Benefits of lemon balm. Melissa: health benefits of lemongrass. The use of lemon balm in medicine, indications and contraindications. Preparing soothing tea

This plant has several names, popularly known as lemon flavor, lemongrass or lemon mint. Melissa - medicinal properties and contraindications are well known to healers, the herb was used to treat insomnia, neurosis, was added to drinks in some weight loss recipes. They take this medicine in the form of infusions, decoctions, add grass to baths, tea, in cosmetology often use essential oil from lemon balm, which has therapeutic effect on the skin.

What is melissa

Melissa officinalis is a plant that belongs to the Lamiaceae family, it reaches a height of more than 50 centimeters. it perennial grass has an erect branching with a tetrahedral stem, opposite petiolate, cordate-ovate coarsely toothed leaves covered with soft hairs. On short stems are small pale pink or white flowers. The plant blooms in the 2nd year of life in the middle of summer. The fruits of the grass are 4 brownish ovoid nuts. Melissa is native to the Mediterranean.

Across Europe, the flower spread from Ancient Rome, where it was grown several thousand years ago. In the homeland of lemon balm, grass is considered a weed, it grows, as a rule, in grassy places, light forests, in shady bushes, on the banks of rivers and along roadsides. Now lemon balm grows actively in Russia, Central Asia, Ukraine, the Caucasus, Crimea.

Chemical composition

The beneficial properties of lemongrass have made it one of the most common medicines available to everyone. Few contraindications wide range medical positive effects connected with chemical composition herbs. Plants include the following components:

  • resins;
  • flavonoids;
  • bitterness;
  • essential oils;
  • vitamins of group B, C, D;
  • tannins;
  • biologically active substances;
  • caffeic, rosmarinic acids;
  • macro- and microelements, for example: potassium, iron, zinc, selenium, copper, calcium, nickel, vanadium, molybdenum, chromium, manganese.

Benefits for the body

The beneficial properties of lemon balm extend to many body systems. The plant has sedative effect, has an antispasmodic, sedative, hypnotic effect. It is recommended to take tea with lemon balm to lower blood pressure or in case of heart disease, the herb has expectorant, anticonvulsant, astringent, hypoglycemic medicinal properties.

Decoctions and infusions of this plant have proven themselves well for anti-inflammatory, antiviral and antimicrobial therapy, lemon balm has anti-allergic and antioxidant effects. Medicines based on this herb contribute to:

The use of lemon balm

In folk medicine and many pharmaceutical preparations medicinal properties of lemon balm are used. For different types of pathologies, certain dosage forms plants. In some cases, baths with the addition of herbs will be much more effective than taking a decoction or infusion. Recipes of traditional medicine are aimed at the treatment of specific pathologies or the general maintenance of the health of the human body.

Treatment of viral diseases

The medicinal properties of medicinal collections from lemon balm help to cope with inflammation, catarrhal pathologies. With ailments of the respiratory system, flu, fever, this herb is used. The plant has properties that help relieve fever, increase diaphoretic processes, and effectively fight almost all colds. It is allowed to take decoctions, infusions (without alcohol) for children from 3 years old and adults.

For the kidneys

From medicinal raw materials based on lemon balm, you can prepare a solution that will help to cope with hepatic colic. It is necessary to take 125 g of dry grass and insist 1 hour in 0.5 liters of water. Drink the infusion on an empty stomach 3 times a day. There are no contraindications for taking the herb and for kidney stones. The plant has astringent action. It has a diuretic, analgesic effect.

Melissa is not an independent treatment for this pathology, it is part of complex therapy. For amplification therapeutic effect herbs are used additional components, plants. For the treatment of kidney stones, it is recommended to take the herbal tincture according to the following recipe:

  • mix mint, lemon balm, chamomile flowers 1 tbsp. l.;
  • pour the collection of 200 ml of boiling water;
  • infuse funds for 30 minutes;
  • drink 200 ml per day.

For the nervous system

Folk recipes cooking plants have a sedative effect. Use infusions, decoctions in complex therapy for the treatment nervous diseases. The components of the plant calm the nervous system, the medicine helps to cope with:

  • stress;
  • insomnia;
  • neuroses;
  • irritability.

Strengthening immunity

Often the impetus for the activation of a cold, nervous disease becomes a weakened immune defense person. As long as the body is able to resist microbes, diseases do not manifest themselves in any way, so it is very important to maintain immunity. Melissa contains elements that help strengthen immune status, vitamins strengthen protection. Recommended during periods of possible epidemics colds drink in preventive purposes melissa tincture.

Melissa in folk medicine

The plant was originally used by traditional healers, who noticed a wide range of medicinal properties of lemon balm. This is one of the most popular plants in folk medicine for the preparation of infusions, decoctions, essential oils. The plant is used for tachycardia, melancholy, neuralgia, if necessary, reduce the rhythm of heart contractions, relieve spasm and pain in the stomach, dizziness, slow down breathing. Women often use lemon balm essential oils to take rejuvenating baths.

