Woodlice grass: medicinal properties and contraindications, treatment of joints, recipes

Description of the plant

Woodlice has curly, creeping thin stems gathered at the root into a knot. The height of the rosettes is 10-35 cm.

The fragile stalk is strewn with small fibers, which store moisture collected from the atmosphere. Round-oblong leaves, framed along the contour by cilia, dot the stem.

The grass is wet to the touch. Small white flowers are collected in spreading inflorescences. From the description of the woodlice, it becomes clear where the second name of the herb – chickweed – came from. The tender weed has flowers that look like tiny stars.

The woodlice plant blooms in May-August. The fruits are brown-colored boxes filled with small tuberculate seeds that ripen in July-September.

Compound

The composition of woodlice includes:

lipids;
vitamins A, C, E, K;
tannins;
minerals: zinc, copper, iron, magnesium, cobalt;
organic acids;
triterpene saponins, alkaloids, flavonoids.

Blank

Woodlice are harvested for the winter in May-June. During this period, the stems and leaves of the plant are juicy and contain the maximum amount of useful substances.

The aerial part of the chickweed is collected. Dry in a dark, well-ventilated place. The raw materials are stirred and turned over every 24 hours. Dry grass is placed in linen bags or glass jars. Store for 12 months.

Chickweed: Stellaria graminea

It grows throughout almost the entire country, except Transcaucasia.

Creeping perennial with branched, tetrahedral stems 10-40 cm tall. The leaves are opposite, linear-lanceolate or lanceolate, up to 4 cm long, ciliated along the edge. The inflorescence is spreading, multi-flowered. Blooms all summer. The fruit is an oblong capsule. Poisonous.

The culture usually uses a golden form with yellow flowers. The natural form is very aggressive.

Chickweed.

What are the health benefits of woodlice?

The beneficial properties of woodlice herb include the ability to have the following effects:

anti-inflammatory;
antiseptic;
choleretic;
pain reliever;
diuretic.

Chickweed can stop bleeding and relieve high blood pressure. The weed successfully copes with the treatment of serious diseases.

Starwort extracts fight pathologies of the digestive tract and kidneys, endocrine, dermatological, and gynecological diseases.

What does chickweed treat?

Woodlice in folk medicine is included for the treatment of various diseases:

The healing properties of woodlice are due to ascorbic acid and tocopherol. Vitamins help fight vitamin deficiency, anemia, and strengthen the immune system. Extracts increase the concentration of hemoglobin in the blood.
Preparations based on chickweed strengthen and tone the heart muscle. They are taken for hypertension and impaired blood clotting.
The use of woodlice is justified for skin diseases. The herb is used to treat dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, acne, allergic rashes on the epithelium, diathesis, difficult-to-heal wounds and ulcers. The infusion is used to prepare baths, lotions, and compresses.
Woodlice is good for women. The plant is used to eliminate fibroids, cystic formations, and cervical erosion. Decoctions are consumed during breastfeeding. The product enhances lactation. Woodlice is used for mastopathy and breast cancer.
Herbal infusions are drunk for diseases of the respiratory system, kidneys, and liver.
The plant helps with burns, hemorrhoids, and varicose veins.
Chickweed is used to treat joint diseases: arthritis, arthrosis, gout. Woodlice relieves heel spurs, radiculitis, and rheumatism.
Decoctions and infusions of chickweed are taken for diseases of the digestive tract.
Woodlice helps with diabetes. An infusion of the plant reduces blood glucose levels.
Chickweed juice relieves headaches and eliminates tinnitus.
Herbal extracts clean blood vessels and improve memory.
To treat the thyroid gland, juice and aqueous extracts from woodlice are used. The drugs relieve nodular goiter, inflammatory diseases developing in the tissues of the gland.
The herb has a sedative effect. Products based on it calm, relieve irritation, anxiety, and stress.
The plant removes toxins from the body and restores metabolism.
Woodlice is used to treat the eyes. The juice restores the retina and cornea. The decoction relieves inflammation in the eye sockets.

