Dandelion Health Benefits: More Than A Weed
Updated Feb. 29th, 2024 | Read Time: 3 Minutes | What You Will Learn:
- Exploring Dandelion's Health Benefits
- Digestive Bitter
- Liver and Gallbladder Health
- Urinary Tract Cleanser
- Antimicrobial
- Reaping The Health Benefits of Dandelion: Supplement Varieties
It's hard to believe that the dandelion, a "weed" that aggravates so many lawn artists, also possesses many health benefits and has been an important medicinal herb throughout history. The scientific name of the dandelion is Taraxacum officinale. The name "dandelion" comes from the French "dents de lion", which translates to "lion's teeth", a reference to the shape of the edges of the leaves. The leaves of the dandelion plant are hooked and pointed, a characteristic that allows this plant to be distinguished from wild lettuce, another common lawn weed.
Both wild lettuce and dandelion leaves can be used to make a tasty garden salad, jam-packed with nutrients. The leaves and the roots of the dandelion plant have different medicinal properties; the leaves are a diuretic that can help clean the urinary tract, while the roots are a digestive bitter.
Exploring Dandelion's Health Benefits
Digestive Bitter
Dandelion roots and leaves have a bitter taste that stimulates the release of saliva and stomach acid, thus increasing appetite. It also triggers a cascade of increased secretion of digestive juices throughout the gastrointestinal tract including bile, and pancreatic secretions, both of which promote better digestion.
Liver and Gallbladder Health
The dandelion plant is useful in the treatment of digestive disorders. The root of the plant stimulates the release of bile from the liver and gallbladder, which helps the body to digest fats. It also helps to flush the gallbladder and support the release of toxins by the liver. Because of this, dandelion is an excellent liver cleanser. At the same time, there is some evidence that dandelion may help to regulate cholesterol levels, which is also likely due to this bile flush response.
Urinary Tract Cleanser
The leaves act as a potassium-sparing diuretic, which functions equally to common prescription diuretics in studies. Thus dandelion leaf can be used to treat water retention such as retention that is due to PMS. This action also allows dandelion leaf to flush fluid through the kidneys making it a good herb for cleansing the urinary tract.
Antimicrobial
Dandelion has some antimicrobial properties that make it useful for infections like abscesses and boils. Because of this, and its liver cleansing abilities, dandelion can help to detoxify the body and reduce skin conditions like acne.
Reaping The Health Benefits of Dandelion: Supplement Varieties
Dandelion leaf and root can be used as an encapsulated herb, dried herb, tincture or liquid extract. The roots contain the medicinal constituents that support the liver and digestion, while the leaf contains the substances that support the kidney and urinary tract.
Dandelion root is found as a component of many intestinal and liver cleansing formulas. To help with digestion, bitter herbs must be tasted, like when you take them in a tincture or tea. Encapsulated herbs are swallowed, thus bypassing the taste buds, and will not stimulate digestion, which is why the dandelion leaf is often found as a component of kidney cleansing formulas.
The dose of dandelion root or leaf is 500 – 1500mg per day of powdered extract. Liquid can be dosed at 15 – 30ml of root extract, or 10-30ml daily of leaf extract. But it's always best to follow the dosing recommendations on the manufacturer's label or from your healthcare practitioner.
Good to use!
Dandelion has so many health benefits as a supplement or as dandelion root tea - this article is a great outline of it's many uses and how we can improve our health by adding it to our diets. I take it as a supplement when I don't have time to enjoy it as a tea - it is so great for our kidneys, helping our livers detox and has helped to balance out my PMS - including bloating! Highly recommend dandelion for women.
Hello Nicole,
Thank you for your comment. As you mentioned, dandelion has many great benefits and having it as a tea is the most popular way to consume it. It's great for digestive concerns or to have after a heavy meal as well as helps with water retention from PMS or travel. Thanks for sharing.
Stay healthy & well!
All these years seeing dandelions growing on the lawn and feeling like they were such a bother, I had no idea that they have so many great benefits to your health! I enjoy drinking dandelion tea and am so happy that it has so many beneficial detox qualities to it! Next time I go outside, I might just pick the dandelions and save them for my tea instead of throwing them away as useless weeds. Plants are amazing, whether weeds or flowers, it seems everything serves a purpose.
Hello,
Dandelion has so many great benefits and applications. If you're looking for a dandelion tea that's clean and doesn't contain any chemicals or pesticides, check out this brand:
https://www.nationalnutrition.ca/traditional-medicinals-organic-dandelion-root-20-tea-bags.html
Have a healthy day!