The dandelion is such a common plant. Every year, as soon as the temperatures become bearable and friendly, this golden flower blankets gardens and meadows. Although some people see the dandelion as the bane of their existence – especially those who take care of the lawn, it’s such a fascinating plant.
Even though the leaves, flowers, and roots have many uses, their benefits are underrated.
The dandelion
Some see and classify the dandelion as a weed but it’s part of the daisy family, along with chrysanthemon and calendula. And contrary to other weeds that can pose an ecological, economic, or public health threat, the only thing it’s guilty of is that it grows so prolific.
Helped by its easily spreadable seeds – ask any seven-year-old, and they’ll tell you that they relish blowing on a dandelion puff – the plant will spread like wildfire. And once they take root, they’re hard to kill.
Dandelion (taraxacum) is part of the family of Asteraceae. Dandelion is actually a group of plants with the most common type being taraxacum officinale.
Taraxacum offincale is commonly found in temperate regions quite literally everywhere: Asia, Europe, northern Africa, and North America.
There are many names for dandelions: blowball, doon-head-clock, witch’s gowan, milk witch, Irish daisy, monks-head, priest’s-crown, and puff-ball. It also goes under lion’s-tooth, which is what dandelion should actually be – a mispronunciation of the French “dent de lion”. This is to describe jagged, toothed leaves.
Some not-so-flattering names include pee-a-bed, wet-a-bed, or piss-a-bed. This has to do with its strong diuretic effects of the roots when consumed.
History of dandelion in traditional medicine
Even if you spend significant amounts of time and money trying to eradicate the dandelion from your lawn, they’re good for you. The entire plant is edible and was used in many different cultures for its medicinal properties.
From the ancient Chinese to the Greeks, Romans, and Native Americans used dandelion to treat a variety of ailments:
- The dried tea leaves can be brewed into tea to aid in digestion.
- The sap from the stems was used to cure warts.
- The yellow flowers can be processed into a tincture also for digestion or for liver troubles.
- The root helps with urinary ailments or fluid retention.
The dandelion was also valued as a valuable food source. The entire plant, including the leaves, stems, flowers, and roots, is edible.
Off the flowers, beverages such as dandelion and burdock or dandelion wine were made.
The toothed leaves are picked and eaten raw as in salads. For some, they may taste too bitter, in which case you can blanche it and eat it like spinach.
The roots were also harvested then roasted and ground to make a caffeine-free coffee alternative. It really looks and tastes similar.
Content and properties
Today still, people eat the leaves as delicacies and drink dandelion infusion. The infusion helps the body remove toxins from the liver and bloodstream. Clearly, the dandelion is valued, although more research is needed to find out if it’s really effective in treating the various ailments and inflammatory response that folk and traditional medicine has prescribed them for.
What has around been researched is that the dandelion contain high amounts of vitamins as
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin K
and moderate amounts of
- Calcium
- Iron
- Magnesium
- Potassium
- Zinc
The different parts of the plant have different phytochemicals. The raw flower is a good source of polyphenols such as flavonoids and terpenoids. The green parts contain lutein and the roots the prebiotic fibre inulin. This is a kind of fibre that the growth and health of bacterial flora in your digestive system.
Why is it so good for your skin
Although the root was most valued in traditional and folk medicine, in skin care, it’s the green parts and the dandelion.
Researchers have found may protect against skin damage from sunlight. A team of researchers studied flower and leaf extracts. They found that if the extracts are applied before and after sun exposure, they could protect from UVB radiation.
Another team tested leaf and stem extracts and found that these extracts that may prevent sun spots – sun induced damage that is expressed in dark spots.
The dandelion has other benefits for your skin too. Like many other herbs, it has antioxidants that protect the skin from the effects of free radicals – or in a nutshell, from ageing.
Brighten and firm
Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant – which guards against free radical damage. But, it also stimulates collagen and elastin production. Hence, dandelion is used in products meant to firm up your skin.
Vitamin C is also known and valued as an agent to reduce the appearance of hyperpigmentation or age spots. When these dark patches are called sun spots, then it’s because of sun exposure.
Blemishes and soothing
Being rich in antioxidants means that the dandelion not only prevents cell damage caused by free radicals but also has anti-inflammatory and certain antimicrobial properties.
The anti-inflammatory property was valued in traditional Chinese medicine and the dandelion was used to treat sunburns, rashes, and the like.
When you cut or damage the leaves or stems, a white milk oozes out. The sap is alkaline and acts as a germicidal, fungicidal, and antimicrobial agent. No wonder some cultures used the white sap to treat warts.
Danger zone
Although the dandelion is quite safe and eaten as food for a long time, you may still want to be cautious and avoid it if you know you’re allergic to related plants such as ragweed.
Harvest
After hearing so much about how dandelions are not weeds but underrated, you may be tempted to harvest dandelions.
You’re probably already aware, but I can’t emphasise it enough: make sure your only pick from an area you know hasn’t been sprayed with weed killer or alongside a busy road. Otherwise, you may be even making your neighbour happy.
For skin care, you’ll want to concentrate on the flowers and the leaves because that’s where the skin goodness comes from. If you don’t process your harvest into your skin care, you’ll want to dehydrate it to prevent it from going off.
Wrapping up
If you don’t have access to a lawn that’s not sprayed with weed killer but still want to try out dandelion, you’ll find it in your local specialty shop. You can brew a leaves or roots infusion and fill it into a bottle with a spray nozzle. Voila, you got your pick-me-up mist for instant hydration.
Tell me in the comments if you want some more DYI ideas.
