Name: Pharmacy asparagus
Asparagus – Asparagiaceae (formerly: Liliaceae – Liliaceae).
Parts used: rhizome and young shoots.
Pharmacy name: asparagus rhizome – Asparagi rhizoma (formerly: Radix Asparagi).
Botanical description.Asparagus is fixed in the soil with the help of a lignified rhizome, equipped with thick adventitious roots. In the spring, thick, juicy shoots are pushed up from the rhizome, which we know as white vegetable asparagus. As soon as they break out of the soil, these shoots begin to turn green. The stem reaches a height of 1 m, branches and bears small leaves. Greenish-white flowers develop around June and produce red berries by August. Black seeds were used in World War I as an ersatz coffee. Asparagus came to us from the East and is still a favorite vegetable crop cultivated in large quantities. From the history of the plant. The use of asparagus as a medicinal plant predates the era of Christ by three millennia. In China, it was used for coughs and abscesses, in ancient Egypt – as a liver remedy. It was valued by Dioscorides in antiquity as a powerful renal remedy. In the Middle Ages, asparagus was revered as an aphrodisiac and a vegetable. In Central Europe, it has been known as a cultivated plant since the 16th century.
Active ingredients: asparagine, arginine, asparagose, saponins, flavonoids, vitamins and minerals.
Healing action and application. Vegetable asparagus can hardly be considered a real medicinal plant, although it used to play this role regularly. Today, on the contrary, it is primarily a delicacy. If kidney patients are advised a course of asparagus, if overweight people eat asparagus in the spring, this is perhaps more pleasure than a real cure. However, vegetable asparagus has been confirmed to improve kidney function and stimulate the elimination of water from the body. It also has a mild laxative effect. It is believed that vegetable asparagus is a wonderful blood purifier. For medicinal purposes, asparagus rhizomes are used, sometimes as an integral part of various fees for the treatment of diseases of the bladder and kidneys. However, tea made from the rhizomes of asparagus alone is much more effective.
Application in folk medicine. The main indications for the use of asparagus rhizomes are painful urination, urinary retention, diseases of the bladder and kidneys, liver and spleen, jaundice, rheumatism and gout, palpitations. Acne is also treated with a decoction of asparagus rhizomes. o Asparagus tea: 2 teaspoons topped with rhizomes, pour 1/4 liter of cold water, bring to a boil and strain. Inside, 2-3 cups are recommended every day, externally, the decoction is used for washing and compresses.
Side effects. The asparagus diet is limited to about 10 days. Anyone who drinks tea without exceeding the prescribed dosage should not be afraid of side effects. But there are people who are hypersensitive to asparagus; it manifests itself already at one touch of the bandage to the skin, and is popularly called “asparagus scabies.” Naturally, such people should not use this plant. In some places you can hear that a large number of asparagus causes diabetes, but this is not confirmed by experiments.