Papaya - a world class meat tenderizer, natural digestive aid, prevents ulcers, and also a soft contact lense cleaner.Healing with Burdock
Many modern herbal experts say thumbs down to burdock as a healing herb. In Natural Product Medicine, Ara Der Marderosian, Ph.D., and Lawrence Liberti write: “There is little evidence to suggest burdock is useful in treatment of any human disease.” And in The New Honest Herbal, Varro Tyler, Ph.D., writes: “In spite of its long folkloric use, no solid evidence exists that burdock exhibits useful therapeutic activity.”
Most traditional claims for burdock have not withstood scientific scrutiny. It does not treat leprosy, arthritis, uterine prolapse, or congestive heart failure. But several studies suggest the herb may prove to be therapeutic after all.
Infection - German researchers have discovered fresh burdock root contains chemicals (polyacetylenes) that kill disease-causing bacteria and fungi. Though dried burdock contains less of these chemicals, their presence may help explain the herb’s traditional use against ringworm, a fungal infection, and several bacterial infections, including gonorrhea, skin infections, and urinary tract infections.
However, burdock is no substitute for professional medical treatment of fungal and bacterial infections.
Intriguing Possibilities - Burdock has been used extensively around the world as a cancer treatment. and several studies show that substances found in the herb do, in fact. have antitumor activity. An article published in Chemotherapy identified a chemical (arctigenin) in burdock as an “inhibitor of experimental tumor growth.” And a study published in Mutation Research showed the herb decreases mutations in cells exposed to mutation-causing chemicals. (Most substances that cause genetic mutations also cause cancer.)
Of course, cancer requires professional care. If you’d like to try burdock in addition to standard therapy, discuss it with your physician.
Finally, burdock has an as-yet-unexplained anti-poisoning effect. Experimental animals fed the herb were somehow protected against several chemicals known to be toxic.
In view of these tantalizing findings, let’s hope scientists cling to burdock research as tenaciously as the plant’s burrs cling to just about anything.
Rx for Burdock
If your physician gives the okay, use burdock in conjunction with other cancer therapy. The herb may also be used as part of the treatment for certain infections, such as those that attack the urinary tract, and also for gonorrhea. Take it as a decoction or tincture.
For a decoction, boil I teaspoon of root in 3 cups of water for 30 minutes. Cool. Drink up to 3 cups a day. It has a sweet taste similar to celery root.
In a tincture, take 112 to I teaspoon up to three times a day. Do not give burdock to children under age 2. For older children and people over 65, start with low-strength preparations and increase strength if necessary.