Knotweed - medicinal properties and contraindications

In the summer, walking on the hot sun roads, few people pay attention to what is growing under our feet. And, meanwhile, few people know that there, in barely making their way through the ground, a useful plant sprouts. This is a controversy. Folklore gave this grass a lot of different names - this is “ants grass”, and “sparrow tongue”, and “bird buckwheat”. Sometimes in the villages you can find another name - “pigeon delicacy”. Because, indeed, pigeons especially love to peck at this uncomplicated plant.

The official pharmacy language, it is referred to as the "highlander bird". Different manufacturing companies may write the additional name “knotweed” on their packages.

The knotweed germinates in different climatic zones, from the subarctic tundra belt and forest-tundra to the sea belt on the Sakhalin Peninsula. This is a very unpretentious plant that can survive even in the dead of frost.

Active industrial knotweed collections in our country are carried out in the Primorsky Territories of Russia - Vladivostok, Sakhalin, Kamchatka. This preference is due to the fact that plants growing in those areas have a more generous saturation of useful trace elements, such as iodine, magnesium and selenium.

Useful properties of the plant

There are legends about the healing miracles that this unpretentious and, at first glance, ordinary-looking plant can present to a person. Indeed, the field of application is quite wide and extends from prophylactic use to treatment of various kinds of intoxications and conditions after injuries and operations.

1. The best known curative properties of knotweed in the treatment of diseases associated with the urogenital system. So, the bird's mountaineer copes with the dissolution of calculi in urolithiasis, greatly facilitating their withdrawal in a natural way, without the use of surgical intervention, even if minimally invasive.Due to its anti-inflammatory properties, along with the removal of the urinary stone, it also has an antibiotic effect on the renal pelvis, preventing further development of pyelonephritis.
2. Another well-known therapeutic effect of knotweed, as well as the plantain, is the ability to stop bleeding and disinfect the wound site formed - our ancient ancestors have long used this growing herb to treat injuries from hunting or gathering of forest mushrooms and berries.
3. Common knotweed is also used for veterinary purposes. Often cattle are attacked by dangerous insects such as wasps, gadflies, some species of midges and mosquitoes, flies. In this case, you can attach a small compress to the bitten place on the animal's body. To do this, crush or knead the mash, put it on the place of insect prokus. The components of the bird-mountaineer, which have an astringent effect, will contribute to a more rapid healing of the wound and a quick recovery of the animal itself.
4. If we look at the history, we can find facts of using tinctures and poultices from the “grass-ants” by the rulers of Cordoba.Constantly unfolding in those territories of war and intrigue of palace harems often created situations in which the use of poisons was an effective way of fighting for certain goals. Poisonous elder wives killed the firstborn of their favorite concubines in order to deprive their mothers of their privileges from the caliphs. Sometimes undesirable slaves were eliminated in this way, and the enemies imperceptibly poisoned the best warriors of the Caliphs, making his army obviously vulnerable to the enemy. In this case, the common knotweed acted as a priceless antidote against some poisons, weakening their action and, thereby, delaying painful death.
5. Another, not less well-known and useful property of a knotweed is the ability to tone up blood vessels and, thus, stabilize excessively too high or too low pressure.

It should be noted about the preventive benefits. Knotweed sap juices have an incredible amount of beneficial vitamins and trace elements. Thus, several knotweed leaves contain the daily rate of vitamins C, K, F, flavonoids, tannins, essential oils, saponins, coumarins, selenium, manganese, various amino acids and many other elements are present.

It should be remembered that in all the above cases, the knotweed is not the only panacea for all ailments and it is necessary to undergo examination and treatment. However, as an additional therapy, these tinctures should be considered.

Use of knotweed

Summarizing all the above, it remains to highlight the groups of diseases and conditions under which the use of a knotweed is recommended:

• Urolithiasis disease.
• Hypertensive and hypotonic syndromes.
• Conditions after poisoning with heavy metals and poisons.
• As a hemostatic agent.
• Means for treatment in the sexual sphere.
• Disinfectant and anti-inflammatory agent.
• Regenerating (wound healing) remedy.
• Preventive agent, both for existing diseases and for the purpose of general prevention.

Contraindications

Any medal has both direct and reverse sides. This plant is no exception. Since there are a lot of tannins in its composition, first of all a contraindication or careful use should be persons with pathologies of blood formation.In particular, if there is a tendency to thrombosis. Another contraindication is the presence of allergic reactions to the components of the plant.

It is not advisable to use knotweed during pregnancy and lactation, since its teratogenic (destructive) properties for the developing fetus and the child's body are not fully understood.

Options for the use of knotweed

Pharmacy networks of cities can offer several forms of release of this drug:

• Dried and finely divided constituent plants, packed in cartons.
• Sporisha tincture on alcohol of different concentrations.
• Juice and extracts of knotweed, not alcohol content.
• Tablets, which include the components of a knotweed. These are mainly various dietary supplements.
• Plasters on knotweed hoods.

