• Traditionally used to help support digestive disorders, excessive gas, nausea, skin irritations, jaundice, water retention and much more.
Tanacetum vulgare, or tansy, is a perennial favorite among gardeners who value its height, beautiful leaves and long-lasting yellow flowers. Although nowadays mostly used as a trimming and border plant, tansy is, in fact, a very old herb with a rich history steeped in Greek mythology and Christian theology. Tansy was also a very often used health herb and its unique rejuvenating powers have rescued many unfortunates from a variety of illnesses and ailments.
Tansy was a well-known herb to various ancient peoples, particularly the Greeks. It is postulated that tansy's very name comes from the Greek word for "immortal," athanaton. This, according to the ancient writer Dodoens, was due to the long life of tansy's flowering buds. Another writer, Ambrosius, believed the connection was with tansy's role in preserving the dead from physical corruption. Apparently tansy had a place in Greek funeral rites. Ganymede, the beautiful Trojan prince, was supposedly made immortal by taking tansy after he was carried away to Mt. Olympus by Zeus, who was enamored by Ganymede's physical perfection.
It is tansy's role in medieval Christianity, however, that is most fascinating. Tansy was one of the plants dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and each year Lent officially ended with the eating of a special dish called a "tansy." The fresh young leaves of the plant were mixed and cooked with eggs, cream, flour, sugar, and wine and eaten on Easter Sunday. Christian writers at the time believed that tansy could purify "bad humours" from the body that had accumulated there during the long Winter and restrictive Lenten diet of salted fish. Other writers believe that Christians ate the "tansies" as a remembrance of the bitter herbs traditionally eaten by the Jewish at Passover.
Medieval Europeans used tansy as a culinary spice and as a replacement for nutmeg and cinnamon. Tansy was also brewed up as a tea which, despite its bitter taste, was a popular Lenten beverage and many a hearty meal was topped off with tansy pudding. All of this leads us to the inevitable conclusion that tansy was once a very popular and well-known herb that was safely used by many, and that it had mythological links to immortality and eternal life.
In medieval times, tansy can be used to help support a variety of health concerns. Its most well-known use was as a disinfectant, particularly in children. Children troubled by bloating would have a cup of tansy tea in the morning, and another at night. Tansy leaves were also used by elderly Europeans for such things as stomach upset, a wash for wounds, fever, and the roots can be used to help support joint pain. Tansy, however, is of value in resolving several other complaints which we'll discuss below. But what makes tansy "tick?"
Tanacetin, a bitter principle, is found mostly in the flowers. Bitter herbs typically stimulate the digestive tract to greater activity. The herb also contains smaller amounts of tannic acid (an astringent found in a great many plants), sugars, various glycosides, camphor, and essential oil. The essential oil contains thujone. Thujone is found in other herbs, most notably sage, and is a good antiseptic. It has also been shown to be a uterine stimulant in animals. It is for this reason that tansy has an age-old reputation as an effective abortifacient.
Because of this, tansy should never be given to or used by pregnant women.
Tansy is also an excellent carminative that removes excess gas from the digestive tract. Nausea, feeble digestion, and irritations can all be helped by tansy. Tansy can also be used successfully in resolving jaundice.
Tansy is a good diuretic, making it useful for some kidney complaints and excessive water retention. Tansy is also a little-known supportive for prostatitis. Tansy is a powerfully antispasmodic herb. This quality, and tansy's ability to act specifically on the prostate, make it valuable for acute prostatic difficulties. Tansy is usually combined in equal parts with either kava kava, golden seal, or agrimony in resolving prostatitis.
While tansy needs to be avoided by pregnant women, its ability to stimulate the uterus, makes it superb for blocked or painful menstruation. Tansy is usually combined in equal parts with chamomile or peppermint for support of amenorrhea or dysmenorrhea. Along these same lines, tansy is effective as a douche for leukorrhea.
Externally, sprains, inflammations, swellings, and painful joints can all be eased with a hot fomentation of tansy. Soak some torn cotton towel strips in the hot infusion and then wrap the strips around the affected area. Remove and replace when cool, and repeat several times. Tansy can also be used externally as a wash for eruptive skin problems like chicken pox.
References:
Stephen Bynes, PhD, DNT, CNC - Tansy: an Herb with a Rich History
Medicinal Usage
Tansy oil and tea have also been used to bring on the menstruation, as diaphoretics in fevers, and as a digestive tonic. Tansy has also been suggested as an abortifacient, but any internal use should be discouraged because of potential toxicity even in moderate doses.
The essential oil contains thujone, with varying amounts of borneol and camphor. Tansy also contains tanacetin - a toxic bitter principle.
General Herb Information
Tansy is a hardy perennial native to Europe and Asia and is naturalized in many parts of North America. It grows to four feet tall and has coarsely divided leaves three to five inches long. The leaves are deeply incised and toothed. The quarter-inch diameter, button-like, yellow flower heads appear from late July to September in flat clusters. Tansy has a creeping rhizome that can spread and take over a garden border if not kept in check. T. vulgare var crispum has more finely divided leaves and luxuriant foliage.
Tansy is grown from seed, or better, from spring or fall root divisions. Any piece of root with a bud will produce a new plant. Seeds can be sown indoors in early spring. Give young plants twelve to eighteen inch spacings. Plants may self-sow.
Tansy is not particular about soil as long as there is good drainage. A moist, rich soil makes for lusher growth. Tansy tolerates a pH range between 5 and 7. An acre may produce 1500 to 2000 pounds of dried leaves, but any grower would be hard-put to sell a ton of tansy leaves.
The plant is harvested and spread or hung to dry when in full bloom.
Tansy is said to be of some utility as a moth or ant repellant, but this has never been verified scientifically.
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TerraVita is an exclusive line of premium-quality, natural source products that use only the finest, purest and most potent ingredients found around the world. TerraVita is hallmarked by the highest possible standards of purity, potency, stability and freshness. All of our products are prepared with the highest elements of quality control, from raw materials through the entire manufacturing process, up to and including the moment that the bottles or bags are sealed for freshness and shipped out to you. Our highest possible standards are certified by independent laboratories and backed by our personal guarantee.
TerraVita exists to meet and ensure your family's health and wellness without the harmful effects or chemicals and prescription medications. We strive to make all of our products affordable and reliable and are constantly searching the market to maintain our affordability and to look for new ways to serve you and the ones you love. TerraVita has become a trusted household name for many families and can bring you and yours the very best herbal supplements, blends, teas and spices that are on the market today.
TerraVita is packed in tamper-proof, food-grade, recyclable containers.
ZooScape is proud to be the exclusive distributor of TerraVita teas, herbs and supplements in the United States, Canada and around the world. Please direct all wholesale and bulk inquiries to 1-844-449-0444.
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