Three-leaf watch
Useful properties and application of the watch
The shift is a plant related to shift work, it has been growing for many years. The rhizome of the plant is long, thick and loose, and in places where leaves have fallen off, there are sharp scars. At each tip of the shoot, rhizomes appear from three to five stems, on which there are rosettes of leaves. Long leaves with sheaths are very large. Collected in oblong brushes, pale pink flowers have fused petals, which are ciliate from the inside. The watch fruit is a spherical box with large seeds. The seeds of the plant are elliptical in shape, compressing on both sides.
Watch bloom lasts from May to mid-June, and fruits ripen from July to August. The watch reproduces vegetatively, by seeds and rhizomes.
This plant can be seen almost throughout the European part of the CIS. The watch is also widespread in Eastern Siberia and the Far East.
The watch grows on soils that contain a lot of peat, namely in swamps, lakes, on the banks of ditches and rivers.
We will tell you about a legend related to the watch. For a long time, a queen lived on the banks of the Great River. The queen had a stepdaughter whom she disliked from the first days. The wicked stepmother ruined her stepdaughter. But the girl did not die, but became a mermaid. The mermaid girl really missed her friends - the forest gnomes, with whom she talked when she lived with her stepmother. The Magus, the queen of the sea, ordered Vakhka (that was the name of her stepdaughter) so that she never sailed away from her mermaid friends, but she did not obey, and one day fled to earth, trying to visit her dwarf friends.
Due to the fact that Wahka disobeyed, the sea queen forbade her to appear in the underwater kingdom. The queen instructed Vakhka to stand "on watch" at the gates of the underwater kingdom. The little mermaid cried every day and every night with bitter tears, she reproached herself for disobeying the sea mistress. And one day the mermaid became a wonderful plant: instead of legs, she had roots, instead of hands - leaves, and in place of the head beautiful white-pink flowers bloomed. Due to the fact that the mermaid cried a lot, the plant became bitter. This is how the watch plant appeared.
Watch blank
For medicinal purposes, watch leaves are used. Leaves grow faster after the plant itself has faded, which is why the leaves are harvested after flowering (July-August). Already developed leaves must be cut off with a small stalk. Do not collect apical and young leaves, because they will turn black during the drying process. When assembling the watch, be careful: do not pull out the whole plant by the root, otherwise you will be left without a plant.
You need to dry the leaves in the fresh air, but in a dark place, and finally the raw materials are dried in dryers with a temperature of 50 ° C Celsius. If the raw material is dried in this way, then the dried leaves will be of a beautiful green color.
During the entire drying time, the leaves must be turned over. Signs of dried leaves are as follows: remnants of petioles and main veins when bent should easily break (not bend). The dried leaves can be stored for up to two years.
The healing properties of the watch
The bitterness contained in the watch are the most active biological compounds. Bitterness refers to bitter substances. When bitterness enters the oral cavity, it irritates the taste buds of the mucous membranes of the mouth and tongue, thereby increasing the secretion of the glands of the gastrointestinal tract, increasing appetite and improving the digestion process.
The preparations from the watch have anti-inflammatory and relaxing effects. In addition, the watch is a means that can improve the peristalsis of the stomach, promotes the secretion of bile. Also, experts say that fresh leaves and dry crushed ones help to heal wounds on the human body.
Application of watch in medicine
In folk medicine, rhizomes and watch leaves are used. Rhizomes are used for the preparation of medicines for the treatment of chronic gastroenteritis, colds, pulmonary tuberculosis and gastric hyposecretion.
The infusion made from watch leaves is used as an appetite-increasing agent for gastritis, constipation and flatulence. The leaves are added to choleretic teas, various tinctures, laxatives and sedatives. Also, the plant is used to treat liver diseases, hypoacid gastritis, malaria, scurvy, migraine.
The watch can also be used externally - for example, it can help get rid of acne on the face.
Infusion of watch leaves. The taken 10 grams of watch leaves should be poured with a glass of boiling water and placed in a water bath for a quarter of an hour. After 45 minutes of cooling, the infusion must be filtered and squeezed out. The volume that has turned out should be diluted with boiling water to 200 ml. It is recommended to take this medicine three times a day, 70-100 ml. taking the drug should be carried out half an hour before meals. The taken infusion will whet the appetite. And in the case of chronic constipation, the same infusion is used before bedtime as a micro enema. Before making a micro enema, you need to dilute 20 ml of infusion in 40 ml of boiled water.
Watch leaf decoction. Take 1 tablespoon of crushed leaves, pour a glass of boiling water over them and put them in a water bath for 15 minutes. The broth infused for two hours must be filtered. Every day, 3 times before meals, take 1 tablespoon of this medicine.
Tincture of watch leaves. Anyone can prepare such a tincture, since it is easy to do. So, take 10 grams of crushed watch leaves and fill them with 50 ml of alcohol. Leave this liquid to infuse for 3 weeks. After straining the tincture, take 10-15 drops 3 times daily as a choleretic agent.
Tincture of watch on vodka. To prepare it, you need to take 100 grams of freshly harvested leaves, pour them with one liter of vodka. After insisting 2 weeks, strain the tincture. Take such a remedy for attacks of fever or malaria. After drinking 100 ml of tincture, you need to go to bed and wrap yourself in a blanket. Traditional medicine specialists highly recommend taking this medicine. Already after three receptions of the tincture, you can forget about the attacks.
Contraindications to watch use
To date, the watch preparations can be taken by everyone in need, since no contraindications and side effects have yet been identified.
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).
