Eyebright 100 g, 50 g, 25 g

Eyebright – 100 g ($17.99), 50 g ($11.99), 25 g ($7.99)

Benefits:
Eyebright is, as its name suggests, the most widely recommended herb for eyestrain, eye inflammations, stinging and weeping eyes, and oversensitivity to light. It is also used for coughs and hoarseness and seems to protect the liver against poisoning. Eyebright has anti-inflammatory and astringent properties that make it useful in treating congestive states such as hay fever, sinusitis, and nasal congestion. There is also some evidence that individual chemicals in eyebright may be useful for treating other problems, including hepatitis B and respiratory infections.

Nutrients
Eyebright contains several beneficial plant compounds, including the flavonoids luteolin and quercetin (2), which inhibit immune cells called mast cells, which release histamine — a compound that triggers allergy symptoms like runny nose and watery eyes (3). This antihistamine property may be one reason why eyebright has traditionally been used to treat seasonal allergies or hay fever — though studies haven’t tested its effectiveness for this purpose (2). Eyebright also contains compounds known as iridoids. One of the most studied compounds in this group is aucubin (4).

A test-tube study found that aucubin helped minimize scarring of heart tissue under damaging conditions like after a heart attack. Scarring can reduce your heart’s pumping ability (5). A mouse study suggests that aucubin may inhibit scarring of heart tissue after a heart attack by reducing oxidative damage caused by unstable molecules called free radicals (6). Human studies are needed to determine whether typical doses of eyebright provide enough of these beneficial plant compounds to produce health benefits.

Improve Vision  Drinking Eyebright tea or using Eyebright is beneficial for improving the vision. This is because Eyebright contains volatile oils [1] and antioxidants. Therefore, if you look for the effective ways to improve and protect your vision, you should not ignore Eyebright tea and amazing benefits of Eyebright herb.

Vision Anti-Inflammatory/Antioxidant Effects  Anti-inflammatory effects have been demonstrated in rodents.  The leaves of the plant have been traditionally used to treat eye conditions in chickens in Trinidad and Tobago.  Anti-inflammatory activity of E. officinalis L. preparations has been shown using human corneal cells, with decreased cytokine expression observed. Protective effects of E. officinalis (95% ethanol extract) against ultraviolet B (UVB)–irradiated photoaging in normal human dermal fibroblasts were demonstrated, possibly due to reduced oxidative stress, proinflammatory activity, and cell apoptosis.

The use of homeopathic-strength eye drops has been evaluated in an open-label study of patients with noninfective conjunctivitis (N=65). More than 95% of patients experienced complete or clear improvement of symptoms within 3 to 17 days of starting Euphrasia drops, with optimal results occurring with administration of 1 drop 3 times per day. No serious adverse events were observed.  Another large, double-blind study in students during a viral conjunctivitis epidemic (N=994) examined use of orally administered homeopathic Euphrasia 30C (C=centisimal dilution [1 part in 100]) and found no effect in preventing conjunctivitis compared with placebo.

In a double-blind, randomized, controlled trial, use of Euphrasia eye drops was evaluated in preterm and term neonates with neonatal obliterated nasolacrimal duct/dacryocystitis (N=84). Patients randomized to the Euphrasia group (n=42) received Euphrasia eye drops in single doses of 0.4 mL instilled 4 times a day, while the control group (n=42) received single 0.4 mL doses of sodium chloride 0.9% instilled 4 times a day, for a duration of 96 hours. Results showed no difference regarding treatment success, which was achieved in 34 (81%) patients in the Euphrasia group versus 30 (71.4%) in the control group (P=0.31).

Antioxidant activity of the glycoside acteoside has been demonstrated in laboratory experiments of E. rostkoviana.

Conjunctivitis, Bloodshot Eyes. There is considerable evidence that compounds in the herb are anti-inflammatory, although scientific evidence of it’s effectiveness for specific eye conditions is limited. The eyebright chemicals aucubin, ladroside, and veronicoside have been shown to stop inflammation in laboratory animals. Aucubin also stimulates the production of proteins that are involved in the process of healing. Few clinical studies in humans exist.

