Useful properties and uses of buttercup
The name of this wildflower can be found in songs and poems, although it is not at all romantic washed away - the buttercup is so nicknamed for the "fierce" poisonous juice that corrodes the skin. However, the attractive appearance of the plant at all times encouraged rural youth to collect it in bouquets and give it to beloved girls. Traditional healers and healers pluck buttercups for another purpose - for the preparation of raw materials and the preparation of medicinal decoctions, tinctures and ointments. Today we will tell you all about the beneficial properties of buttercup and its use in medicine.
Full description of buttercup
The buttercup plant belongs to the family of the same name, and in Latin it is called ranunculus, which means "little frog". It is not at all green or the specific shape of the flowers that is the reason for such a funny name. It's all about the buttercup's devoted love for moist soil and sunlight. Like a frog basking on a mossy stone, a buttercup settles along the shores of shallow, swampy reservoirs, and stretches with delicate petals to the warm sun.
Appearance
Buttercup is an annual or perennial herb with a common or tuberous rhizome, with a branched straight or outstretched stem. The buttercup can reach one meter in height, but more often it is a low-growing (20-30 cm) flower. The shape of the leaves of the buttercup is very diverse, moreover, in the same plant, the lower moldings can be long, finger-like or spatulate, and the upper ones - short and feathery. Their length and width does not exceed six centimeters, and at the point of attachment to the stem there is a so-called "honey" hole, covered with a thin scale.
Bright, beautiful flowers of a buttercup differ in the correct shape, but tiny in size - no more than two centimeters in diameter. They can grow singly or gather in lush inflorescences. At the end of flowering, fruits are tied, which in biology are called "multi-roots". When they ripen and burst, seeds are poured onto the ground, usually covered with fine hairs and slightly convex. Each multi-root contains several dozen seeds, so there are no problems with reproduction in a buttercup.
Color spectrum
Usually when we say "buttercup" we imagine small yellow-orange flowers, but the color range of these plants is very extensive. In nature, there are also snow-white, bright red, pale pink, sky-blue and even lilac buttercups.
Habitat
Buttercup is a frequent visitor to green meadows, river valleys and swampy backwaters throughout Europe, especially in the Alps and Pyrenees. This plant is found in Asia, and in the North Caucasus, and in Western Siberia. Buttercup grows almost throughout the northern hemisphere, it is absent only in the Far North and the hot south, where the climate is completely inappropriate. Buttercup is well known to the inhabitants of Russia - these flowers can be found in almost every field, especially if it is crossed by a river, or there is a swamp nearby.
Content:
- Buttercup species
- Acid buttercup (night blindness)
- Poisonous buttercup
- Creeping buttercup
- Banewort
- Buttercup multiflorous
- Buttercup field
- Marsh buttercup
- Collecting and harvesting buttercup
- Buttercup composition and properties
- Buttercup treatment
- Infusion, tincture, ointment and buttercup juice
- Precautions for buttercup treatment
- Contraindications to the use of buttercup
- Poisoning cattle with buttercup
- Buttercup recipes
Buttercup species
Science knows about six hundred species of buttercup, all of them are poisonous to varying degrees, and useful to varying degrees. Traditional medicine of many countries of the world has adopted these flowers, they have found their place in the bins of Russian healers.
Currently, the following types of buttercup are used to treat a wide range of diseases:
- Acrid (night blindness);
- Poisonous;
- Burning;
- Field;
- Swamp;
- Creeping;
- Multi-flowered.
Acid buttercup (night blindness)
Night blindness has the scientific name ranunculus acris, a very wide range. It is the caustic buttercup that is best known to the layman, and it is precisely its golden-sunny petals that make us consider all buttercups to be yellow. Night blindness is one of the tallest plants in the buttercup family; it can grow to the waist for an adult. The stem of the caustic buttercup is straight, ascending, covered with fine, appressed hairs and branching at the end. The leaves are irregular in shape and can normally be very different from each other.
