Butcher’s Broom 100 g, 50 g, 25 g

Butcher’s Broom – 100 g ($14.99), 50 g ($9.99), 25 g ($6.99)

Benefits:
In animal studies, butcher’s broom is known for its cleansing properties, especially with blood vessels. It contains agents that support circulation (especially to the legs). It also reduces urine retention, which may make it useful in treating bladder infections. For humans, it has been approved by the German Commission E for hemorrhoids (itching and burning) and venous conditions such as poor blood flow in the legs that causes pain and heaviness. It is also suitable for cramps in the legs, itching, and swelling.

Hemorrhoids. Butcher’s broom tightens the dilated blood vessels that form hemorrhoids. The herb is particularly effective for relief of burning and itching hemorrhoids.

Swelling. Placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trials have shown that butcher’s broom extracts, taken over a period of three months, reduce swelling in the upper arm after surgical treatment for breast cancer. The reduction of swelling was proportionally greater in tissues with the thinnest layers of fat.

Varicose veins. One of the chemical constituents of butcher’s broom, ruscogenin, is a potent inhibitor of the enzyme elastase, which accelerates the recycling of tissues lining the veins. Unlike some other herbs used for varicose veins, butcher’s broom enhances the action of hyalouronidase, an enzyme vital for fertility in women. Due to the presence of steroidal compounds, butcher’s broom helps to make veins stronger and less porous. It encourages blood to move up out of the legs, helps to tighten the veins and decrease inflammation and also helps to reduce pain.

German clinical studies have confirmed that butcher’s broom creams reduce the swelling of varicose veins during pregnancy. Researchers found that wearing support stockings plus applying a ruscogenin cream resulted in an average dilation of varicose veins of 2.1 millimeters during pregnancy. Wearing support stockings but not using the cream resulted in an average dilation of 3.4 millimeters. Using neither ruscogenin cream nor support stockings during pregnancy resulted in an average dilation of varicose veins of 4.5 millimeters. In other words, none of the treatments eliminated varicose veins entirely, but butcher’s broom cream plus the use of support stockings reduced the “spread” of the veins by half and the amount of blood diverted into them by 90 percent.

Recommended Uses
Butcher’s broom is available in ruscogenin tablets, capsules of ruscogenin powder, and in a commercial capsule in which butcher’s broom is combined with rosemary oil. When taken internally, butcher’s broom is considered to be more effective if taken with vitamin C. Creams are available from compounding pharmacies. Some commercial preparations combine ruscogenin with another plant extract, hesperidin, for treatment of lymphedema.

A dosage of 7 to 11 milligrams of total ruscogenin extract is generally recommended. At this dosage, no side effects have been reported. Large doses of butcher’s broom can cause vomiting, purging, weakening heart, lowered nerve strength, and low blood pressure. Large doses have been reported to cause poisoning, and advanced stages of toxicity can cause complete respiratory collapse.

Although no reports of adverse interactions have been noted when taken in normal doses, it is conceivable that butcher’s broom may cause stomach complaints and queasiness in rare cases. Do not use during pregnancy unless your obstetrician agrees.

Botanical Name: Ruscus aculeatus
English: Butcher’s Broom
French: Balai de Boucher
Also known as: Knee holy, Knee Holly, Knee holm, Jew’s Myrtle, Sweet Broom, Pettigree, Torny fragon, box holly, Balai du Boucher, Rusco, Fragon, Petit Houx, knee holm, knee hull, pettigrue, prickly box, shepherd’s myrtle and wild myrtle
Habitat: Europe
Origin: Europe
Harvested: Cultivated
Parts Used: Root

General Information:
The common name, butcher’s broom, hails from one of its original uses. In Europe, Ruscus species were traditionally harvested for their flat and stiff branches to make small brooms that were used for clearing off and cleaning butchering blocks. Recent research has uncovered that butcher’s broom contains some antibacterial compounds. This suggests that in addition to the functional physical properties of Ruscus species, increased effectiveness in cleaning and producing safer products due to unrecognized antibacterial oils may have contributed to its popularity and subsequent nickname.

