Orthosiphon staminate
Useful properties and application of staminate orthosiphon
Botanical characteristics of staminate orthosiphon
Orthosiphon staminate from the family Labiatae belongs to evergreen shrubs, reaching a height of 0.8-1.2 meters. Its tetrahedral stems are greenish-purple in color and highly branched. Leaves are oblong, opposite, short-petiolate, with serrated edges. Small pale purple flowers form racemose inflorescences on the tops of the stems. The flowering time is July-August, but when grown in Russia, the plant practically does not produce seeds.
In the wild, orthosiphon grows in the tropical rain forests of Sumatra, Java, Indonesia and northeastern Australia. In Russia, it does not occur in nature; it is cultivated as an annual medicinal plant on the entire Black Sea coast, in the Crimea and the Caucasus.
Useful properties of orthosiphon
For medicinal purposes, the aerial part of the plant is used - leaves and flashes (apical shoots of leaves), which are collected 3-4 times during the entire growing season. For the first time, the apical and lateral shoots are harvested at the end of July, before the flowering of orthosiphon. Then the harvesting of raw materials is carried out in August, September and October, when the tops and all green leaves are cut off. After drying, the moisture content of the finished raw material is usually no more than 10%.
The aerial part of the plant contains organic acids, tannins, fatty oil, bitter glycoside orthosiphonin, triterpene saponins. The leaves are also rich in potassium salts. As shown by pharmacological studies, the plant is not poisonous and has a mild diuretic effect without side effects.
Orthosiphon application
The aerial part of the plant is used for kidney diseases, accompanied by edema, uric acid diathesis, gout, and arterial hypertension. Infusions and decoctions from orthosiphon have a beneficial effect on the patient's body with cholecystitis, gastritis with low acidity, liver diseases. It is recommended for infectious and inflammatory diseases of the urinary tract, as well as for the formation of sand or kidney stones.
Infusion: you need to pour half a teaspoon of chopped dry herb with a glass of boiling water, bring to a boil and leave for 20 minutes. After filtering the product, you need to add boiling water to the previous volume and drink 100 ml of warm infusion half an hour before meals 2 times a day. The infusion is prepared daily, the course of treatment is 1–1.5 months.
Broth: 2-3 tablespoons of dry leaves are poured into an enamel bowl, poured with a glass of boiling water and heated in a steam bath for about 15 minutes. Insist 45 minutes, filter and bring the resulting volume to 200 ml by adding boiled water. The broth is taken 2-3 times a day, 60-100 ml half an hour before meals.
Orthosiphon leaves
During the last harvest of raw materials in October, all green leaves, the length of which can reach 7 cm, are cut off from the plants. They are dried and packed in packs of 50 g. The color of the dried leaves is brownish-green, the taste is bitter-astringent, the smell is barely perceptible. The quality of raw materials can be reduced due to the admixture of black leaves or stems longer than 50 mm and thicker than 2.5 mm. The finished product is usually stored in a cool and dry place.
Orthosiphon tea
Orthosiphon staminate is an excellent diuretic used in the form of a tea for diseases of the kidneys and urinary tract. Tea also has a mild antispastic effect.
Orthosiphon tea: it is prepared at the rate of 1 tablespoon of dry leaves per 500 ml of cold boiled water. Tea is infused for 8-12 hours, stirring from time to time. After straining, the drink can be slightly warmed up to a pleasant temperature for drinking. Dosage - 2-3 cups of tea during the day, drink a little in the evening.
A mixture of orthosiphon leaves and bearberry, used in the form of a tea, perfectly disinfects and cleanses the bladder and urinary tract.
Tea made from a mixture of bearberry and orthosiphon: to make tea, 25 g of bearberry and orthosiphon leaves are pre-mixed, after which 2 teaspoons of the mixture are poured into 50 ml of cold boiled water, infused for about 10-12 hours and filtered. They drink 2 cups of tea a day warm.
Orthosiphon staminate - "kidney tea"
Kidney tea has found active use in many countries of the world; in Europe it has been officially approved for use since 1950. Kidney tea improves tubular function by increasing glomerular filtration, and when taken, urine alkalizes. It is effective for edema caused by heart failure, pyelonephritis, glomerulonephritis, cystitis, urethritis, kidney stones.
In patients with acute and chronic cholecystitis and cholelithiasis, with regular intake of renal tea, pain is significantly reduced, appetite appears, secretion of gastric juice increases, and the number of leukocytes and mucus in bile decreases.
Ortosiphon during pregnancy
Orthosiphon tea is the only diuretic collection that doctors safely prescribe during pregnancy. It is recommended both in the treatment of inflammatory diseases of the genitourinary system, and to eliminate edema that may occur in women in the second half of pregnancy. The taste of the tea is quite tolerable, but it is not recommended to consume it for more than three weeks in a row.
Recently, expectant mothers have increasingly begun to have questions about the possibility of drinking tea during pregnancy. This is due to the fact that some manufacturers began to indicate pregnancy among the contraindications on the packaging. As doctors explain, today kidney tea is often called any renal collection, which may include herbs, the intake of which is highly undesirable during pregnancy.
Real kidney tea, namely orthosiphon tea, poses no real threat to either the expectant mother or the fetus. On the contrary, it can significantly alleviate the unpleasant conditions of a pregnant woman.
Contraindications to the use of orthosiphon
There are no special contraindications for taking orthosiphon, although decoctions and teas for dropsy against the background of heart or renal failure are best used only after consulting a doctor and under his supervision. Individual intolerance to the drug is also possible. Overdose should be avoided, as with any other medications.
The author of the article: Sokolova Nina Vladimirovna | Phytotherapist
Education: Diploma in "General Medicine" and "Therapy" received at the Pirogov University (2005 and 2006). Advanced training at the Department of Phytotherapy at the Peoples' Friendship University of Moscow (2008).
