Re: Re: Buckthorn

[Guest guest]

I checked a couple places, as I've used it before... one was http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/buckth80.html#cal

can't remember the other. sorry. plus I have some info on it on file.pam <peetee1965@...> wrote:

Here is what I have on buckthorn, Suzi did I get this from you?PamBuckthorn BarkConstituents: Buckthorn contains chemicals (anthraquinones) that are toodramatic for most people, and should be considered only a last-resort treatmentfor constipation.Uses: Buckthorn is a potent laxative, so powerful that authorities advise usingit only as a last resort when other, gentler laxatives have failed. Buckthornbecame popular in herbal healing in Europe around the 13th century. At the time,they had few effective medicines to offer. And they believed the key to curingdisease lay in purging the body. Not surprisingly, powerful laxatives werewidely prescribed. Buckthorn was a favorite because it produced quick, reliableand dramatic results. It didn't cure any disease, but it did leave

people withintestinal cramps. Through the ages, herbalists have also recommended Buckthornfor jaundice, hemorrhoids, gout, arthritis, and menstruation promotion.Buckthorn also has a long history as a cancer treatment. In America it was aningredient in the popular but highly controversial Hoxsey Cancer Formula.Buckthorn doesn't treat jaundice or arthritis, and it's more likely to aggravatehemorrhoids than help them. Its laxative action is sopowerful, it's considered a purgative. It's an ingredient in theover-the-counter laxative Movicol. Before resorting to Buckthorn, eat a diethigh in fiber, drink more fluids, and exercise more. If that doesn't providerelief, try a bulk-forming laxative such as psyllium, and if that doesn't help,try a gentler relative of Buckthorn, Cascara Sagrada. Buckthorn does have ananti-tumor effect, according to research published in the Journal of theNational

Cancer Institute, but further studies must be conducted before the herbcan be used to treat cancer. The leaves, bruised and applied to a wound, willstop the bleeding. The juice of the berries is used to make Buckthorn syrup, apowerful laxative. This medicine was official until 1867 but has fallen intodisuse because its action is so severe. It is still used as a laxative foranimals. Purging is not a method employed by modern medical herbalists; however,a homeopathic medicine made from Rhamnus catharticus is available. Buckthorncan still be used as an ointment to treat warts and pruritus. Miscellaneous: In Germany, physicians prescribe an infusion containing 1/2teaspoon each of dried buckthorn bark, fennel seed, and chamomile flowerssteeped in 1 cup of boiling water for 10 minutes. Drink before bedtime. You'llfind the taste initially sweet, then bitter. Bark is used for dye after agingfor

one year. Cultural controls that have been used for management includecutting, mowing, girdling, excavation, burning, and "underplanting." Repeatedcutting reduces plant vigor. Mowing maintains open areas by preventing seedlingestablishment. Glossy buckthorn girdled with a two- to three-centimeter-widesaw-cut, completely through the bark at the base, does not resprout. Girdlingmay be done at any time of the year. A five-second flame torch applicationaround the stem kills stems less than 4.5 centimeters in diameter. Seedlings orsmall plants may be hand-pulled or removed with a grubbing hoe. Larger plantsmay be pulled out with heavy equipment. Excavation often disturbs rootsof adjacent plants, or creates open soil readily colonized by new seedlings.This technique may be most useful to control invasion at low densities, or alongtrails, roads and woodland edges. Buckthorn is said to be under the

dominion ofSaturn. Caution: Dangerous to eat; cathartic. If you use Buckthorn, be sure it's driedfor at least one year, and do not use for more than 2 weeks at a time, as thebowel may become dependent on it.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------