Decoctions and infusions

For oral administration, there are several options for preparing lemon balm. An infusion, decoction or tincture is prepared from medicinal raw materials. The method of preparation is selected depending on the disease. Exist following rules cooking:

  1. Infusion. This option does not use alcohol, you will need water heated to 60 degrees Celsius. For 0.5 liters, put 8 teaspoons of lemon balm leaves. Pour everything into a thermos and leave for 6 hours so that the liquid is saturated with the healing properties of the plant. You need to drink a remedy of 100 ml 3 times a day. The infusion is recommended for: nervous diseases, overwork, disorders of the digestive tract, overexcitation, irritability, insomnia, gum pathologies. The remaining inflorescence of the plant is used to apply compresses for sciatica, muscle pain, bruises.
  2. Melissa tincture. Essential oil plants are highly soluble in alcohol. This is the basis for the preparation of tinctures. For 3 parts of vodka or 40% alcohol, 1 part of the raw material is needed. Infusion is carried out for 2 weeks in a sealed container. It is necessary to drink tincture inside for the treatment of pathologies that are included in the list of indications for the treatment of lemon balm. The frequency of admission, dosage is selected individually by a doctor or traditional healer. The tincture has healing properties in the treatment of tinnitus, in this case it is instilled with a pipette 4 drops each ear canal.
  3. Decoction. You will need to prepare 500 ml of boiling water and 2 tablespoons of dry lemon balm leaves. After boiling, let the water cool for 5 minutes, put the herbs on the bottom of the glass container and fill with liquid. Cover the container with a lid and let it brew for 30 minutes.

Melissa tea

Tea with this component is excellent antiviral agent. It is acceptable to combine black or green varieties for tea leaves. This remedy is an option for the prevention of bronchopulmonary, colds. Good for brewing plants green tea and honey, it turns out delicious drink with lemon scent. Raw materials can be grown right on your site in the country or found in some fields, ready-made fees are also sold. The preparation of tea is no different from the usual process of brewing a drink.

Contraindications

The medicinal properties of the plant are very versatile, they are used effectively by folk medicine. There are some limitations that you need to know before using. It is not recommended to drink an infusion or decoction if:

  • There is a need to drive or drive complex mechanisms. The drug has a sedative effect, which will help to interfere with concentration and lead to an accident.
  • A child under 3 years old, a fragile organism may react non-standardly to some of the properties of the plant;
  • Diagnosed with epilepsy, this is a contraindication for taking the medicine.
  • The person has allergic reaction or hypersensitivity to components of the herb.
  • Diagnosed kidney failure, this is a contraindication for taking the remedy;
  • The person has low blood pressure sedatives with such a pathology are contraindicated;
  • There are problems with potency. Frequent use this drug leads to a decrease in sexual activity.

Video

Melissa officinalis or lemon balm is a perennial herbaceous plant from the Lamiaceae family, the closest relative of mint. Blossoms in June-August, fruits ripen in September-October.

The whole plant has a pleasant mint-lemon aroma. Melissa is native to Southern Europe. In the wild or feral form, it is known in the south of Russia and Ukraine, in the Caucasus, in Central Asia, and foreign Europe.

Its typical habitats are the banks of rivers and streams, mountain forests, thickets of shrubs, vineyards, it is also found in rural settlements along fences and along roadsides.

Melissa is a rather cold-resistant plant, despite its southern origin. It hibernates in the open field, and in the spring the blossoming leaves can withstand small frosts without damage.

However, in some winters, it freezes even in the middle zone of the European part of Russia.

Collection and preparation of lemon balm

For medicinal purposes, only young leaves and shoots are harvested before the plant blooms, that is, in June. At this time, the leaves are especially nice smell and taste. Where possible, avoid picking up areas such as roadsides and field edges.

When collecting lemon balm, it is often confused with another related plant - catnip (oddly enough, it is really called that) or lemon catnip. Although these plants belong to the same Yasnotkov family, they still have differences. The catnip has a more pronounced lemon aroma, the leaves are silvery, pubescent, triangularly elongated, rounded-toothed. It is more cold-resistant and easily propagated by self-seeding. The name catnip also justifies its name - for some reason it attracts felines and competes with valerian in this. Herbalists use both plants, and in the market, catnip is often passed off as lemon balm.

Do not mix lemon balm with other herbs when drying. Experts advise storing prepared medicinal raw materials in cans.

Melissa is also well cultivated indoors, for example as a potted plant on a windowsill, it needs a sunny spot and plenty of watering.

Useful properties of lemon balm herb

Melissa has not only the smell of mint with a pleasant lemon tint, but also many useful properties. The leaves of the plant contain essential oils, tannins, bitterness, saponins, stearins, flavonoids, a large number of organic acids. The lemon balm contains a complex of vitamins B, vitamin C, calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc, manganese, selenium.

Lemon balm herb has the ability to stimulate appetite, normalizes the functions of the gastrointestinal tract. Lemon balm can be anti-inflammatory, relieve spasms, help with digestive disorders (constipation), and serves as a diaphoretic.

