Centaury

Centaury (Centaurium Erythraea) can easley be unnoticed among so many herbs cohabitating on the vast pastures of Europe and Asia. It is just a small plant with a pink, star shaped multitude of flowers, that doesn’t attract very much attention. But, the experienced herbalists can spot a clump of centaury from a distance. The plant is too valuable to be missed. They have some sort of reverence in front of the bitterest of the plants because they know the powerful chemicals that lay under the modest appearance of this humble weed.

Centaury is extremely bitter. But, in herbal medicine, bitter means very valuable properties. The whole plant, stems, leaves and flowers, is being cut up with a sharp instrument in late summer or early autumn and hanged to dry in small bouquets. The centaury is being used for a huge variety of ailments ranging from constipation to gallstones, to high fever and obesity. It can be administered as a tincture, powder, syrup, medicinal wine and infusion and applied as a poultice.

Centaury tincture is a bitter tonic that can help the human body cleanse itself and get rid of nasty toxins. It stimulates the liver and the gall bladder to produce more bile which helps to better digest the fats and prevents indigestion. The syrup and the tincture are being administered to lower the fever in bad cases of common cold or influenza. It stimulates sweating thus regulating the body temperature.

The centaury powder is administered in the early stages of hepatitis A, B and C because it seems capable to stop the viral proliferation and protect the still undamaged liver. The centaury can also be administered in advanced cases of hepatitis, to help the damaged liver get rid of toxins and maintain a relatively normal function.

Centaury is definitely worth experimenting with because of its many benefits to the human body and especially to the digestive tract.