Since childhood, many people know the bitter herb wormwood of silver color. It has an aromatic smell and unusual bitterness, the strongest of all plants. Where can you not meet this unpretentious culture! It can be found even along fences and roads. This affordable herb consists of many useful components, therefore it is widely used in medicine, everyday life, and cooking. We invite you to get acquainted with the medicinal properties and contraindications of wormwood, reviews of the tinctures and oil of this plant.
Mentions and legends about wormwood
In Latin, wormwood sounds like "artemisia", because it is named after the goddess Artemis, who discovered the medicinal properties of this plant to people. The bitter herb wormwood is mentioned more than once in the Bible, where the plant is associated with the retribution of sinners, suffering, apostasy from God. Many priests associate annoyance and humiliation with wormwood bitterness, and compare honor and approval with honey.
Russian folk songs, epics, sayings also sing of artemisia, linking it withlonging and bitterness. The ancient Romans believed that it was the goddess Artemis who gave them this herb. They gave wormwood to their warriors so that they would be strong, fearless, and not feel tired on long campaigns. Our ancestors believed that bitter herb relieves muscle pain and protects against poisoning.
Description of the Wasteland Queen
Wormwood belongs to perennial plants of the Asteraceae family. The plant has a short, branched, lignified root, so it is unpretentious to atmospheric and soil conditions. Many farmers are dissatisfied with the abundant distribution of this tenacious grass. She especially likes wastelands, where the sagebrush feels like a queen. She settles in abandoned areas, roadsides, forest edges.
The height of an adult plant can reach up to 2 meters. In the first year of life, the grass consists of one small stem. Then shoots appear from it, which bloom and bear fruit in the second year. The upright stems are characterized by multi-branching from above, a silvery-grayish color and light pubescence. A strong spicy smell and bitter taste are the properties that distinguish the herb from other plants.
The leaves are attached to the base with long petioles having several branches. In the middle of the stem are bipinnate, sessile, pinnatipartite leaves. The upper part of the grass is covered with trifoliate, simple, entire, lanceolate leaves. Artemisia stems and leaves appear silky due to the abundance of small hairs on their surface.
Flowering wormwood resembles a yellow mimosa. Basket flowersappear in the middle of summer. These baskets make up inflorescences in the form of a panicle. From the flowers, small fruits are formed, in which the seeds ripen. It is they who breed wormwood. One plant can count up to 100,000 seeds.
Wormwood grows in the European part of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus. Also, the places of her settlement are Kazakhstan, the Caucasus, Western Siberia, Central Asia.
Procurement of raw materials
Both leaves and flowering panicles are used for harvesting. In May-June, stem and basal leaves are harvested. During flowering (July-August), flowering tops are harvested. Panicles need to be cut in 10-15 days. Late collection threatens to darken the grass when dried, and panicles may crumble.
The tops of the stems are cut with a sickle or knife, wearing gloves. The length of the tops should not exceed 20-25 cm. An attic or shed is suitable for drying, where the raw materials are laid out in a layer of 3-5 cm. In good weather, it will take 5-7 days to dry. It needs to be stirred periodically. You can dry the grass in the oven at a temperature of 50 ° C. Higher temperatures help the essential oils evaporate. The leaves are dried in the same way as the flowering part. It is not recommended to dry raw materials under an iron roof. The finished material is placed in paper bags or bags. Shelf life - 2 years.
Chemical composition and medicinal properties of the plant
Artemisia has a wide chemical composition. It is rich in essential oil, bitter glycoside absinthine, anabsinthine, phytoncides, tannins. In herresins, vitamins B6 and C were found in the composition. Wormwood also contains succinic, acetic, malic acids, starch, protein, provitamin A (carotene). Doctors use both the ground part of the plant and the underground part of the plant in medicine. After all, this folk remedy, tested by time, has the following properties:
- increases appetite;
- helps improve digestion, stimulates the secretion of gastric juice;
- promotes the secretion of bile and pancreatic juice;
- endowed with analgesic properties;
- restores blood;
- excellent outdoor antiseptic.
Decoctions and tinctures of wormwood treat the digestive system, diarrhea, gastritis with low acidity. They eliminate stomach cramps and pain. The plant treats flatulence, anemia, depression, insomnia, tuberculosis. It is an excellent choleretic and diuretic.
Infusions, tinctures, extracts are made from the ground part of the herb. They treat bronchial asthma, rheumatism. Wormwood is great for treating burns and eczema. People suffering from gastritis, peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum are also shown remedies with this potion. It helps with epilepsy, paralysis, gout, neurasthenia. The remedy eliminates unpleasant odors from the oral cavity, heartburn, and is used for fainting. With inflammation of the joints, bruises, compresses and lotions from herbal infusions are applied to sore spots. The juice is squeezed out of the wormwood, an ointment is made, a powder is made.
Use of bitter herb in folk medicine
Reviews on medicalproperties of wormwood deserve study. As early as the middle of the 20th century, residents of Russian villages used wormwood smoke to fight bedbugs and earthen fleas. The walls and floors of houses were washed with specially prepared grass brooms, steamed in boiling water. In order to disinfect Russian baths, brooms of dry wormwood were also used. These brooms were immediately steamed for the treatment of the spine and joints. Those who lived in the village probably associate it with the smell of this bitter potion. To smell it, you can buy a bottle of essential wormwood oil in every pharmacy. It is obtained by distillation. Knowing all the medicinal properties and contraindications of wormwood, it is used as follows:
- Gastritis with low acidity is treated with a decoction of 1 teaspoon of chopped wormwood and 2 cups of boiling water. Infused for 20 minutes, the decoction is taken half a cup three times a day.
