Your Medicinal Plants

Star anise

Familia de Liliaceae

This herb is native to southern China, Korea and Japan.
The scientific name is Illicium verum.
This medicinal plant belongs to the family Illiciaceae.
Star anise is an herb that in high doses can produce toxic effects and was therefore withdrawn in October 2001.
Among the contraindications saw that can cause toxic effects on the nervous system causing delirium and convulsions.
Star anise is an herb that can be found with other common names such as China anise or star anise.
The parts used medicinally are the seeds or fruit.
This herb is a fruit with a six to twelve star-shaped carpels with which you can prepare tea.
Star anise is a perennial shrub that can reach up to 5 m. high and is similar to the laurel tree.
The leaves of this herb are entire and lanceolate.
Star anise flowers are solitary, 15 to 20 petals greenish-yellow or pink spiral insertion.
The fruits of this herb are brown and have a star shape that gives the common name.
Its medicinal properties are very similar; both aid digestion and encourage the elimination of intestinal gas and flatulence, as their consumption is indicated for people with digestion problems and heavy gases.
Anethole however, ingested in high doses may have toxic effects, while in 2001 the market took off this herb.
But this herb has other beneficial compounds to the body, such as essential oil, fixed oil rich in oleic acid, linoleic, palmitic, stearic, organic acids: protocatechuic, shikimic, quinic, saponins, pentosans, starch, resins, minerals, fats, tannins, albumin, pectin and mucilage
Among its properties: it is that star anise is also a good eupéptico-digestive (gastric secretion promotes and carminative).

Recipes for this herb:

Infusion in a cup of boiling water is added to 1 g of seeds of this herb.

Sarsaparilla

Familia de Liliaceae

Sarsaparilla is a vine plant also known as Viper. This herb can grow to up to 50 m. long.
Belongs to the family Liliaceae and its scientific name is Smilax officinale, there are about 200 different species of Sarsaparilla but none with as many properties as Smilax officinale.
Sarsaparilla is a vine, with stems bear spines. The leaves are glossy and sometimes with spiny margins. The flowers are small, yellow, sweet perfume, hanging in inflorescences. There are male plants and female plants. The female are the small little fruits are reddish / purple.
The root of this herb is the part used for medical purposes, and looks long and tuberous.
Among their habitats are forests and brush areas, and covering the trunks of trees and shrubs.
Before our time, Sarsaparilla was already used by the natives of  Central America, for treating sexual impotence, rheumatism, skin diseases and as a tonic for physical weakness.
It is a medicinal plant that contains minerals such as: Aluminum, Calcium, Chromium, Cobalt, Phosphorus, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Potassium and Zinc, among others.
Sarsaparilla is a medicinal plant native to the Amazon, known in America and Europe for its excellent healing properties and therapeutic blood purification, blood sugar, atherosclerosis, diabetes, removes excess high cholesterol, high triglycerides, acid , arthritis, rheumatism, gout, cramps, numbness, leg swelling, fever, clean mucus and unhealthy adiposity, bronchi, lungs, asthma, choking, coughing, impurities of various kinds, cramps, stomach and intestinal inflammation, chronic gastritis, cysts and fibroids of the uterus and ovaries, diverticulitis, glaucoma, farsightedness, cystitis, headache, bad breath, cirrhosis, hepatitis, anti carcinogenic, liver purifying.
Do not drink during pregnancy, as recommended caution and care in heart problems.
The Sarsaparilla is one of the most important medicinal plants in natural medicine and homeopathy, in the form of drops, capsules, syrups, creams.

Recipes from this medicinal plant:

Infusion:  The part used for this recipe root beer must be the root.
You must place 1 tablespoon of the herb (finely chopped) per liter of water, boil and let stand 10 minutes. Store in the refrigerator.
3 cups are taken daily, half an hour before meals, 1 cup before breakfast, after lunch and after dinner. Take warm.
Sarsaparilla recommended for this infusion of asthma, choking, cough, bronchi, lungs.
For best results it should take this herb for not less than 9 days to 45 days.

Onion

Familia de Liliaceae

The scientific name of onion is Allium cepa L. This plant belongs to the plant family Liliaceae.
This medicinal plant has a bulbous root with layered fleshy scales, covered with a white colored tunic, purple or yellow.
The stem of the onion has a widest part at the base, is herbaceous and can reach 1 m. high. The leaves of this plant are almost cylindrical and green. The flowers of Allium cepa L. are white or purple.
This herb has medicinal properties such as stomach, expectorant, vermifuge, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, ant rheumatic, and cosmetics.

The onion is made up of Allicin, butane and etiltritiahexano. Protein substances, alicyclic compounds, essential oil. Like garlic, onions contain disulfide alilpropilo (from allicin).
Flavonoids: quercetin, water, reducing sugars, sucrose, glucoquinine, pectin, inulin, acrolein, vitamins A, B and C, minerals (iron, magnesium, fluorine, sulfur, calcium, potassium, phosphorus), fiber, among other compounds.
The leaves also contain vitamin C, even three times that of the bulb.
For every 100 gr. raw onion, there are 33 Calories.
One of the most frequent uses of onion is eaten raw, is an excellent diuretic and helps to dissolve gravel and stones.
The water in the Allium cepa L. is a good vermifuge.

Recipes from this medicinal herb:

It leaves a chopped onion in water all night, and morning resulting liquid is ingested on an empty stomach. You can also boil onions in ¼ pint of milk. In this case will take 2 tablespoons, lying down and fasting. This preparation serves as a vermifuge.

Tea: in flu cases is recommended to take 200 gr. of this medicinal plant crushed and mixed with hot tea, 3 times a day.

Insects: a piece of Allium cepa L. is applied by rubbing over the area bitten by insects. Relieves pain and helps reduce irritation. Applied on the skin, it also serves as a repellent against insects. Also applied to chilblains disappear.

Cleaner: The juice of onions is also used to remove rust and is an excellent glass cleaner.

Liquor: for gallstones will often succeed the liquor of this herb. It is prepared with one liter of cane and 600 gr. of this medicinal plant trail. Allow macerating for 10 days, filtered and guard in a dark bottle and cover tightly. It is recommended to take 2 teaspoons before each meal.