The rhizome of night blindness is very short for such a tall plant; it consists of numerous filamentous processes, collected in a bunch. Bright flowers most often appear at the ends of branches individually, they almost never form large inflorescences. Why was the cute plant called "night blindness"? Of course, for the ability of the poisonous juice to irritate the mucous membranes. If you rub your eyes after collecting the caustic buttercup, they will water heavily due to the alkaloid protoanemonin. In the countryside, since ancient times, there is an opinion that chickens should not be allowed to graze in a buttercup field, otherwise they will go blind. But science has not confirmed this "horror story".
The use of caustic buttercup in medicine
For medicinal purposes, the stems and leaves of night blindness are used, the juice of which contains alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, glycosides and tannins. The main alkaloid in caustic buttercup is called protoanemonin, and it is directly related to poisonous sea anemones.
The caustic buttercup has the following beneficial effects on the human body:
- Toning;
- Bactericidal;
- Anti-inflammatory;
- Immunostimulating;
- Hemostatic;
- Accelerating metabolic processes;
- Stimulates hematopoiesis and raises hemoglobin levels.
Buttercup preparations are used to treat the following diseases:
- Gout;
- Lupus;
- Burns and wounds;
- Furunculosis;
- Scabies;
- Migraine;
- Rheumatism;
- Lupus;
- Arthritis;
- Eczema;
- Hernia;
- Malaria;
- Fever;
- Hepatitis;
- Cold;
- Ascites;
- Constipation;
- Arrhythmia;
- Toothache;
- Warts;
- Internal bleeding;
- Corns;
- Lipomas;
- Inflammation of the lymph nodes;
- Scurvy;
- Mastitis;
- Trophic ulcers;
- Impetigo;
- Hydradenitis;
- Enlarged spleen
- Dysentery;
- Staphylococcus aureus;
- Disorders of the menstrual cycle.
Poisonous buttercup
The scientific name for this species of buttercup is ranunculus sceleratu. One-two-year-old low (10-70 cm) plant with a branched, hollow stem inside blooms with tiny (7-10 mm) flowers of a pale yellow color. But the leaves of the poisonous buttercup are bright green, shiny and more juicy and fleshy than that of night blindness, so more juice can be obtained from them.
By the way, it contains much more poisonous alkaloids than in the juice of the previously described species, so the poisonous buttercup is called that way.
Poisonous buttercup has fluffy seeds that do not get wet in water and do not rot. Moreover, under the top layer of their peel there are special cells in the form of empty cones, thanks to which the seeds cannot drown in water.
The use of poisonous buttercup in medicine
The high content of alkaloids makes the internal use of the poisonous buttercup almost impossible, but the external one helps with many diseases. For example, if the juice is diluted with water and applied to the skin affected by the itch mite, the itching will disappear on the same day, and after a week of regular rubdowns, you can get rid of the annoying parasite forever.
A weaker solution of poisonous buttercup juice is excellent for washing the eyes with barley and disinfecting purulent wounds. If an abscess is ripening on the skin, you need to attach chopped fresh grass to this place and wrap it overnight. The poisonous juice will draw the inflammation out, and the painful abscess will open. Freshly squeezed concentrated juice of poisonous buttercup can also remove warts if you apply it regularly several times a day. And in a hot infusion of poisonous buttercup, it is good to soar your legs at night with rheumatism.
For internal use, you must first dry the raw material so that volatile alkaloids evaporate from the poisonous buttercup.
Decoctions and infusions from a dried plant help with the following diseases:
- Enterocolitis;
- Bronchial asthma;
- Women's diseases;
- Pneumonia;
- Edema and dropsy;
- Pleurisy;
- Weakness and dizziness.
Creeping buttercup
Buttercup creeping (ranunculus repens) is no less poisonous than the above-described species, but it is called that way because of the short stems creeping along the ground, which often take root. Thus, we can say that creeping buttercup has a combined type of reproduction - vegetative-seed. He does not need a lot of seeds, so the plant blooms with large for a buttercup (2 cm in diameter) single honey-yellow flowers crowning each stalk. Flowering continues for a long time - from late spring to late summer. Buttercup is creeping, and unlike its counterparts, it does not favor the sun, it prefers the shady shores of forest lakes and swamps.
