Cardamom

Elettaria cardamonum Maton

Cardamom is widely known as a spicy spice with a unique bouquet of smell and taste. Belongs to the ginger family. The homeland of this plant, exotic for Europeans, is India, which is also the main supplier of fragrant seeds to the world market. Cardamom resembles a reed in appearance. It reaches a height of 4 m, the leaves are long, silky, lanceolate, up to 70 cm long and up to 8 cm wide.

Small yellowish flowers with purple edges form oval red-brown boxes up to 2 cm long, which contain seeds with a spicy-burning taste. Cardamom has been known as a spice and medicine in India and China for more than 3,000 years. It was used to treat respiratory diseases, fever, diseases of the digestive tract and genitourinary system. In the writings of Hippocrates you can find recommendations on the use of cardamom for severe coughs, abdominal pain, nervous disorders, paralysis, spasms, epilepsy, urinary retention, and bites of blood-sucking insects.

Today, cardamom is included in the pharmacopoeias of many countries around the world as an effective remedy for headaches, asthma, lack of appetite and various disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. Well, if you manage to visit Saudi Arabia, you will definitely be treated to the famous Bedouin coffee with cardamom.

Medicinal properties

1. Used in the treatment of bronchitis, tracheitis, pneumonia, asthma.
2. Improves appetite and secretory-motor function of the gastrointestinal tract. Helps with gastric disorders, flatulence, heartburn, nausea, vomiting, and gastric atony.
3. Normalizes body temperature.
4. Improves blood circulation.
5. Analgesic for sciatica and muscle pain.
6. Eliminates bad breath.
7. Normalizes blood pressure.
8. Prescribed for painful menstruation and menopause problems.
9. Effective for urinary retention.
10. Effective when exhausted.
11. In folk medicine it is known as a carminative, analgesic, stimulant, antiseptic, antispasmodic, diuretic, expectorant, antipyretic, hypotensive and warming agent. Used for intestinal disorders, rheumatism, heart disease, colic, epilepsy, to improve digestion.
12. Aphrodisiac.
13. Recommended for headaches, asthenia, lethargy, apathy, depression, melancholy, post-stress disorders, poor concentration.

Dosage

Oil burner: 3-4 k.

Internally: 2-3 k. with 1 tsp. honey 1-2 times a day.

Baths: 4-5 k.

Inhalations: 1 to.

Contraindications. Individual intolerance, children under 12 years of age.

Note. Strong oil, avoid overdose.