|
Copyright© 1989
by Goosefoot Acres, Inc. All rights reserved.
The following is an excerpt from the excellent book by Peter
A. Gail, Ph.D., titled "The Dandelion Celebration- The Guide
to Unexpected Cuisine." See end note.
The Health Benefits
of Dandelions
By Peter Gail
Suppose your doctor
tells you, on your next visit, that he has just discovered
a miracle drug which, when eaten as a part of your daily
diet or taken as a beverage, could, depending on the peculiarities
of your body chemistry:
-prevent or cure liver
diseases, such as hepatitis or jaundice;
-act as a tonic and
gentle diuretic to purify your blood, cleanse your system,
dissolve kidney stones, and otherwise improve gastro-intestinal
health;
-assist in weight
reduction;
-cleanse your skin
and eliminate acne;
-improve your bowel
function, working equally well to relieve both constipation
and diarrhea;
-prevent or lower
high blood pressure;
-prevent or cure anemia;
-lower your serum
cholesterol by as much as half;
-eliminate or drastically
reduce acid indigestion and gas buildup by cutting the heaviness
of fatty foods;
-prevent or cure various
forms of cancer;
-prevent or control
diabetes melitis;
and, at the same time,
have no negative side effects and selectively act on only
what ails you. If he gave you a prescription for this miracle
medicine, would you use it religiously at first to solve
whatever the problem is and then consistently for preventative
body maintenance?
All the above curative
functions, and more, have been attributed to one plant known
to everyone, Taraxacum officinale, which means
the "Official Remedy for Disorders." We call it the common
dandelion. It is so well respected, in fact, that
it appears in the U.S. National Formulatory, and in the
Pharmacopeias of Hungary, Poland, Switzerland, and the Soviet
Union. It is one of the top 6 herbs in the Chinese herbal
medicine chest.
According to the USDA
Bulletin #8, "Composition of Foods" (Haytowitz and Matthews
1984), dandelions rank in the top 4 green vegetables in
overall nutritional value. Minnich, in "Gardening for Better
Nutrition" ranks them, out of all vegetables, including
grains, seeds and greens, as tied for 9th best. According
to these data, dandelions are nature's richest green vegetable
source of beta-carotene, from which Vitamin A is created,
and the third richest source of Vitamin A of all
foods, after cod-liver oil and beef liver! They also are
particularly rich in fiber, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium,
phosphorus and the B vitamins, thiamine and riboflavin,
and are a good source of protein.
These figures represent
only those published by the USDA. Studies in Russia and
Eastern Europe by Gerasimova, Racz, Vogel, and Marei (Hobbs
1985) indicate that dandelion is also rich in micronutrients
such as copper, cobalt, zinc, boron, and molybdenum, as
well as Vitamin D.
Much of what dandelions
purportedly do in promoting good health could result from
nutritional richness alone. Vogel considers the sodium in
dandelions important in reducing inflammations of the liver.
Gerasimova, the Russian chemist who analyzed the dandelion
for, among other things, trace minerals, stated that "dandelion
[is] an example of a harmonious combination of trace elements,
vitamins and other biologically active substances in ratios
optimal for a human organism" (Hobbs 1985).
Recent research, reported
in the Natural Healing and Nutritional Annual, 1989 (Bricklin
and Ferguson 1989) on the value of vitamins and minerals
indicates that:
* Vitamin A
is important in fighting cancers of epithelial tissue, including
mouth and lung;
* Potassium
rich foods, in adequate quantities, and particularly in
balance with magnesium, helps keep blood pressure down and
reduces risks of strokes;
* Fiber fights
diabetes, lowers cholesterol, reduces cancer and heart disease
risks, and assists in weight loss. High fiber vegetables
take up lots of room, are low in calories, and slow down
digestion so the food stays in the stomach longer and you
feel full longer;
* Calcium
in high concentrations can build strong bones and can lower
blood pressure;
* B vitamins
help reduce stress.
Throughout history,
dandelions have had a reputation as being effective in promoting
weight loss and laboratory research indicates that there
is some support for this reputation. Controlled tests on
laboratory mice and rats by the same Romanians indicated
that a loss of up to 30% of body weight in 30 days was possible
when the animals were fed dandelion extract with their food.
Those on grass extract lost much less. The control group
on plain water actually gained weight.
