Plantain - medicinal properties and contraindications

Plantain is a wonderful gift that nature has given to man. Only a few people are currently aware of its many healing properties. Like dandelion, nettle, and many other herbaceous plants, it is often considered a simple and useless weed that should be eradicated as soon as possible from its own vegetable garden or garden.

In fact, plantain has a wide scope:

1. It is one of the best medicines for treating wounds, skin irritations, and insect bites.
2. It has a positive effect on respiratory diseases, and also helps in the treatment of various diseases.
3. In addition, plantain is edible. It is often used as a component of salads in combination with other herbs or for preparing a variety of delicious dishes.

There are two main types of plantain: lanceolate and large. The first has stronger anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, and the second is preferable to use for internal diseases.

Useful properties of plantain

The composition of this plant includes many useful substances, including iridoid glycosides, acids (oleanolic, chlorogenic, citric, silicic, succinic, benzoic, oxalic), flavonoids (apigenin, luteolin). The plant contains a lot of vitamins, namely A, C, K, pectin, carotene and tannins.

Due to the presence of these active ingredients, plantain has:

• antibacterial;
• anti-inflammatory;
• antiseptic;
• and astringent properties.

Indications for use

1. This plant is very effective in the treatment of skin diseases, wounds, various inflammations of the skin and mucous membranes.
2. It helps with coughing, chronic bronchitis and sinusitis.
3. Plantain is used as a natural remedy for colds.
4. It is considered useful for the treatment of anemia, hemorrhoids and respiratory diseases.
5. The traditional method of using the leaves of this plant is to dress the wounds to stop the bleeding and their healing.
6. It is also often used for conjunctivitis and inflammation of the eyelids.
7. External use is often used for skin problems, as plantain soothes and prevents redness. It will be useful in case of itching, dermatosis, acne rosacea, inflammation and minor skin lesions. Applying a compress of plantain leaves is useful as a sedative for insect bites.

Plantain seeds are also widely used. So, due to its rich composition, they are used to treat many diseases. Seeds have a certain laxative effect. They are also used to treat such ailments:

• hemorrhoids;
• the so-called enterocolitis;
• intestinal inflammation.

Doctors say that plantain seeds perfectly help cleanse the body of harmful bile acids and even reduce the level of bad cholesterol in the blood.

Home-made decoctions of seeds are used for all kinds of skin diseases. Doctors often recommend that their patients take a decoction to lower their blood sugar. It helps in the treatment of female infertility. Seeds also have healing and wellness properties for men. Eating seeds stabilizes the emotional state and helps fight depression.

Of the other useful characteristics of plantain, the following properties should be noted:

1. The plant has an antimicrobial effect.
2. Seeds are used to treat colitis and, as mentioned above, intestinal inflammation. The fact is that the mucus contained in the seeds immediately envelops the intestinal walls, thereby protecting them well from any irritation.
3. Plantain is often used in dentistry. Rinsing the mouth with a decoction or tincture helps with stomatitis, periodontal diseases, inflammation of the gums. Drugs with this plant soothe toothache.
4. Plantain perfectly increases appetite and has a very beneficial effect on the work of the stomach. Therefore, it will be useful for gastritis with low acidity and is often prescribed for stomach ulcers.

In the cosmetic field, a decoction of plantain leaves is used to cleanse oily skin. To do this, the broth is poured into ice molds and frozen. In addition, infusion from the leaves of plantain is washed hair to improve their condition.

How and when to collect plantain

This plant can be found everywhere. But for collection for medicinal purposes, it is recommended to look for places away from dusty roads and industrial facilities. It is better to collect plants in the morning in dry weather. You can start collecting raw materials in the summer months and in the first half of autumn.

It is recommended to collect not only leaves, but also roots and seeds. In this case, the plant is dug out of the ground completely with the root, for which digging is done. But it is worth remembering that the seeds are suitable for use when they are fully ripe. Therefore, you should wait until they mature and acquire a brown tint.

But the leaves can be collected even before the flowering plants. To cut them, you can take garden shears or pruners. After collecting the plantain must be washed in running water, and then divided into parts. Separately, leaves, roots and seeds are deposited. Then the raw materials should be dried. To do this, it is laid out on a paper or fabric surface in places that are not exposed to direct sunlight and are well ventilated.

Contraindications and possible side effects

When treating plantain, it is recommended to pay attention to the existing contraindications. External use is suitable for almost any person, with the exception of those who are allergic to this plant.

