Articles ¬ The Source ¬ The Dreaded and Loved Dandelion

Summer is so short and filled with many things that want our attention; the sun, the beach and the persistent weeds in our lawn and garden. Dandelion, or Taraxacum Officinale, is known and disliked throughout the world, due to its weed-like nature. Although mostly treated as an unwanted weed, the dandelion due to its tap root is great for breaking up soil that it too densely packed and also helps to alkalize the soil allowing for other wanted plants to grow. Dandelion is also one of the most medically useful and nutritionally valuable plants available. The main parts of dandelion that are used medicinally are the roots and leaves.

Dandelion leaves have a higher content of Vitamin A than all of the green leafy vegetables. Dandelion is also high in iron, silicon, magnesium, sodium, potassium, zinc, copper, phosphorus, Vitamin D, Vitamin C, and the B Vitamins. Dandelion is mainly known for its beneficial action on the liver, mostly due to the vitamin Choline. Dandelion has a tonic effect on the liver, meaning that it increases the efficiency of almost every function the organ has.

Because of the effect Dandelion has on the liver, and also on the gallbladder, it can be used to help and treat gall bladder stones, hepatitis, constipation, mononucleosis, cirrhosis of the liver, jaundice and indigestion due to difficulty in digesting fats.

Dandelion is also the perfect natural diuretic, with the leaves mainly being used for this purpose. While it helps you to eliminate excess fluid, it also replenishes the potassium which is usually lost when using chemical diuretics. Because of this, it can be used to help increase weight loss while dieting and decrease fluid retention, which might otherwise lead to edema and high blood pressure.

Dandelion is a bitter herb, which makes it useful to increase the efficiency of the digestive tract. It can also help to increase low stomach acid and the appetite.

Dandelion can be used for the treatment of diabetes and hypoglycemia because of the presence of the chemical "inulin", which has a balancing effect on blood sugar levels, helping to keep them from undergoing sudden and severe fluctuations.

The stem of dandelion can be broken open and the white sap inside used to treat warts. This should be applied at least once daily for maximal effect.

In addition to all of these medicinal qualities, an extract of dandelion has been used in the treatment of breast cancer in Japan for years.

Dandelion greens are excellent as a food, either lightly steamed or raw in a salad. The older leaves aren't as tender as the young ones and tend to be very bitter. The root can be toasted, dried, and made into a delicious coffee substitute, available in most health food stores. The root and leaves of the plant are available dried in pill, tea and liquid extract forms.

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