Wormwood-grass is bitter - a plant of the genus Wormwood (there are about 180 species), an aster family. At present, wormwood as a valuable medicinal raw material is cultivated in Asia, many European countries (in particular, the CIS countries), the USA and North Africa.
Wormwood-grass is one of the oldest medicinal plants, it was used to improve the functioning of the digestive system, increase appetite, stimulate sexual life, there are references to this in the ancient papyrus of Ebers (3.5 thousand years ago).
Wormwood grass: where it is applied
Wormwood is one of the main components of vermouth, absinthe and some other alcohol tinctures. And in cooking, it is used as a seasoning for dishes of poultry and meat, it goes especially well with goose. Wormwood in agriculture is used as a phytoncidal and insecticidal agent for pest control, and in the household to ward off fleas, cockroaches, moths and other insects. But the wormwood found the greatest application in medicine. We’ll talk about this.
The composition of wormwood
The chemical composition of wormwood is very rich: it contains tannins, organic acids (succinic and malic), flavonoids, essential oil, volatile, glycosides, saponins, potassium salts, ascorbic acid, resins, carotene, micro and macro elements and many other valuable substances.
Wormwood: properties of a plant for the treatment of diseases
The distant ancestors knew the healing properties of wormwood, it was actively used in folk medicine in those days. Quite widely in Russia brooms were used from bitter wormwood in the baths when soaring. The odor of the plant and substances released during soaring, when penetrated into the pores, the steamed muscles were poured with vigor.
It has long been used in folk medicine for wormwood juice. Our ancestors also knew about the healing properties of wormwood oil. Modern studies have shown that the essential oil of bitter wormwood in pharmaceutical properties is similar to camphor and has a pacemaking effect, excites the central nervous system.
Today wormwood grass is used in pharmacy in more than 20 countries in the world. Even official medicine uses the plant as a means to improve digestion and appetite (in the form of infusions and tinctures, as well as in herbal preparations to increase appetite).
Wormwood preparations increase the secretion of pancreatic and gastric juice, thereby increasing the appetite and motor function of the intestines and stomach, increase urination, and also have antiulcer, anti-inflammatory effects and activate the defenses of the human body.
The selective effect of wormwood deserves special attention. For example, with increased excitability, insomnia and nervousness, wormwood-based drugs have a calming effect, and with a depressed state, neurasthenia, fatigue, apathy or weakness, these drugs, on the contrary, have an exciting and tonic effect.
Studies have shown that wormwood, due to the content of bitterness, increases the stamina and performance of the human body, strengthens the liver, and aromatic bitterness present in the essential oil of wormwood has a juice effect, improves the absorption of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, and also contributes to the growth of muscle mass. Surely for this reason, the Russian heroes actively used wormwood to refresh and strengthen muscles.
Many properties of wormwood, known for a long time, are used today: it improves the complexion, eliminates purple spots under the eyes. Pairs of wormwood decoction help with earaches. And if you take a decoction before you drink wine, it will help from a hangover.
With angina, a lotion of wormwood on the palate from the inside is effective. And in combination with soda, wormwood-bitter grass is useful for pain in the ears, swelling behind the ears or fluid accumulation in them.
The plant is also useful for chronic eye inflammation, if you make a blindfold from it, and it also helps to protect against veils in front of the eyes. If a dressing is made from wormwood with grape juice, it will calm the rapid pulsation of the eyes, reduce the swelling and help with hemorrhage in the eyeball.
Healing dressings from the grass are placed on the stomach, liver and side - it will relieve pain in these organs. Bitter wormwood drives urine and menstruation, especially if used in the form of candles with water sweetened with honey.
With cracks in the anus, it is useful to drink wormwood.
If you cook the bitter wormwood separately or with rice (or lentils) and eat it with honey, it will kill intestinal worms and slightly weaken the stomach.
Wormwood will help from a bite of a shrew, a scorpion and poisoning with a hemlock (if you drink it with wine) or mushrooms.
The bitterness present in the preparations from this plant increases the amount of hemoglobin and red blood cells, normalizes the functions of the gastrointestinal tract, and reduces digestive upsets and intestinal auto-intoxication.
The substances contained in wormwood allow it to be used to stop bleeding, heal and anesthetize wounds; as a painkiller for dislocations and bruises.
Hamazulen obtained from wormwood is used in the treatment of rheumatism, bronchial asthma, eczema or burns due to exposure to x-rays.
As an aid in the treatment of cancer of the rectum, stomach or uterus, alternative medicine recommends a decoction of wormwood root, which is prepared as follows: 2 tablespoons of raw material is filled with 200 g of hot water, boiled for 5 minutes, filtered and squeezed. You need to take it three times a day for 2 tablespoons before meals.
And as an anthelmintic, an infusion is used at night in the form of microclysters of 50 g. The infusion is prepared as follows: dilute dried wormwood with boiling water 1:10.
You can talk about wormwood for a long time, but its main advantages are as follows: preparations from it have painkillers, hemostatic, antipyretic, expectorant, anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, anticonvulsant, wound healing and astringent. They are used for inflammation of the mucous membranes, poisoning, insomnia, epilepsy, neurasthenia, paralysis, fever, edema, colitis, migraine, dyspepsia, hypertension, liver disease, hemorrhoids, obesity, gout, heartburn, bloating, gastritis, and mesenteric, stomach, flu, bronchitis, malaria, cholera, shortness of breath, rheumatism, hypertension, jaundice, anemia, tuberculosis, dysentery, bad breath, to stimulate the digestive tract, increase appetite, eliminate bile, improve digestion, normalize the pancreas lezi. Wormwood is used externally for the treatment of long non-healing pustular skin diseases, ulcers, wounds, with bruises, dislocations, burns, frostbite, sprains, joint diseases.
Starting treatment with wormwood, you should consult a doctor, since wormwood has some contraindications and limitations to use. Firstly, the preparations of this plant can be used no longer than 2 months to avoid negative effects on the body. In diseases such as enterocolitis, gastritis with low acidity, ulcers of the duodenum or stomach, gallstone disease and internal bleeding, as well as in lactation and pregnancy, it is better to refuse wormwood preparations.