In addition to all this, Melissa has beneficial features, which many people know about - it is a natural antidepressant that has a calming effect on the nervous system.

The plant has a sedative, relaxing and calming effect on the body, in view of this, tea from it is prescribed for the treatment of all types of nervous diseases (psychosis, neuroses, nervous exhaustion and insomnia).

The medicinal raw material of lemon balm contains an essential oil with a strong lemon aroma. The oil obtained from this medicinal plant is used as a remedy for pain in the heart and rheumatic pains, for menstrual disorders and to normalize metabolism.

Essential oil of lemon balm is appreciated in Food Industry and pharmaceuticals.

The use of lemon balm

Melissa is quite successfully used for medicinal purposes. In many ways, the effect obtained from its use is provided by the essential oils contained in it. Usually lemon balm is used in the form of decoctions, infusions and teas.

Melissa decoction: a tablespoon of dried medicinal raw materials is poured into a glass of boiling water, then boiled in a water bath for about 10 minutes. After cooling and filtering through cheesecloth. The resulting decoction should be consumed in 1 tbsp. l. three times a day before meals for spasms and pain in gastrointestinal tract.

Melissa infusion: 2 tablespoons crushed dried leaves and the flowers of this plant are poured with 2 cups of boiling water. The container with the infusion is tightly closed, wrapped and left to infuse for 4-5 hours. After that, the infusion is filtered. It should be taken half a glass before each meal.

It helps with heart disease, heart pain, to increase appetite, with sluggish digestion, colic in the intestines, flatulence and stomach neurosis. Similarly, take an infusion for inflammation of the upper respiratory tract and bronchial asthma.

With the same infusion, you can gargle with sore throat, inflammation of the gums, toothache and bad breath.

Melissa tincture on vodka: ready-made lemon balm tincture can be bought at a pharmacy, and its price is low. But if you have a dozen lemon mint bushes in your garden, you can cook it at home. The alcoholic extract of lemon balm is made on vodka or on alcohol diluted to a vodka strength.

Grind the leaves and stems of the plant with a knife, scissors or in a coffee grinder. The better the raw material is crushed, the more useful substances will pass from it to the extract. You can prepare the tincture according to two recipes - on vodka or forty-degree alcohol and on diluted vodka.

  1. A quarter cup (approximately 50 g) of prepared raw materials is poured with a glass (200 g) of vodka or alcohol. You can take less vodka, 100-150 grams, then the tincture will turn out to be more concentrated.
  2. The required amount of chopped grass is poured into 0.5 cups of vodka and 0.5 cups of water.

Regardless of what instructions you used to make the tincture, tightly seal the jar and leave to infuse in a dark, dry place. Alcohol and vodka tinctures are prepared from a week to two weeks, a mixture of vodka and water - 2 weeks. The jar must be shaken daily, and when the tincture is ready, it must be filtered and poured into a dark bottle.

Take a tincture of 15-20 drops (depending on the strength of the infusion) three times a day before meals, like everyone else medicinal herbs. The course of treatment is from two weeks to a month, although it can be longer if the body responds well to it.

Externally, lemon balm tincture is used for rubbing and compresses for gout, rheumatism, for rubbing the skin with acne, acne. For compresses, it is recommended to dilute it so as not to burn the skin.

Melissa tea: For cooking, you need to take 1 teaspoon of lemon balm (fresh or dried) and pour a glass of boiling water, let it brew for 10-15 minutes. Honey can be added to taste. Tea with lemon balm is drunk for neurosis, depression, insomnia and irritability. Such a drink raises the tone of the body, strengthens the heart, improves appetite.

Melissa tea also helps with mild cold, removes muscle spasms, relaxes.

If desired, lemon balm can be added to regular green or black tea, a teaspoon of dried lemon balm per teaspoon of tea. Lemon and honey to taste. It turns out a pleasant tonic drink.

With caution, lemon balm should be used with low blood pressure and with activities requiring increased reaction and attention.

Homeland lemon balm Caucasus and Central Asia. She came to Europe as a drug, spicy plant, thanks to the ancient Romans, Greeks and Arabs. At first, lemon balm was grown only at monasteries. Now almost everyone grows this plant, it is cultivated in fields, vegetable gardens and even grown in pots on balconies. She received such distribution due to her special medicinal qualities and great natural capacity for growth.

External features of lemon balm

Lemon balm is a perennial herbaceous, rhizome plant. It belongs to the mint family. It has a straight, pubescent, tetrahedral, fairly branched stem. The plant can reach 120 cm in height. Lemon balm is characterized by petiolate, slightly pubescent leaves. They are predominantly colored dark green color, has jagged edges. Flowers can be white or pink, they are collected up to 10 pieces in inflorescences.
Melissa mainly grows as a wild plant in weedy places, forest glades, thickets of shrubs.

