You are subscribed to many lists and groups with a focus on foraging or plants as medicinal aids and more.
One of this is a MSN Group, Healing Herbs.
In it several contributors share their knowledge while other users ask questions.
You have been reading lots of fantastic postings from Julia in this group, one of the most prolific contributors, who -with her broken English- pass on knowledge from Russia.
But you want to talk about another posting today. About the entry from BushBasha1 on Tribulus terrestris
TRIBULUS TERRESTRIS is used in various herbal formulas to treat headaches, eye problems such as itching, conjunctivitis and some vision problems, pain relief, enhancement of the immune system, improved mood, as an anti-depresant (it is excellent in this application), cholesterol reduction, and relief of premenstrual (PMS), menopausal symptoms in women, and nervousness, making it a great menopause herb. It is also used to treat high blood pressure and rib pain. Also it is wonderful for enhancing male functionality and getting it up. Tribulus proxies for both testosterone in the male and estrogen in the female.
With this are you ready to run, not walk, to the nearest supplier of tribulus?
Before you do so there is a big IF that needs your consideration. Yes, it will do all of the above wonderful things IF and only IF the product contains enough of the active ingredient, protodioscin and related saponins. Worse yet saponin content is not necessarily related to protodioscin content. Protodioscin is only one of many saponins in tribulus and the proportion of protodioscin to other saponins is subject to wide variation. Not knowing this, the supplement industry for the most part standardizes against saponin content. The statement, “60% saponins†is not meaningful in terms of protodioscin content. The gold standard test for tribulus is to feed a reasonable dose to castrated mice. If the male organs approach adult size and the mice behave as mature male mice are supposed to in the presence of females, the tribulus is potent. As it is, most tribulus products out there are not worth the bottle they are sold in. So what is the poor Joe supposed to do who does not know a good supplier. Worse yet is that a good supplier for one herb may be a lousy tribulus supplier. My suggestion is that you visit dealer sites that post customer product reviews. When you find one, enter tribulus in their search engine. If the reviews are not positive, don’t buy the product. Two such dealers are bulknutrition.com and amazon.com There are probably others out there.
Bushbasha1’s concerns are very legitimate, yet it doesn’t diminish that much the value of the plant as a whole. Yes there is amazing variety of active ingredients in the species with unpredictable contents, but this is also a plant found all over the continent, cursed by everybody and actively hindered.
Native to Europe – N. France and eastwards to E. Asia.
Edible Uses
Leaves and young shoots – cooked. Fruit – cooked. The unexpanded seed capsules are ground into a powder and made into a bread. A famine food, it is only used when all else fails.
Medicinal Uses
Abortifacient; Alterative; Anthelmintic; Aphrodisiac; Carminative; Demulcent; Diuretic; Galactogogue; Infertility; Pectoral.
The seed is abortifacient, alterative, anthelmintic, aphrodisiac, astringent, carminative, demulcent, diuretic, emmenagogue, galactogogue, pectoral and tonic. It stimulates blood circulation. A decoction is used in treating impotency in males, nocturnal emissions, gonorrhoea and incontinence of urine. It has also proved effective in treating painful urination, gout and kidney diseases. The plant has shown anticancer activity. The flowers are used in the treatment of leprosy. The stems are used in the treatment of scabious skin diseases and psoriasis. The dried and concocted fruits are used in the treatment of congestion, gas, headache, liver, ophthalmia and stomatitis.
Reference
Weeds Australia
Plants For a Future
PlantNET
Wikipedia
Flicker
Healing Herbs
CalPhotos
