Small-flowered willowherb

Recently, much scientific literature has been made available regarding the therapeutic use of small-flowered willowherb, a plant home herbalists have been using for years without anyone really paying much attention. After much research, it has finally been recognised as a superlative herb for kidney/bladder/prostate and reproductive health, especially for men. It has also proved useful helping with chronic bed-wetting in children and incontinence problems in adults. Mostly it’s either made into an infusion, salve or tincture. The dried herb, when infused, tastes really similar to Japanese Gen Mai tea (green tea with toasted rice added). Luckily, our garden is covered with this plant and every summer it ends up growing just about everywhere.

- Packed with flavonoids, phenolic acids and tannins.

- An excellent anti-inflammatory herb. Certain constituents of the plant suppress the inflammatory response in the body by blocking its signal pathways, which inhibits the release of cytokines.

- The tannins make it useful for treating hepatitis C liver infection.

- Research would suggest willowherb acts as an anti-tumour immune-modulator (Hevesi et al., 2008). It’s widely used in cases of prostate cancer and shows anti-proliferation tendencies which may inhibit the spread of the disease.

- Its antioxidant properties increase glutathione levels in the body, which devours free-radicals that attack and destroy the body’s cells.

- Beneficial for urinary tract and bacterial infections.