Biological features of lemon balm

Lemon balm is unique plant, against the background of other plants, it differs in its biological features, which include:

  1. Melissa is classified as a cold-resistant plant, it tolerates quite well negative factors winters.
  2. The plant is light and moisture-loving. For good growth it should be placed in sunny places. Then it will grow well, bush and grow rapidly. The optimum temperature for plant growth is 17-20 degrees.
  3. Melissa during the growing season, especially during intensive flowering, requires constant watering. In dry periods of summer, if the plant is not watered, it forms weak stems with sparse leaves, and blooms poorly. Especially on hot days, it needs spraying.
  4. Melissa does not need fertilized soils, can grow on any. However, it gives good harvest green mass when it is grown on fertile or fertilized soils.

Reproduction of lemon balm

There are many ways to propagate lemon balm, the most common include:

  • seed way;
  • dividing a large, mother bush;
  • cuttings.

Seed method of propagation of lemon balm

To propagate lemon balm in this way, the seeds must first be soaked for three days, then they can be sown in open ground or boxes. When growing seedlings of lemon balm in a box. Seeds are sown at a short distance, row by row. When you get seedlings with the first pair of true leaves, you need to dive the plants and plant them separately in cups with a soil mixture.

In open ground, lemon balm seeds are sown in nesting method at the end of April. The distance between the rows should be about 80 cm. The nests should be placed at a distance of about 50 cm. Each hole should be watered and 4-5 seeds should be placed there. You need to wrap the seeds to a depth of about three centimeters. When shoots appear, which will have 2-3 leaves, thinning is carried out, removing weak shoots, leaving the best ones (1-2 pieces) in one hole.

Reproduction of lemon balm by dividing the bush

It is necessary to separate parts of the bush with soil from the mother plants. This event can be held in spring and autumn, in the afternoon or when it rains. It is better to propagate the plant in the spring, namely in April, in order to have time to prepare the soil. You need to plant parts of the bush in a new, well-lit area. Which is dug up in the fall, organic fertilizers, superphosphate, potash fertilizers are applied there. In spring, the soil must be maintained in a loosened state, without weeds, and ammonium nitrate should be added. Plants should be placed in rows. If the soil is dry, water it. Sprinkle the bushes with earth, so that the roots do not come to the surface of the soil. It is necessary to slightly compact the earth at the roots to improve contact, so the plant will take root faster.
It is better to propagate lemon balm by dividing the bush, already in the first season we will be able to collect leaves twice, and when seeds - only once.

Melissa Care

Melissa is a very unpretentious plant and does not require special care. During the growing season of the plant, weeds must be destroyed without the use of chemicals. Row spacing must be loosened periodically. Be sure to feed the plant before flowering with a solution of chicken manure and water them periodically when the soil dries.
Melissa is mostly not damaged by pests and diseases. At proper care, there will be no problems with plant protection.

Harvesting

In the first year of the melissa growing season, only a part of the leaves is selectively collected. The following year, the leaves are collected several times throughout the growing season. In autumn, you can dig up the roots of lemon balm. They need to be washed well, sorted, dried or boiled and stored.

Use of lemon balm

Lemon balm has many uses in people's lives, it is most valued for such qualities:

  1. Melissa is valued for its high content of tannins, resins, essential oils, and mucous substances. According to its beneficial properties, lemon balm is similar to chamomile.
  2. Infusions of the plant significantly improve appetite, treat neurosis, convulsions, flatulence, migraine. They are also used for external use in the form of compresses and for rubbing.
  3. Lemon balm tea is recommended to drink before going to bed, it has a calming effect, reduces pressure. You can drink it for colds.
  4. Melissa is used in cosmetology, for the preparation of baths, herbal shampoos, face masks, toilet water. These tools are ideal for oily skin and hair.
  5. Melissa is mainly used as a spicy plant. It is added to soups, poultry dishes, fish, used to make sauces, salads, liquors, liqueurs, compotes. fresh leaves and dried are used as spices. If we add some dried leaves to the soup, then we will have a completely new dish, tasty, fragrant and healthy. It is better to use fresh, before flowering leaves, then they have a pleasant lemon aroma. It is advisable to add lemon balm to dishes after they are cooked.
  6. Melissa is a valuable honey plant. From the Greek word melissa means "honey bee". It is planted in strips in the apiary to attract bees. With lemon balm it turns out very good in taste and medicinal properties honey.

Anyone can grow lemon balm. In any seed store you can buy its seeds or buy a small bush in the spring at the market. It will quickly cover a large area. You can use herbs to cook your meals and enjoy beautiful view plants. It will decorate flower beds, gardens, balconies. Melissa has decorative leaves. If you do not have a plot of land, you can grow a plant in a pot on the balcony, in the apartment. The main thing is that you will have a valuable source of vitamins, a medicinal plant that will always come in handy.

What is Melissa:

What is lemon balm, beneficial properties and contraindications of lemon balm, and does it have any medicinal properties? These questions often arise among those who care about their health and are interested in folk methods treatment, in particular to treatment with medicinal plants. And this interest is understandable. Maybe in this article, to some extent, you can get an answer to these questions.

