Dorothy FarrarButcher’s broom
The butcher’s broom is a subshrub from the Mediterranean region. The popular name goes back to fighting rats and mice. The branches are hard and prickly and should keep rodents away. Today, butcher’s broom is used as a medicinal plant to treat leg pain and various organic ailments.
General overview
The butcher’s broom is a member of the butcher’s broom family of plants and belongs to the asparagus genus (Asparagaceae). Its scientific name is Ruscus aculeatus L. This shrubby plant is often found as part of drying and Christmas arrangements for its hard branches and pretty red berries.
The evergreen subshrub can reach heights of growth of 10 to 80 centimeters. The leaves of the perennial plant are leathery, their piercing tip is three centimeters long. The subshrub flowers from January to April. The characteristic red berries develop from the filigree flowers in the period from August to March. The rootstock is large and fleshy. There are male and female plants, but rarely hermaphrodites. Butcher’s broom is also known by the names prickly myrtle and myrtle.
occurrence and cultivation
The butcher’s broom is native to the Mediterranean region, western Europe and southwest Asia. The asparagus plant is a typical representative of plants that feel at home in the Mediterranean and Pontic flora. Therefore, it is mainly found in southern Europe and southern Russia. In the meantime, however, the medicinal plant is also appearing in Hungary, Romania and England. Preferred locations are bushes and rocky or dry slopes and soils. Butcher’s broom lives on stony ground in the undergrowth of oak and beech forests. At cool temperatures, the butcher’s broom plant can only survive under the protection of other plants, otherwise it will freeze to death.
Application and effect
The main areas of application for the stinging butcher’s broom are hemorrhoids, vein problems and leg pain. The red berries have a laxative effect . The root has a blood-cleansing, diuretic , anti-inflammatory , anti-exudative, capillary-sealing, vein-strengthening, vein-toning and edema-inhibiting effect. Common uses include spider veins, heaviness in the legs, couperose, gallstones, jaundice, urethritis, varicose veins, itching, kidney stones, kidney disease, sunburn, venous insufficiency and leg cramps.
Ingredients are campesterol, benzofurans, resins, [tannins]], essential oils , ruscin, neoruscogenin, ruscoside, lignoceric acid, sitosterol and triterpenes . The berries and roots are collected from September to October. Butcher’s broom, when used as a tea, strengthens the veins . 250 milliliters of cold water are mixed with a teaspoon of root powder and boiled. The steeping time is 5 to 10 minutes. Two cups of butcher’s broom tea daily strengthen the veins. The treatment takes place over several months. The berries have a laxative effect and can be eaten unprocessed.
Creams contain oil extracts or tincture portions of the rootstock. It is made from lanolin. Butcher’s broom cream is applied several times a day against haemorrhoids, spider veins, couperose and varicose veins. The berries and roots of the butcher’s broom are also used in food supplements and homeopathic medicines. Butcher’s broom capsules are available under the name Fagorutin Ruscus in units of 50, 80 and 100 pieces. The medicinal substance is the rootstock. Each capsule contains 645 to 825 mg. Ruscus prickly broom is available as a homeopathic medicine under the name Ruscus aculeatus as globules or dilution in potencies D4 to D30. Five globules or five drops are taken three times a day.
What does the stinging butcher’s broom help against?
importance to health
Side effects and risks are not known when used as intended. Since ruscus stinging has a venous-strengthening effect due to its capillary-sealing properties and leads to better blood flow, people with high blood pressure should consult a doctor or pharmacist before taking ruscus products. The main ingredients are rucoside and ruscin. They cause the breakdown of vascular-damaging substances in the blood and achieve an indirect elasticity of the blood vessels, which are now permeable to blood fluids again. The blood returns to the heart more quickly and does not remain in the legs, where clots can form and damage the veins.
Swelling is reduced and pain relieved. In venous diseases, lysosomal enzymes are formed in the form of proteins , which occur in increased and damaging amounts in the blood. They destroy the walls of the smallest blood vessels (capillaries). The fibers responsible for elasticity, the collagen , are destroyed and the blood vessels become porous. They become permeable to water and blood cells, which causes water to collect and the affected areas to turn yellowish-brown.
This edema puts a strain on the body because the lymphatic system is slow to pump water back into the bloodstream. This is where the steroid saponins of the butcher’s broom root come into play. The enzymes in the blood are reduced and the vessels are sealed. The inner layer, the endothol, is strengthened. In this way, butcher’s broom has the same effect on hemorrhoids. The blood vessels in the anal area are strengthened, plasma no longer escapes and the itching in the irritated area disappears.
Nausea and stomach problems were observed only in isolated cases . It is well known that many people tolerate butcher’s broom medicine better than horse chestnut extracts, the other great remedy for all ailments involving leg pain and venous insufficiency.
Hello and welcome to my Health Guide & Encyclopedia! My name is Dorothy Farrar, and I'm the founder and main author of this platform.
My passion for health and wellness started at a young age when I became interested in the connection between the food we eat and the way we feel. This fascination led me to study nutrition and dietetics in college, where I learned about the importance of a balanced diet and the impact of various nutrients on the body.