↑ Dosage forms produced by pharmacists

You can buy dry woodlice herb at the pharmacy to prepare medicinal drinks, decoctions and tinctures at home. The dried raw materials are placed in cardboard packages weighing 30, 50, 100 g. Other types of medicines with woodlice are also produced:

"Shchitovit."
The drug contains, in addition to woodlice, brown algae, bloodroot, and tyrosine. Used in the treatment of thyroid pathologies as an adjuvant.
Tincture.
Alcoholic extract of chickweed is produced in dark bottles from 30 to 100 ml. Application both external and internal.
Chickweed in tablets.
The product is produced in jars with gelatin capsules that contain crushed grass. The drug is classified as a food additive. Recommended use as a prophylaxis to increase immunity during cold epidemics.
Woodlice juice.
It is packaged in containers of 50-200 ml. The juice is used for eye pathologies, as well as for compresses.
"Endocrinol"
. The drug belongs to the dietary supplements. It contains vitamin E, woodlice, and cinquefoil. Used for the treatment and prevention of endocrine diseases.
Read also: Diabetes mellitus in pregnant women: recommendations and diary

Chickweed is a weed that many summer residents and gardeners are trying with all their might to remove from the site. The main reason is the rapid spread of grass throughout the area. But herbalists and doctors classify the plant as medicinal. Infusions, teas, ointments, decoctions and oil with morushnik help protect against various diseases, eliminate the likelihood of complications in acute diseases, and reduce the risk of symptoms in chronic pathologies.

Harm from using chickweed can only occur if the dosage is not followed and the dosage is exceeded.

Contraindications and side effects

Chickweed causes harm in the following cases:

Hypotension. The folk remedy dilates blood vessels and reduces blood pressure.
Hypersensitivity to active substances. An allergic reaction develops.

The plant has a similar poisonous relative, chickweed lanceolate. Be careful when collecting. Do not collect chickweed that grows near roads; the grass can accumulate heavy metals and toxins.

For specific diseases, be sure to consult your doctor.

Places of growth

Anchor grass: description, where it grows, scope of application

A frequent visitor to garden areas, it is difficult to control and destroy due to the large number of fruits on the plant, which, when ripe, fall off and are quickly accepted.

The average number of seeds in one plant is 15 thousand. Seeds, being in the soil, retain the ability to germinate for 2-5, sometimes 10 years.

Woodlice seeds

Woodlice is a grass that also grows near houses, in garden plots, in unkempt areas, in ravines, ditches, along paths and in clearings in forests with high dampness. The habitats of the genus are quite extensive. It is found both in temperate and cold climate zones, as well as in the subtropics and tropics. It grows almost throughout the entire territory of Russia.

Use of woodlice

The grass is used fresh, decoctions, water and alcohol tinctures, and juice are prepared from it. They make preparations for internal and external treatment.

Chickweed for legs and joints

The lower limbs and joints are treated with local remedies and oral extracts. Recipes for therapy:

Treatment of joints with fresh woodlice. The torn grass is applied to the lesion and secured with a bandage. Keep the application for 30 minutes. Chickweed quickly relieves pain, swelling, and inflammation.
Rubbing. Woodlice juice is rubbed into sore legs. The product relieves pain, relieves heaviness and fatigue, restores cartilage and bone tissue.
Alcohol tincture. A jar of any size is filled halfway with chickweed and topped with vodka. Place the mixture in a cool, dark place for 30 days. The finished product is filtered. Rub the extract on sore joints.
Woodlice tincture with vodka. Take a 3-liter jar, fill it with dry chickweed, pour in 500 ml. vodka. Add boiled water up to the shoulders. Keep the mixture for 1.5 weeks in the dark. Take 1 tbsp. l. on an empty stomach 3 times a day.
Chickweed decoction. In 200 ml. pour 10 grams of boiling water. raw materials, simmer for 30 minutes. over low heat. Filter, add water, bringing the volume of the extract to 200 ml. Drink water extract from woodlice to relieve inflammation in the legs.

