Celandine is called a cure for 100 diseases. However, you should be careful with him: this gift of nature is not as harmless as it might seem. The high concentration of toxic substances in some cases makes its use dangerous. Therefore, before harvesting the herb, you should learn more about celandine, its beneficial properties and contraindications.
Content
When and how it is harvested
An excellent recommendation for celandine is its own vitality. The plant thrives on almost any soil. Due to this, it is widespread throughout Europe. You can find undersized bushes with small yellow flowers in forests, in fields, along roads, water bodies and even among swamps.
It is better to collect celandine at a time when it contains the maximum amount of healing juice. Its concentration increases before flowering, at the end of May. This favorable period ends in mid-June.
A warm, dry day is chosen to harvest the plants. Wet grass is much more difficult to dry. The process can be delayed even without this: juicy stems and leaves give up moisture extremely reluctantly.
It is worth remembering that the most valuable thing in celandine is its juice.
When collecting the plant, you need to try to preserve the juice. Therefore, it is better not to pluck the stems, but to cut off with a sharp knife. You can also dig up plants by the root, although this is quite difficult: the underground part of the flower is very strong, has many branches and goes deep into the soil. But it contains a large amount of juice, which means it is no less useful.
Going for celandine, do not neglect gloves. Otherwise, the bright orange juice will stain the picker's hands, absorbing deeply into the skin. Cleaning it up is not an easy task.
Dried celandine, hanging on a rope with flowers down. You can also expand it on pure natural fabric. Before that, it is recommended to cut the stems into small pieces.
Useful properties of celandine
Celandine juice owes its medicinal properties to the high content of alkaloids. In small doses, they have a therapeutic effect, but in high concentrations they act as a poison. Therefore, during treatment, it is so important to thoroughly observe the dosage and monitor the body's response to the drug received. Celandine helps fight ailments such as:
- Skin diseases: herpes, warts, psoriasis, acne, eczema, ulcers, lichen, dry calluses.
- Bronchitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis and other lesions of the respiratory system.
- Disorders of the digestive tract.
- Diseases of the reproductive system, both male and female.
- Nervous disorders.
- Damage to the heart and blood vessels.
For women
This herb helps to deal with many health problems in the field of gynecology:
- myoma;
- thrush;
- violation of the microflora of the vagina;
- erosion of the cervix;
- violation of the menstrual cycle.
Celandine will help maintain not only health, but also beauty and youth. The sap of the plant is actively used in folk cosmetology; various creams, masks and lotions are made from it.
Celandine preparations help get rid of imperfections, whiten age spots, stop hair loss
However, during pregnancy, it is better to forget about celandine. Its use, especially internal use, is fraught with consequences for mother and child. So, in a woman, the manifestations of toxicosis may increase after taking funds based on this plant. The dizziness will become stronger, more often nausea will torment.
The danger to the fetus lies, first of all, in the fact that the active substances contained in the juice will have a tonic effect on the uterus. This can result in hypertension or even a miscarriage. In the past, women have used celandine-based decoctions and tinctures to get rid of unwanted pregnancies.
The likelihood of toxic alkaloids entering the baby's body through the mother's circulatory system is also great. This can cause severe intoxication, hypoxia, and promote the development of defects.
Against the background of hormonal changes, a medicine with celandine can have the opposite effect, converting benign rashes into malignant
Even the decision to use the medicine externally must be balanced and well-grounded. So, with an exacerbation of the papillomavirus, some herbalists allow its use. But only in small quantities and directly on the lesions.
It is necessary to avoid the use of medications based on celandine during lactation. Toxic substances can enter the mother's milk even through the skin.
For men
This plant is able to fight purely male diseases, such as:
- Prostate adenoma. The anti-inflammatory, regenerating and tonic properties of the plant help fight the symptoms of the disease. A decoction is used as a medicine.
- Prostatitis. Celandine slows down the development of malignant neoplasms. For treatment, enemas with plant juice are used.
For children
Due to the high content of toxic substances, celandine should not be used to treat children under three years of age. Only by this age will the child's body become sufficiently strong and the benefits of using the plant will exceed the risks of poisoning.
However, it will take some time to treat children with celandine-based drugs with increased caution. Before 12 years old, it is better to do this only with the permission of a doctor.
If this condition is met, it is allowed to use celandine for cooking:
- infusions for gargling;
- drops in the nose;
- hand baths.
Contraindications
For all the seeming benefits, it is wrong to consider celandine a miracle cure that can put anyone on their feet. Sometimes this plant can have a devastating effect on the body. Contraindications to the use of drugs based on it are:
- diseases of the central nervous system and epilepsy;
- angina pectoris;
- pregnancy;
- lactation;
- age up to three years;
- individual intolerance and allergic reaction.
Forms of application of roots, leaves and stems
On the basis of celandine, you can prepare several types of drugs.
Broth and tea
Pour dry grass with water (1 tablespoon per 1 glass of liquid) and put on the stove. After boiling, allow to simmer for some time over low heat, then cover with a lid and leave to cool.
Decoctions are also prepared in a water bath. To do this, a container with filled grass is placed in another, larger one, also having previously filled it with water.
In broths, the concentration of nutrients reaches a maximum
Decoctions can be used both internally and externally. In some cases, they are used for enemas.
Infusion
Insist celandine in water or alcohol. In the first case, 1 tablespoon of dry grass is poured with a glass of hot water. It is important that it is not boiling. The optimum temperature is 90–95 degrees. In order for the infusion to absorb the maximum amount of nutrients, it is tightly closed with a lid and left for several hours.
