Plant Profile: Elecampane

on
Elecampane
(Inula helenium)


Family: COMPOSITAE

Energetics: Warming. Drying. 

Taste: Sweet. Pungent. Bitter

Tissue States: Cold, Damp stagnation. 

Systems Affected: Lungs. Stomach. Spleen. 

Parts Used: Root.

Key Components: Bitter principles. Resin. Inulin. Triterpenes. Mucilage.Volatile oils. Sodium. Calcium. Magnesium. 

Preparations & dosage: Decoction: simmer 1 oz covered per pint of water 20 minutes. 1-3 cups per day. Steam. Tincture: 10-30 drops 3-4x per day. Syrup: Powder:

Actions: 
Foundational: Aromatic. Astringent. Bitter. Stimulant.
Primary: Carminative. Expectorant. Diuretic. 
Secondary: Antiseptic. Tonic. Vermifuge. Prebiotic. 

Uses: 

Supporting confidence. Stimulates Cold/damp/weak digestion and poor assimilation of food. What are some signs of this? Poor appetite. A thick pale tongue with a white coating. Stagnation in the digestion where it feels like your food just sits there long after you eat. Like it's stuck. Excess gas. An overall lethargic feeling or maybe feeling sluggish.  

 Cleanses and dissolves old, hardened mucus in the liver and bowels. Gently detoxifies the body helping to clear skin conditions and balance hormones. 

  Specific as an expectorant in the respiratory tract. Good for when illness is going into or settling into the chest. Stimulates cough and facilitates the release of stuck mucus from the lungs. Can work equally well for stuck mucus in the nose and even correct post nasal drip. A great herb for the lungs. A good choice for someone who has damaged their lungs due to years of smoking or air pollution. Also for chronic lung issues. Specific for driving out old stuck mucus that is deep in the lungs. Asthma. Bronchitis. 

 Specific for chronic mucus. Stimulant action helps to stimulate the movement of the mucus out of the body. Astringent also tightens and tones tissues allowing for less mucus secretion when there is excess. 

 An invitro study was conducted and it was discovered that elecampane root extract eliminated ALL of the MRSA strains they tested. Would be nice if they continued to test it in humans. 

 Damp stagnation in the pelvis/reproductive system. 

 UTI's with cloudy urine. 
Edema. 

 Inulin slows down the metabolism of sugar which reduces blood sugar spikes. 

 Prebiotic activity also due to its high inulin content. Inulin is a polysaccharide Which are large molecules that are not broken down in the stomach, they instead, make it all the way down to the colon where they are then used by the gut bacteria there. 

Combines well with: 

Identifying: 

Growing:

Harvesting:

Contraindications: Do not take during pregnancy. 
Sources: 

The Way of Herbs: Michael Tierra: Pg 133-134
The Herbal Apothecary: JJ. Pursell. Pg 100-101

Studies:

 In vitro activity of Inula helenium against clinical Staphylococcus aureus strains including MRSA: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20095126/

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