Many of us go to the country to plant the vegetables and herbs we need in the beds, fruit trees in the garden. But for medicinal plants we usually go to the forest. But there are herbs that can be grown right in the garden. One of them is lemon balm herb. And if you do not know the beneficial properties of lemon balm, then we will help you to understand this issue.

Of course, due to the mass of country troubles, we are far from always able to get outside our site in order to look for the necessary herbs in the forest thickets. But after all, these same herbs do not cost anything to plant right near your home, and, having grown them, prepare them, so that later you can use natural medicines as needed.

To such medicinal plants, which you can grow yourself, also belongs to the herb of lemon balm.

Melissa is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Lamiaceae (Lamiaceae) family. At favorable conditions can remain in one place up to 8-10 years, but with the aging of the bushes, their resistance to frost decreases. Stems erect, branched, drooping, tetrahedral from 30 to 80 cm in height. It is a good honey plant (the name of the culture in Greek means honey-bearing).

Leaves with serrated edges, opposite, petiolate, ovate, large (6-7 cm long), dark green covered, like stems, sparse hairs. Blooms in the second year after sowing. The flowers are bisexual, light purple, sometimes pink or yellowish white. Flowering from June to August. Seeds are small, 1000 pcs. weigh 0.62 g, remain viable for 2-3 years.

Varieties are common in culture: Erfurt erect, Quedlinburg creeping and other local varietal populations. Plants differ in the shape of the bush, the timing of flowering and winter hardiness.
Melissa grows well on rich clay or loamy soils with sufficient moisture. Sour heavy soils are unsuitable for its cultivation.
Sensitive to frost and often freezes in open areas.

Propagated by seeds (per 10 m2 - 5-7 g), seedlings (per 100 m2 - 3 g), division of bushes, layering and cuttings. Sowing seedlings in March-April. Seedlings appear after 3-4 weeks and they are thinned out in a row by 4-5 cm. cm and 25-30 cm. Planting begins when the danger of return frosts passes.

When propagated by dividing the bushes, a high yield of green mass is obtained already in the first year. For division, 3-4-year-old bushes are used. They are divided in spring or early autumn and planted at the same distance as seedlings. Care consists of fertilizing, loosening and removing weeds.

When propagated by dividing the bush, already in the first year, and when sown with seeds - in the second year, a good harvest of green mass of shoots is obtained. They are cut at the beginning of flowering.

Harvest - leaves with parts of young shoots, before flowering or during the opening of flowers, when they contain maximum amount aromatic substances. You need to dry the lemon balm quickly, in the shade, as the leaves turn brown easily. For mass collections, it is better to use artificial drying at a temperature of 25-35°C. Plants are harvested for seeds when the lower seed pods begin to turn brown.

Useful properties of lemon balm:

It is brewed, added to tea, tinctures and infusions are obtained from it, used as a valuable ingredient in many culinary delights.

Lemon balm herb has the ability to stimulate appetite, normalizes the functions of the gastrointestinal tract. The unsightly plant can have an anti-inflammatory effect, relieve spasms, help with digestive disorders (constipation) and serves as a diaphoretic. In addition to all this, lemon balm has useful properties that many people know about - it is a natural antidepressant that has a calming effect on the nervous system.

The medicinal raw material of lemon balm contains an essential oil with a strong lemon aroma. In addition, it contains tannins, carotene (vitamin A), ascorbic (vitamin C), caffeic, ursolic acids, mineral compounds and sugary substances.

Folk medicine has long recognized many medicinal properties of lemon balm. So, for example, an infusion of lemon balm (the grass itself and the tops of the stems with flowers are taken) helps with heart diseases. After its use, heart pain decreases, the infusion relieves shortness of breath, and normalizes blood pressure.

Such an infusion is useful for asthma, migraine attacks, anemia (anemia) and neuralgia. It is used to treat disorders of the functions of the genital organs, the digestive system.

Melissa, the beneficial properties of lemon balm, are applied externally: as a rinse for oral cavity- with gum disease and toothache; for compresses for gout, inflammation of the joints (rheumatism), skin diseases and her minor injuries.

A decoction of lemon balm helps relieve headaches and dizziness. Such a decoction of lemon balm was used for fainting and hysterical conditions.

And here are some other useful properties of lemon balm. The oil obtained from this medicinal plant is used as a remedy for pain in the heart and rheumatic pains, for menstrual disorders and to normalize metabolism. The essential oil of lemon balm is appreciated in the food industry and pharmaceuticals.

Melissa contraindications:

The property of lemon balm to act as a sedative determines contraindications for its use. Melissa is contraindicated in arterial hypotension, that is, with a reduced tone of blood vessels and muscles.

talking plain language, lemon balm, more precisely, the essential oil from this herb and the preparations in which it is included, are not shown to people with reduced blood pressure, because it can lower it even more. For example, if a person with an ordinary or high blood pressure will feel a sedative effect from the use of this plant, people with hypotension are threatened with weakness, dizziness, and possibly even loss of consciousness.

