* Please Note: This information is based partly on Traditional Medicine which uses natural materials to support health. This information has not been evaluated or approved by the FDA. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor.
Other Names: Starweed; mouron blanc (French); Vogelmiere (German); stellaria (Italian).
Description: Chickweed is a small, creeping, annual herb of up to 0.1 m in height but which can spread up to 0.4 m wide under favourable conditions. It has soft, fleshy stems bearing small, oblong leaves in opposite pairs, inconspicuous, white, star-shaped flowers and small, nodding fruits that are enclosed in persistent green calyx lobes.
Origin: Europe, North Africa, north Asia. Chickweed thrives in moist places and has become a cosmopolitan weed. It is exceptionally common and can be found in almost any garden.
Parts Used: Fresh or dried aboveground parts (Stellariae media hirba; = Herba alsines).
Therapeutic Category: Treatment of skin disorders.
Uses and Properties: Fresh or dried herb is used mainly to treat the itchiness caused by rashes, eczema, haemorrhoids, varicose veins, psoriasis, inflammation, nettle burns and other skin disorders. Internally it is traditionally used against rheumatism. Fresh flowering plants are used in homoeopathy against inflammation of the joints and rheumatism.
Preparation and Dosage: The fresh juice, poultices, ointments or creams are used to treat itchy skin. Decoctions of the fresh or dry herb can be taken orally to treat rheumatism. The fresh herb is edible and may be cooked as a vegetable or added fresh to a salad.
Active Ingredients: Triterpene saponins, to which the itch-relieving properties are ascribed. Also present are coumarins, phytosterols, flavonoids (mainly apigenin C-glycosides, rutin), organic acids and vitamin C. The Asian species S. yunnanensis, S. dichotoma and others have yielded several cyclopeprides but these or similar compounds have nor yet been reported from S. media.
Pharmacological Effects: The efficacy of the herb in treating itching skin is attributed to the saponins (said to be emollient and healing) but the actual mechanism of action appears to be unknown (possibly a corticomimeric activity).
Notes: Members of the family Caryophyllaceae typically produce saponins and several of them are used medicinally as secrerolytics (Gypsophila and Saponaria). Furthermore, whereas anthocyanins are normally responsible for blue and red colours of flowers, betalains take this role in the order Caryophyllales.
Status: Traditional medicine.
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Directions
Stir 1/4 of a teaspoon into a glass of water and consume 3 times daily, with meals.
Additional Information
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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Products are intended to support general well being and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure any condition or disease. If conditions persist, please seek advice from your medical doctor. The essence of the current American rule on Traditional Uses is, as stated by FTC, "Claims based on historical or traditional use should be substantiated by confirming scientific evidence, or should be presented in such a way that consumers understand that the sole basis for the claim is a history of use of the product for a particular purpose."