The use of creeping buttercup in medicine
The juice of this plant perfectly kills microbes, and also tones up the body, heals and relieves wounds. Warts are removed with crushed fresh grass, scabies are treated with diluted juice, and gruel is made from fleshy stems and attached to boils and abscesses so that they mature and open up as soon as possible. Compresses with creeping buttercup relieve pain in the joints and back well, and washing and bathing effectively kill the fungus on the legs.
External use of creeping buttercup can alleviate the following diseases:
- Sciatica;
- Radiculitis;
- Myositis;
- Rheumatism;
- Osteochondrosis;
- Polyarthritis;
- Scrofula;
- Gout.
To prepare the infusion for internal use, you need to take either only the flowers of the creeping buttercup, or dried grass. For a glass of boiling water, you will need one teaspoon of crushed raw materials. The dishes with the infusion should be warmly wrapped for half an hour immediately after steaming, and then strain (very carefully!) And take one tablespoon three times a day before meals. This remedy is great for chronic headaches, migraines, epilepsy, dropsy, stomach and intestinal bleeding.
Fresh flowers of creeping buttercup significantly alleviate the condition of patients with malaria. Since the attacks of this disease prevail in a person mainly in the evenings, it is necessary to grind the flowers in the morning and apply the resulting gruel to the inner side of the wrists and elbow bends, where large blood vessels pass. In this simple way, you can prevent or at least mitigate an attack of malaria.
When applied externally, concentrated buttercup juice should not be left on the skin for more than fifteen minutes, otherwise ulceration or even necrosis will develop.
Banewort
In Latin, the burning buttercup is called ranunculus flammula. It is a compact, low (20-50 cm) plant with an upright or slightly sloping stem and two types of leaves: the lower ones are long-petiolized, and the upper ones are wide and sessile. Burning buttercup blooms with single small (12 mm in diameter) pale yellow or lemon flowers. The fruit of this plant is not at all the same as that of night blindness: it is not a multi-root, but a single-seeded egg-shaped leaf. Ranunculus is a big lover of dampness, he likes swampy meadows and the coast of forest lakes.
The use of buttercup burning in medicine
The plant sap contains rare beneficial substances - coumarins and gamma-lactones. They have a healing effect in scurvy, and this was discovered in ancient times, when the disease was very widespread. For the treatment of scurvy, it is recommended to squeeze a few drops of juice into half a glass of water and drink this medicine before meals three times a day for a month.
The alkaloids contained in the burning buttercup cause an immune response in the body of a cancer patient, with the help of which a person can cope with a serious illness. Traditional healers advise for cancer to steam one tablespoon of freshly chopped buttercup hot with a liter of boiling water, leave for an hour, then strain and take a tablespoon four times a day until all the medicine is drunk. After two weeks, the course of treatment can be repeated. We emphasize that this technique can be used only with the permission of the treating oncologist!
Buttercup multiflorous
Buttercup polyanthemus (ranunculus polyanthemus) is a stately (60-100 cm) beautiful plant with a straight pubescent stem and large (up to 3 cm in diameter) bright yellow flowers, collected in inflorescences. The leaves of this species are long, wedge-shaped, and their petioles are also covered with fine hairs, like the stem. The multiflorous buttercup has a short flowering period - from June to July, it does not reproduce very actively, therefore, it is found in nature less often than the above-described counterparts. This buttercup shuns civilization and can be seen in forest glades and wide, untouched meadows.
The use of buttercup multiflorous in medicine
The stems, leaves and flowers of the multiflorum buttercup contain the alkaloid protoanemonin, as well as flavonoids, ascorbic acid and carotene.
Such a rich composition makes it possible to use this plant to treat many diseases:
- Neuralgia;
- Migraine;
- Gout;
- Furunculosis;
- Rheumatism;
- Malaria;
- Purulent wounds;
- Tuberculosis of the skin.
To prepare an infusion of multiflorum buttercup, you need to steam two teaspoons of fresh crushed raw materials with half a liter of boiling water and insist for forty minutes, and then strain thoroughly. Take the infusion 3-4 times a day before meals, one tablespoon.
Buttercup field
Buttercup (ranunculus arvensis) is a relatively short (up to 60 cm) plant with a vertical, highly branched, almost bare stem and wide dissected leaves. This species blooms with single golden-yellow flowers with a diameter of about one and a half centimeters. The rhizome of the plant consists of several small tubers, in which the content of alkaloids is higher than in the aerial part. Buttercup received its name precisely for the love of fields, meadows and pastures. It settles in open areas and grows well even on acidic, loamy and calcareous soils.