For internal use, there are a number of limitations:

1. First of all, the use of plantain is not recommended for all those whose gastric juice has an increased level of acidity.
2. Care should be taken to apply funds from this plant to patients suffering from bronchial asthma.
3. In case of exacerbation of a stomach or intestinal ulcer, the use of the plant is also not recommended.
4. It is undesirable to use plantain for treatment to people who take anticoagulants or coagulants, since the effect of their effect changes.
5. It is worth remembering that the consumption of a large amount of this plant can lead to constipation.
6. People with a high tendency to blood clots and a high level of blood coagulation are undesirable to take plantain.
7. In addition, treatment with this plant should not be carried out for a long time, since it increases the risk of blood clots.

Plantain recipes for various diseases

Distinguish between internal and external use of plantain. For external use, leaves should be applied to the skin, as their juice can stop bleeding with small cuts and disinfect the wound. For internal use, there are various methods.

The simplest recipe: take 3 grams of plant leaves (6 teaspoons) and pour a glass of boiling water. Let it brew for 10 minutes, then strain. The drink is ready to drink.You need to drink in a warm form, one cup twice a day before meals. This recipe will help with the treatment of respiratory diseases. The drink has an expectorant effect, therefore it is able to effectively remove sputum. This tincture can be cooled. Then it can be used as a mouthwash, which will help in the treatment and prevention of inflammation in the oral cavity.

With cough and other diseases, fresh leaves of the plant will be useful. But they are available only in the summer. The rest of the time, it is recommended to use cough syrups based on plantain. Vegetable syrup is considered a very effective tool for the treatment of the upper respiratory tract, both in children and adults. They can be purchased in pharmacies, and their cost is significantly lower than synthetic cough medicine. Also, syrup can be prepared at home.

To prepare the syrup, a large number of young plantain leaves are taken, which are poured into a saucepan and poured with water. Cook for two hours. After that, sugar is added in an amount of 600 grams per liter of syrup. At this stage, you can add a few juniper berries.

Then it is worth again putting the pan on a slow fire to melt the sugar. After it is melted, you must wait until the syrup has cooled. Then it is bottled, which is stored in a dry and cool place.

When insect bites and wounds, it is recommended to wash the fresh leaves of plantain and crush them with a rolling pin on a cutting board. The resulting suspension should be applied to the affected area.

To cure neurosis or insomnia, the following tincture recipe should be used. Dried leaves in the amount of 1 tablespoon should be poured with one cup of boiling water. Insist for 10 minutes. Next, strain the drink. Take tincture three times a day for 1 tbsp. spoon. The course of treatment is 1 month. This tincture will also be useful in cardiovascular diseases and hypertension.

Purulent wounds can be treated with fresh leaves. Several leaves are taken, which should be washed and chopped. Then they are applied to the wound. The procedure should be repeated several times a day until the wound heals.

Since fresh leaves are available only in summer, you can pre-preserve plantain juice, which can be used to treat wounds and skin diseases at any time of the year. To do this, prepare a lot of young leaves, which are pre-washed. Then they should be crushed to get the juice of the plant. This juice is poured into glass jars that need to be stored in the refrigerator.

Another useful property of plantain is the ability to reduce pain in the stomach and intestines. But it can be used to treat gastritis, enteritis and ulcers only with reduced acidity of gastric juice. The substances that make up the plant help to alleviate cramps, relieve pain, promote digestion, and also prevent inflammatory processes and accelerate tissue regeneration.

There are several recipes for treating digestive diseases. The easiest way is to eat freshly washed leaves of plantain every day. This will help increase stomach acid, as well as relieve pain.

Another way is to use freshly squeezed juice. To do this, 1-2 teaspoons of juice is mixed with a similar amount of honey. Take the medicine twice a day for one week. This method will be useful for coughing.

Sometimes tea is made from plantain. It has a pleasant aroma and helps in the fight against cough, smoking, nervous disorders and internal pathologies. To make tea, pour dry plantain leaves into boiling water. Let it brew for 15 minutes. Drink tea should be 4 times a day in one glass (200 ml).The drink becomes nicer if you add 1 teaspoon of natural honey.

Another recipe for making tea is often used. 4 tablespoons of dried leaves are taken, which are filled with 500 ml of boiling water. Then the lid is covered and the container is covered with a thick towel on top. Insist for two hours. After that, tea is filtered and consumed in the form of heat 4 times a day, one teaspoon before a meal. The recommended course of drinking tea is seven days.

Tea is made only from dried and finely chopped leaves. Freshly picked and still green parts of the plant are not suitable for this purpose. They are applied directly to open wounds, juice is extracted or processed to make decoctions and tinctures.

According to user reviews, the state of the art when using these recipes is very fast. The effect is visible after 1-2 days. In the future, this effect will only intensify. However, it is recommended that you consult a doctor before starting self-treatment.

Video: medicinal properties and contraindications of plantain