Galega officinalis herb is known to many people suffering from such a formidable ailment as diabetes. For those who have never heard of this plant, we will talk about its use in traditional medicine, useful properties and contraindications.
Description
Galega officinalis (Galega officnalis) is a perennial shrub from the legume family. This beautifully flowering powerful, multi-stalked plant, about a meter and a half high. A bush can count up to twenty stems. They are erect, tubular, hollow inside, painted in green.
Leaves are large, pinnate, petiolate, with stipules. Their length can reach twenty-five centimeters. Castings consist of fifteen pairs of leaflets, oval elongated shape. To the top they are a little pointed.
Galega officinalis blooms from the beginning of summer until mid-autumn. The flowers are light purple or pale blue, large, with long pedicels, reminiscent in shape of bells. They form upright inflorescences-brushes up to twenty centimeters long.
The root system of the plant is rod, powerful. The length of the root sometimes exceeds eighty centimeters, while having numerous horizontal processes from which new shoots appear.
After flowering, the galega officinalis forms fruits - standing beans, which have five to eight kidney-shaped, smooth seeds of a yellowish-green color, hard to the touch. Full ripening of fruits occurs in September.
Using
For medicinal purposes, all parts of the plant (leaves, flowers, roots) are used, despite the fact that the galega officinalis (goat) is a poisonous plant. It is important to know and observe the dosage of drugs based on this herb.
Spread
Galega is a thermophilic medicinal plant, so it can often be found in Ukraine, Moldova and the southern regions of Russia. It grows along roadsides, in meadows, forest edges, in mountain steppes, along river banks.
Procurement and storage of raw materials
Plants collected along roads are unsuitable for the manufacture of medicines. Raw materials are harvested during flowering, carefully cutting the stems with a sharp knife. The most commonly used flowers and the upper part of the stem. Select only fresh green plant stems.
Cut them into small pieces immediately after harvesting. Drying is done in the shade, with good ventilation (under a canopy or in the attic). For storage, bags made of natural fabric or paper are suitable. Shelf life should not exceed one year. After this period, the grass loses its healing properties.
The fruits are harvested at different times, as they ripen. They are peeled, the seeds are dried in the shade. Shelf life is twenty-four months. The roots are well cleaned and washed with running water and cut into small pieces. The roots should be dried in the shade, under a canopy, but better in an oven. Shelf life - no more than two years.
A medicine known since antiquity
Galega officinalis from ancient times is used as a medicinal product. Initially, the ability of the plant to increase lactation was noticed. They began to use it, adding to livestock feed to increase milk yield. Its second name - the goat house - the plant received for the same reason.
After some time, the diuretic, diaphoretic properties of the herb were revealed, which allowed folk healers to widely use it in their practice.
Chemical composition
Today galega officinalis is already pretty well studied. It includes:
- alkaloids;
- triterpenoids;
- peganin;
- tannins;
- carbohydrates;
- vasicinone;
- pipecolic and ascorbic acids;
- flavonoids;
- routine;
- carotene;
- bitterness;
- phenol carboxylic acids.
The seeds of the plant contain:
- steroids;
- sucrose;
- stachyosis;
- alkaloids;
- saponins;
- stearic, palmitic, linoleic acids.
Galega officinalis: application
Traditional medicine does not use this herb, and traditional healers use it quite successfully as an anthelmintic, diaphoretic. Galega gives a good result when used as a means for lactation during breastfeeding. It improves the movement of fluid and, as a result, the production of breast milk.
Galega for diabetes
Undoubtedly, the galega cannot completely replace drugs for the treatment of such a serious disease, and it is not worthwhile to conduct experiments refusing medical treatment.
But as an adjuvant, the herb Galega officinalis for diabetes is used quite successfully. The plant is effective in the initial stages of type 2 diabetes, when insulin has not yet been used. With diabetes, it’s not only the hypoglycemic effect of the galega that is useful, that is, the ability to lower blood sugar. It increases the sensitivity of internal tissues to glucose. As a result, sudden spikes in blood sugar are excluded.
The galega officinalis plant helps in another important process in the body of a diabetic. As you know, in the liver there is a storage of glucose - glycogen. If energy is not enough and there is no place to take it, then hidden reserves come to the rescue. It is such invaluable reserves that the galega helps with diabetes. In addition, galega officinalis tones smooth muscle. This helps strengthen blood vessels and remove bad cholesterol.
Food supplement
To enhance the effect of drug therapy and disease prevention, doctors often recommend the use of biologically active additives based on galega. They are a source of tannins and flavonoids, which have an anti-sclerotic and vasoconstrictive effect on the body, and are an effective tool that normalizes glucose levels in diabetes mellitus.
The composition of such additives includes:
- galega officinalis;
- burdock root;
- nettle;
- dandelion root;
- dried carrots, fructose, wild rose.
Who benefits from these supplements?
The use of dietary supplement with galega is recommended for patients suffering from the following diseases:
- diabetes mellitus 1-2 degrees;
- obesity and overweight;
- atherosclerosis;
- phlebeurysm;
- rheumatic diseases.
Recipes for preparing preparations from the galega. Decoction
Two tablespoons (dry) chopped herbs, pour 500 ml of water. Boil the resulting composition in an enamel pan for twenty minutes. Strain through a sieve, add boiled water to a volume of 500 ml. Use the broth 1/2 cup before eating. After the first use, check the blood for sugar - the dosage can be reduced or increased.
Herbal decoction
You will need 25 grams of grass galega, bean pods, nettle leaves and dandelion root. Pour the herb with 250 ml of boiling water and let it brew for 30 minutes. Take two tablespoons (tablespoons) three times a day.
Diuretic broth
Used plant seeds (10 grams). They are poured with one glass of water and boiled for five minutes. Take 1/2 cup twice a day.
Juice use
Fresh plant juice is used as an antiseptic. They can wash ulcers and wounds, rinse the throat or oral cavity. To do this, squeeze juice from fresh grass, dilute it with water by one third.
Contraindications
As you can see, Galega officinalis has many useful properties. She also has contraindications. Phytotherapists warn that the grass has toxic properties. Therefore, any treatment should be started with a visit to the doctor, who will find out whether you can take drugs based on it, and prescribe the right dosage.
Particularly careful should be nursing mothers taking a shepherd to improve lactation. An overdose can lead to the ingestion of harmful substances into milk, which will affect the baby's health. The main contraindications of the galega include:
- pregnancy;
- hypotension and hypertension;
- individual intolerance.
In the treatment of galega, it should be borne in mind that it can disrupt the intestinal microflora. Therefore, to restore it, you may need a wellness course after treatment.
Other applications
Galega has long been recognized as an excellent honey plant. This plant produces the same amount of nectar as sainfoin. From one hectare of galega, bees collect about two hundred kilograms of nectar. In addition to the fact that galega is a medicinal plant, an excellent honey plant, a valuable forage crop, it can be used as food. In the Caucasus, this plant is used as a seasoning. Salads with young leaves of the plant are useful for nursing mothers.
