Dorothy FarrarGoutweed
Garden owners don’t like it at all, the rampant ground elder . It’s pretty much the least popular weed because it’s so difficult to control in the garden and will overgrow everything if the right conditions are found.
Definition and Occurrence
Giersch, also known as trefoil or goat’s foot, belongs to the genus of umbelliferae and is related to the herbs dill and caraway . It is native to all of Europe and is mainly found in gardens, hedges, riparian forests, park areas and along roadsides. A ground elder can grow about 30 to 90 cm high. The goutweed is easily recognizable by its characteristic leaves, which look like goat’s feet. The leaves are large and jagged, the stems are angular on the outside and hollow on the inside.
The flowers resemble those of the wild carrot from the same plant family. The white to slightly reddish flowers are on umbels. The flowering period lasts from May to September. From the flowers, 3 to 4 mm small, smooth, egg-shaped fruits form towards autumn , which have a similarity to caraway. In good soil conditions, the roots can spread widely in the soil and form runners everywhere. If you want to avoid this, you can plant Giersch in the bucket. Goutweed is not only a weed, but is also used as a wild vegetable and was a popular medicinal herb in earlier times.
Ingredients, effect and dosage
Like many other wild herbs, ground elder has a particularly high vitamin C content , about 15 times as much as lettuce , 4 times as much as lemons and still twice as much as Brussels sprouts . At 27 mg, it also contains more minerals than many other vegetables. In addition, it contains plenty of potassium , iron , magnesium , calcium , manganese, boron, silicic acid, copper and titanium. Due to its high mineral content, ground elder has an alkaline effect and promotes the metabolism.
It contributes to the deacidification and drainage of the body, has a strengthening effect on the connective tissue and helps flush out stored acids and toxins. It is ideal for a spring detox. In the kitchen, ground elder is often used in salads, especially the fresh younger leaves, and tastes like a mixture of carrots , parsley , spinach and celery . But it is also suitable for cooking, e.g. B. for soups, sauces, potato dishes, pesto, etc. The dried goutweed seeds can be used as a spice.
The flowers can also be eaten. They are sweeter than other parts of the plant and can round off soups and salads or add a special flavor to vinegar, oil and herbal lemonades. Stems and buds are particularly juicy and can be eaten fresh or pickled. However, if you want to collect goutweed in the wild, you should be careful not to confuse it with the poisonous hogweed, which looks somewhat similar to goutweed. Touching it can cause photodermatitis.
What does Giersch help against?
importance to health
In old herbal books Giersch is also referred to as Zipperleinkraut because it helps with rheumatism and gout. Minor ailments were mostly mentioned in connection with gout. Even if it helps with gout, scientific studies have not been able to identify any active ingredient in ground elder that can prove this effect. Goutweed has an antispasmodic , gently diuretic , deacidifying effect and helps with inflammation.
In the case of a sunburn or an insect bite, you can put crushed leaves on the areas, they have an anti-inflammatory effect , soothe and cool the skin . Already in the Middle Ages ground elder was used for heart problems. A tea made from dried flowers and leaves was used for arthritis and injuries that were slow to heal. It can also be used for envelopes. The leaves and crushed roots were used to treat sciatica and rheumatism as early as the Middle Ages. Today Giersch is most likely prescribed in homeopathic potentiation for rheumatism and arthritis. However, it is still used externally for gout.
Due to its high potassium content, Giersch promotes the metabolism and has a draining effect without withdrawing electrolytes from the body. Giersch is also recommended for nausea, digestive problems, an unbalanced diet and physical exertion that causes profuse sweating.
It also has a positive effect on bladder infections. Recent studies show an antibacterial effect. In spring, vitamin C, carotenoids and other minerals ensure that the body can detoxify after the long winter and that the joints are relieved. A tea made from the roots stimulates the elimination of waste products and deacidifies the body. A bath of approx. 100 g ground elder roots is beneficial for foot pain.
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.