Sunflower

Sunflower (oily or annual sunflower) – an annual plant of family of Astrov, has a thick stalk with one or several heads, and in height can reach 4 meters. The single head can have a diameter 50 cm, regional petals of its yellow color, the middle – orange. A sunflower fruit – a tetrahedral mericarp. It is known that 100 grams of fried seeds of sunflower contain more than 20 grams of protein, 3,4 grams of carbohydrates and 52 grams of fats.

Sunflower is delivered from North and South America, is now grown up almost around the world for production of sunflower oil. This plant has also medicinal properties, but not everyone knows of advantage of sunflower.

Useful properties of sunflower

This plant has curative properties, it is applied for the purpose of digestion improvement, as an expectorant, and also to decrease in body temperature at infectious processes.

In traditional medicine use leaves, ray florets, stalks and even roots of sunflower. Leaves and flowers contain flavonida (кверцимеритрин), a betaine, sincaline, carotene (provitamin A), sterols and other useful substances. In addition leaves of a plant are rich with pitches and rubber. Seeds of sunflower contain oil and fatty acids (linolenic, lignoceric and olein).

Leaves gather separately, and only those which whole and are not spoiled by insects are selected. They are torn off from a trunk and dried in the fresh air in the darkened place. Flowers of sunflower collect in an initial blossom, and also dry in the shaded place. The prepared raw materials are stored in holshchevy or paper sacks.

Use of sunflower in traditional medicine

Medicinal properties of sunflower are applied at jaundice, diseases of a gall bladder (chronic cholecystitis, dyskinesia), diseases of respiratory system, at infectious diseases (flu, malaria, etc.) and many other illnesses.

Broth of middle flowers is used at jaundice, diseases of a liver and biliary tract, at intestines dyskinesia, at bronchial asthma. Spirit tincture of lingular flowers and leaves of sunflower helps at temperature increase (the caused flu, ORZ, malaria) and at neuralgia of various origin. Also spirit tincture from leaves is used for appetite improvement.

Broth of leaves of sunflower – excellent diuretic (diuretic) means, and also helps at diarrhea.

Oil from seeds of sunflower can be used for prevention of atherosclerosis as it is rich with polyunsaturated fatty acids which interfere with formation of atherosclerotic plaques on an endothelium of vessels. Besides it is used as a purgative. Prokipyachenny oil of sunflower helps with quality of wound healing cure for wounds and burns (oil bandages). Also it can be used in oil inhalations at treatment of bronchitis, pneumonia.

The advantage of sunflower is used at arthritises and arthroses of various etiology. "Hat" of this plant has curative properties, and the oil extract which is used for outside grindings of area of sore joints is made of it.

Roots of sunflower are applied to "removal of salts" at an urolithiasis, gout. Tea is made of roots: 1 glass of the crushed roots needs to be filled in with 3 liters of water and to boil within 1-2 minutes. All tea should be used within 2-3 days. All process of removal of salts takes 1-2 months, at the same time it is necessary to refuse hot spices, a pickles, vinegar and smoked products.

Medicinal properties of sunflower can be used also at herpes. For this purpose it is necessary to wash and scald boiled water a petal of a sunflower and to fix by a plaster on site rashes. It is necessary to change a petal each 2-3 hours.

At the increased nervous irritability use the following recipe: 3 tablespoons of dry flowers of sunflower need to be filled in with 250 ml of vodka. To insist within a week in the dark place, then to filter and accept 40 drops (on 50 ml of water) twice a day before food.

The advantage of sunflower can be useful also at psoriasis. Oil tincture which prepares as follows is for this purpose used: to place dried petals in a one-liter jar (up to the capacity of 2/3) and to fill in with vodka. To insist within 21 days in the dark place, periodically mixing. Ready tincture have to be dark brown and oily. It wipes a psoriasis enanthesis in the period of an exacerbation of a disease.

Besides oily tincture from petals of sunflower can be used at catarrhal diseases. For this purpose it is necessary to apply it on 1 tablespoon 3 times a day. At children 7 years are younger this tincture is not used, to children is more senior than this age ½ teaspoons three times a day are given. At treatment of cold tincture of sunflower has to be applied no more than 3 days.