St. John’s Wort is a useful plant that grows in meadows, hedges, woodlands, and roadsides, reaching up to 60 cm in height. It is known for its golden-yellow flowers, which produce a red juice when pressed. The plant is named after John the Baptist. While it is believed to be native to Europe, it has spread to other regions over the world.
St. John’s Wort has been used as a medicine for over 2,000 years. It has been an important part of traditional Chinese, Islamic, and Greek medicine.
During the Middle Ages, it was considered a protective plant against evil spirits. It has been used for centuries in various folk traditions, such as in Austria where farmers would feed it to their animals to ward off disease.
Key Ingredients of St. John’s Wort
St. John’s Wort contains several important medicinal compounds, including naphthodianthrones, phloroglucinols, flavonoids, and essential oils. The plant’s chemical composition can vary due to factors like soil, climate, and altitude. The main active ingredients are hypericin, which gives the plant’s oils their red colour and reacts strongly to light, and hyperforin, which is useful but unstable when exposed to light and air.
Naphthodianthrones like hypericin are mainly found in the flowers, especially in the black dots along the petals. Flavonoids, such as quercetin and rutin, are present in the flowers, leaves, and stems, making up about 7-12% of the plant. Hyperforin and other lipophilic compounds, along with essential oils that contain terpenes, add to the plant’s health benefits. The plant also contains tannins, phenolic acids (like chlorogenic acid), and small amounts of other compounds like amino acids and carotenoids.
What do the studies say
Studies found that St. John’s Wort may help manage type 2 diabetes due to its anti-inflammatory effects. The plant’s main ingredients, hyperforin and hypericin, work together to reduce inflammation that damages insulin-producing cells and causes insulin resistance. This suggests that St. John’s Wort could be useful for preventing and treating insulin resistance, diabetes and related metabolic problems.
Another study found that the extract can reduce LDL cholesterol and lower oxidative stress in hyperlipidemic rats. This suggests that EHP may be useful for managing cholesterol levels and reducing oxidative damage caused by high-fat diets.
A study found that St. John’s Wort can help reduce neuropathic pain without causing major side effects, suggesting that it could be a useful option for long-term pain relief.
In other studies was shown that the extract can slow the growth of triple-negative breast cancer by increasing cancer cell death, showing that the extract might be a promising new treatment for this type of breast cancer. St. John’s Wort also has the potential risk of colorectal cancer and protects against harmful substances. In existing cancers helps slow tumour growth by reducing inflammation, blocking cancer cell survival signals, and correcting imbalances in tumour cells. It leads to slowed tumour spread and potentially triggering cancer cell death.
St. John’s Wort has shown promise also for its dermatological benefits. The plant’s active compounds, hypericin and hyperforin, have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties, with hyperforin supporting skin cell growth and hypericin aiding in the treatment of nonmelanoma skin cancer.
Benefits of St. John’s Wort
St. John’s Wort is known for its many health benefits, available through its tea, tincture, baths, and oil. The tea is often used to help with nerve pain, injuries from blows or strains, and other nervous conditions. For trigeminal neuralgia, sipping two to three cups of tea daily and rubbing the affected area with St. John’s Wort oil can be beneficial. The tea also helps with nervous problems like neuritis, neurosis, sleeplessness, nervous weakness, speech disorders, restless sleep, hysterics, sleepwalking, bedwetting, and depression. For girls going through puberty, drinking two cups of tea each day can help strengthen their reproductive organs and promote regular periods.
St. John’s Wort has also anti-inflammatory effects and can help protect and heal the lining of the mouth, stomach, and intestines. It’s useful for problems like heartburn, gastritis, and stomach ulcers. The flavonoids in the plant help relax muscles in the digestive system, bile ducts, and blood vessels, and improve bile flow, which can prevent gallstones. The plant has also natural antibacterial properties, helping fight off bacteria, including some strains like Staphylococcus.
St. John’s Wort also helps reduce spasms in blood vessels, especially in capillaries and strengthens them. Because of hypericin, St. John’s Wort can make the skin more sensitive to sunlight. This effect is used to treat skin conditions like vitiligo, where it helps remove white patches.
Benefits of Tincture and Oil
The tincture of St. John’s Wort is useful for treating nervous problems, including neuritis, neurosis, sleeplessness, and nervous weakness. Baths can also provide relief. Sitz baths combined with tea are recommended for nervous complaints. You can make one sitz bath a week followed by six foot baths in a row.
St. John’s Wort oil is a very useful remedy that keeps its healing properties for up to two years. It is used for treating open wounds, fresh cuts, bruises, burns and glandular swellings. As a massage oil is used for sore backs, lumbago, sciatica, and rheumatism. The oil made by soaking flowers in linseed oil is especially good for burns, scalds, and sunburns. It also soothes babies’ tummy aches when gently rubbed on their bellies. It is effective on animals for all kinds of injuries. The oil has also been used to treat swollen lymph nodes and abdominal pain in children. This makes it a natural remedy for a wide range of conditions.
How to Use St. John’s Wort
Traditionally, the plant should be harvested during its blooming period, which occurs in July and August. The best time to collect the plant is during a hot day when the sun is at its highest. Harvesting at this time ensures the plant is at its most potent. The entire flowering plant is used to make infusions and baths. The just-opened flowers are specifically used for preparing St. John’s Wort oil.
INFUSION: Pour a cup of boiling water over 1 heaped teaspoon of herbs. Cover and leave to stay for up to 5 minutes.
SITZ BATH: To prepare a St. John’s Wort bath, fill a bucket with the plant’s stems, leaves, and flowers. Soak them in cold water overnight. The next morning, bring the mixture to a boil, then add the strained liquid to your bath water. Soak in the bath for 20 minutes.
TINCTURE: To make a tincture, take two handfuls of flowers picked in the sun and soak them in one litre of rye whisky or vodka. Let the mixture sit for three weeks in the sun or in a warm place.
OIL: To make St. John’s Wort oil, pick the flowers on a sunny day and place them loosely in a bottle. Cover the flowers with fine olive oil and seal the bottle tightly. Leave the bottle in the sun for a few weeks until the oil turns red. Once ready, strain the oil through a cloth, pressing out any remaining liquid from the flowers. Store the strained oil in dark bottles. For burns and scalds, linseed oil can be used instead of olive oil.
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