Also, using lemon balm for medicinal purposes, you need to abandon activities that require a good mental reaction, maximum attention and concentration, motor activity(for example, driving a car or any other vehicle etc.). From side effects from the use of lemon balm, we note: vomiting and nausea, muscle weakness and fatigue, dizziness, drowsiness, diarrhea, convulsions, heartburn, lethargy and decreased concentration, itching, constipation, etc.

Melissa treatment:

Melissa is used for female diseases, diseases of the digestive system, oncological diseases different localization, respiratory diseases, diseases of the liver, kidneys, genitourinary system, nervous and endocrine systems, cardiovascular disease, skin diseases, metabolic diseases.

With nervousness, nerve spasms, nervous weakness, neuroses of the heart, neuroses of the stomach, depression, stress, melancholy, hypochondria, sleep disturbances, fainting, migraines and inexplicable headaches, dizziness and tinnitus, with hysterical fits, increased sexual excitability, arterial hypertension, atherosclerosis, with vomiting in pregnant women, painful menstruation, it is useful to use an infusion of lemon balm.
Melissa is especially effective if stress has affected the stomach, digestive organs and heart. It relieves the feeling of heaviness and the resulting spasms, pain in the heart, improves digestion, increases appetite.

Infusion of leaves and infusion of tops of shoots with flowers - excellent cardiac remedy. In patients with heart disease, shortness of breath disappears, tachycardia attacks stop, pain in the region of the heart is relieved, the heart rate becomes less frequent, breathing slows down, and blood pressure decreases.

Infusion of lemon balm is extremely useful to take orally to stimulate appetite, with disorders of the digestive organs caused by depression, neurosis, stress, with hyposecretion of the stomach, hyperacid gastritis, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, vomiting, flatulence, severe stomach pains, with biliary and renal colic, anemia, gout, severe headaches, migraines due to poor digestion, after severe debilitating diseases to restore strength, with postpartum weakness, toxicosis in pregnant women women, to increase the amount of milk in lactating women, with bronchial asthma, pharyngitis, tracheobronchitis, various diseases in the female genital area (for pain during menstruation, ailments associated with menopause, such as "thermal flushes", palpitations, depression, insomnia, to relax and strengthen nervous system at the time of labor pains), with toothache, bad breath, otitis media, sinusitis, allergic dermatoses, neuralgia, irritability, insomnia, nervous attacks, melancholy, dizziness, fainting, skin rashes.

Well, a little about how to properly use medicinal raw materials from lemon balm herb:

Melissa infusion:

It is prepared as follows: 2 tablespoons of crushed dried leaves and flowers of this plant are poured with 2 cups of boiling water. The container with the infusion is tightly closed, wrapped and left for 4-5 hours - to infuse. After that, the infusion is filtered. It should be taken half a glass before each meal. Helps with heart disease, heart pain.

Melissa decoction:

Prepare as follows: a tablespoon of dried medicinal raw materials is poured into a glass of boiling water, then boiled in a water bath for about 10 minutes. After cooling and filtering through cheesecloth. The resulting decoction should be consumed in 1 tbsp. l. Three times a day before meals for spasms and pain in the gastrointestinal tract. Good decoction acts as a sedative - before going to bed, half a glass, 1 time per day.

Melissa for insomnia:

Is it possible to treat insomnia with lemon balm? If you often suffer from insomnia, headache and / or you become too irritable, try drinking lemon balm tea.

This healthy herb is popularly called lemon balm because of its high content It contains essential oils with a lemon scent.

Preparing a soothing tea is quite simple:

you just need to take 2-3 tbsp. l. crushed leaves of the plant, put in a teapot and pour 250 ml of boiling water. If possible, it is better that the leaves of the plant are fresh, then it is not necessary to grind them - the grass will be very fragrant anyway.

Let the tea brew for 15 minutes and it is ready. If desired, the tea leaves can be diluted with boiling water and sugar or honey can be added to taste.

Also, the sedative effect of tea will be stronger if you put a couple of mint leaves to the lemon balm.

Drink tea should be 20-30 minutes before bedtime.

It is worth remembering that healing herbs, which have a sedative and hypnotic effect, should be used, and help only with initial first minor disorders of the central nervous system and mild insomnia.

Melissa with VSD:

Does lemon balm treat vegetovascular dystonia?

essence vegetative dystonia- consists in a violation of the functions of the body: respiration, blood supply, sweating, urination, as a result of insufficient work of blood vessels and insufficient supply of tissues of organs with oxygen and nutrients. There is vegetovascular dystonia on the soil nervous strain or after acute or chronic infectious inflammatory diseases, poisoning, vitamin deficiency, nervous breakdowns.

Treatment of vegetovascular dystonia should be complex, it is necessary to drink herbs, change the way of thinking, eating, and moving. Then the success of recovery will be successful. To treat these symptoms traditional healers use peppermint, marsh cudweed, oregano, sage, hop cones, peony roots, dill seeds, lemon balm herb. All these herbs not only have a calming effect on the nervous system, but also nourish the body with vitamins, antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory properties.