Beyond nutritional
richness, however, are the active chemical constituents
contained in dandelions which may have specific therapeutic
effects on the body. These include, as reported by Hobbs
(1985):
* Inulin,
which converts to fructose in the presence of cold or hydrochloric
acid in the stomach. Fructose forms glycogen in the liver
without requiring insulin, resulting in a slower blood sugar
rise, which makes it good for diabetics and hypoglycemics;
* Tof-CFr,
a glucose polymer similar to lentinan, which Japanese researchers
have found to act against cancer cells in laboratory mice;
Lentinan is a yeast glucan (glucose polymer) that increases
resistance against protozoal and viral infections.;
* Pectin,
which is anti-diarrheal and also forms ionic complexes with
metal ions, which probably contributes to dandelion's reputation
as a blood and gastrointestinal detoxifying herb. Pectin
is prescribed regularly in Russia to remove heavy metals
and radioactive elements from body tissues. Pectin can also
lower cholesterol and, combined with Vitamin C, can lower
it even more. Dandelion is a good source of both Pectin
and Vitamin C;
* Coumestrol,
an estrogen mimic which possibly is responsible, at least
in part, for stimulating milk flow and altering hormones;
* Apigenin
and Luteolin, two flavonoid glycosides which have
been demonstrated to have diuretic, anti-spasmodic, anti-oxidant
and liver protecting actions and properties, and also to
strengthen the heart and blood vessels. They also have anti-bacterial
and anti-hypoglycemic properties, and, as estrogen mimics,
may also stimulate milk production and alter hormones;
* Gallic Acid,
which is anti-diarrheal and anti-bacterial;
* Linoleic
and Linolenic Acid, which are essential fatty acids
required by the body to produce prostaglandin which regulate
blood pressure and such body processes as immune responses
which suppress inflammation. These fatty acids can lower
chronic inflammation, such as proliferative arthritis, regulate
blood pressure and the menstrual cycle, and prevent platelet
aggregation;
* Choline,
which has been shown to help improve memory;
*Several Sesquiterpene
compounds which are what make dandelions bitter. These may
partly account for dandelions tonic effects on digestion,
liver, spleen and gall bladder, and are highly anti-fungal;
* Several Triterpenes,
which may contribute to bile or liver stimulation;
* Taraxasterol,
which may contribute to liver and gall bladder health or
to hormone altering.
These chemicals, individually,
are not unique to dandelions, but the combination of them
all in one plant, along with high levels of vitamins, minerals,
carbohydrates, proteins and fiber account for the many claims
made regarding the plant.
These claims include
the following results of clinical and laboratory research,
again as reported in Hobbs (1985):
* A doubling
of bile output with leaf extracts, and a quadrupling
of bile output with root extract. Bile assists with the
emulsification, digestion and absorption of fats, in alkalinizing
the intestines and in the prevention of putrefaction. This
could explain the effectiveness of dandelion in reducing
the effects of fatty foods (heartburn and acid indigestion);
* A reduction
in serum cholesterol and urine bilirubin levels
by as much as half in humans with severe liver imbalances
has been demonstrated by Italian researchers;
* Diuretic
effects with a strength approaching that of the
potent diuretics Furosemide and Lasix,
used for congestive heart failure and cirrhosis of the liver,
with none of the serious side effects, were found by Romanian
scientists. They found that water extract of dandelion leaves,
administered orally, because of its high potassium content,
replaced serum potassium electrolytes lost in the urine,
eliminating such side effects common with the synthetics
as severe potassium depletion, hepatic coma in liver patients,
circulatory collapse, and transmission through mothers'
milk;
* In 1979 a Japanese
patent was filed for a freeze-dried warm water extract of
dandelion root for anti-tumor use. It was
found that administration of the extract markedly inhibited
growth of particular carcinoma cells within one week after
treatment;
* Dental researchers
at Indiana University in 1982 used dandelion extracts in
antiplaque preparations;
* In studies from 1941
to 1952, the French scientist Henri Leclerc demonstrated
the effectiveness of dandelion on chronic liver
problems related to bile stones. He found that
roots gathered in late summer to fall, when they are rich
in bitter, white milky latex, should be used for all liver
treatments;
* In 1956, Chauvin
demonstrated the antibacterial effects of dandelion
pollen, which may validate the centuries old use
of dandelion flowers in Korean folk medicine to prevent
furuncles (boils, skin infections), tuberculosis, and edema
and promote blood circulation.
Also, Witt (1983)
recommends dandelion tea to alleviate the water
buildup in PMS (pre-menstrual syndrome).
There are many testimonials
from those who have benefited from the use of dandelions
in the treatment of what ailed them.
Robert Stickle, an
internationally famous architect, was diagnosed as having
a malignant melanoma 21 years ago, and was given, after
radical surgery had not halted its spread, less than 2 years
to live. He said, in a letter to Jeff Zullo, president of
the Society for the Promotion of Dandelions, (June 23, 1986):
" I went on a search
for the answer to my mortal problem, and [discovered] that
perhaps it was a nutritional dilemma.... To me, cancer is
primarily a liver failure manifestation. {Italians are very
concerned about problems of the 'fegato']. [I discovered
that] the cancer rate in native Italians is very low among
the farming population (paesanos). When they get affluent
and move to the city, its the same as the rest of civilized
man. Paesanos eat dandelions, make brew from the roots,
and are healthy, often living to over 100 years."
