Yarrow

Yarrow

Scientific Name: Achillea millefolium

Part Used: Whole Plant

Uses: Emergency tonic

Click here for info on Yarrow as an Immune Stimulant

A day or two of hateful feelings, achy bones, poor concentration, fatigue, and a general desire to crawl under a rock where no one can find you usually precede coughs and colds. If one takes action instead of crawling under a rock, coughs and colds can be avoided. To avoid a cold fighting its way into your body emergency medicine is required. The emergency tonic to be used in this case is yarrow, a universal folk heal-all which has been used for thousands of years as a cold stopper.

Yarrow’s scientific name hints of a legendary use. Achilles’ famous heel is said to have been healed when yarrow was applied to it. When studying herbal medicine it is useful to examine the mythical legends attached to medicinal plants. They will tell you something. In the ancient world, yarrow was seen as a potent healing agent, whether applied to a wound, or taken internally to prevent a cold setting in. Yarrow was the preferred domestic medicine of yesteryears' mothers who kept it around to keep coughs and colds at bay.

If you are one of those people that always comes down with a cold in flu season, use yarrow to avoid the experience this year.

Yarrow contains several substances, which are probably responsible for the anticold activity reported by those that use it. The plant contains sesquiterpene lactones including achillin, achillifolin, millefin, dihydroparthenolide, and balchanolide. These substances stimulate the digestive function, and are thought to stimulate the immune system. The stimulated immune system is then better able to fight off the cough or cold. Achillein, another constituent, acts on the blood vessels restricting blood flow to the mucous membrane. The substance is thought to make the mucous membrane less permeable to virus and bacteria and to reduce inflammation of the mucous producing membrane. It also contains azulene, an oil that reduces inflammation of the mucous membrane and body temperature.

Start using yarrow the minute you suspect you have a cold coming on. DO NOT WAIT. Time is of the essence; failure to take action at the first signs could result in having an unnecessary cold.

If your office mate, spouse or children come down with a cold, start using yarrow immediately. You do not have to wait to feel grumpy to use yarrow.

If you are one of those people that always comes down with a cold in flu season, use yarrow to avoid the experience this year. This is especially important for those that cannot afford to get a cold, the elderly and those suffering from a life threatening disease.

Keep some yarrow around the house in a well-sealed container at all times. You never know when a cold will show its ugly head and you need to be prepared. Taking the time to get to the health food shop may mean you start taking yarrow too late in the game.

If you are heading into a period of stress or difficulty, use yarrow on a daily basis to avoid that post exam, moving house, or funeral cold.

Fortunately, yarrow is one of the cheaper tonic medicines on the market. There are two ways to use yarrow and this depends on your circumstance. The first is when you suspect you have a cold coming on. In this instance, brew a pot of yarrow tea by pouring 6 cups of boiling water over one cup of yarrow. Strain this mixture and put in a thermos. Get yourself under the covers and spend the evening drinking half a cup of yarrow tea every hour. If need be, repeat the exercise the following day. To use yarrow as a general anticold tonic, have two cups of yarrow tea, one in the morning and one in the evening when you suspect you might get a cold. Make this tea by pouring one cup of boiling water over one tablespoon of yarrow.

Yarrow as an Immune Stimulant

Scientific name: Achillea millefolium

Part used: Flowering plant

In a word: Immune stimulant

Uses: Chronic coughs and colds, poor resistance to bacterial infection, chronic infections

Introduction

Yarrow is an old European immune stimulant. In the modern age, the human immune system is failing. People are coming down with one cold after the next, constant urinary tract infections plague many, and innocent scratches turn into dangerous infection. This vitality booster needs to be dusted off and put back into action.

History

One of the traditional uses of yarrow is to stop a cold before it takes hold. Throughout Europe one will find country people reaching for yarrow at the first sign of a cough or a cold. However, the medical community also took advantage of the healing properties of yarrow. Here is a quote from Kings’ Dispensatory, written in 1899. As you will see, it suggests it does this a lot more.

"History - Yarrow is a common wayside herb, and is also found growing wild in fields, pastures and waste places throughout the central portions of North America and Europe. It flowers from May to October, during which time it should be gathered (preferably during July), and after rejecting the coarser stems, should be carefully dried. The weight, after drying, is but 15 per cent of the amount collected. The leaves are more astringent than the flowers, the latter being more aromatic than the former. The American plant is said to be more valuable than the European species. Achillea was known to the ancients. Pliny states that the generic term, Achillea, was named from Achilles, a physician, who was one of the first to use a species of this plant as a vulnerary. Yarrow is sold by the native herbalists of India, like rosemary, where it is used as a bitter and in medicated vapour baths for fevers (Dymock). The Italians employed it in intermittent fevers, and in the Scottish highlands it is made into ointment for wounds. According to Linnaeus the Dalecarlians used it as a substitute for hops in the making of ale, believing it to impart to it intoxicating qualities. Both Stahl and Haller used this plant extensively.

Yarrow acts as a gentle tonic with a specific action on the immune system, raising general health and immune function at the same time.

Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage

Yarrow possesses slightly astringent properties, and is tonic, alterative and diuretic, in infusion. Prof. J. M. Scudder especially recommends its use in chronic diseases of the urinary apparatus. It exerts a tonic influence upon the venous system, as well as upon mucous membranes. It has been efficacious in sore throat, hemoptysis, hematuria, and other forms of haemorrhage, where the bleeding is small in amount, incontinence of urine, diabetes, haemorrhoids with bloody or mucoid discharges, and dysentery; also in amenorrhoea, flatulency and spasmodic diseases, and in the form of injection in leucorrhoea with relaxed vaginal walls. Prof. T. V. Morrow made much use of an infusion of this herb in dysentery. Given in half-drachm doses of the saturated tincture, or 20-drop doses of specific achillea, it will be found one of our best agents for the relief of menorrhagia.

The active principle, Achillein, has been employed in France and other portions of Southern Europe, as a substitute for quinine in the treatment of intermittent fevers. It has also been employed by French physicians to restore arrested lochial discharges."

Science

The historical uses of yarrow suggest it contains immune stimulants. Indeed, it is a relation of the popular and well-known immune stimulant Echinacea. Research has shown that it contains bitter substances, which stimulate immune function. In addition, it contains oils that act as antimicrobial agents. The immune stimulant activity of yarrow needs additional research, but, early indicators suggest it does what the ancients said it did, stimulate healing. This healing is likely to be due to boosted immune function.

Practitioner Opinion

When a person has an infection, or is suffering from an infection, yarrow is a great choice. It acts as a gentle tonic with a specific action on the immune system. It raises general health and immune function at the same time. It can be used when one suspects a cold is coming, when one is run down and vulnerable to colds, and or when one has suffered a string of infections. The herb is non-toxic and safe to use so it factors well into a wellness regime, used long term or short term.

Quick Review

History: Used by Europeans to stimulate well being

Science: Contains bitter constituents that stimulate immune function

Practitioners’ Opinion: Works well and is very mild!

Dosage:

Herb: 1.5g in 1 cup hot water, 3 cups per day

Tincture 1:1, 1.5ml three times a day

Tincture 1:5, 5ml three times a day