Eye Irritation  The common name of eyebright refers to its traditional use for treating eye problems in animals and people (2, 7, 8). Eye health is also one of the few uses of the herb that has been studied — though research is limited.

In one test-tube study, eyebright extracts helped control inflammation in human cornea cells. The cornea is the clear tissue that covers the colored part of your eye (9). Another test-tube study found that an eye drop containing eyebright and chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) helped protect cornea cells from sun-related inflammation and damage (10).

In a human study, 65 adults with eye inflammation — due to pollen allergy, wind, dust, infections, or eye strain — used eye drops containing equal amounts of eyebright and rose (Rosae aetheroleum) extracts three times per day.

About 81% of the participants had complete relief of eye redness, swelling, burning, and sticky secretions within 6–14 days. The remaining participants had noticeable improvements in their eye symptoms (11). It’s uncertain how much eyebright contributed to the benefits, as it was tested along with another herb. Also, it’s possible that the eye symptoms would have improved without treatment, but there was no control group evaluating this.

Placebo-controlled, human studies of eyebright alone are needed to clarify whether it can improve eye irritation, inflammation, and related eye symptoms. No studies have tested eyebright for its effect on major eye diseases like macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma.

Eye Inflammation  A variety of studies and research have found a close link between the eye health and the medicinal benefits of Eyebright. Curing eye inflammation is one of the amazing benefits of Eyebright herb for eyes. There are several inflammation-related eye ailments such as styes, ophthalmia, blepharitis. Ophthalmia is caused by the severe inflammation of the eye. The inflammation of the eyelids results in ophthalmia. A stye, an infection of the eyelid secretory glands, causes the pain, redness, and inflammation of the eyelid. To treat eye inflammation and reduce the pain, you just need to use Eyebright tea as a cold compress. Repeating the Eyebright treatment on a daily basis can give you a significant relief.

Pink Eye  Benefits of Eyebright also include treating pink eye. Pink eye occurs when the mucous membrane lining the inner eyeballs and eyelids is inflamed. Depending on the different types of pink eye, this eye infection may be bacterial, allergic or viral. Whatever the types of pink eye are, Eyebright is effective in treating this eye infection. This is because this healing herb contains anti-inflammatory properties. This is one of amazing health benefits of Eyebright I would like to introduce to you in this article. For treating pink eye, Eyebright can be used in the homeopathic medicines as the form of eye washes and eye drops.

Red Eyes  Eyebright is also used for curing red eye infection effectively. This herb is a natural treatment for eye disorder because it contains anti-inflammatory properties. Treating cataracts is also one of the benefits of Eyebright. Eye drops made be this tea can be found in the pharmacies. However, you can use homemade eyewash by mixing 5 drops of Eyebright tincture with 2 cups of cool water if you want to treat different eye ailments with Eyebright treatments.

Sinus Irritation  The benefits of eyebright include its use in curing sinus and respiratory inflammation. The best and most effective way on how to relieve sinus irritation is to drink Eyebright herb tea daily. It is recommended drinking three cups of Eyebright tea a day to get a satisfactory result.

Improve Memory  Many benefits of Eyebright herb come from the presence of beta-carotene and flavonoids in the herb. And your memory ability is not exceptional. Because of beta-carotene and flavonoids, taking Eyebright tea herb can improve memory, prevent memory loss and boost the cognition.

Skin The benefits of Eyebright for the eye health are well-known in the herbal medicinal world. But not many people know that the benefits of Eyebright herb are more than to protect eye health and treat eye ailments. Skin issues have been proven to respond well to the Eyebright treatments. Eyebright is considered as an effective remedy for skin irritation if it is used topically. For treating skin irritation, you just need to crush both Eyebright flowers and leaves and then create a poultice to apply to the affected skin areas.

Wounds  Containing astringent properties, Eyebright is considered as an effective home remedy for skin wounds. It can be used to make a poultice and applied topically to the wounds. A cold poultice of Eyebright is effective in relieving skin inflammation and tightening your skin.

