Pharmacist – Formulator Phytotherapy expert
#Arctium lappa
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Burdock
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Who's this?
Burdock may seem clingy to those who don't appreciate her, but her talents are more than skin deep. Burdock (Arctium lappa) is a plant of the Asteraceae family, with a nice purple flower, whose active ingredients come together in the leaves and especially in the roots, where the antibiotic properties are concentrated.
Need another clue? When the burdock is barded for a battle, her dry fruit, like a barded helmet, throws herself against everything she encounters, your clothes as well as the hair of animals, sticking them with great force. Now you know who she is, right?
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Superpowers
Her powers are many: Anti-inflammatory, anti-itching, antibiotic, antifungal, detoxifying, purifying, antiseptic, choleretic, hypoglycemic agent, antibiotic, even diuretic.
Burdock shows off her set of superpowers proudly. However, only some of these powers interest us in helping dogs and cats. First of all, Burdock defends them from itching, a treacherous enemy indeed, but equally important is her purifying and detoxifying action.
Most notably, Burdock is the queen of derma, where she reins supreme. But, why the skin? The skin, together with the lungs, kidneys, liver and intestines, is part of the natural excretory apparatus, or rather, it has the ability to eliminate waste from inside the body, thanks to its aerial excretion.
The skin is highly vascularized, rich in sebaceous glands and nerve endings, in weak balance. Internal changes like poisoning, can cause skin problems and dermal rashes. Therefore, Burdock traditionally takes action for dermatological problems, dermatitis, and rashes such as measles and rubella.
For people, Burdock is indicated to treat acne, but in dogs and cats, she is useful to stimulate the growth of hair. Burdock provides her benefits to the liver, thanks to her antibiotic properties by stimulating the bile and liver functions.
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Where to find her
Burdock is sent on a specialized mission to the skin, with FORZA10 Dermo Active and in the wet line Actiwet, but she also travels in Hypoallergenic Active for cats and in its wet references Hypoallergenic Actiwet for dogs and cats, either with lamb or fish.
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Feats
Which are Burdock's marks in history? More than one person wrote about her, celebrating her skills. In 1929, Genoan Doctor Gibelli, unaware of Fleming's discoveries, found out Burdock's antibiotic effect against acne while he was studying plants in order to discover if they had anti toxic properties.
In 1935, in the Medical Magazine for the Clergy there appeared a recipe that suggested mixing the powdered root of burdock to butter, water and salt, to make dry biscuits which reduced the amount of sugar in the blood, thus very suitable for common diabetes .
Her leaves, when fresh and bruised, soothe the pain caused by stings of bees, wasps, hornets and mosquitoes.
French doctor Cazin observed some farmers treating catarrh (inflammation of the mucus membranes) by wrapping their feet in burdock leaves. In fact, according to acupuncturists, a point on the soles of the feet is able to calm the cough.
