Common name: smoke grass.
Parts Used: Whole plant (without roots). Pharmacy name: smoke herb – Fumariae herba (formerly: Herba Fumariae).
Botanical description. This annual plant with very graceful leaves and flowers traditionally grows upright, reaching a height of 20-40 cm, but in some places it lodges. The hollow stem of the fumes is thin, smooth, tender, juicy-herbaceous, with a bluish bloom, strongly branching. The next leaves look grey-green; in the upper part of the plant they are sessile, in the lower part they have petioles, twice or thrice pinnately dissected, with small narrow individual segments. Graceful flowers with spurs, collected in loose brushes, from pink to dark red in color, have a black-red spot at the top. Blooms from June to July. The plant grows in rather dense groups in littered places, in fallows, gardens and cultivated fields.
Collection and preparation. Dymyanka is collected during flowering. Above-ground parts are taken, preferably upright shoots, so that they do not have to be washed later from adhering particles of earth. It is better to dry in bunches in a shady place.
Active ingredients: a number of alkaloids (for example, protopine, cryptocavin, corydalin, synactin), bitterness, resins, choline, flavonoids and mucous substances (mucins).
Healing action and application.For a long time, smokewort was used only in folk medicine, but in recent times, the results of scientific research have made this plant interesting for scientific medicine as well. It has been established that smoke (as well as celandine – a representative of the same poppy family) contains active substances that have a beneficial effect on the release of the biliary tract, as they relieve spasms and regulate the outflow of bile. Therefore, it can be recommended for both acute and chronic diseases of the biliary system. Pain in the right upper abdomen disappears, food is better absorbed, nausea, urge to vomit, and headaches disappear. The German National Health Service indicates that fumes should be taken in case of spastic ailments of the biliary system and constipation. There are products that contain fume extracts, and the number of tea blends with smoke (together with celandine, peppermint, navel, centaury, wormwood and other herbs) is constantly increasing. But it is quite usable and tea only from fumes.
- Smoked tea: 1 teaspoon of smoked tea pour 1/4 of water, heat to a boil, let stand for 10 minutes and strain. If necessary, drink up to three cups each day.
My special advice. In addition to the above, the light diuretic properties of smoke have long been pointed out, as well as some laxative effect for constipation. The mechanism of this action is not yet completely clear. Since urinary retention and constipation are not often spasmodic in origin, this effect is probably due to the anti-spasmodic action of fume. If we compare the above actions with each other, then this medicinal plant should be included in the so-called blood-purifying courses (spring courses of treatment) – both by adding fume to blood-purifying teas, and by adding its fresh leaves to spring salads (of course, only in a non-cardinal amount) .
- Spring lettuce with fume: Sowing lettuce (as a base) 65% Chives, young yarrow leaves, dandelion leaves (in equal parts) 30% St. John’s wort leaves, fume (in equal parts) 5%
- Tea mixture for spring and autumn courses of treatment: Smokey, birch leaves, nettle leaves, horsetail, tricolor violet, dandelion root and herb, buckthorn bark, lemon balm leaves – all in equal parts. 2 teaspoons of the mixture pour 1/4 liter of boiling water, let it brew for 10 minutes and strain. Take twice daily for 1 cup. Tea removes excess water, toxins, stimulates metabolism, helps cleanse the skin.