Let's get to know Burdock :

Burdock Root

BURDOCK (Arctium lappa)

This sturdy though I say weedy European import wears two faces. Burdock's tender first-year roots can be eaten as a vegetable (maybe you've enjoyed it in Japanese restaurants under the name Gobo) or maybe you've seen the towering plants growing along the road with a huge rip leaves and small mauve balls of thistle like flowers.

Its origin is Europe, naturalized widely in Asia, and North America. Other names and varieties include, Beggar's Buttons, & cockelburr. Lesser burdock (A. minus) is a related species with similar properties and uses. The root is sometimes sold as Radix bardantae. Also there are several long, straight commercial Japanese hybrids for cooking that grow up to 3 feet in length.

Burdock is the primary ingredient of Essiac Tea, which is believed to shrink cancer cells. Canadian nurse popularized and Sol the tea for these uses developed from a formula that she said she learned from Ojibwa medicine man in the 1920s. She treated thousands of cancer patients before her death in 1978. Currently both Canadian scientist and American researchers from the national cancer institute have not found the tea to be effective against tumor growth. The FDA label is the tea (still widely sold as Flor-Essence) as "not generally recognized as safe and effective" and classifies it as a "new drug" that is subject to government regulations.

Chinese and Native American medicine employees burdock to increase digestion by heightening bio production and to cleanse the blood of toxins a decoction of the seed or route is reputed to be ineffective diuretic and to relieve problems such as a edema, eczema, gout, syphilis, and constipation. The leaves have historically been taken internally as a tea or externally as a poultice to clear boils and other skin abscesses. Leaves laid on the soles of the feet are said to ease symptoms of gout. In the book herbal medicine published in 1988 states that burdock oil stimulates hair growth and cases of alopecia and also helps relieve dandruff; be aware that people are allergic to members of the Daisy family may have adverse skin reactions.

Learning about herbs and roots you will see words like decoction, tincture, and infusions, as well as syrups, tonic wines, potions, poultices, ointments. Please read my blog Making Herbal Remedies to learn more about what these are and how to make your own.