He states that he
began eating dandelion salad every day, and his improvement
confounded the doctors. When he wrote the letter in 1986,
18 years had passed and there had been no recurrence of
the melanoma.
A benefit which comes
from writing articles for national media is that you hear
from people who have interesting stories to tell. I recently
received a call from Peter Gruchawka, a 70 year old gentleman
from Manorville, NY, who reported that he had been diagnosed
with diabetes melitis 3 months before and was put on 5 grams
of Micronase. At the time, he had a 5+ sugar spillover in
his urine. He took Micronase for about a month before he
learned, from his wife who is a nurse, that Micronase can
do damage to the liver. He had read in "Herbal Medicine"
by Diane Buchanan and "Back to Eden" by Jethro Kloss about
the effectiveness of dandelions in controlling diabetes.
Without saying anything to his doctors, he stopped taking
Micronase and began drinking dandelion coffee each day.
During the first week, his urinary sugar, measured night
and morning, was erratic and unstable, but after a week,
his sugar stabilized and when he called, he had been getting
negative urine sugar readings for over a month. The doctors
are amazed and can't explain it. An interesting side benefit
to replacing Micronase with dandelion coffee is that, while
Micronase damages the liver as a side effect, dandelions
are particularly known for strengthening the liver.
According to Mr. Gruchawka,
he changed nothing but the medication. He had cut out pastries
and other sugars when he was diagnosed and started on Micronase,
and has continued to do without those things while taking
dandelion coffee.
In reporting these
claims, however, I must add three qualifiers:
1. First, unfortunately,
neither herbs nor synthetic remedies work for everyone in
the same way. Different bodies respond differently to medicines,
and what works incredibly well for one person may not work
at all, or work less well, for someone else.
2. Second, good health
results from a combination of healthy diet and enough exercise
to keep the body toned. Bob Stickle, for all his insistence
that dandelions cured him, changed, according to a mutual
friend, his entire lifestyle. He didn't just add dandelion
salad to what he was already doing.
3. People with
health problems need to seek the advice and care of a competent
physician, with whom this information can be shared. It
is important to reemphasize that it is presented as information
only. I am not a medical doctor, and neither advocate nor
prescribe dandelions or dandelion products for use by anyone
or for any ailment. Only your doctor can do that.
Because there are
so many variables, it is hard to attribute Mr. Stickle's
cure to any one of them directly. Likewise, Italian farmers
live a lifestyle which combines a healthy diet, lots of
work and clean air. They heat and cook with wood, which
they have to cut and split. They haul water for household
use. When they move to the city, diet, exercise, and environmental
conditions change. Stress and sedentary habits increase.
And there is the importance
of faith in the healing process, whether it be faith in
God or faith in the curative properties of the herb being
taken.
While dandelions,
given all these variables, may never be proved to cure any
specific ill, they are an extremely healthy green which
cannot in any way hurt you. Research on how much you would
have to eat to cause harm indicates that eating grass is
more dangerous than eating dandelions (Hobbs 1985). Therefore,
with everything going for dandelions, it is highly probable
that everyone can derive at least some nutritional benefit
from them by eating or drinking them regularly.
The medical and pharmacological
establishment is generally critical of claims regarding
the use of herbs on disease, and their concerns need to
be put in perspective.
Herbal medicines have
been used very effectively far longer than synthetics, and
many current pharmaceutical products have been derived from
research on plants used as medicine by many cultures. The
problem with plants, however, is that they are available
to anyone. It is impossible to patent a plant, and thereby
gain proprietary rights to it. As a consequence, pharmaceutical
companies attempt to isolate the active properties from
medicinal plants and synthesize them so that they can patent
them. Many of the synthetics have serious side-effects which
were not present in the natural plant product, often because
other chemicals in the plant offset them (i.e. the large
quantities of potassium in dandelions which allows for potassium
replenishment when dandelion is used as a diuretic).
USDA botanist Dr.
James Duke (1989) suggests that a proper and appropriate
"herbal soup", filled with "vitamins, minerals, fibers and
a whole host of bioactive compounds," from which the body
can selectively strain the compounds it needs to restore
itself to health, will be more effective than synthetic
medicines containing a "very select and specialized compound
or two plus filler, usually non-nutritive." This is especially
true if the "herbal soup", in the form of a potent potherb
like dandelion, is a regular part of the diet so that the
appropriate bioactive substances are present in the right
amounts when the body needs them.
The book that this
reprint was taken from "The Dandelion Celebration-The Guide
to Unexpected Cuisine" is recommended to anyone who would
like to know more about this remarkable plant. It covers
everything you could want to know about dandelions and more,
including recipes, planting, picking and preparing, along
with the wonderful history of this "Official Remedy for
Disorders", Taraxacum officinale, the common dandelion.
Back
to top
|
