Plantain

Plantain

Scientific Name: Plantago major

Part used: Whole plant

In a word: Digestive and general tonic

Uses: Chronic diarrhea, chronic digestive disturbance

A native of Europe, plantain, like the dandelion, was carried to the four corners in the white man’s attempt to own the world. The colonial regimes are gone, but many of the plants they brought with them remain. This common weed, inhabiter of abandoned yards, parking lots, and untended flower gardens, is one of the most widely used medicinal plants. People on every continent collect and use it to stay well and treat illness. Three generations ago, plantain’s use was common knowledge in the United States; today practically no one, and this includes me until very recently, realizes that the plant is anything more than a weed. When folks moved from the countryside to the cities and medically trained doctors replaced family healers, we forgot the plants that had stood us in good stead for years.

Macer Floridus, which was probably written sometime in the ninth century, gives a good look into early European uses for plantain. In the process of reading through the book, something a sane person who wants to maintain his eyesight would not do, I noticed that the author rarely has much more than a few words to say on each plant. Plantain is a different matter. According to this volume, the plant can be sued for: wounds of all sorts including dog bites and scorpion stings, black spots, boils, carbuncles, swellings of the lymph gland, epilepsy, excessive bleeding during menstruation, uterine pains, headaches, coughs, fevers, flu, and sore feet. It is also good for the eyes, gums, and bladder. The list goes on, and on, and on. Who would have thought that such a little weed would actually be so good for so many parts of the body?

The Pennsylvania Dutch used the juice of plantain to soothe tired and abused feet, treat insect bites, and lessen the pain associated with a bad case of hemorrhoids.

Plantago major, or common plantain as we know it, means literally the main solelike plant. The plant’s leaves look vaguely like the sole of a shoe, and several names by which it is known in North America, including devil’s shoe string, reflect this similarity. In the olden days, when people flocked to the countryside to gather wild herbs for spring tonic, plantain was one of the favorites. A woman from Tennessee declared that the best wild greens were mustard and plantain greens cooked with a ham hock or bacon fat for seasoning. Well, the bacon grease might not be that healthy, but the two other ingredients sure would be.

Have you ever heard the story of the white man’s flies? It seems the Indians came to know that the white man was encroaching on their land whenever they saw honey bees, an insect not indigenous to the Americas. The same was true with plantain, which came to be known by the Native Americans as Englishman’s foot. It was somewhat of a godsend that the bees and the plantain arrived at the same time, as the leaf of the plantain was used to draw the venom of the bee from its sting. On this the Indian and the white man agreed. The Native Americans grew familiar with the plantain’s medicinal properties, and the Delawares used it to treat the summer complaint (that’s Victorian for diarrhea).

The Pennsylvania Dutch used the juice of the plant to soothe tired and abused feet, treat insect bites, and lessen the pain associated with a bad case of hemorrhoids. The utilitarian people also found that the seeds were effective in getting rid of intestinal worms. In the Louisiana bayou, the fresh leaves were traditionally applied to sores to promote healing, and the dried leaves were put in the linen closet to perfume the contents and keep insects out. An informant in North Carolina said that plantain leaves placed on the wrist of someone with a fever would cure him if the leaves were left on until they were browned by the sick person’s heat.

Once again, the Chinese, who are quite familiar with this dooryard weed and use it to treat ailments ranging from rheumatism and infertility to urinary infections and problem deliveries, have scientifically researched some of their claims for it. Like the Delaware Indians, the Chinese say that plantain will take care of a case of the trots. Their studies have proven that plantain does stop diarrhea in children, which can be quite lethal for the little tykes. In addition to tacking down the country notion that plantain relieves the summer complaint, they have backed up the belief that the plant leads to healthier childbirth. The Materia Medica mentions a study of women with fetuses in bad positions prior to delivery, in which the use of plantain saw a 90 percent reversal in position – almost all of the women treated had normal presentations at birth.

The plant has received much attention in Burma, where it is used to treat high blood pressure as well as the sores and fevers so common in this steamy part of the world. The Burmese have spent some time looking into plantain’s scientific properties, and they have found a number of interesting facts. Plantain in water or alcohol solutions does indeed produce a drop in arterial pressure in dogs. The plant used to treat stomach disorders worldwide has been proven to do just that. The Burmese likewise determined that a substance contained in the plant, plantaglucide, cuts down the ulceration in rats’ stomachs by 20 percent. They also found that the substance increases secretion of gastric juices and reduces intestinal contractions, which would indeed alleviate stomach pain.

While we’re down there, a delightful home hemorrhoid cream from the gypsies of Eastern Europe includes lard, plantain, and ground ivy. The recipe suggests boiling the ingredients and pressing the resulting mess to get all the plants’ power. Once cool, the salve is placed liberally you know where. The Maori of New Zealand treat the same problem by placing the plant in a steaming pot of water and hanging the afflicted part over the pot: what we like to call a little butt steam. Could be a dangerous proposition, if you ask me. And speaking of parts, Gerard noted that plantain leaves "are singular good to make a water to wash a sore throat or mouth, or the privy parts of a man or woman." Sore privy parts, we all know what that means. Gerard was probably referring to privates plagued with venereal disease. He’s not alone in this reference; the plant has long been prized for treating herpes sores (some say it cures them straight away).

As you peruse the world of tonic plants, you will find that there are your middle-of-the-road tonics, and then there are your serious tonics. The serious tonics are the ones, like plantain, which are also listed for treating wasting conditions. This is a good indication of how restorative the plant is. If plantain can reverse the degenerative process for a failing body, imagine what it can do for one in okay condition.

Plantain is a powerful tonic plant with a specific action against diarrhea. It can be used in acute diarrhea, in other words when a person is suddenly stricken with a bad case of the troes. It can also be used in chronic diarrhea, as in the sort that comes along with HIV and AIDS. When the symptom of a troubled digestive tract is diarrhea, plantain is an excellent and very safe option to pursue. It needs to be taken three times a day to bring the condition under control. If the problem is of long duration, do not expect miracles overnight. It will take some time to take effect. The good news is that it will be improving general health the whole time!

Directions: Tincture (1:5, 25% alcohol): 5ml three times daily