Altai - general description
The marshmallow is a perennial or annual herbaceous plant belonging to the family of mallow. It has a straight, rarely branched stem with a height of 5 cm to one and a half meters. The flowers are usually pale pink, relatively small in size. In most species of marshmallow, they are collected in a brush-paniculate inflorescence. The root is dense, many-headed, has many fleshy branches that go deep into the ground. Leaves are lobate-dentate, soft to the touch, like velvet. Blossoms and bears fruit in the second half of summer. Seeds are kidney-shaped, gray or brown.
Altai - types and places of growth
The most common and valuable species is the marshmallow. It can be found in the steppe and forest-steppe zones of the European part of our country, in the south of Siberia, as well as in Europe, Central Asia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and the Caucasus. Marshmallow grows everywhere where there is moist soil with a shallow occurrence of groundwater.
Along with medicinal marshmallow, raw materials of a similar type, the Armenian marshmallow, are widely used in folk and scientific medicine. The height of the plant varies from half a meter to 2 meters. The marshmallow blooms in the summer, and bears fruit in October. Outwardly, it is very similar to the drug, but it has a number of minor differences. Distributed in Central Asia, mountain-steppe regions of the North Caucasus, the Far East, in the lower Volga and Don rivers.
Other types include:
- marshmallow Brussonecelet - grows in the coastal regions of the Volga, between the Syr Darya and Amu Darya rivers;
- hemp marshmallow - its range covers most of Europe, the Near and Middle East, Asia; lives in bright broad-leaved forests, on stony slopes and meadows;
- rough marshmallow - grows in North Africa, Europe, Central and West Asia; prefers rocky slopes, desert terrain;
- Ludwig marshmallow - a very low plant (from 5 to 30 cm), registered in South Africa, Central Asia and the Mediterranean.
Marshmallow - healing properties
Due to the unique chemical composition of marshmallows, medicinal and Armenian is widely used in folk medicine, and is also part of some synthetic preparations made on the basis of medicinal herbs.
The marshmallow has an enveloping, anti-inflammatory, emollient, antispasmodic effect, therefore it is used to treat diseases such as inflammatory diseases of the respiratory system (acute respiratory infections, bronchitis, whooping cough, tonsillitis, pneumonia, etc.) and digestion, urinary tract infection, peptic ulcer and duodenal ulcer , dysentery, conjunctivitis (eye wash), candidiasis of the oral cavity.
Altai - dosage forms
For medicinal purposes, flowers, leaves and roots of the marshmallow are used. But according to laboratory data, most of the nutrients are concentrated in the root. Therefore, for the preparation of various infusions and decoctions, it is used most often.
Altai - secrets of use
In inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, it is advisable to take an alcohol-free infusion of marshmallow roots.
Method of preparation: add 4 teaspoons of crushed roots to 500 ml of boiled water, insist 8-10 hours and take 100 ml 3 r / d for one to two weeks. With diseases of the respiratory system, it is possible to use an infusion in the form of rinses, with conjunctivitis it is necessary to rinse the eyes.
An excellent expectorant effect has syrup from the marshmallow roots, prepared at home.
Recipe: For 100 g of hot sugar syrup add 2-3 g of dry root extract, mix and insist for several hours in a warm place. Such a syrup is used for bronchitis, tracheitis, pneumonia (as an additional remedy for the main treatment).
Althea juice has also proven itself well. It is extracted from the leaves and stems of plants collected in the first half of summer (maximum until the end of July). It is necessary to use it for 1 tbsp. spoon (you can add honey) 3 p. per day in the treatment of angry cough, pneumonia, bronchial asthma, bronchitis, whooping cough, etc.
Marshmallow - contraindications
- individual intolerance;
- persistent constipation;
- first trimester of pregnancy;
- respiratory failure 2, 3 degrees.
Side effects: in young children, marshmallows can cause constipation, and people with diabetes should also take it with caution.
Comments
