This information is food for thought to help you with your own research—check with your doctor before taking any of this advice.
Dandelion greens
The #1 backyard weed is dandelion. The whole dandelion plant has benefits. You can use the greens, roots, and flowers in different recipes. The whole dandelion. You can eat the roots. You can roast them and make coffee out of them. It is an alternative type of coffee, which is actually tastes very similar to coffee.
The greens, which are very bitter, you can put some of those in your salad. You want to probably offset these bitter greens with other types of leaves because they’re very very bitter and they’re kind of tough, but it’s very therapeutic to include them in your daily salads.
You can eat the little yellow flowers. You can put those in your salad or make a tea out of them.
What’s interesting about this weed that everyone’s trying to kill is that it’s designed to survive all sorts of conditions, and because of that, it’s created very powerful natural chemical compounds that you can use for your own health. In fact, that weed is way healthier than probably most of the vegetables that you’re consuming. And also, its roots can go way, way down into the earth, like 20 to 30 feet, and grab these minerals and pull them up. If the superficial topsoil doesn’t have the minerals, it will go down and pull the minerals up there.
When you’re consuming dandelion greens, you’re getting a lot more nutrition than most vegetables that don’t dig their roots that deep now. Dandelions have been around for a very long time. The Romans consumed them, the Egyptians, the Chinese, a lot of different cultures, even in India, used dandelion tea for a lot of different ailments.
But you should be aware that these dandelions are growing right in your backyard. Of course, don’t consume them if they’ve been sprayed with pesticides. Clean them very well even you are growing them in your garden. And that way you’ll have enough to consume on a regular basis. Dandelion greens are one of the best things for your liver after milk thistle. Since so many health problems stem from your liver, it’s a very very good thing to include in your diet.
Potential benefits
Dandelion greens are even one of the best things for your liver. Stop trying to destroy dandelions and start utilizing them for your health!
Top potential benefits of this healthy backyard weed:
1. It can act as a potent diuretic. It helps with fluid retention and edema
2. It can help lower your blood pressure. It helps support the heart. Another effect on blood pressure. It’s loaded with potassium. You have to realize that when someone is deficient in potassium, their blood pressure naturally goes up because potassium is a physiological relaxer of the vascular system and when you don’t have enough potassium, you have all sorts of issues with the heart, including blood pressure, so this weed is loaded with potassium and many other minerals, especially like magnesium.
3. It can help reduce insulin resistance
- It can help reduce fat on the liver
- It can help stabilize your blood sugar
- It can help lower your blood pressure (from a different angle)
- It can help get rid of boils
4. It can help reduce the reproduction of HIV-1
5. It can help prevent fibrosis in the liver
6. It can help reduce 5-alpha reductase inhibitor
- It can help prevent hair loss
- It can help shrink an enlarged prostate
- It can help prevent facial hair and hair loss in females
7. It can act as an aromatase inhibitor. It can help lower excess estrogen and regulate estrogen in males and females
8. It can help stimulate bile
- It can help with bloating
- It can help prevent gallstones
- It can help with constipation
Further reading
- https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Dandelion-prevents-liver-fibrosis%2C-inflammatory-and-Hamza-Mohamed/4e2414184ae18fac4bc8cb34c06d9041160a1397
- https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Taraxacum-official-(dandelion)-leaf-extract-fatty-Davaatseren-Hur/5f03c299041dccd7a166812b14c4cfe364e2b0db
- https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/NFS-01-2015-0001/full/html
When I was growing up, my grandma made dandelion salad a lot in the spring and summer to go with our Sunday dinners. She’d pick the smaller leaves, because they’re not as bitter and tough. She made a sweet and sour sauce for them by frying some bacon, and taking some of the hot grease and mixing it with vinegar, sugar, a little salt, and I think some mayonnaise to taste. The sauce was mixed with cut up bacon pieces and poured hot over the leaves, which made them wilt slightly. Then she sliced a couple hard boiled eggs, and a little bit of onion, and put it over the top, and added paprika. It was delicious. I’ve made it a few times myself.
I always pick the leaves and add them to our big salad. Gophers love them and actually pull the whole plant down just like on a bugs bunny cartoon! I just did a 3 day fast and sipped bitter dandelion tea.
My African grandmother was a walking wealth of knowledge on herbs, spices & all things wild.
There was never a sick day in our household that she didn’t have a natural cure for. All she did was take a walk, come back with roots, leaves, tree bark, herbs & all manner of plant materials to boil & drink, bathe & steam in & eat as well. I wish now I was old enough then to learn from her, appreciate & harvest all that knowledge before she passed away. I concur, all our cures can be found within nature!
Dandelion has been used medicinally in Chinese traditional medicine practice for a long long time, some eat the leaves and stems as a veggie, like to stir fry or boil it.