Dandelions are best known as a weed with bright yellow flowers that takes over beautiful, green lawns. Children love to blow its mature seeds into the wind, which spreads the plants over large areas. Herbalists know that dandelions have many useful nutritive and medicinal properties. The benefits of dandelions are their antioxidant qualities, nutrition, dirutic properties, and support for the digestive system.

Personal Story

I enjoy drinking a hot cup of dandelion tea with a touch of honey.

Benefits

One of the benefits of dandelion include its effective reduction of fluid in the spaces between the cells of body tissue (diuretic action). It is extremely important never to treat water retention without addressing the factors that cause that retention.

Here are some things to know about dandelion:

• Used as a general tonic
• It is an herbal diuretic, which contains potassium that balances the remedy’s effect on the body. A drug diuretic doesn’t have this feature.
• It is a liver tonic that helps detoxify the liver.
• It may be helpful for congestion of the gallbladder.
• It has been used for congestive jaundice.
• Dandelion has been helpful for muscular rheumatism.
• Traditionally, it has been used for chronic skin eruptions, blood disorders, chronic gastritis, and aphthous ulcers.
• Dandelion is a circulatory stimulant.
• Dandelion plants have lots of fiber, vitamins, minerals, so they are very nutritious.
• Dandelion also has antioxidant qualities.

How to Get Benefits

Nutritive dandelion tea is pleasant to drink, and it gets gently stimulates healthy digestion and the liver.

Eating daily herbal bitters, such as dandelion, in a salad can aid the clearance of estrogens, detoxify the liver, and improve gut health.

Dandelion can be taken as a glycerite or tincture form, best between meals.

Safety

Dandelion leaf is Class 1, which means it is an herb that a person can safely consume with appropriate use, per Botanical Safety Handbook. One exception would be for someone with an allergy to the ragweed (Asteracae) family. Dandelion root is also class 2d, which means it is should not be used if you are pregnant or breastfeeding or if there is a blockage of the bile ducts, acute gallbladder inflammation, and intestinal blockage.

Action

Try a cup of dandelion tea with honey. You’ll find it a pleasant way to get your digestive juices going.

Resources:

Medical Herbalism, by David Hoffman

May God bless your healthful endeavors!

Joni

P.S. What experience do you have with dandelion?