Papaya - a world class meat tenderizer, natural digestive aid, prevents ulcers, and also a soft contact lense cleaner.Burdock also known as Great Burdock, Burr
Likely to Stick Around
Family: Compositae; (includes Daisy, Dandelion, Marigold)
Genus and Species: Arctium Lappa
Also known as: Great Burdock, Burr
Parts used: Primarily Roots, also Leaves and Seeds
Burdock - the name is a combination of bur, from its tenacious burrs, and dock, Old English for “plant” seems to reach out and grab anything that comes near it And the same could be said for its place in modern herbal healing. While many scientists have dismissed burdock as useless, it seems destined to hang on as a healing herb, particularly as a potential treatment for cancer.
Burdock has had its ups and downs in the past. When it wasn’t being reviled as a pest, it was being recommended as a healing treatment for a surprising variety of conditions. The medieval German abbess/herbalist Hildegard of Bingen used it to treat cancerous tumors.
Early Chinese physicians considered burdock a remedy for colds, flu, throat infections, and pneumonia. India’s traditional Ayurvedic healers used it similarly.
An Herb for All Reasons
During the 14th century in Europe, burdock leaves were pounded in wine and used to treat leprosy London’s overly imaginative 17th century herbalist Nicholas Culpeper recommended burdock for uterine prolapse, a condition in which the ligaments supporting the uterus weaken, causing it to fall into the vagina. Culpeper’s bizarre prescription: Place burdock on the crown of the head to draw the womb back up.
Later European herbalists prescribed burdock root for fever, cancer, eczema, psoriasis, acne, dandruff, gout, ringworm, skin infections, syphilis, gonorrhea, and problems associated with childbirth.
America’s 19th-century Eclectic physicians considered it an excellent diuretic and prescribed it for urinary tract infection, kidney problems, and painful urination, in addition to skin infections and arthritis.
The Cancer Controversy
Centuries after Hildegard recommended burdock for cancer, the herb’s reputation as a tumor treatment spread to Russia, China, India, and the Americas.
From the 1930s to the 1950s, burdock was an ingredient in the alternative cancer treatment marketed by ex-coal miner Harry Hoxsey.
Contemporary herbalists have abandoned burdock as a cancer treatment (perhaps prematurely) but continue to recommend it for skin problems, wound treatment, urinary tract infection, arthritis, sciatica, ulcers, and even anorexia nervasa.