Acacia - General Description
White acacia is a tree of the legume family, reaching a height of up to 15-20 meters, with a beautiful spreading crown and white, pleasantly smelling flowers collected in a brush. Acacia blooms from late May to early June, after which the fruits appear on the tree - dark brown flat pods with 4 to 6 bean seeds.
White acacia is used not only in medicine. Fragrant oil made from its flowers is widely used in perfumery; wood is an excellent finishing material. In addition, acacia is a wonderful honey plant.
Acacia - types and places of growth
North America is considered the homeland of acacia. With us it is ubiquitous in the southern regions, decorating parks and gardens.
Acacia - healing properties
Acacia is used as an expectorant, antipyretic, astringent, anti-inflammatory, hemostatic, diuretic. It is also used to normalize the work of the intestines and stomach, and reduce blood nitrogen.
Acacia - dosage forms
As medicinal raw materials, flowers, fruits, leaves and bark of the plant are used. Flowers need to be collected in the flowering stage of acacia in a half-bloomed form and dried in a well-ventilated room, and then used to prepare tinctures, decoctions and infusions. Harvesting of bark and leaves of white acacia is made in the vegetation stage. Decoctions are mainly prepared from bark; leaves are used to make decoctions and alcohol tinctures.
Acacia - Recipes
There are no pharmaceutical preparations from white acacia. As we already said, it is taken in the form of tincture, infusion or a decoction of various parts, depending on the disease.
With infertility, take a tincture of white acacia flowers, for the preparation of which 1 tbsp. l flowers, fresh or dry, pour 300 gr. vodka and leave to infuse in the sun for about two weeks, after which it is filtered. Take this tincture three times a day, diluting it with water (20 drops per 1 tbsp. L. Water).
Conditions such as rheumatism, myositis, joint pain and radiculitis can be greatly alleviated by rubbing. To prepare tinctures for rastira 50 grams of acacia flowers are poured with 2 glasses of vodka and insisted for about three weeks in a dark room, periodically shaking, and then filtered. Rubbing should be done daily at least 2 times.
To treat various inflammatory diseases of the female genital area, acacia is used in the form of a decoction of flowers. To cook it, 1 tbsp. l flowers, fresh or dry, pour 500 g. water, boil for about 3 minutes and, having filtered, bring to the original volume. Take a decoction three times a day for 1 tbsp. l
To prepare an infusion of flowers, 1 tbsp. l raw material is poured 200 gr. boiling water and, having insisted 2 hours, filter. Indications for the use of such an infusion are rheumatism, kidney and bladder diseases.
To prepare a decoction of acacia bark 0.5 tbsp. l bark, which should be pre-crushed, pour 0.5 liters of water, boil for 20 minutes and, having filtered, bring to the original volume. The prepared broth is drunk in small portions for 2 days. It is useful in exacerbating gastritis and peptic ulcer.
To prepare tinctures from young shoots and leaves, 1 part of the raw material is poured with 10 parts of alcohol (40%) and insisted for about 15 days, occasionally shaking. Use tincture for 1 tsp. thrice a day.
For the treatment of colds and as an antipyretic take a decoction of acacia leaves, for the preparation of which 1 tbsp. l dried acacia leaves are ground into powder, and, pouring a glass of boiling water, continue to boil for 5 minutes, then, after cooling, filter. The rate of use of such a decoction is 1 tbsp. l thrice a day.
Acacia - contraindications
For all its useful properties, acacia has a number of contraindications, which are caused by the presence in its different parts of toxic ingredients (primarily, the robinin alkaloid). Therefore, it must be taken carefully, with strict observance of the dosage and recommendations for the preparation of drugs, especially if acacia is not used as part of the collection, but on its own.
Acacia is contraindicated in people with low acidity. Also contraindications for its use are pregnancy and lactation.
An overdose of acacia drugs leads to malaise, nausea, vomiting, headache, drowsiness. More severe cases are accompanied by severe pain in the abdomen, trembling, cramps, weak heart activity. In this situation, the help of a doctor is necessary, before the arrival of which gastric lavage should be done and an absorbent, for example, activated carbon, should be taken.
Caution should be observed when harvesting acacia wood, as it contains toxalbuminrobin, which can cause irritation of the mucous membranes and acute poisoning.
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