Cleavers Benefits, Usage, Medicinal Properties, Nutrition, Dosage, Preparations, safety, science backed and traditional view

Cleavers – Galium aparine (L.) also known as Clivers, Bedstraw, Goosegrass, Skarthgrass, Catchweed, Sweet Woodruff, Everlasting Friendship, Poor Robin, Zhu Yang Yang, Przytulia czepna

 

Cleavers is an annual herbaceous plant in the family Rubiaceae, containing over 3,000 species. The plant has creeping straggling stems that branch and grow along the ground and over other plants. The stems and leaves of cleavers are covered with small hooked bristles that attach to passing objects. These “hooks” allow the plant to climb upward through the undergrowth to find sunlight in the tops of trees and shrubs. The leaves are narrow and lance-shaped and encircle the stem. The flowers are white and star-like and they bloom from April through September.

Cleavers is native to Europe, North Africa, Asia, and perhaps North America, though this is still being debated. Now cleavers is naturalized in most parts of the world. Cleavers grows in woods and fields, along hedgerows, and among cultivated crops. The plant likes moist leafy soil in partial shade and can be invasive.

 

Part used: herb

 

Constituents: Coumarins, Saponins, Iridoid glycosides (Asperuloside, Acumin), Flavonoids, red dye with Anthraquinones (incl. galiosin) Tannins, Fatty acids, Alkanes, Gallotannic acid, Rubichloric acid,  Citric acid, chlorophyll, vitamin C and D, trace minerals incl. Silica

 

Flavors/Temps: sweet, salty, somewhat bitter, cold, dry

Dissolving, Restoring, Softening, Decongesting, Diluting

 

Tropism: Lymph, Liver, Fluids, Skin, Prostate, Blood, Bladder, Kidney

 

Meridians: Liver, Kidney, Bladder

 

Key actions in Western medicine: Febrifuge, Tonic, Vulnerary, Astringent, Depurative, Diuretic, Alterative, Anti-inflammatory, Antiphlogistic, Diaphoretic

 

Indication: Eczema, psoriasis, wounds, skin ulcers, seborrhea, oedema, tonsillitis, hepatitis, cystitis, liver toxicity, bladder and urinary difficulties, general blood cleanser, cancer, arthritis, lowers blood pressure, lymphadenitis, snake and insect bites, ulcers, festering glands, breast lumps, and skin rashes, kidney tonic, liver tonic, and lymphatic systems tonic.

 

Key action in TCM: Clears Damp Heat and reduces fever and inflammation, Moves Qi Stagnation, Disperses Toxins, Reduces Swelling, Softens Stones

Indication: Psoriasis, eczema, swollen glands, fever, measles, scarlet fever, hepatitis, prostatitis, acute cystitis, anxiety, moodiness, arthritis, tumors, edemas, bites, joint pain, sore throat, earache, swollen lymph nodes, kidney and bladder stones or gravel, wounds, thrombosis.

 

Constitutions:

All three constitutions

Krasis – Sanguine

Charming/Yang Ming Earth biotype

 

Preparations: fresh juice, powdered or ground or fine cut herb, cold infusion, warm but not boiled infusion, tincture, infused oil

 

Dosage usually 3 times a day unless instructed otherwise by Herbalist:

Fresh juice 3-15 ml

Powdered/ground/fine cut herb as addition to meal 6-16 grams

Cold/warm infusion 6-16g

Never boil or decoct your Cleavers herb as it will lose most of biological activity

Tincture 2-5 ml 1:3, 25% ethanol

Tincture 5-10 ml 1:5, 25% ethanol

In chronic conditions Cleavers give best result if used over long period of time.

Cooling, healing and soothing preparations like ointments, swabs and compresses are very effective for skin inflammations, burns, skin blemishes, wounds, etc. Also, in conjunction with internal use for lymph and skin cancers.

 

Cautions: Cleavers is mild herbal remedy with minimal chronic toxicity

 

Contradictions: none known

 

Interaction with drugs: none known

 

Side effects: at recommended dose none known

 

History Folklore:

The herb has a special curative reputation with reference to cancerous growths and allied tumours, an ointment being made from the leaves and stems wherewith to dress the ulcerated parts, the expressed juice at the same time being used internally.

Clivers was also used as an ointment for scalds and burns in the fourteenth century, under the name of Heyryt, Cosgres, Clive and Tongebledes (Tonguebleed), the latter doubtless from its roughness due to the incurved hooks all over the plant.

It was later used for colds, swellings, etc., the whole plant being rather astringent, and on account of this property being of service in some bleedings, as well as in diarrhoea. Clivers tea is still a rural remedy for colds in the head.

The crushed herb is applied in France as a poultice to sores and blisters.

Gerard writes of Clivers as a marvellous remedy for the bites of snakes, spiders and all venomous creatures, and quoting Pliny, says: 'A pottage made of Cleavers, a little mutton and oatmeal is good to cause lankness and keepe from fatnesse.'

Culpepper, the famous 17th-century herbalist said that cleavers can be “taken in broth, to keep them lean and lank that are apt to grow fat.” He also recommends Clivers for earache.

The name “aparine” derives from the Greek word meaning “lay hold of” or “seize”. In Europe, the dried, matted foliage was used to stuff mattresses, and the roots were used to make a permanent red dye. Deer are also known to bed down in dense patches of cleavers, also commonly called, “Bedstraw.”

Cleavers is used both internally and externally. As a poultice, the herb is useful for treating wounds and various stubborn skin disorders. It is cooling and soothing. Internally it is commonly used as a tonic for the kidney, liver, and lymphatic systems, making it useful for treating oedema, arthritis, ear and throat infections, cleansing the blood, soothing the bladder, and treating various skin disorders.

As a diuretic and lymphatic tonic, it is useful for treating swollen glands, cysts, and post-menstrual swelling and oedema of the breasts and legs. Its lymph-cleansing action makes this herb excellent for boosting and improving a sluggish immune system. The diuretic properties then help to flush out waste, toxins, and excess fluid from the kidneys. Cleavers is often combined with goldenrod and nettles to help tonify and strengthen weak kidneys. Raw cleavers tastes like coffee (which is also a member of the family Rubiaceae) and the dried and ground seed can be roasted and is often used in this form as a coffee substitute.

Asperuloside is a substance that is converted into prostaglandins in the body. Prostaglandins are hormone-like compounds that stimulate the uterus and blood vessels. An extract of cleavers (½ teaspoon 3x a day) has been shown in studies to help lower blood pressure without slowing the heart rate or inducing unwanted side effects.

The seeds of cleavers have been found in Neolithic settlements, and in times past were used to curdle milk into cheese. The plant’s botanical name, “Galium” derives from the Greek word for milk and relates to this ability to curdle milk.

In Sweden, a thick mat of the stems is still used as a filter for milk as it is said to provide milk with the herb’s healing properties. The Ancient Greek shepherds were said to use the plant in the same way when they were out in the fields tending and milking their sheep.

Cleavers has been used as an ingredient in love potions.

Cleavers provides food for the larvae of many butterfly species. Horses, cows, poultry, geese, and sheep also love to eat cleavers.

While cleavers can be eaten raw, people add it to soups and stews due to its strong coffee-like flavour, which is better enjoyed cooked and blended with other herbs and foods.

Does your cat have a bladder infection? An infusion of cleavers is a safe long-term aid for treating kitty urinary tract disease (FLUTD).

 

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