Mugworts are used in folk medicine of India, China, Europe, America and other regions. A member of Artemisia, mugwort is also called wormwood or sagebrush. First recorded medical is in the first century BCE. Artemisia absinthium is the species most often used in absinthe.
The principle European mugwort species is Artemisia vulgaris, or common mugwort. Mugwort is used for medicinal, spiritual, and culinary properties. In East Asia the species Artemisia argyi is often called "Chinese mugwort" in the context of traditional Chinese medicine.
Artemisia argyi is also popular in Japanese, and Korean traditional medicine. Wormwood leaves are collected on a warm, dry day during spring and summer when the plant is blooming and then dried in the shade.
In traditional Chinese medicine, the leaves have bitter, pungent, and warm qualities. They're linked to the liver, spleen, and kidney meridians. The leaves are antiseptic, expectorant, fever-reducing and styptic, ie it stops the bleeding when applied to a wound.
The herb is considered to enhance blood flow to the pelvic area. It's used to stimulate menstruation, and to treat infertility, dysmenorrhea, asthma, and coughs.
Leaves can be added to food or as the source of oil extracts. They're used in tinctures, or burned in moxibustion, the application of burning or smoking leaves to various parts of the body in a spiritual healing capacity.
The common mugwort plant can be used as an anthelminthic, or treatment for parasitic worms in animals. The downy hairs on the underside of the leaves can be scraped off and used as effective tinder or oil lamp wicks. Mugwort has been used to treat insomnia.
The leaves are fragrant and tend toward bitterness. Leaves and early spring shoots can be eaten cooked or raw. Buds are best gathered in July-September just before the plant flowers.
Mugwort essential oils, containing the active components of this plant, vary in composition and effect depending on
plant species
habitat
parts of plant used
harvest season
Mugwort pollen is a main cause of allergic reactions. The plant releases pollen abundantly in late summer and autumn.
Medical treatments and benefits of Artemisia include:
Culinary as food or tea: used to treat digestive, circulatory and respiratory health problems
Salve: applied to skin, treats lesions, rashes, bruises, itch, poison ivy, eczema, body odor
Tincture or Extract: to treat fevers, stomach ache, liver conditions, cough and cold
Essential Oil, various compounds: treats blood pressure problems, tumor growth and issues of menstrual cycle. The oil also has anti-fungal, anti-oxidant, and antimicrobial effects
Moxibustion: dry leaves burned on pressure points of the body. In traditional Asian medicine, moxibustion is a form of therapy used to enhance healing with acupuncture. Leaves are burnt close to the skin.
In North America mugwort is considered an invasive species. North American mugworts include Artemisia absinthe.
The spice tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus) is an aromatic perennial herb if the same genus. Its main aromatic compound is estragole, named after the French for tarragon, estragon. It gives tarragon its licorice taste and has been found to cause cancer in mice.
Tarragon plants are boiled for washes and poultices in treatment of swollen feet and legs, and snow blindness. Mugworts includes pasture sagewort (Artemisia frigida), tea of which is taken to treat colds and fevers. Mugwort tea is made with boiled water over crushed leaves.
Mugwort is traditionally used for skin treatments, and as snuff to relieve congestion, nosebleeds and headaches.
Western mugwort (A. ludoviciana) or white sagebrush is also known as 'women's sage' as leaf tea is taken to ease menstrual irregularity. It's also a treatment for indigestion, coughs, and chest infections.
Western mugwort smoke is used to disinfect contaminated areas and revive patients from comas. The essential components of Artemisia oils include camphor, cineole, α- and β-thujone.
Camphor has been used for fragrance, as embalming fluid, in topical medications, as a manufacturing chemical, and in religious ceremonies. Camphor is most famous for its use as a decongestant in ancient and modern medicine.
The presence and concentration of thujone varies largely by species and environment. artemisia ketone borneol and bornyl acetate, as well as a vast range of other phenols, terpenes, and aliphatic compounds.
In low doses, thujones may convey stimulating, mood-elevating effects. Higher doses lead to spasms, convulsions and death. As with all toxins it's important to know the tipping point.
Camphor cream or ointment is toxic if ingested. Applied on skin, camphor may cause allergic reactions.
Symptoms of camphor poisoning include
irritability
disorientation
lethargy
muscle spasms
vomiting
abdominal cramps
convulsions
seizures
Ingestion of two grams of camphor causes serious toxicity and four grams is potentially lethal. Airborne camphor may be poisonous. There is no known antidote to camphor poisoning.
As an insecticide Artemisia is especially effective against insect larvae; however, overuse on garden plants will weaken or kill them.
In humans and other animals, the active element a-thujone excites the brain by blocking gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA), a calming neurotransmitter. Although health benefits are linked to this compound, over-ingestion of thujone can cause seizures and death.
Alpha-thujone is the toxic agent in absinthe. It's the active ingredient of wormwood oil and some other herbal medicines and is reported to have antinociceptive (immune boosting) qualities. It's also considered insecticidal and anthelmintic (treats parasitic worms).
Leaves and flowers can be used as a bitter flavoring agent to season fat, meat and fish. Like yarrow (Achillea), mugwort is used in gruit to flavor beer before the production of hops. The term "gruit" comes from regions of the Netherlands, Belgium, and northwest Germany.
Brewing beer with hops goes back to the ninth century in Germany to Hildegarde von Bingen. The famous Deutsches Reinheitsgebot or purity law for beer is established in 1516, restricting ingredients, with artisan exceptions. Gruit is prized for specialty beers and as a digestive.
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