The most common use of knotweed is in the form of a dried factory-packaged species. From it make broths, and, both in a pure form, and combining them with other plants. The most popular combinations are:

1. The knotweed - chamomile - is used to treat the condition after poisoning, it has an antibacterial and antitoxic effect.
2. Sporysh - bearberry - bean leaves - this decoction is used for pyelonephritis and urolithiasis. It has a complex antispasmodic effect, as well as dissolves the stones, facilitating their natural waste.
3. Sporysh - calendula - has an antispasmodic effect. Good to use for painful menstruation in women.
4. Sporysh - beet juice - is used for various anemias, as well as will be useful after band operations and in other conditions associated with massive blood loss.
5. Sporysh - peppermint - calamus root - chamomile - plantain - St. John's wort - is recommended to be used for various diseases of the stomach, as well as for problems with bile outflow.
6. Sporysh - licorice - coltsfoot - black elderberry tincture - used to treat colds. For example, angina, bronchitis, pneumonia, the initial stages of pulmonary tuberculosis.
7. The knotweed - plantain - crushed birch buds - is crushed and the resulting gruel is applied with a compress to the affected joints. It is recommended for arthritis, arthritis in the stage of inflammation, as well as for sprains and sprains.

How to prepare the drug from knotweed?

The use of "tryn-herbs" is wide and diverse. At the moment, there are 4 most popular forms:

• Tea
• Alcohol tinctures.
• Compresses.
• Juices and decoctions.

Cooking Teas
Take a small porcelain teapot, with a capacity of 200 - 250 ml, or a similar brewed or simple mug. 2 - 3 tablespoons of crushed raw materials are poured into it, all this is poured with boiling water and placed in a cool place where it should brew and brew for at least 30 minutes, after which it can be consumed. If you plan to add other drugs, they should be added immediately, at the stage of dry raw materials and thoroughly mixed with a spoon so that the brewing batch is homogeneous in structure, and then brew everything together. The proportions in this case will be different, from 50/50, up to the prevalence of a certain component (bird highlander or additive).

Cooking spirit tinctures
For tincture, we need the capacity of an arbitrary volume - in this case, it all depends on the amount you need to get. First, take a small amount - 200 ml of vodka (40-degree ethyl alcohol),then pour the raw materials in the proportion of 0.25 of the amount of alcohol and set to infuse for an average of 4 - 6 hours. Before use, it is recommended to strain the resulting solution. Oilcake can be used as warming compresses. The widespread use of knotweed, as well as the relatively easy way to get it, make this plant very popular.

Cooking juices
We take a fresh plucked knotweed, then carefully grind it. The resulting mass is laid on a specially prepared gauze bandage and twisted over a bowl. In the bowl will drain the juice. Juice can be drunk as an independent drug, or you can add vodka and you will get tincture. The remaining oil can be poured boiling water and, thus, a decoction of low concentration will be obtained. For better preparation of juice, it is recommended to use specialized devices: juicers, juice presses, blenders, or a simple meat grinder. This juice is best obtained in combination with other, more succulent plants and fruits, such as carrots, apples, or celery.

Side effects knotweed

Like many drugs, this drug is not without negative aspects.There are not as many of them as when using conventional medicines, and they mainly relate to variations of allergic reactions:

In the first place - possible manifestation of allergic reactions to the drug, such as itching, urticaria, desquamation.

On the part of the gastrointestinal tract possible nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain. Basically, these manifestations belong to the group of individual intolerance, or are associated with contraindications to the use of herbal medicine, and, therefore, it should be used in any case with caution, in small portions and preferably with the advice of a doctor.

Where can I get knotweed?

Common knotweed preparations can be purchased at the pharmacy and on the market, both as a factory and as an independent manufacturer. The latter include decoctions and tinctures, often offered by the internal production of the pharmacy itself.

The grass of the highlander bird can also be harvested on its own, following a few rules:

1. Do not collect near open road tracks - knotweed tends to absorb heavy metal salts. Best of all for this purpose forest zones with good solar gleams are suitable.
2. It should be collected in May - June, since this is a period of active growth and the plants are most useful in terms of accumulation of nutrients, while in August - September, the stems of plants are already coarsened and dried over the past summer.
3. It is important to tear the knotweed carefully, it is best to take young leaves without damaging the entire "outlet".
4. The most useful and juicy specimens grow in shaded places, but, nevertheless, you should not take only shady plants, as they are deprived of the sun color, which means the photosynthesis process in them is somewhat weaker, which affects the beneficial properties.
5. The roots of the mountaineer bird are not recommended to be collected - it is better to leave them in the ground. Thus, soon a new one will appear on the site of the cut plant.

Video: medicinal properties of knotweed