What do we know about the beneficial properties and contraindications to the use of calendula
In the middle of summer, placers of yellow-orange flowers appear on summer cottages, which do not disappear until the very frost. This is one of the most common medicinal plants - calendula, medicinal properties and contraindications to which are known to both traditional healers and doctors of the traditional school.
A perennial herb with a very unpretentious disposition and beautiful, long flowering in private plots is often grown as an ornamental crop. However, pharmacologists tend to see the richest storehouse of useful substances in calendula.
Blooming basket inflorescences are collected as a medicinal raw material, which are dried in the shade at a temperature of about 45 ° C for better extraction and long-term preservation of medicinal properties. Dried flowers can be stored in a dry, dark place for a year.
Composition of calendula flowers
Properly collected and prepared raw materials contain:
- essential amino acids and vitamins, including ascorbic acid, vitamins of group B, E, K, P and F;
- minerals such as iron and zinc, magnesium and potassium, calcium and copper, iodine and phosphorus;
- essential oil;
- bitterness;
- salicylic and malic acids;
- phytoncides;
- saponins;
- flavonoids;
- mucus.
Calendula flowers are rich in lycopene and carotenoids, which not only provide a bright color of the inflorescences, but also guarantee a high bioactivity of the plant, stimulate the synthesis of vitamin A, which supports tissue health and regeneration. Another source of the medicinal properties of calendula and herb contraindications are natural coumarins, which have analgesic, anti-inflammatory effects.
Triterpenoids have a similar effect. By acting on the source of inflammation, they extinguish it, pushing the natural renewal and repair of tissues. Flavonoids effectively relieve spasms, essential oils soothe, disinfect, suppressing pathogenic microflora and fungi.
Calendula flowers contain substances that lower the level of bad cholesterol and thus prevent or alleviate the course of atherosclerosis. There are components in them that have a beneficial effect on the work of the gallbladder, pancreas, liver, urinary and reproductive systems, as well as on the condition of other organs.
The more time scientists devote to studying the medicinal properties of calendula and contraindications that can limit its scope, the more valuable the plant is. Relatively recently, it was proved that drugs based on marigolds affect the nervous system and heart, blood vessels and the musculoskeletal system.
Useful properties of calendula flowers
Ready-made calendula-based preparations and home remedies have many beneficial qualities. More often than others, the disinfecting ability of the plant is used. The components of the ointment, tincture or decoction suppress the development of dangerous bacteria, staphylococci and streptococci, fungi and viruses.
What does calendula help from? In medicine, the effects of calendula are recognized and widely used:
- on the gastrointestinal tract with gastritis, peptic ulcer;
- on the organs of hematopoiesis, biliary tract and liver;
- on the heart muscle in diseases associated with rhythm disturbances;
- on blood pressure in hypertension;
- on the genital area, bladder and urinary tract in inflammatory diseases.
When using calendula by women, the medicinal properties of the plant relieve the condition during menopause. The plant materials have a pronounced anti-inflammatory effect. Calendula helps relieve smooth muscle spasms, soothes and helps maintain blood pressure.
What calendula heals
Today, drugs with the inclusion of calendula are used as part of the treatment of oncological diseases, with vitamin deficiency and other diseases in which there is:
- general weakening of the body;
- metabolic disease;
- depression, insomnia, irritability, mood swings;
- the formation of foci of inflammation.
Especially effective in these cases will be the reception of calendula together with nicotinic acid, which also supports the body's strength and helps to cope with the most advanced stages of the disease.
Herbal preparations are used internally and externally. What treats calendula in the form of lotions, compresses, douching and washes, that is, in all cases when it comes to the skin and mucous membranes?
Outwardly, calendula is used as an antibacterial, anti-inflammatory agent, preventing and reducing the separation of pus, relieving swelling and redness, drying out lesions and activating healing. These and similar symptoms are seen in acne, bruises, abrasions, cuts and other wounds, as well as eczema. The wound healing ability of ointments, oils and a decoction of a medicinal plant is in demand in the treatment of cracks in the skin, with warts, dry calluses and barley.
Calendula has a beneficial effect on the mucous membranes of sore throat and other diseases of the nasopharynx, stomatitis and gingivitis.
For gargling with calendula, decoctions of fresh or dried flowers, inhalation with oil or tincture diluted to a safe concentration are used. During a cold, you can drink medicinal tea, which, in addition to calendula, includes lime blossom, mintrelieves pain and freshens breath, and St. John's wort and lemon. You can sweeten the drink with honey, which will enhance the bactericidal effect and give the body a charge of vitamins and microelements.
To prepare the infusion, take 3 tablespoons of dry herb per 250 ml of boiling water. After several hours of infusion, the product can be used to rinse the field of each meal and during oral hygiene. If the patient suffers from chronic tonsillitis or frequent sore throat, calendula treatment is combined with antibiotics and sulfa drugs.
In gynecology, the medicinal properties of calendula are used for erosion and thrush, for uterine bleeding and other pathologies.
Inside, calendula tincture is taken for gastrointestinal diseases, for example, with enterocolitis, gastritis, peptic ulcer, as well as with reduced appetite, frequent urge to vomit and spasmodic pain in the stomach. Yellow flowers will help to significantly alleviate the situation in the treatment of hepatitis, cholecystitis and other diseases of the liver, pancreas, spleen.
If there are no contraindications, the healing properties of calendula and a decoction from it include a strong diuretic effect, combined with the ability to defeat inflammation and infections of a different nature.
Contraindications to taking calendula
The list of contraindications for taking herbal preparations with calendula includes:
- individual intolerance to the components of the funds;
- bronchial asthma and a predisposition to allergy to calendula pollen; hypotension and bradycardia;
- gallstone disease, in which the herb can activate the movement of stones and cause blockages in the ducts;
- exacerbation of gastritis and peptic ulcer.
Do not take a decoction or tincture inside. marigold during pregnancy, as well as during breastfeeding. If it is difficult to refuse therapy, it is important to make sure that the plant does not give side effects and does not adversely affect the health of the child before carrying out it.
Calendula on children's skin is used only from the age of three. You can drink preparations of their colors after consulting a doctor and upon reaching 10-12 years.
If the herb is combined with other sedatives, its effect is enhanced. At the same time, blood pressure decreases, which should be taken into account for people with signs of hypotension.
Calendula flowers have many useful properties, but there are also contraindications. High activity of herbal raw materials, if you neglect the opinion of the doctor and the recommended dosages, can be harmful to health.