The use of a field buttercup in medicine
Buttercup, like all others, tones up, disinfects and relieves pain, but it also has two additional properties: antipyretic and laxative. Alcoholic tincture of the field buttercup is used for rubbing with fever and warming compresses for angina, radiculitis and osteochondrosis. A gruel made from fresh leaves and stems removes warts and accelerates the ripening of abscesses. Buttercup tubers were not ignored either - they are used for industrial production of food additives.
Marsh buttercup
This type of buttercup is sometimes called aquatic, following the literal translation of the Latin name - ranunculus aquatica. This amazing plant is not at all like its terrestrial counterparts - it takes root right under water, sometimes at an impressive depth (up to two meters). Marsh buttercup has a thin, bare stem and small (3-4 cm) leaves of light green color. The petiole of the leaves is about the same length as themselves. The shape is also unusual - the leaves of the marsh buttercup are thin, feathery, and do not exceed 12 millimeters in width.
The water buttercup is the only one of the species we have described that blooms not with yellow, but with white flowers peeping out of the water. The flowering period takes about five months and falls in late spring - early autumn, and ends with the ripening of a gray ovoid fruit with spiny bristles at the top. Marsh buttercup is found everywhere: in Europe, and in Asia, and in America, and even in Africa. It can sit comfortably in any shallow body of stagnant water or in a slowly flowing stream. On swampy, muddy soils, this plant is also found, but much less frequently.
The use of buttercup marsh in medicine
In addition to the alkaloid protoanemonin, the stems and leaves of Buttercup Marsh contain saponins, so it is considered a powerful natural tonic and aphrodisiac. To prepare a broth that stimulates sexual function, you need to pour a tablespoon of freshly chopped buttercup marsh with a glass of boiling water, boil for 3-5 minutes, then wrap and leave for one hour. The finished medicine is thoroughly filtered and taken in a tablespoon before meals three times a day. This infusion enhances sexual desire in both men and women.
In conclusion, I would like to say that all the types of buttercup described by us are poisonous and have a similar chemical composition, therefore they are interchangeable. The main thing is not to start treatment with buttercup without consulting a doctor, because you need to be careful with any poisonous plants!
Collecting and harvesting buttercup
The optimal time for harvesting a buttercup is the end of the flowering period, when the fruits are just being tied, and the petals have not yet fallen from all flowers. By this time, the concentration of nutrients in the aboveground part of plants reaches its climax. Buttercup roots are rarely used in medicine due to their extreme toxicity.
Buttercups are collected using a garden shears or large sharp scissors. You need to carefully cut the stems at a height of 5-10 cm above the ground to get the juiciest part of the plant. Tearing buttercups is not recommended for two reasons: firstly, you will stain your hands with poisonous juice, and secondly, damage the root system, and the plant will then most likely die.
By the way, for greater safety, it is better to collect buttercups with gloves and tight clothing. In contact with the skin, and especially on the mucous membranes, buttercup juice causes severe irritation and burns, up to the formation of ulcers and blisters. The collected raw materials must be thoroughly washed and dried in the attic or under a shed. Naturally, all these manipulations must be performed with gloves.
Buttercup should not be dried in direct sunlight, since this will completely evaporate most of the active substances, including protoanemonin.
When does buttercup bloom?
The flowering periods of plants in this family vary greatly in duration, depending on the species. There are buttercups that bloom in April, and by June, fruits with seeds already appear on them, and there are those that delight the eye with bright flowers from May to October, such as the marsh buttercup. If you stumbled upon buttercup thickets and are planning to collect raw materials, try to determine the species with the help of scientific literature and photographs and thus find out the optimal time for harvesting.
How to store?
You cannot store a fresh buttercup at all, useful substances quickly evaporate from it, so you need to start treatment immediately. But dried raw materials can be packaged in paper bags and hidden in a closet, where the buttercup will retain its medicinal properties for about one year.
