Eat More Herbs - Comfrey

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Comfrey - Symphytum officinale

Drink it to take care of most digestive and stomach problems, for intestinal difficulties, for excessive menstrual flow, and to stop spitting blood.

Common Names: Blackwort, bruisewort, gum plant, healing herb, knitback, salsify, slippery root, wallwort.

Medicinal Part: Rootstock.

Description: Comfrey is a perennial plant common in moist meadows and other moist places in the U.S. and Europe. The rootstock is black outside, fleshy and whitish inside, and contains a glutinous juice. The angular, hairy stem bears bristly, oblong lanceolate leaves, some petioled, some sessile. There are also tongue-shaped basal leaves that generally lie on the ground. The whitish or pale purple flowers have a tubular corolla resembling the finger of a glove and grow in forked scorpioid racemes from May to August.

Properties and Uses: Anodyne, astringent, demulcent, emollient. expectorant, hemostatic, refrigerant, vulnerary. A decoction of the rootstock makes a good gargle and mouthwash for throat inflammations, hoarseness, and bleeding gums. Drink it to take care of most digestive and stomach problems, for intestinal difficulties, for excessive menstrual flow, and to stop spitting blood. Powdered rootstock can also be taken internally for bloody urine (hematuria), leucorrhea, diarrhea, gastro-intestinal ulcers, dysentery, and persistent coughs. Externally, use the powder as a hemostatic agent, and make a poultice for wounds, bruises, sores, and insect bites. The hot pulp of the rootstock makes a good external application for bronchitis, pleurisy, and for the pain and inflammation of pulled tendons. Add the rootstock to your bath water regularly for a more youthful skin.

Preparation and Dosage:

Decoction: Boil 2 tsp. rootstock in 1 cup water or wine. Take a wineglassful or a teacupful two to three times a day.

Infusion: Use 2 tsp. rootstock per 1/2 cup water. Take 1 to 2 cups a day, warm, a mouthful at a time.

Tincture: Take 1/2 to 1 tsp. at a time.

Cold Extract Tea: Use 3 heaping tsp. fresh or dried rootstock with 1 cup water; let stand for 10 hours and strain. Bring this soaked rootstock to a boil in 1/2 cup water, then strain. Mix this with the cold extract and drink a mouthful at a time over the course of the day.

Pulp: Stir fresh, chopped rootstock into a little hot water form a thick mash. Spread on a linen cloth and apply. Renew every 2 to 4 hours.

Excerpted from The Herb Book, By John Lust
Benedict Lust Publications (June, 2001)
Used with permission

More from The Herb Book

APHRODISIAC TEA

Mexican damiana leaves
Saw palmetto berries

Powder and mix in equal parts. Take 1 to 2 tsp. a day, in water, wine or gelatin capsules.

or

Jasmine flowers	Rose hips
Rose buds	Tea leaves

Mix in equal parts.
Steep 2 tbsp. mixture in 1 cup boilinghot water for 10 minutes.
Sweeten with honey and add lemon if desired.

BATHS (an herbal bath)

Hops [1 lb.]	Sage [1 oz.]
Thyme [1 oz.]	Lavender [1 oz.]

Put mixture into a muslin bag and tie securely. Soak the bag in the bath water.

BLOOD BUILDER TEA
(vitamins ans minerals)

Spinach [2 parts]
Parsley [1 part]

Put three handsful of this mixture through an electric vegatable juicer.
Then add an equal amount of orange juice.
Take a cup of this "cocktail" 2 or 3 times a day.

Excerpted from The Herb Book, By John Lust
Benedict Lust Publications (June, 2001)
Used with permission

Price: $ 8.95

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