Horsetail
Rich in silica and zinc with tissue-healing properties treats infectious conditions of the urinary tract and bladder. Removes toxic aluminum from the body.
Family:
Equisetium arvense
Species/Botanical name:
- Equisetum arvense (E. arvense) – field horsetail, bottlebrush or shave grass
- Equisetum hyemale (E. hyemale) – rough horsetail or Dutch rush
Parts used:
above-ground part - stems with thin leaves
Plant preparation:
tea, tincture, honey, syrup, vinegar, food
Horsetail plant is rich in silica and zinc, as well as in vitamins and minerals. Makes a strength-giving tea which enriches the blood and hardens fingernails.
Horsetail may help with weak or brittle nails, thin hair with split ends, chronic cystitis and bladder irritation, multiple allergies, or weak joints and connective tissue.
Externally, a poultice of horsetail can be used to staunch bleeding and promote the repair of slow-healing wounds.
Horsetail herb removes a toxic metal aluminum.
Medicinal Properties
- Antioxidant
- Styptic
- Diuretic
- Strengthens the bladder
- Antifungal
Uses
- For irritable bladder with urgency and frequency
- For blood in the urine
- For removing toxic aluminum from the body
- For bed-wetting problems
- For arthritis
- Strengthens nails and hair
- Speeds healing after surgery
- Compress for infected, weepy skin conditions
Medicinal Properties and Energetics of Horsetail
Horsetail has notable astringent and tissue-healing properties due to its exceptionally high silica content. This herb has a particular affinity for the urinary tract and male reproductive system.
Combined with its gentle diuretic action, horsetail is a favored remedy for treating mild inflammatory and infectious conditions of the urinary tract, bladder and prostate gland.
Horsetail is also used in the management of incontinence and bed-wetting in children.
This herb is an excellent for removing waste material from the body, and is used for arthritic and skin disorders where the presence of toxins exacerbate these conditions.
Natural health advocate David Wolfe calls horsetail one of the top six "super-herbs." Silica in horsetail helps give bones their strength and keeps skin from wrinkling. Collagen, the substance which gives skin its elasticity, is made of silica. Herbalists today use horsetail most often for urinary tract infections, kidney stones, and benign prostate hyperplasia (enlarged prostate). Almost any herbal kidney and bladder cleanse formula or tincture will contain horsetail. Horsetail is a clinically proven antioxidant, and is also used to relieve edema, osteoarthritis, and osteoporosis.
Horsetail for Bones and Teeth. Silica Converts to Calcium in the Human Body
Horsetail is excellent remedy used to strengthen bones and teeth, and it is often found in formulae for osteoporosis and bone fractures.
It helps in the healing process after surgery.
Consulting traditional herbal literature may shed some light as to why horsetail may improve bone density. The late master herbalist Dr. John Ray Christopher documented his success using horsetail grass as a part of his herbal calcium formula in his newsletters. He calls silica a "master calcium herb." According to Dr. Christopher, silica converts to calcium in the body. His herbal calcium formula contains not only horsetail, but also lobelia, oat straw, and comfrey root.
David Wolfe agrees. He refers to the 1975 Nobel prize nominee for physiology, C. Louis Kurvran, who wrote extensively detailing the parallels between plant silica and calcium. Silica-rich foods include tomato and cucumber skins. Silica-rich herbs include horsetail, oat straw, stinging nettle, and alfalfa. These herbs can be blended and made into a tea by pouring boiling water over them and allowing them to steep for a few minutes. Three cups of "silica tea' provides a rich source of daily plant calcium.
Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the human body. It is used in the cardiovascular system to contract and dilate blood vessels. It is the mineral that makes muscles contract. It helps cells send signals and nerves to transmit those signals to the brain.
Most people know calcium as the mineral that makes healthy bones and teeth. While many people know that calcium can be absorbed through food or dietary supplements, few people know there are powerful herbs containing calcium. These herbs are horsetail and oat straw.
Calcium is very tightly regulated in the bloodstream. Extra calcium is stored in bone and dental tissue, and the body retrieves calcium from the bones and teeth if more is needed. As the body ages, particularly among postmenopausal women, bone loss exceeds bone repair if there is not enough dietary calcium intake. Horsetail and oat straw can help supply extra calcium for the bones.
Refined white sugar, white flour products, alcohol, soft drinks, the use of steroids, and junk foods leach calcium from the bones in order to correct the acid formation in the blood and tissues of the body. Varicose veins, muscle cramps and "Charlie horses," tooth decay and loss, painful teething in babies, and anxiety issues are all due to calcium imbalances.
A simple hot tea made with equal parts horsetail and oat straw taken three times a day may help relieve the symptoms of all of the above health concerns. A different recipe calls for a combination of oat straw, horsetail, comfrey leaves, and lobelia to combine the calcium in horsetail and oat straw with the bone-knitting properties of comfrey. Lobelia is an adaptogen which helps the other herbs work together.
Horsetail for Joints
Horsetail can, in certain cases, work wonders in rebuilding joints and other connective tissues.
Horsetail for Nails and Hair
Horsetail taken as a tea or syrup can reach nails and joints, hair, and skin.
Externally horsetail makes a good poultice and hair rinse, or can be added to the bath or body lotion.
Silica, that is in horsetail is water-soluble, meaning that it can be readily transported around the body in solution form.
Horsetail for Veins and Arteries
Horsetail works by strengthening the channels in the body, including the arteries and veins, and assists the free passage of fluids.
Horsetail for Wounds
Horsetail is known as a would herb, releasing pus and damaged cells from infected wounds. Another way it works on wounds is to slow the bleeding.
Horsetail is Proven to be an Effective Antioxidant
A clinical study performed in 2010 showed that horsetail extract, or horsetail tincture, could be considered a safe and natural antioxidant, as well as contain potential phytochemicals. The study, published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, showed the effects of horsetail extract on sunflower oil and soybean fats. In both tests, free radicals were suppressed. Not only that, but horsetail extract was also able to keep a line of cancer cells from proliferating.
Horsetail Herb Prevents Alzheimer’s and Dementia by Removing Toxic ALUMINUM from the Body
Aluminum is a toxic metal that damages your brain, accelerating Alzheimer’s and dementia. The vaccine industry puts it into the vaccines.
In combination with mercury, another potent neurotoxin, aluminum ravages the brain, causing permanent brain damage.
Vectors of aluminum exposure include vaccines, over-the-counter medications (antacids are often loaded with aluminum), cookware and even deodorants which are typically made with aluminum salts.
Horsetail herb allows your body to remove aluminum, a toxic metal, from your blood by forming large hydroxyaluminosilicate molecules, which your kidneys can easily filter out of your blood. The result is that you urinate out the aluminum from your body. No prescription medications needed. No dangerous medical interventions and no needles.
Horsetail - Recommended amounts
Drink a cup occasionally to keep your skin, nails, and hair strong and healthy.
Drink a cupful every two hours for acute cystitis, and continue with three cups a day for a while until you are completely over the cystitis.
Make triple strength and add a cupful to hot baths and foot baths to help heal sprains and other injuries. It is remarkably effective.
Special Consideration
Avoid large horsetail doses in early pregnancy.