Buttercup composition and properties
All types of buttercup contain the following biologically active substances:
- Protoanemonin is a volatile poisonous alkaloid with a pungent characteristic odor and a bitter pungent taste. A small amount of protoanemonin has a healing effect on the human body: it tones up, stimulates the nervous system, improves immunity, kills microbes, and increases the level of red blood cells and hemoglobin in the blood. And in large doses it is the strongest herbal poison with a neuroparalytic effect, causing death from oppression of the respiratory center;
- Coumarins are natural anticoagulants that, moreover, accelerate the processes of cell regeneration, act as a source of vitamin P, prevent the growth of tumors and the formation of blood clots;
- Cardiac glycosides are substances that normalize cardiac activity, slow down the rhythm of contractions of the heart muscle during tachycardia, increase systole and lengthen diastole, activate blood circulation and lower blood pressure;
- Saponins - work as a choleretic agent, and also reduce temperature and pressure, thin phlegm and accelerate its excretion from the bronchi, tone up and stimulate the reproductive system;
- Tannins - narrow and strengthen the walls of blood vessels, create the thinnest protective film on the mucous membrane of the digestive tract after ingestion, and on the surface of the skin - when applied externally;
- Alkaloids are a group of volatile toxic compounds that, in small doses, stimulate the immune system well, tone up, relieve fever, relieve pain, lower blood pressure, strengthen the walls of blood vessels, stop bleeding and disinfect wounds;
- Flavonoids are substances that prevent the destruction of valuable hyaluronic acid in the human body, and also stimulate metabolic processes, increase the elasticity of blood vessels, neutralize free radicals and prevent sclerotic lesions of the circulatory system;
- Vitamin C is one of the most important vitamins for health, without which the normal functioning of the endocrine glands and the full assimilation of iron supplied from food is impossible. Ascorbic acid is also an antioxidant, a cancer-fighting agent and an important element for maintaining the nervous system. Vitamin C deficiency has a detrimental effect on immunity and hematopoiesis;
- Carotene is a substance necessary for good vision, strong bones and teeth, elastic skin and beautiful hair. The lack of carotene in the body results in early aging, slowing down of protein synthesis, the development of cancer and slowing down of the process of cell regeneration;
- Amino acids are the most important substances on which the quality of blood, hemoglobin level and the body's ability to cleanse depend. The more valuable amino acids a person receives, the faster he gets rid of the harmful components of food and air - pesticides, radionuclides, heavy metals;
- Vegetable oils - nourish and rejuvenate tissues, normalize metabolic processes, accelerate cell regeneration, neutralize carcinogens and prevent the appearance of malignant neoplasms.
Thus, buttercup has many beneficial properties:
- Tones up;
- Pain relieves;
- Reduces temperature and pressure;
- Disinfects;
- Relaxes;
- Kills the fungus;
- Protects against cancer;
- Increases perspiration;
- Normalizes metabolic processes;
- Strengthens the immune system.
Buttercup treatment
Traditional medicine treats buttercup without much interest, although this plant has been proven to be one of the most effective remedies for skin tuberculosis. On pharmacy counters, you will never find dried buttercup, which is sold on a par with St. John's wort and chamomile, so if you want to try buttercup treatment, you will have to go to the nearest meadow for raw materials on your own.
Doctors treat treatment with poisonous plants with understandable apprehension and skepticism, but this is not a reason to refuse consultation. Buttercup has serious contraindications, in addition, it is very important to choose the right dosage and type of medicinal raw materials. Different parts of the plant have a different healing effect in intensity, so the advice of an experienced herbalist or naturopathic doctor will definitely not hurt you.
Flowers
Infusions of buttercup flowers are used primarily to stimulate the nervous system and improve blood quality. This remedy also disinfects and kills the fungus well, so buttercup flowers are used to treat scabies, intestinal infections, Staphylococcus aureus and fungal skin lesions. An excellent insecticide can be made from such raw materials, with which you can easily clean the house of ticks, bugs and moths, or protect fruit crops in your garden from pests.