Ruscus aculeatus is a low, shrubby evergreen dioecious Eurasian shrub, with an erect, striated stem and may attain a height up to 3 feet, flat shoots known as cladodes that give the appearance of stiff, spine-tipped leaves. Small greenish-white flowers appear in spring, and are borne singly in the center of the cladodes. The female flowers are followed by a red berry, and the seeds are bird-distributed, but the plant also spreads vegetatively by means of rhizomes. It is native to Eurasia and some northern parts of Africa. Ruscus aculeatus occurs in woodlands and hedgerows, where it is tolerant of deep shade, and also on coastal cliffs. Likely due to its attractive winter/spring color, Ruscus aculeatus has become a fairly common landscape plant. It is also widely planted in gardens, and has spread as a garden escapee in many areas outside its native range.

Leaves are small, brown membranous, triangular to lanceolate and scale-like. The phylloclade (short shoots spread like leaves) is oblong, stiff, double-rowed, up to 2.5 cm long and terminate in a sharp tip. Actual leaves of this shrub are microscopic. Flowers and fruits are borne on cladophylls. The plant has prickly leaves with a single spine.

How to use:
We make these suggestions to help you get the best benefit from the herbs that you’re choosing to improve your health. Also we make these ideas and recommendations so that consuming them easier and better fit into your lifestyle by adding them to the food that you already eat.
For the full health benefit, it is best to consume (or use the whole herb in poultices) the whole herb. All of the compounds in the herb act best together, as nature intends. Extracts draw out the most prominent beneficial compounds and may concentrate them. What is not extracted can be helpful in ways that we do not yet understand.

Cut Pieces or Powdered Herb:
There are different ways to use cut pieces or powdered herb.
Food Preparation: You can add powdered or pieces of herb (if the pieces you buy are bigger than you like, a coffee or herb grinder will quickly reduce) to any yogurt, smoothie, apple or other sauces, spreads, salads or other foods more familiar to you that don’t use heat. Heat can be damaging to the beneficial compounds in the herb. Other options like oatmeal, scrambled eggs, pasta sauce, soup, cookies and anything else that fits your lifestyle, but minimizing (by adding near the end of cooking) the heat is helpful.
Also, for children, you can mix powdered herb with honey or glycerin to make paste. The thicker the paste, the more potent and herbal in taste. The sweet taste of honey and glycerin will help medicine go down. The resulting liquid is called an electuary.
For seeds in general, but especially small seeds, it’s best to grind these to break the protective hulls a short time before consumption. This makes all the benefits available, rather than some remaining locked inside the hulls that are unbroken by insufficient chewing.
To make adding herbs even easier, you could add a week’s worth of your chosen herb(s) to an amount of, for example, yogurt that you would eat in a week. Mix thoroughly and eat this each day of the week. So you make once /week and just eat each other day.
Hot Infusion: The basic method for dried herbs and flower is, take 2-3 tablespoons of dried herb in a cup or teapot. Pour hot water over it and cover it with lid for 10-30 minutes. The heat from making tea can degrade some of the beneficial compounds in the herb. This method minimizes this effect. For the full health benefit, it is recommended to consume what is left over after making tea.
Decoctions: Decoctions are suitable for roots, barks, large seeds & berries, and other dense material. The simple way to make decoction is, in a saucepan, add 1 tablespoon of dried herbs to 1 cup of water, Bring the water to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30-60 minutes with the pot covered. Squeeze out as much as liquid as possible. Best practice is to drink the liquid and also consume the solid material that remains. Herb pieces can also be used.
Powdered Herb:
There are different ways to use powdered herb.
Capsules: HerbsCrafters makes capsules guaranteed to be filled with the pure herb with no filler or any other products. You can also use powdered herb to make your own capsules at home. These capsules are best taken with liquid to aid in digestion and absorption and to ensure it doesn’t stick in your throat.
Poultice: Poultice can be made with an herbal powder and liquid (mostly water) to form a paste which is then applied to the skin. This method is very helpful for skin conditions.
Herbal shot: Powdered herb can be mixed with water, fruit juice or other liquid to make herbal shot.

Tips:
You can sweeten your herbal decoctions with bit of honey, natural fruit juice, stevia leaves powder or licorice root powder.

Precautions:
You should consult with a qualified healthcare practitioner before using any herbal products, particularly if you are pregnant, nursing, or on any medications.
All information on this website is for educational purpose ONLY.
This information has not been evaluated by Health Canada.
This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.