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Wormwood is the classic dewormer, but long term use can be toxic, check with your vet
Wormwood is used today mainly as a bitter tonic, in fact "as bitter as Wormwood" is a very Ancient proverb, and is also mentioned in Biblical texts "her end was as bitter as wormwood." Proverbs 5:4
The azulenes in the plant are anti-inflammatory and reduce fevers, and the plant was used in ancient times as an emmenagogue, but is no longer used that way, and should be avoided in pregnancy. Small doses of wormwood tea taken before meals can stimulate digestion and prevent heartburn and gas, even boost energy.
As the name implies, wormwood is a powerful worming agent that has been used for hundreds of years to expel tapeworms, threadworms, and especially roundworms from dogs, cats, humans and other animals. Although wormwood makes like miserable for parasites, it is not kind to the host. Wormwood is a common ingredient in many herbal "cleansing" formulations. If you suspect you or you child has been infested with worms, it really is best to seek medical help, rather that rely on home cures.
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It is usually dark green, or sometimes blue in colour, and has a strong odour and bitter, acrid taste. The oil contains thujone (absinthol or tenacetone), thujyl alcohol (both free and combined with acetic, isovalerianic, succine and malic acids), cadinene, phellandrene and pinene.
This oil SHOULD NOT BE USED in any aromatherapy application Learn More |
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| Not for long term use, do not exceed recommended doses, excessive consumption could be toxic. Pregnant women should not take as it can cause uterine contractions. Wormwood can be used in those cases where quick parasite intervention outweighs the risk of toxicity, but with an abundance of caution and care. This is because wormwood contains an assortment of volatile oils, bitter principles and tannins that can be irritating to the kidneys, and in extreme cases may even damage the nervous system. The FDA lists wormwood unsafe for internal use. |
Preparation Methods :infusions, tinctures
Remedies using : Wormwood
Absinthe*
Blood purifying tea*
Green Bug Juice*
Vinegar of the Four Thieves (Marseilles vinegar)*
Wormwood dewormer*
Wormwood tea*
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Buy Bulk Wormwood Herbs, Extracts, Capsules and Oils
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Digestion/Indigestion *
IBS *
Insect Repellent *
Liver *
Parasites/Worms *
Rheumatoid Arthritis *
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Artemisia for :Hepatitis and jaundice. |
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Artemisia increases the secretion of bile into the gastrointestinal tract, thus aiding the liver in draining its waste products. Used with gardenia (Gardenia jasminoidis), it has been shown to increase tie rate of liver cell regeneration. It works on the liver, stomach, spleen, and gallbladder to clear jaundice and fever, and to treat hepatitis. Phyllis A. Balch, Prescription for Herbal Healing (2002) |
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Wormwood for :Dewormer, traditional |
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Wormwood is the classic dewormer, but it contains the toxic chemical thujone and should not be used for long periods, and taken internally only under the advice of a qualified herbalist. |
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Wormwood for :Pest repellent |
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This bitter herb has strong pest repellent properties, use as a companion plant in the garden, or infused in oil for topical skin applications. |
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Wormwood for :Gout and Rheumatism |
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The famous Portland powder,(a combination of tonic and bitter herbs named for the Duke of Portland who made the remedy public) once noted for its efficacy in gout, has this drug as its principal ingredient. A decoction has ever been found a most excellent application for wounds, bruises, and sprains, relieving the pain nicely in most cases; every reader will recall 'wormwood and vinegar' in this connection. Latterly it has been found diuretic, discutient, and antispasmodic in epilepsy.
The bitterness of the herb is communicated to the milk of cows who may browse upon it, and also to mothers' milk if the drug be taken. Charles F. Millspaugh, American Medicinal Plants (0000) |
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Wormwood for :Artemisia Intoxicating Effects |
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Several herb handbooks warn that artemisia may have intoxicating effects similar to those of marijuana. Whether you consider this to be desirable or undesirable, it is simply not true. Thujone, the intoxicating chemical in artemisia, and tetra-hydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient of marijuana, have similar molecules, and both attach to the same receptor sites in the brain. However, the thujone content of alcoholic beverages containing artemisia is less than one-twentieth of the amount needed for intoxication. Any "high" from artemisia comes from the alcohol in which it is dissolved. Phyllis A. Balch, Prescription for Herbal Healing (2002) |
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Related Species
Southernwood Artemisia abrotanum Like all the artemisias, southernwood is a good insect repellant, most effect against moths. Small gray-green, lemon-scented leaves were used by Romans in love potions. Southernwood is tonic, emmenagogue, anthelmintic, antiseptic and deobstruent, according to Grieve, Maude Modern Herbal (1931) .
Artemisia dracunculus Tarragon
Artemisia vulgaris Mugwort
Chinese wormwood, Artemisia capillaris Native to Japan, Taiwan, and northern China.The practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) who supply artemisia usually refer to this herb and the products made from it as
yen chen hao. |
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 Southernwood
- Flowers:Tiny, yellow-green flowers- heads numerous, small, heterogamous, on slender nodding pedicles
- Stem: Attains a growth of 2 to 4 feet. Stem is stiff and paniculately branched
- Leaves: Alternate, 2 to 3 pinnately parted, finely pubescent with close silky hairs, the uppermost lanceolate, entire; leaflets oblong or lanceolate, obtuse and entire, sparingly toothed or incised.
- Flowering Season:July to October
- Plant type: bitter, aromatic, frutescent perennial
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 Wormwood has been used in medicine from ancient times. Dioscorides and Pliny considered it to be a stomachic tonic, and anthelmintic. Boerhaave, Linnaeus, Haller, and all of the earlier writers speak of its good effects in many disorders. Absinthium is the Latin and pre-Linnaean for wormwood. In
Biblical days it was a symbol of calamity and sorrow.
Absinthe, a fashionable drink in the nineteenth century became associated with the death of the American writer Edgar Allan Poe and the suicide of the painter Vincent Van Gogh. It was immortalized in a painting by Edgar Degas, which shows a haunting portrait of two absinthe drinkers, hollow-eyed and oblivious to all but the intoxicating beverage.
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This is a martial herb, and is governed by Mars. This is the strongest; the Sea Wormwood is the second in bitterness, and the Roman joins a great deal of aromatic flavour, with but a little bitterness: therefore, to acquire and enjoy the full powers they possess, they must be separately known and well distinguished, for each kind has its particularly virtues. Nicholas Culpeper |
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Medieval Europe/Celts
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According to the Ancients, Wormwood counteracted the effects of poisoning by hemlock, toadstools and the biting of the sea dragon. The genus is named Artemisia from Artemis, the Greek name for Diana. In an early translation of the Herbarium of Apuleius we find: 'Of these worts that we name Artemisia, it is said that Diana did find them and delivered their powers and leechdom to Chiron the Centaur, who first from these Worts set forth a leechdom, and he named these worts from the name of Diana, Artemis, that is Artemisias. Maud Grieve, Modern Herbal Volume 2 (1931) | |
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Tea made from an infusion of fresh or dried leaves, sweetened with honey, is a good spring tonic. Wormwood should only be steeped five minutes because of the bitter taste. |
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