If you grind freshly picked buttercup flowers into a gruel, you get an analogue of a mustard plaster and an abscess plaster. By applying this remedy to a boil or boil, you will speed up the maturation and release of pus. Buttercup flowers mustard plasters are much stronger than usual, and you can keep them on your chest and back for no longer than fifteen minutes. Flowers can be rubbed on aching joints or back, then they act as a pain reliever. And in malaria, as we mentioned above, crushed buttercup flowers are applied to the wrists and elbows to stop attacks.
Rhizomes and tubers
In the root system of the buttercup, the concentration of poisonous alkaloids is very high, therefore, the treatment with this part of the plant must be approached very carefully. Powder from fresh tubers or roots is used to remove warts and disinfect septic wounds. This raw material is also suitable for the preparation of alcoholic tinctures against cancer, but an experienced herbalist who knows the exact dosage and understands the toxicity of the roots of different types of buttercup should do such things.
There is an ancient folk method for treating infertility, according to which the buttercup roots must be cleaned and inserted into the vagina at night in the middle of the cycle in order to stimulate sexual function and ensure successful conception. But it is obvious that this barbaric method of treatment can cause not the long-awaited motherhood, but a burn of the vaginal mucosa.
Seeds
A decoction of buttercup seeds is used for colds as an expectorant and immunity stimulant. In general, little is known about treatment with buttercup seeds, and the most likely reason for the paucity of information is that it is difficult to collect them in sufficient quantities, and there is no need to do this when there are flowers, leaves and stems that have the same properties.
Leaves and stems
The herbaceous part is the most popular type of raw material for buttercup treatment. It is from fresh and dried leaves and stems that decoctions and infusions are most often prepared against ulcers and boils, headaches and joint pains, colds and skin infections. Freshly squeezed buttercup juice works well against warts, mycoses and scabies.
If you have an injury to a joint or soft tissue, hurry up to attach crushed buttercup leaves to this place - this way you will avoid severe swelling and internal hemorrhage, as well as relieve pain. Gruel from the leaves and stems of buttercup prevents the formation of an ugly bruise at the site of the injury, if you apply it immediately and hold it for 15 minutes.
Since ancient times, folk medicine has used a mixture of vinegar and crushed buttercup leaves. This healing remedy helps with leprosy, eczema and baldness when rubbed into the affected skin regularly. But do not forget to wash off the drug after 10-15 minutes.
Infusion, tincture, ointment and buttercup juice
Buttercup is used to prepare medicines by oriental healers, Russian healers and northern shamans. It is safe to say that this medicinal plant has been thoroughly studied for a long time. Buttercup treatment is relevant for skin inflammations, pain syndrome of various etiologies, neuralgia and joint lesions, colds and oncology. The main thing is to choose the right dosage form.
Water infusion
The most commonly used form is an aqueous infusion, since it is technically wrong to make a decoction from buttercup, because when boiled, most biologically active substances evaporate from it. You can boil the buttercup for a maximum of five minutes, or it is better to just steam it with boiling water, wrap it up and insist. The infusion time should not be too long, it is optimal to keep the raw material in the medicine for 30-60 minutes, and then filter it thoroughly, since too many poisonous alkaloids will pass into it over a longer period.
The classic recipe for buttercup infusion looks like this: a teaspoon of dry raw materials is poured with half a liter of boiling water, kept warm for half an hour, filtered and used to disinfect wounds, eliminate parasites and fungi, or inside a tablespoon three times a day to treat internal diseases. You can also rinse your mouth with buttercup infusion for bleeding gums, gingivitis and periodontal disease - after a week the inflammation will subside.
Alcohol tincture
We will not provide a recipe for alcoholic tincture for cancer treatment here, as it is a dangerous and complex technique that requires a lot of experience and accuracy. But the external use of buttercup tincture is quite safe and useful for many diseases.
Take 50 fresh buttercup flowers, fill with half a liter of rubbing alcohol, seal the glass container tightly and keep the medicine in a cool dark place for 21 days, shaking occasionally. Then filter and use for warming compresses, rubbing and disinfecting wounds.
Healing ointment
To prepare the ointment, take fresh buttercup flowers, grind them and mix with lard (pork fat) in a ratio of one to four. It is necessary to store buttercup ointment in the refrigerator in a tightly closed glass jar.
