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Meadowsweet Herb - Uses And Side Effects

Meadowsweet was among the ancient Dr

uids' most sacred herbs, although no one knows if they used it medicinally. In the Middle Ages, cooks used it to flavor a beverage called mead. In Europe, meadowsweet is still used as a food flavoring.

In the late 1800s, some aspirin products contained meadowsweet. In fact, some people believe the word aspirin comes from meadowsweet's alternative botanical name, Spiraea ulmaria.

Meadowsweet herb, with a short, pink rhizome and a tough, erect branched and leafy stem. The stem leaves are alternate, odd-pinnate, doubly serrate, dark green above and usually white-felted below; the stipules are broadly cordate and conspicuous. The small, creamy-white, fragrant flowers are arranged in a terminal corymb. The flowers have reflexed hairy sepals and numerous long stamens. The fruit, a one-seeded follicle, is spirally twisted. The scent of the leaves is quite different from that of the flowers. Meadowsweet Herbs is located in Missoula, Montana, nestled in the northern Rocky Mountains.

Meadowsweet comes from the dried flowers, stems, and leaves of Filipendula ulmaria (also called S. ulmaria). A member of the rose family (Rosaceae), this hardy perennial is native to Europe and Asia. It's grown In the United States as an ornamental plant. The Food and Drug Administration lists it as an herb of undefined safety.

Common doses of meadowsweet

Meadowsweet comes as:

• tablets of dried herb (300 milligrams)
• infusion
• powder
• fluid extract
• tincture.

Some experts recommend the following doses:

• For diarrhea, 1 cup of decoction taken orally two or three times daily.
• As dried flowers, 2.5 to 3.5 grams taken orally up to three times daily.
• As dried herb, 2 to 6 grams taken orally up to three times daily.
• As liquid extract, 1.5 to 6 milliliters taken orally up to three times daily.
• As an oral infusion, 100 milliliters taken orally every 2 hours.
• As powder, 1/2 teaspoon with a small amount of water taken orally three times daily.
• As a tincture (1:5 in 25% alcohol), 2 to 4 milliliters taken orally up to three times daily.

Uses of meadowsweet

Specifically, meadowsweet may help to :-

• Arthritis
• Bladder inflammation
• Common cold
• Diarrhea
• Fluid retention
• Gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining
• Indigestion
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Joint pain
• Peptic ulcer
• Rheumatism
• Sprains
• Tendinitis
• To induce sweating
• Toothache

Side effects of meadowsweet

Call your health care practitioner if you experience unusual symptoms when taking meadowsweet. This herb may cause sudden contraction of lower airway muscles.

Avoid meadowsweet if you're allergic to aspirin. Salicin, an aspirin ingredient, may be linked to birth defects.

Interactions

Combining herbs with certain drugs may alter their action or produce unwanted side effects. Tell your health care practitioner about any prescription or nonprescription drugs you're taking.

Important points to remember

• Don't take meadowsweet if you're pregnant or breast-feeding.
• Don't use this herb if you have asthma or are allergic to aspirin.
• Don't give meadowsweet to children.
• Be aware that proven antiulcer drugs exist.

What the research shows

According to the German Commission E (similar to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration), meadowsweet has no known side effects except for people allergic to aspirin. The Commission supports its use in treating the common cold.

American medical experts acknowledge that meadowsweet has potential therapeutic value. Nonetheless, they won't recommend the herb until more studies are done.

Other names for meadowsweet : -

Other names for meadowsweet include bridewort, dolloff, dropwort, Filipendula, fleurd'ulmaire, flores ulmariae, gravel root, meadwort, mede-sweet, queen-of-the-meadow, spierstaude, Spiraeae flos (meadowsweet flower), and S. herba (meadowsweet herb).

Products containing meadowsweet are sold under such names as Arkocaps, Artival, Neutracalm, Rheuma- Tee, Rheumex, Santane, and Spireadosa.