It is worth remembering that medicinal herbs are not so harmless that they can be used uncontrollably with VVD. They may call unwanted effect just like medicines. Therefore, the advice of a doctor will never be superfluous.

We put one tablespoon of St. John's wort and lemon balm in a half-liter thermos and pour boiling water to the top overnight. In the morning we filter and drink half a glass. We repeat this day and night.

Green tea with melissa:

Melissa is best consumed in the form of tea or decoction. Tinctures also have a good effect on the body, but most of them contain alcohol. Tea with lemon balm can be consumed often, and in small quantities - even daily. The decoction is over effective tool Therefore, it should be used only for medicinal purposes.

Melissa green tea is mainly used as natural remedy calming the nervous system. This drink will be useful for stress, depression, excessive irritability and neurosis. Green tea, including lemon balm, improves appetite, has a beneficial effect on the heart and strengthens the body. With a cold, green tea with lemon balm and honey helps our body activate defense mechanisms and overcome the disease.

There are many different ways to brew green tea with mint. However, if you want tea to bring the desired result, you should follow some rules:

  • Dishes should be porcelain or glass;
  • Water must be boiled, but then it must cool to 80 degrees Celsius;
  • For 1 liter of water, 1 teaspoon of mint and tea is taken;
  • Tea should only be consumed freshly brewed;

Melissa lemon often grows in hard-to-reach places - forest edges, dense thickets, in more often. It is not always easy to find and collect it. Therefore, it is best to plant this medicinal plant in your backyard. In this case, fresh lemon balm, the beneficial properties of lemon balm, can be used for treatment as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Melissa in weight loss diets:

Melissa for weight loss is effective due to its unique properties:

  • the plant activates metabolic processes in the body;
  • the plant cleanses the body, removing excess liquid, toxins and slags;
  • helps to calm the nervous system, for which reason you will not worry too much stressful situations and abuse food because of this;
  • Melissa teas have a beneficial effect on the whole digestive system, with their help you can arrange real fasting days.

It is quite possible to lose weight with the help of lemon balm, you just need to adhere to a certain diet with dietary products and regularly consume teas and infusions based on this plant.

In addition, lemon balm is added to various dishes. You can cook a seafood appetizer with the addition of lemon balm, vegetable salad with lemon balm, cutlets with the addition of this versatile plant.

If you are wondering how to lose weight with lemon balm, you can find a practical answer in next section articles.

Melissa tea:

Prepare 1 lemon, rinse thoroughly and pour boiling water over it. Next, cut into small pieces and put in a saucepan. Add 2 liters of water and bring to a boil. When the water boils, you can add lemon balm for a pleasant aroma, bring to a boil again. Then leave for a while for the tea to infuse. You can take 1 glass before or after meals.

Lemon grass, lemon flavor, lemon mint - this is what the people call lemon balm, the medicinal properties and contraindications of which are described below. This miraculous plant has been used in alternative medicine since ancient times. It was used and continues to be used as a spicy, medicinal, essential oil, melliferous plant. The Latin name of the genus Melissa is derived from the Greek word for bee. This is due to the fact that the plant strongly attracts workers.

There is even a legend according to which Melissa was a nymph, the daughter of King Melisseus. She fed Zeus with honey and milk and wanted to teach people how to get honey. Another legend says that Melissa had extraordinary beauty, which, of course, did not please the goddesses, because of which they turned her into a bee.

ancient medicine attributed to the plant antimicrobial, antiseptic, sedative and antidysenteric properties. The plant has been used as a vision enhancer and menstrual cycle normalizer. Avicenna recommended the use of the plant for the treatment of diseases of the cardiovascular system and gastrointestinal tract.

Today Melissa has no less wide application. It is valued in cosmetology, cooking, aromatherapy and, of course, informal medicine.

Application in cosmetology, aromatherapy, cooking

The essential oil of the plant is used to treat gastrointestinal pathologies provoked by stress. It has powerful antiviral properties, is used to normalize heart rate, lowering blood pressure, normalizing sleep, minimizing the manifestations of menopause, eliminating itching, burning and swelling with insect bites.

Moreover, oil is a component homemade cosmetics, all kinds of skin care products. It is also used in the perfume industry to perfume waters, creams and lotions.

The dried leaves of the plant are used to flavor teas. Salad from fresh young leaves is part of a therapeutic diet. Melissa makes excellent seasonings for all kinds of dishes. Often the plant is also used for the preparation of alcoholic beverages.

Melissa is an excellent and valuable honey plant. Melissa honey has a very pleasant aroma and taste and refers to best varieties.

Botanical characteristic

Melissa is perennial herbaceous plant family Lamiaceae, reaching a height of fifty or more centimeters. Lemongrass is equipped with an upright branched tetrahedral stem, petiolate, opposite, heart-shaped-ovate, large-toothed leaves covered with soft hairs, small, located on short pedicels, pale pink or white flowers.