This is an excellent remedy for colds - just rub your chest and back with buttercup ointment and wrap yourself in a warm handkerchief to calm your cough and calmly fall asleep all night with bronchitis. You can apply such an ointment on a sore throat, and on inflamed lymph nodes, and on muscles chilled by a draft, but be sure to wrap the sore spot to enhance its therapeutic effect.
The juice
Freshly squeezed buttercup juice allows you to remove warts, as well as relieve excruciating toothache, if a cotton swab dipped in it is briefly applied to the gum. Strongly diluted buttercup juice treat cataracts at an early stage: for this you need to wipe sore eyes 3-4 times a day.
Fresh buttercup juice is a very caustic substance that, upon prolonged contact, causes burns of the skin or mucous membranes, ulceration or even necrosis of the epidermis.
Precautions for buttercup treatment
Do not forget that buttercup is a very poisonous plant, therefore, it can be treated only after consulting a doctor. It is also important to follow the dosage precisely, since a substance that is beneficial in small quantities can cause irreparable harm in large quantities.
The symptoms of buttercup poisoning are as follows:
- Sharp pain in the epigastrium;
- Nausea and vomiting;
- Loose stools;
- Slowdown or spikes in heart rate;
- Profuse salivation;
- Seizures and tremors;
- Loss of consciousness.
If there is a suspicion of buttercup poisoning, you must perform simple steps as soon as possible:
- Call an ambulance;
- Rinse the stomach with a weak solution of potassium permanganate;
- Drink activated charcoal at the rate of 1 tablet for every 10 kg of weight.
Severe poisoning is caused by protoanemonin - a poisonous volatile alkaloid contained in a buttercup. The danger is not only the ingress of a large dose of this alkaloid into the body, but also prolonged exposure to the skin and mucous membranes. Buttercup extract injections threaten tissue destruction and necrosis, so they are not currently being done. Only the methods described above are relevant, and only the named dosages, which must be clearly followed.
Contraindications to the use of buttercup
Buttercup treatment is contraindicated for pregnant and lactating women, as well as for people with individual intolerance to the biologically active ingredients of the plant.
Poisoning cattle with buttercup
Livestock grazing in floodplain meadows is at risk of buttercup poisoning. If the animal eats a lot of poisonous grass, it will lose its ability to chew food, it will experience severe anxiety and excruciating abdominal pain. You can guess about poisoning by drooling, vomiting and diarrhea.
In severe cases, the animal, half an hour after eating a buttercup, begins to convulse, it falls to the ground, its eyes rotate, breathing is interrupted, and then the victim loses consciousness and dies. To protect your livestock from such a fate, you need to carefully examine the pasture for the presence of poisonous plants (buttercup, celandine, aconite) before driving them out to graze.
Buttercup recipes
- Broth from heel spurs. Pour a glass of fresh grass into a three-liter saucepan of hot water, boil for several minutes, cool slightly, pour into a basin and steam your legs until the broth has completely cooled down.
- Infusion for skin tuberculosis. Pour three tablespoons of crushed buttercup leaves with two cups of boiling water and leave for three hours, then strain and make lotions and compresses with cotton wool and warm infusion.
- Tincture for umbilical hernia. Pour half a glass of buttercup flowers with half a liter of vodka and leave in a dark, cool place for three days, then strain and take one tablespoon orally before meals three times a day for a month.
- Tincture for rheumatism and gout. For half a glass of vodka, you will need 10 grams of fresh buttercup flowers. The tincture should be kept in a dark place for a month, and then filtered and used for rubbing and compresses.
- A decoction for hepatitis and liver failure. Steam a teaspoon of fresh crushed stems and leaves of buttercup with a glass of boiling water, soak for 15 minutes in a water bath, then strain thoroughly and take one and a half teaspoons three times a day before meals for at least two months to achieve a lasting therapeutic effect.
- Acetic tincture for pancreatitis. In a glass jar, combine half a cup of fresh buttercup herb and two and a half cups of 9% table vinegar. Soak the tincture for a day, then strain thoroughly and dilute with water in a ratio of 1:10. For each painful attack, take the medicine, starting with one drop and doubling the dosage every half hour until you reach thirty-two drops. It is possible to resort to such treatment only after consulting a doctor.
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).
