Sunday, May 10, 2009

Weeds as medicinals

I get the pleasure of dealing with high blood pressure late in my pregnancies. During my home visit with my homebirth midwife and her apprentice on Thursday, they showed me a "weed" growing in my yard which helps with lowering blood pressure. Oat straw. I did a bit of research on it and also found that not only is it an effective nervine, it also has nutritive value, is a diuretic as well as an antidepressant, helps to stabilize blood sugar levels, is one of the most potent anti-osteoporosis herbs out there, and because of the sicilic acid content it's excellent for treating skin conditions externally. Impressive, eh? This pesky grass just became quite attractive. I decided to add some fresh chamomile from the garden (which, let's face it, once planted becomes a pesky weed as well) and steep a tea overnight. It has now been added to my somewhat lengthy regiment of tinctures and supplements.
Cheers to good health! (and continued numbers like this!)

4 comments:

Marlyn said...

I have some of that weed too! I have a newfound appreciation for it!

Cheers to good numbers!

Serena said...

Ugh....wish I had some of that in my backyard! (hell, I wish I *had* a backyard). I'm getting yucky acne! Think you might want to send me some?? ;)

JJElias said...

Amazing what a little bit of research and some good ol' down home information will do to make EVERYTHING better...Will Oat Straw grow in Montana??

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's incredible that the weed you needed to help lower your blood pressure was right in your own back yard. I hope it helps. And I hope that this last stretch of pregnancy goes well!