Bedstraw - medicinal properties and contraindications

Few people know what a bedstraw is. Beekeepers are aware that this plant of the madder family is an excellent honey plant (bees collect honey from it). Meanwhile, the bedstraw is a real treasure for those who know about its beneficial properties and contraindications. It is recommended to use it mainly for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes against a number of diseases.

Where does the bedstraw grow and what does it look like

Bedstraw is a perennial. Its stems have a height within 10-75 cm, they are as if pubescent with soft short down. The leaves are spiky, dark green in a young plant, and slightly lighter in an already mature bedstraw. A feature of the plant is that the lower leaves closest to the rhizome have a characteristic gray pubescence, similar in appearance to velvet. As for the flowers, they are small and collected in inflorescences, like a brush in a thick pyramidal panicles. The color of the petals is light yellow, and the flowering time is the second half of summer, from late June to August. The plant is not toxic and can be tasted - it must be astringent.

It grows mainly on the plains and in the steppes. The geography of distribution of the plant is impressive - the bedstraw grows, starting from Greece, where it is called gala (from the ability to curl milk from cows that eat it), and to the Tatar tribes, where the plant is called yogurt, again, for the same reason. Bedstraw grows in Eurasia, and in Asia, and in North Africa. Alas, often people take it for a useless weed. Plants love partial shade, moist soils and tolerate winter cold.

Scope of bedding

• choleretic;
• painkillers;
• anti-inflammatory;
• diaphoretic and antipyretic;
• laxatives;
• sedative;
• and hemostatic.

It is not surprising that the correct use of tinctures and decoctions from the plant gives a general strengthening and rejuvenating effect.

The medical direction in the use of bedstraws, although basic and more relevant, but there is another thing - in Europe, bedstraws have long been used in the kitchen and in cooking. For example, fragrant bedstraws are added to the well-known white wine. In addition, the leaves of the plant, added to the sourdough for cheese, make it more tasty, slightly creaking and very fragrant. And finally, the plant is used for faster folding (curdling) of milk.

The chemical composition of the bedstraw

Healers of different nations have different names for this plant: a boot, a breast, a yellow porridge, a worm, a cutting and a cutting grass, serum ... this is due to the fact that all herbalists are well aware of the benefits that are hidden in the plant. All parts of the plant contain ascorbic acid, vitamin C and carotene (provitamin A), steroid saponins, iridoid glycosides, coumarin, anthraquinone, tannins, a number of carotenoids and flavonoids. In addition, the plant is rich in rare types of acids:

• gall;
• ellagic;
• phenolcarboxylic.

But this is not all - the bedstraw contains very valuable trace elements. Among them: zinc, copper, chromium, nickel, thallium, titanium. And also in the composition there is vanadium, molybdenum, manganese, iron.But renin, which causes a curdling effect, is found only in the leaves and inflorescences of the plant. Here is such a priceless fount - a bedstraw.

Bedstraw: contraindications

The plant is not poisonous, and is absolutely safe for most people and livestock (goats, cows and lambs are happy to eat it). But it should be remembered that modern man has long moved away from mother nature, and his body has changed. In other words, the reaction of different people to taking the plant and infusions from it can be completely different, someone will feel fine, others may experience loose stools, and others - dizziness and nausea (due to an overdose of trace elements). The possibility of an allergic reaction should also not be ruled out.

This does not mean that everything, it's time to forget about the plant - just consult your doctor. Find out about your state of health, and if you have any contraindications to the use of herbal infusions and teas, in particular, from the bedstraw. If you decide to drink decoctions and tinctures from this plant, or add it to food, then follow our advice - start with small doses, check the body's response to new elements.

How to use bedstraw

There are a lot of recipes for alternative (that is, folk) medicine using this plant. For instance:

1. Dried and then crushed leaves of bedstraw are an excellent powder used for diaper rash, rubbing the skin, excessive sweating (can also be used for children to protect against sweating and irritation). If you rub this herb with any neutral base, then the resulting ointment will be an excellent remedy for burns, wounds, sores, abscesses, acne and scrofula.
2. The folding and drying effect can help with cuts, help with the presence of foci of eczema or depriving. Dried plant flowers and stems with leaves are ground to a powder state and then problem areas are sprinkled with them. With a bleeding stomach ulcer, it is recommended to either take a third of a teaspoon of grass inside, washed down with warm water every morning, on an empty stomach, or take an infusion.
3. Infusion of bedstraw tops is recommended for use in the presence of such ailments as hemorrhoids, painful and too profuse menstruation, nosebleeds. It is also used for dysentery, gout, and edema as a diuretic, for colitis and painful cuts in the esophagus, for endometritis (inflammation and damage to the mucous membrane and internal walls of the uterus).
4. Decoctions and infusions of grass of the bedstraw are considered an effective pain reliever, so they are often given to drink for headaches, as well as to rinse the mouth for toothaches.
5. The antipyretic and anti-inflammatory effect of the plant makes it an indispensable assistant in the treatment of acute respiratory infections, various colds, sore throats and tuberculosis, as well as drugs based on bedstraws that are excellent for fever.

What does modern medicine say about bedding?

Although official medicine is skeptical of folk treatment, doctors can’t deny the benefits, strength and influence of some herbs and plants. After all, many proprietary medicines contain extracts of medicinal herbs, snake venom, and so on. As for the bedstraw itself, studies have shown that the plant does have a strong anti-inflammatory as well as choleretic effect.

Experiments conducted first on mice and dogs, and then on volunteers, showed that decoction of the grass is able to normalize the level of sugar (glucose) in the blood of a person suffering from diabetes. In addition to the above, experts found the presence of diuretic properties, anticonvulsant effects and sedation. For this reason, decoctions of the bedstraw began to appoint sufferers of epilepsy and hysteria.

The experiments and their results prompted a number of doctors to attempt to create an anti-cancer drug based on bedstraws. Scientists have proven that a simple tincture of the grass of this amazing plant inhibits the growth of lymphosarcoma by all 80-85%. Experiments conducted on animals with bleeding showed that the infusion of bedstraw significantly reduces the severity of leukocytosis.

When and how to harvest bedstraws

Shaking off slightly, the tops are dried in the shade, or in a dark, well-ventilated room, best of all - under a canopy. Can be laid out on a wooden surface, or hung neatly. Dried grass and flowers are stored in a paper or canvas bag in a dry, dark and always cool place. Subsequently, it goes to decoctions, tinctures, ointments and powders (in accordance with the dosage of the formulation).

To prepare extracts and tinctures, juice is often squeezed from fresh tops. In order to preserve and preserve it is diluted in a proportion of one to one with alcohol. Tinctures are also made from peeled and chopped rhizomes. The taste of tinctures and decoctions (as well as infusions) should be slightly bitter and astringent.

Video: medicinal properties of bedstraw