Treating The Digestive Tract With Fennel

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Treating The Digestive Tract With Fennel

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Though native to Europe, especially the Mediterranean region, fennel is today cultivated in many other parts of the world, including North America, Asia, and China. Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a perennial plant. The leaves, bulb, and stalk of fennel resemble white celery and are all edible. The seeds are used in herbal medicines and as a spice in cooking. Fennel is widely used in Mediterranean cuisine and has a sweet licorice taste.

The fennel seed has a fragrant odor and taste. It has been used for centuries and may be found growing wild in many parts of the world, especially dry limestone soils near the sea-coast and upon river-banks. Today it is cultivated in the south of France, Saxony, Galicia, and Russia for medicine, as well as in the far east.

Fennel has a thick bright green root-stock and stout stems. The four to five feet tall plant has a certain beauty about it. The branched leaves bring forth bright golden flowers that blossom in July and early August each having thirteen to twenty rays.

The stems are used in soups or salads. Some even claim that eating the peeled stalks relaxes the body for sleep.

The presence of terpenoid anethole is one of the fennel seed benefits has made it famous for treating digestive ailments since the time of the ancient Egyptians. It has the ability to calm the gastrointestinal tract and relieve cramps. Often fennel is mixed with wormwood, peppermint, and caraway to treat heartburn, indigestion, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

Fennel has aided many woman with health issues. It will relax the uterus and promote natural breast enhancement. Fennel is also used to treat hormonal imbalance which causes PMS, menopause, and low libido, and to stimulate menstruation and milk production in nursing mothers.

Fennel also helps with congestion problems by loosing phlegm in the breathing passages and treating a persistent cough. Give the patient fennel tea to do this, made by crushing 1 to 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds and mixing them in a cup of hot water.

Some believe that fennel has some diuretic effect, and may help reduce a problem with water retention. Fennel for some reduces the appetite and is therefore effective in weight loss.

You can purchase fennel in capsules, as an oil, as whole fennel seed, in a tincture, or as a liquid seed extract. Of course, you can also grow it yourself. If you do, don’t plant it in the vicinity of tomatoes or caraway for this will hinder their production. Use 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of the seeds, 2 to 12 drops of the oil, or .5 teaspoons of the liquid daily.

Note these cautions. Pregnant or nursing mothers should not take fennel. Neither give it to small children, or take it for extended time yourself. A few cases of asthmatic and allergic reactions have been reported as well.

Tags: natural remedy for depression, natural healingremedies, Traditional Chinese Medicine