Acne  Acne is caused by the excessive release of oil. Bacteria and dirt stuck in the skin pores also increase the risk of developing acne and breakouts. To treat acne, it is important to remove the excess oil, dirt, and bacteria from the skin pores. Eyebright can do that job well. You just need to wash your skin with Eyebright tea twice daily to achieve a flawless skin. Besides above cause, a poor diet, deficiency in nutrients, unhealthy foods, sleeplessness, or stress also contribute to acne problem. You should find out the underlying causes of acne problem to use the treatment properly.

Colds, Coughs. Traditionally, eyebright has been used to treat inflammation from colds, coughs, and sinus infections. Though not studied for this purpose, eyebright contains natural anti-inflammatory agents (2).

Antimicrobial   Antimicrobial activity of eyebright essential oil (E. rostkoviana) against organisms associated with eye infections was tested using 96-well microtiter plates. The essential oil showed antimicrobial effects against Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Candida albicans. The best activity was observed against gram-positive bacteria, for which the extract had a minimum inhibitory concentration of 512 mcg/mL.

Anti-Bacterial. Test-tube studies suggest that plant compounds in eyebright may inhibit the growth of certain bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae, which are involved in eye infections (14).

Liver. Animal and test-tube studies suggest that aucubin, a plant compound in eyebright, may protect the liver against damage from free radicals, certain toxins, and viruses (15, 16).

Skin. In a test-tube study, eyebright helped prevent sun damage to skin cells by combating unstable molecules called free radicals. This type of damage contributes to wrinkles and increases skin cancer risk (12).

Blood Sugar. When rats with diabetes were given an oral extract made from eyebright leaves, their fasting blood sugar decreased by 34% within 2 hours. It had no effect on the blood sugar of rats without diabetes (2, 13). In a study of rats, an aqueous extract of Euphrasia leaves demonstrated hypoglycemic effects. Porchezhian 2000

Recommended Use
Eyebright is used in compresses and eyedrops, but it also comes in capsule and tablet form. Commercial preparations are preferable to compresses made from home-brewed eyebright teas because they are less likely to be contaminated by bacteria. Some over-the-counter (OTC) eyebright tablets combine the herb with other nutritional factors useful in maintaining ocular health, including bilberry, rutin, and hesperidin. Eyebright tablets can be used along with eyebright compresses and drops for additional benefit.

Botanical Name: Euphrasia Officinalis
Also, known as: Bright-eye, Birds-eye, Augentrost, Casselunettes, Oogentroost, Eufrasia, Adhil.
Habitat: Europe, Northern and Western Asia and North America
Origin: Bulgaria
Harvested: Wild or Cultivated
Parts Used: Entire plant

General Information:
Euphrasia Officinalis is an annual plant, grows two to eight inches tall. This is a very small plant that grows anywhere from ten to thirty cm. The stem is erect and wiry, either unbranched in smaller plants, or with several opposite branches in the taller plants. This little elegant plant, with deep cut leaves and white or purple blooms that have yellow variegations. The leaves, also, are sometimes almost round, and at other times pointed and narrow, their margins, however, always deeply cut into teeth. There are opposite branches on an erect stem with leaves that will be up to ½” long.
Flowers are on terminal spokes with a two-lipped corolla. The flowers have a black center and purple streaks on the petals with a central yellow spot. Eyebright flowers are primarily white, or lilac with purple-veins. The corolla is two lipped, its lower, tube-like portion being enclosed in a green calyx, tipped with four teeth. The upper lip is two-lobed and arches over the stamens forming a shelter-like structure. The lower lip is spreading and three-lobed, each lobe being notched. The seeds are in tiny flat capsules.
Eyebright is a semi-parasitic plant, meaning that it is nourished by the roots of other plants and that’s why needs to grow near grass. It is a member of the Figwort family of plants. Eyebright is a genus of about 450 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae.

 

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.

How Much To Use
It is common that 10g of a fresh herb = 1g when dehydrated.
Recommended daily amount: ½ -1 tsp (2-4 g) of eyebright herb, up to 3 times/day. This can be added to food or to make tea.