Treatment of other diseases

Folk recipes for treating various pathologies with woodlice:

Infusion of chickweed to relieve inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract and kidneys. In 200 ml. boiling water brew 1 tbsp. l. raw materials. Filter the extract after 60 minutes. Drink 50 ml on an empty stomach. 4 times a day.
Woodlice decoction for the treatment of skin pathologies. In 0.5 l. boiling water brew 2 tbsp. l. raw materials. Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Filter after 2 hours. Used for lotions. A napkin soaked in the extract is applied to the affected areas. Remove the application after 20-30 minutes.
Infusion for healing ulcers and wounds. In 250 ml. boiled water add 1 tbsp. l. chickweed. Filter after 4 hours. The product is used to wash wounds. Make lotions with the solution. Moisten a napkin, apply it to the damage, and leave until dry. Make 3 dressings per day.
Wood lice compress for mastopathy and breast cancer. The plant is picked, crushed until the juice is released, distributed over the affected chest, and fixed with a bandage. Keep the application for 20 minutes. The compress is applied 3 times daily.
Chickweed juice for the treatment of the thyroid gland. The grass is collected, washed, and the juice is squeezed out. The medicine is poured into a dark glass bottle. Take 5 ml. on an empty stomach 3 times a day. They are treated for 21 days, rest for 1 month, and repeat the course.

Use in cosmetology

Woodlice is used in cosmetology. Masks and applications nourish tissues, soften and moisturize the skin, restore its elasticity, relieve inflammation, and heal wounds.

Applications

For calluses, corns on the feet, cracked heels, thanks to the healing properties of wood lice, it is possible to quickly get rid of the keratinized layer that forms on the soles.

The product softens hardened epithelium and heals cracks. They put the washed grass in their shoes and walk all day. Or the second option:

The greens are crushed.
Apply to the feet.
Wear cotton socks.
Leave for 4 hours.
After removing the application, the feet are washed.
Take a foot bath.
Lubricate with nourishing cream.

Woodlice face mask

The grass is crushed until the juice is released.
Apply the green mass to the face.
Leave for 20 minutes.
Wash it off.

The mask moisturizes and rejuvenates the skin, relieves inflammation, cleanses the epithelium of acne and pimples.

↑ What does mokrushnik look like?

The unpretentious grass from the Clove family also has other names: canary grass, midge, chickweed, bird's mint, biting midge, hernia grass. The plant is widespread in areas with temperate climates. Woodlice grows in areas with moist soil: near water sources, on the edges of forests, in courtyards of country houses, near roads, in landfills, in flower beds and beds.

The culture is a thin curly stem, covered with single-row fibers and stretching up to 10 centimeters upward. The villi are located in the internodes of the stem and allow the plant to accumulate moisture. The leaves of chickweed are ovoid in shape with pointed tips, juicy, and bright green in color. To receive more light, the lower leaves grow on tall petioles. But the top ones are located opposite each other directly on the stem.

During flowering, the plant is covered with small white flowers, which look like small stars against the background of dense greenery. Hence the botanical name – “chickweed”.

The first flowers appear in May, flowering continues until the end of August. The honey plant is pollinated by bees and insects, but when pollination does not occur, the flowers self-pollinate. The fruits are small capsules with tiny seeds. Up to 2,500 seeds ripen on one bush, with germination up to five years.

Woodlice is an annual that only lives for four weeks. But the grass multiplies quickly, so it changes 3-4 generations over the summer. The soil where chickweed colonies grow is covered with a green carpet until frost. In southern regions with above-zero temperatures, the mothbird breeds all year round.

In winter, the woodlice does not retire. Snow in autumn covers the green grass, which is covered with flowers. And after the snow cover melts, flowering continues, the boxes ripen and the seeds fall onto the cold soil. Biologists themselves do not understand why chickweed does not freeze out like other herbs.

Simple cooking recipes

First courses, salads, and teas are prepared from woodlice. The herb is added as a seasoning to side dishes, meat and fish. Pies, oatmeal and buckwheat cutlets are made with herbs. Such food restores metabolism, rejuvenates and heals the skin.

Chickweed salad recipe

Chop 100 gr. chickweed, 50 gr. green onions and garlic, 1 small bunch of parsley and dill.
Grind 1 hard-boiled egg.
Cut 1 large boiled potato into cubes.
Add salt (to taste).
Connect the components.
Season with 2-3 tbsp. l. sour cream.
Mix.

Starfish soup

Pour 1 liter into a saucepan. water.
Add 400 gr. potatoes.
Cook until done.
Sauté 200 gr. carrots, 1 onion, 1 parsley root with 50 gr. tomato paste.
Add vegetables to broth.
Chop 150 gr. chickweed.
Place in a saucepan.
Let it boil.

Before serving, season the soup with sour cream, dill and green onions.

Photo

Below you can see photographs showing a close-up of the woodlouse weed: