Ground elder – the medicinal weed

Many of us would never guess that certain weeds offer remarkable properties. A typical example of a remarkable weed is Ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria). In central Europe, this plant is known as “goat’s hoof” thanks to its leaves shaped like, yes you guessed it, goat’s hoof. It multiplies and grows like crazy, both in gardens and meadows. People promptly remove it from their gardens because no one wants weeds, right? But not so fast. We shall convince you that Ground elder is an excellent medical plant, or weed if you like.

What does Ground elder contain?

Firstly, lots of vitamin C, even more than lemons. To be precise, 4 times more then lemons plus other nutrients, such as:

• carotenoids,
• tannoids,
• manganese,
• iron,
• tannin,
• bitterants,
• proteins
• and many more.

Ground elder is great for limb pain treatment. It helps with rheumatism, gout, or ligament injuries. It also has diuretic effects. Do you want to detoxify your body or do you have haemorrhoids or varicose veins or purulent wounds? Try Ground elder. If just might be your best friend and help you with all that.

Foto: Pixabay

Using Ground elder in gastronomy

Young leaves and rhizomes are often used in gastronomy. If you taste leaves, the taste will probably remind you of carrots. Finely chopped young leaves are excellent when you sprinkle them on a slice of bread with butter – just like chives. You can put it in soups or you may prepare them as spinach leaves. Another great way how to use Ground elder is to prepare tea out of it – a very strong tea. Let it sit in hot water for about 15 minutes. Because of the high potency do not exceed two to three cups a day.

Ground elder bath

You can prepare an excellent healing bath for you. It helps you to fight varicose veins, for example. The traditional way to prepare a healing bath out of Ground elder is to boil 100 grams of fresh roots in 2 litters of water and let it stand for twenty minutes, and then pour the extract into your bath.

Photo: Pixabay