drug. A valuable extract (biogenic stimulant), which is characterized by a wound healing effect, is obtained from the plant. Melilot-based preparations for leukopenia, convulsions, migraines, respiratory pathologies and insomnia are indicated.
The substance coumarin improves memory, attention, strengthens the heart muscle, and also heals (in complex) gout, genitourinary disorders and diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
Traditional medicine recommends ...
Most people prefer herbal preparations, considering them the safest and most effective. Among the popular medicinal plants in the first place is clover grass. Application recommended by experienced healers in hormonal imbalances, menopause, diseases of the female reproductive system.
Infusions help normalize the menstrual cycle, relieve debilitating pain and PMS. Use solutions to treat furunculosis, inflammation and wounds: make compresses, wraps, lotions, add to the bath. Such procedures help speed up the healing process and soften the skin. The only thing to remember when using the plant is that it is poisonous and can harm the body if the correct dosage is not observed.
Effective Recipes
1. It is not difficult to prepare a therapeutic decoction on your own. This will require 400 ml of cold water and ten grams of grass. Pour the solution into a thermos and leave for half an hour. Take at one hundred grams twice a day at high pressure, neurosis, fatigue, insomnia and migraine.
2. For similar disorders, you can make the following infusion: pour five grams of a plant (preferably chopped) into a glass of warm water, insist for about two hours and drink ¼ cup before going to bed.
3. The medicinal sweet clover will help to cope with flatulence. Grass (dry) in the amount of five grams is poured with boiling water (200 ml) and boiled for ten minutes. Cool the broth, strain and consume a tablespoon three times a day.
Infusions
1. The drug is used for colds. When a strong cough appears, such an infusion is prepared: stir 20 grams of the plant in a glass of water and warm in a water bath for 15 minutes. Then add a similar amount of liquid, strain and drink half a glass twice a day. Keep the solution in the refrigerator for no more than two days.
2. In case of nervous disorders, a drug is used, for the preparation of which a yellow clover herb (10 g) and boiled water in the amount of two tablespoons will be required. Insist for several hours, strain and take 70 g four times a day.
3. For bronchitis and cystitis: pour crushed leaves (large spoon) with boiling water (a glass). For four hours, insist, strain and drink 50 ml three times a day.
Ointments
1. If you are tormented by boils or sore joints, then healing ointments from dry flowers of yellow clover (50 g) and butter (two tablespoons) will help to cope with these ailments. Connect both components and lubricate sore spots.
2. For hemorrhoids, a set of medicinal plants will help: clover-grass (dessert spoon), highlander (5 g), lush clove (10 g), multi-colored cloves (two spoons). Grind all these components in a coffee grinder, take 20 grams of powder from the collection, mix with melted goose or pork fat and evaporate in a water bath for 3-4 hours.
3. For varicose veins: pour two tablespoons of sweet clover with a glass of water (hot), cook the mixture until it decreases several times, and then filter. Combine half of the drug with two parts of petroleum jelly and lanolin. The ointment is ready for use.
Poultices
1. With a benign education, fresh leaves of the plant should be crushed and applied to the sore spot. Such compresses can be done with purulent wounds.
2. For poultices and wraps (furunculosis, conjunctivitis, abscesses, acne): pour a glass of dry grass with a liter of water (hot), insist for half an hour and make treatment.
3. For the same diseases, poultices from clover flowers, which are previously steamed in boiling water, will help.
Herbal fees
1. Prevent and relieve migraine from such a decoction: pour a glass of boiling water on a dessert spoon of hop cones and sweet clover cones. Boil the raw materials for five minutes. Insist in a thermos or closed container for an hour and consume 50 g before meals (three times).
2. Plant collection for adnexitis: take five grams of oregano, flowers of coltsfoot, centaury of umbellate and yellow melilot. 10 g of the mixture will require a glass of boiling water. Leave the liquid for three hours. Strain the finished infusion, take about a month for 1/3 cup. Exclude sexual contact during therapy.
3. A poultice for rheumatism: pour three parts of chamomile, medicinal marshmallow and four parts of yellow melilot in a canvas bag. Fill the collection with water and boil for ten minutes. Apply to the affected area.
4. For patients suffering from pancreatitis, we recommend preparing an anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic collection of herbs. Required ingredients: one part of leaves of bog calamus and thyme, two parts of calendula, plantain, chamomile, melilot and ashberry, three parts of marsh cinnamon and galega.
Pour five large spoons of the cooked collection with a glass of boiling water. Pour into a thermos, wrap with a thick cloth and insist for an hour and a half. Drain the liquid, and transfer the herbs onto a gauze base, hold the compress for about an hour in the pancreas, covering with a towel. The course of treatment is 14 days.
Melilotus grass: contraindications and side effects
The plant is poisonous, therefore, when taking, it is necessary to observe a certain precaution and not exceed the dosage. Despite the abundance of medicinal properties, it can not be used during the period of bearing the baby, with low pressure, pathological processes in the kidneys and liver. Clover grass is undesirable for people with poor blood coagulation.
Useful properties will be nullified if you do not follow the instructions and instructions of the doctor. In case of overdose and prolonged use, pain in the abdomen, diarrhea, nausea, and even vomiting are observed. Rapid heart rate, high blood pressure and arrhythmia are also noted.
Sweet clover grass (the instruction warns of the presence of certain contraindications) can provoke dizziness, fatigue, apathy, weakness and drowsiness. Subcutaneous hemorrhages, an allergic reaction in the form of itching and burning are not excluded. To avoid the above problems and intoxication, we urge you not to neglect the basic rules of therapy.