- Anemia is treated with wormwood leaves collected in May. They insist on vodka or alcohol.
- Gout and rheumatism with baths. To do this, 1 kg of dry wormwood is poured with a bucket of boiling water, allowed to brew, and then poured into a bath. The procedure lasts half an hour at a water temperature of 36-37 °C.
- Fight with insomnia decoction 1 table. spoons of wormwood and a glass of boiling water. They insist an hour, drink before going to bed.
- Diarrhea and pain in the stomach are stopped with the same decoction.
- Bruises and tumors are covered with cloth soaked in infusion.
- Impotence is treated with wormwood seeds, previously ground into powder.
- Epilepsy is treated with powdered plant roots.
- Get rid of worms with wormwood-garlic enemas.
- Decoction of wormwood and thyme helps to overcome cravings for alcohol. The medicine is used for a month.
Tincture of wormwood
It is worth writing in more detail about the properties of bitter herb tincture. It normalizes the digestive system, promotes metabolism, fights fungal and infectious diseases. Due to the bitterness of this remedy, it is used to normalize weight. The tincture has a brownish-green color, a characteristic aroma and a bitter taste. The dosage of this drug is as follows: 20 drops 3 times a day before meals.
Especially useful tincture of wormwood on cognac. For 0.5 liters of cognac add a tablespoon of crushed plant roots. The mixture is put on a steam bath and incubated for 10 minutes. After that, it is closed tightly with a lid and set to infuse for two days. The remedy is taken for neurasthenia, 5 drops 2 times a day.
wormwood oil, juice, powder, ointment
Fresh wormwood is used to make butter. 300 g of leaves are placed in a liter jar, olive oil is added to the top and firmly closed with a lid. The remedy is infused for 2 weeks. The oil should acquire a dark green or pearly color. Then the product is filtered and put in a cold place. It is used to lubricate ulcers, wounds and rough skin.
A similar remedy is made from the seeds of wormwood. They are crushed into powder and filled with oil. The remedy should be infused during the day. This oil relieves pain and crampsin the muscles.
Before flowering, the leaves and stems of wormwood are used to extract juice. Raw materials are best first passed through a meat grinder. Fresh juice is taken immediately with honey (1 tablespoon). The remaining liquid is put in the refrigerator.
Dried stems and leaves can be made into a powder. To do this, they need to be rubbed. This is a very effective remedy, valued more than an infusion.
Ointment is also made from wormwood. To do this, use a thick extract of wormwood. For 100 g of vegetable oil or animal fat, you need to take 10 g of the extract.
Treatment for parasites and worms with wormwood
Many diseases are provoked by ecotoxins and parasites. Traditional medicine fights them with the help of natural remedies. So, wormwood helps to cleanse the body and destroy parasites. She copes with trichomonas, chlamydia, feline giardia, proteus, toxoplasma. Bitter herb kills harmful microorganisms and helps many systems work. To combat parasites, dry grass, ground into powder, is used.
Worms are removed by using a special decoction and washing the intestines. To do this, make hot enemas from the infusion of wormwood. It effectively fights roundworms, helps to normalize cellular immunity. A small amount of decoction (50 g) is injected overnight into the rectum for absorption.
Treatment of other diseases
Hemorrhoids bring big trouble. It's pain, bleeding. This disease is treated for a very long time. People use bitter herb to fight hemorrhoids. From her broth they makeenemas. Wormwood therapy relieves acute inflammation and brings the patient's condition back to normal.
Everyone knows about a dangerous virus that manifests itself in the form of watery, painful blisters on the lips - herpes. As a prophylactic against this disease, a tincture or infusion of wormwood can serve.
Contraindications
Many people suffer from hypersensitivity to certain substances. It's about allergies. This disease is accompanied by a runny nose, swelling of the nasal mucosa, sneezing, tearing of the eyes. Sometimes an allergy to wormwood pollen can also develop. Such people should avoid contact with this plant and consult a doctor. There are also other contraindications for medicinal wormwood, when you need to beware of it:
- with gastric ulcer, hyperacid gastritis;
- during pregnancy and breastfeeding;
- in cases of heavy bleeding;
- for kidney failure;
- in cases of severe liver disease.
Culinary properties of bitter herb
The distillery industry makes extensive use of the bitter taste of wormwood. You have probably heard of absinthe and vermouth. Some countries for this purpose sow entire plantations with a bitter plant. It is worth saying that wormwood is still different and is called "vermouth". These alcohol infusions have a unique and specific taste.
Also, wormwood is used by culinary specialists as a seasoning for fatty dishes. With it, a roast goose or other meat dish acquires a special bitter taste andsmell.
Feedback on the use of wormwood
Bitter medicinal plant is used by folk healers, pharmacists, cosmetologists. Many consumers leave their reviews about it. Particularly pleased with the remedy are women who use the herb to treat fibroids and prevent uterine cancer.
Also, many girls use wormwood oil for dandruff and accelerate hair growth. In winter, it helps fight the flu, bronchitis and acute respiratory infections.