In any case, the concentration of substances here will be much less than in the broth.Such a remedy acts milder without harming the body.
The infusion can be used to treat children, as well as adults whose body is weakened.
For the preparation of alcoholic infusions, both fresh and dried plants are used. The prepared container is filled with them exactly halfway. The remaining volume is filled with alcohol or vodka. Then they are corked and sent to a dark, cool place for two weeks.
These products are rich and powerful. Before use, they are diluted by adding two glasses of water to each glass of infusion.
Juice
Prepared from fresh celandine. To get it, the plants are passed through a blender or meat grinder. Then squeeze through cheesecloth. The medicine is highly concentrated.
Nuances of use and recipes
The use of drugs based on celandine has strict limitations. Take it with caution, reducing the dose and concentration, you need:
- children under 12 years old;
- people weakened after a long illness.
Dosage, method of administration and duration of courses of medication depends on what kind of disease you have to fight.
The effectiveness of celandine treatment for oncological diseases is being questioned by doctors. The concentration of toxic substances in a dry and fresh plant is significantly different; an incorrect dosage can harm an organism weakened by cancer. It is better to treat oncology with proven drugs under the supervision of a doctor, and not rely on the miraculous effectiveness of traditional medicine.
With psoriasis
You need to mix 2 tbsp. l. celandine, 3 tbsp. l. blackberry leaves, 1 tbsp. l. mint and walnut. The mixture is poured with boiling water - 1 glass of liquid per 1 tbsp. l. herbs. Insist 40 minutes. Take the infusion in the morning and evening.
In order for the medicine to retain its properties, it must be stored in the refrigerator.
With thrush
For tincture, 2 tbsp are taken. l. chopped celandine (fresh or dry), filled with 5 glasses of hot water and infused for 3 hours. The resulting drug must be filtered, slightly heated over low heat. The infusion is used for vaginal douching once a day. The duration of treatment is 7 days. After a week, the course must be repeated to prevent the disease.
With bronchitis
1 tablespoon of dried celandine is poured with a glass of water, brought to a boil in a water bath and steamed over low heat for about half an hour. The cooled broth is carefully filtered and taken three times a day. The recommended dose is half a glass at a time. You can use this remedy until complete recovery.
With a dry cough
Mix 1 tablespoon of juice from fresh stems and roots of celandine with 1 tablespoon of vodka, then add 1 tablespoon of honey. It should completely dissolve. They drink this remedy every morning on an empty stomach, taking a whole tablespoon at a time. After that, nothing is eaten for one hour. You can take the drug until complete recovery.
With prostate adenoma
A decoction is prepared at the rate of 2 tablespoons of dry herbs per 0.5 liters of water. It is cooled and used for enemas. For 10 days, 40-50 ml of the drug is injected into the rectum. At the end of one course, you need to take a break for 10 days. Then it can be repeated.
Reviews
The infusion of celandine helped to get rid of subcutaneous tissue and acne. It must be brewed in a one-to-one ratio. For this, a regular glass jar is suitable. It is better to fill it with hot water, but not boiling water, and leave to infuse for at least 9-12 hours. The result should be very dark, almost black water with a greenish tint. On cleansed skin, I put cotton pads soaked in the resulting infusion and left it overnight. The course was needed in one month. Applied daily, sometimes intermittently. Small results are visible after the first use. Redness immediately disappears, acne is slightly reduced, skin color evens out.
I used celandine against warts.I used the juice that appears on the cut of the stem or break. You need to wait about half a minute so that not a transparent green, but a thick bright orange juice stands out (you do not need to squeeze out the stem). It is better to immediately apply it to the wart and let it dry without rubbing. This should be done daily, if possible several times a day. Continue the procedure until the wart dries and falls off. The result - not a trace remained of one wart, for the other two it took much longer, but they also disappeared.
Saw an infusion of celandine to cleanse the liver and gallbladder. I brewed a teaspoon in 200 ml of water, then kept it in a water bath for 15 minutes. I took it myself and gave my son 50 ml twice a day 15 minutes before meals (he is allergic to me). When the herbs begin to bloom, he begins to have a runny nose, and this time he was also sprinkled with hives. I was going to give him a drink for a week, but two days were enough. The rash and runny nose are gone. The infusion also cleanses the liver well.
My mother had a stomach ulcer, which she just did not treat. The medicine made with this prescription did the trick. Wash the celandine bush together with the root and pass it through a meat grinder. Strain and pour into the jar, but not to the very edge, close the lid. After 6-7 days, the juice begins to ferment. Open the lid periodically releasing the gas. Do this until he calms down. After fermentation, dilute the juice in a 1: 1 ratio with honey, take 1 tablespoon 3 times a day 30 minutes before meals. The duration of the course is 1 month.
The child was diagnosed with grade 2 adenoiditis. The ENT appointed us to drip celandine juice. The doctor said that in the summer it is the best remedy for adenoids. She made juice from celandine herself, then mixed it with sea buckthorn in equal proportions and dripped it 2 times a day to the child. The improvements were noticeable almost immediately. For six months he snored in his sleep, and then within two weeks his breathing became clear.
With the right approach, celandine will help to cope with even the most dangerous diseases. No wonder it is compared with ginseng, and often not in favor of the latter. These nondescript flowers are a generous gift of nature that everyone can use.
