St John's wort

• Collect leaves with the bloom from St John's Wort in the time of blossoming (July and August), 10-15 cm from the ground;
• Drying in the shade up to 35 ° C, hanging in bundles, or in one layer and then rotate.

• Odorless, bitter taste, golden color;
• Preparing: tea, tinctures and oils;
• Use: drinking, gargling, poultices (wounds, burns, rashes) or decoction of fresh juice from the bloom
• Contains: Vitamin C, provitamin A, an antibacterial substance

Effects:

- Antidepressant (not to be used with other drugs)
- Dermatological preparation (the skin)
- suitable for digestive disorders
- in case of diarrhea
- Urinary tract infections
- chronic gynecological infections
- Nerve symptoms (backache and headache, inflammation of the trigeminal nerve)

Adverse effects:

- Photosensitization (red spots, itching when expose to sun - for some people)
- interactions with drugs!
- during pregnancy and lactation is not recommended the use of St. John's

Preparation of oil from St John's:

The blooms are collecting on a sunny day, loosely fill the bottle to the top and pour a good cooking oil (olive, sunflower, almond, etc..).

Blooms must be submerged in the oil. Bottle tightly seal and put in a few days expose on a sun or a warm place.

Within a week the oil turns red. Then strain through a cloth, the rest is pressed, oil will be stored in dark bottles.

Preparation of tincture of St. John's:

One part of the blooms, collected in sunny day, freely fill the bottle and pour in nine parts of 38-40% spirits.Bottle is need to be tightly seal, and put in the sun expose or a warm place for 14 days.

Tincture turns red.
Then it need to be filtered, the sediment is to be filtrated and tincture can be stored.

USE: 1 teaspoon No. 1-2x a day. He isfavorably on the metabolism, relieves irritation, and improves blood circulation. Used for burns (and from the sun), hard-healing wounds and hemorrhoids.
Hemorrhoids: after washing inject Oil into the rectum and intestine. Then the outside of the rectum is lubricated with the ointment. This is repeated2x per day - morning and evening. Success is guaranteed, if the lifestyle is correct!

Depression and st john's wort

• Repeated studies have found it safe and effective for mild to moderate and in some cases severe, depression 1,2

• 1 recent study did not show effectiveness, but drug in this study also was not shown effective 3

1 Am J Psychiatry. 2002 Aug;159(8):1361-6
2 Adv Ther. 2002 Jan-Feb;19(1):43-52.
3 JAMA. 2002 Apr 10;287(14):1807-14.

Safety of St John’s Wort

• Shown to have fewer side effects than drugs for depression 1
• Most received 600-1800 mg. per day
• May affect metabolism of other drugs when used longer than 10 days 2
1. Pharmacopsychiatry. 2001 Jul;34 Suppl 1:S38-41.
2. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 1999 Oct;66(4):338-45.

2 dozen clinical trials reveal St John’s Wort to be a safe and effective herbal treatment for mild to moderate depression and anxiety. It is rich in hypericin.

St John's wort can interact with medications for other conditions, especially antidepressants. Talk to your doctor before trying either of these remedies to make sure they're safe for you.

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