Dandelion

Taraxacum officinale Asteraceae

Dandelion leaf is one of the best general diuretics for detoxing, hypertension, and flushing out the urinary tract in chronic and acute infection. It can be used as a tea or tincture, and the young leaves make a perfectly good salad green, with a bitter taste. There is a certain 'type' who really benefit from reguar use of dandelion leaf preparations. These are people who tend to sweat a lot on exercising, who go red, and who might get red and hot skin conditions from time to time. Dandelion leaf combines well with yarrow for water retention, and with bearberry (Arcostaphylos uva-ursi) for liver and gall bladder problems. The leaf contains good levels of potassium, and so replenishes any potassium lost due to its diuretic action.

The root is best harvested in the Autumn, is both sweet and bitter. The sweetness gives it a nutritive, restorative property, particularly for the liver. The bitter quality clears heat from the liver (it is the archtypal 'cooling bitter')and is choleretic and cholagogue. Thus dandelion root is used for liver function in a wide range of problems.

Actions

• diuretic
• Cholagogue
• Laxative
• Anti-rheumatic
• Choleretic
• Bitter

Components

Uses - Leaves:

• sluggish liver
• skin problems
• constipation
• urinary problems
• fluid retention
• arthritis
• Gout
• High blood pressure
• Muscular rheumatism
• Ascites
• Cardiac oedema
• Gall bladder problems, including stones

Uses - Roots:

• Prostate enlargement - benign prostatic hyperplasia
• Infections
• Inflammation
• Bacterial and fungal infections