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Blackroot Herb - Uses And Side Effects

With its high tannin content, blackroot has a bitter, nauseating taste. American settlers learned about the herb from Native American Indians. The Delaware Indians called it quitel. The Missouri and Osage Indians referred to it as hini. Early American doctors used blackroot to treat "bilious" fevers.

Blackroot is prepared from the dried roots and rhizome (underground stem) of Veronicastrum virginicum, which grows in Canada and the United States.

Common doses of Blackroot

Blackroot comes as dried root or tincture. Some experts recommend the following dose:

• To induce vomiting or to use as a laxative. 1 gram. To make a tea, mix 1 to 2 teaspoon of dried blackroot in . cold water, boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Drink I cup three times a day. When using the tincture, take 1 to 2 milliliters three times a day.

Why people use Blackroot herb

• Constipation
• Jaundice and other symptoms of liver congestion
• To induce vomiting

Side effects of Blackroot

Call your health care practitioner if you experience any of these possible side effects of blackroot:

• abdominal pain or cramps
• headache
• changes in stool color or odor
• nausea
• drowsiness
• vomiting.

Ingesting large amounts of dried blackroot tea leaves (1/2 pound of tea every 3 to 4 days) can cause liver damage.

Interactions

Combining herbs with certain drugs may alter their action or produce unwanted side effects. Don't use blackroot when taking:

• atropine
• iron-containing preparations
• Buscopan
• Lanoxin
• hyoscine
• Transderm-Scop

Important points to remember

• Don't use blackroot if you're pregnant or breast-feeding.
• Avoid taking large amounts of blackroot, especially if you have liver disease.
• If you have liver disease, be sure to tell your health care practitioner you're using blackroot. He or she may order periodic liver function tests to check for liver damage.

What the research shows

Little Information is available about blackroot's therapeutic uses or effectiveness. At this time, no evidence supports therapeutic claims for this herb.

Other names for Blackroot : -

Other names for blackroot include black root, bowman root, brinton root, Culver's physic Culver's root, high veronica, bini, Leptandra. Leptandra virginica. physic root, Veronica, and Veronica virginica.

No known product containing blackroot are available commercially.

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