Melissa blooms in the second year of life in the middle summer period. The fruits of the plant consist of four brownish ovoid nuts. Melissa is native to the Mediterranean. The plant was grown several thousand years ago in Ancient Rome from where it spread to the rest of Europe.

In Mediterranean countries, the plant is considered a weed. Shady shrubs, light forests, stony and grassy places, forest meadows, river banks, roadsides - places where grass grows. Caucasus, Crimea, middle Asia, Ukraine, Russia - the habitat of lemon balm.

Collection and preparation

For the manufacture of preparations, the tops of the shoots and foliage of the plant are used. It is recommended to collect and harvest raw materials at the beginning of flowering. The material is then dried for outdoors, preferably under a canopy or in a dryer with sufficient ventilation at a temperature not exceeding forty degrees.

After drying, the blanks are placed in paper bags or bags for further storage. In one season, you can get two or more crops. Collecting herbs in order to reduce the loss of essential oils is best done at noon and preferably in cloudy weather. You can store blanks for a year, no more.

Melissa - medicinal properties and contraindications, composition

Lemongrass is a storehouse of useful and healing properties. And it's all thanks to its composition. The plant contains a significant amount of:

  • essential oils;
  • triterpene compounds (citral, citronellal);
  • monoterpene compounds (linalool, cetronellol, geraniol);
  • carotene;
  • ascorbic acid;
  • mucous substances;
  • tannins;
  • coffee, rosemary, oleic, ursolic acids;
  • bitter substances;
  • flavonoids;
  • fatty oils;
  • macro- and microelements: calcium, potassium, iron, manganese, zinc, chromium, copper, molybdenum, nickel, vanadium.

The rich composition gives plants a whole arsenal healing properties. Melissa has antispasmodic, sedative, hypnotic, sedative, carminative, choleretic, hypoglycemic, astringent, anticonvulsant, expectorant, tonic, diuretic, antiviral, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiallergic effects.

Lemon Balm products help:

  • increased appetite;
  • stimulation of the secretion of gastric juice;
  • elimination of fermentation anomalies;
  • increased motility of the stomach;
  • decrease in heart rate;
  • elimination of bad breath;
  • lowering blood pressure;
  • activation of the intrasecretory function of the thyroid gland;
  • normalization of the menstrual cycle;
  • therapy of nervous disorders, migraine, insomnia, painful menstruation, neurosis, ischemic heart disease, dyskinesia, flatulence, dysbacteriosis, dermatitis, eczema, trophic ulcers, toxicosis, rheumatism, atherosclerosis, hypertension, bruises, ailments of the oral cavity, epilepsy, anemia, gout, cholecystitis, pyelonephritis

Folk recipes

Preparing soothing tea

Take a few tablespoons of dried crushed leaves of the plant and pour them into a thermos. Brew raw materials with boiled water - 1.5 cups. Leave the composition to infuse for an hour. Drink a cup of tea three times a day. When a small amount of honey is added to tea, its hypnotic effect is enhanced. The tool can be taken to eliminate headaches, dizziness, as well as normalize the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.

Renal pathologies: infusion therapy

Soak three tablespoons of dry leaves of the plant in five hundred milliliters of boiled water. Let the tool stand. It is recommended to use half a cup of the filtered preparation three times a day.

Treatment for tinnitus

Pour fifteen grams of fresh, finely chopped lemon balm herb with vodka - 50 ml. Close the container tightly and set aside the composition to brew in a dark, cool place for a week. Next, the product must be filtered through gauze folded in several layers. Place three drops in each ear, preferably before going to bed.

The use of healing baths

Steam fifty grams of raw materials with boiled water - a liter. The tool must be infused. After filtering, pour the composition into the bath. It is recommended to take a bath before going to bed.

Viral diseases: treatment with essential oils

Connect a few drops, no more than three with a small amount natural honey. Fill the mass with boiling water. Bend over the container, cover yourself with a towel and breathe in the vapors until the water cools.

Melissa essential oil for the treatment of headaches and nervous tension

Drop a few drops of oil, but not more than five into a filled hot water bath. The duration of the procedure is half an hour. If desired, you can combine lemon balm oil with peach oil.

Collection for the treatment of CCC diseases

Mix in equal proportions lemon balm with hawthorn, nettle, blackberry leaves, lavender, hops, adonis, elderberry. All ingredients must be finely chopped and mixed. Brew two tablespoons of the mixture with freshly boiled water and set aside to brew for a couple of hours. Drink 100 milliliters of the filtered preparation three times a day.

Preparing cleansing tea

The tool has cleansing properties, helps to normalize metabolic processes, reduce body weight, improve the skin. Combine in equal amounts the dry leaves of lemon balm with rose hips, rose petals, horsetail, yarrow. Grind the ingredients and steam three tablespoons of raw materials with boiling water - half a liter. Leave the composition to brew for three hours. Take half a glass of filtered drink at least three times a day.

Preparation of a drug that strengthens the immune system

The tool, when long-term use promotes defensive forces organism. Combine in equal proportions dried chopped leaves of lemon balm with hawthorn, barberry fruits, leaves

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