Nutmeg

MyristicafragransHoutt

The fragrant nutmeg, or nutmeg tree, grows wild in the Moluccas. The evergreen tropical tree reaches 20 m in height and has a smooth gray-brown trunk. The dense pyramidal crown consists of leathery leaves, among which you can see small yellowish flowers. In their place, a fruit is formed that brought fame to the fragrant nutmeg. Nutmeg resembles a peach in appearance, but its size does not exceed 5-6 cm.

A fleshy, bright yellow berry with a dense skin splits when ripe, revealing a nutmeg in a red shell up to 3 cm long. The shell, or nutmeg (machis), like the nut, is used as a savory spice and for the production of essential oil. They began to call nutmeg because of its characteristic odor, reminiscent of musk. Approximately from the 5th-6th centuries, nutmeg has been known in Europe as an incense, and since the 11th-12th centuries - as a spice, medicinal and cosmetic product.

For centuries it has been used to treat stomach, kidney, and fever. Paracelsus wrote about nutmeg as a prophylactic during plague epidemics and about its benefits for seasickness, heart ailments and women's diseases.

It is also known that nutmeg quickly eliminates bad breath, as John Gerard wrote: “Nutmeg gives pleasant breath and corrects bad breath.”

Nutmeg essential oil is a yellowish liquid with a rich spicy-sweet aroma. It is an important component of some pharmaceutical preparations with tonic and analgesic effects. The oil is used in the food industry and perfumery.

Medicinal properties

1. Helps cleanse the bronchi from mucus.
2. Increases appetite, improves digestion. Recommended for chronic constipation, intestinal infections, flatulence.
3. Normalizes the menstrual cycle, alleviates menopausal disorders.
4. Stimulates the heart.
5. Antioxidant agent.
6. Effective for arthritis, rheumatism, myositis, osteochondrosis, neuralgia, including dental ones.
7. Prescribed for cholelithiasis.
8. Effective for fungal skin infections, scabies, lichen, wounds, cuts.
9. In folk medicine it is known as an antiseptic, carminative, stimulant, analgesic, antibacterial, antispasmodic, fungicidal, hemostatic, antirheumatic and tonic.
10. Aphrodisiac.
11. Calms the nervous system. Indicated for insomnia, asthenia, apathy, hysteria, fatigue, nervous tremors, and stressful conditions.
12. Prevents hair loss. A good rejuvenating and regenerating product.

Dosage

Oil burner: 3-4 drops.

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

Baths: 2-3 k.

Rubbing, massage: 2-4 k. per 10 ml of transport oil.

Enrichment of cosmetics: 1-2 k. per 10 g of base.

Contraindications. Individual intolerance, pregnancy, increased excitability of the nervous system, epilepsy, mental illness, hypertension.

Note. Avoid overdose, toxic. Before use, consultation with an aromatherapist is necessary.