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lizmerrill

Please Reply re Mistletoe Tincture

lizmerrill
11 years ago

I live in the san joaquin valley of Calif.
There is a lot of mistletoe on the trees.
I read that mistletoe is good for hypertension. I want to make a tincture of fresh mistletoe twigs and leaves for high blood pressure. Is it safe to use American mistletoe, which is evidently what is growing in the central valley of calif, for this remedy?
I am not using any berries. Just the leaves and twigs, cut.

Liz Merrill
lizmerrill@aol.com

Comments (2)

  • chervil2
    11 years ago

    There are many different mistletoe species and the chemical properties change with the influence of the host tree.

    http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/ipc/weedinfo/viscum.htm

    Much of the literature I see with regards to the use of mistletoe for the treatment of hypertension is outside of the USA.

    Here are some helpful links:
    http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/mistletoe/patient/Page2#Section_16

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3555592/

    In summary, I would proceed with caution.

  • HerbDoctor
    11 years ago

    Chervil's right. From my experience, mistletoe helps in only a small percentage of hypertension cases because it works much on the Heart network. However, most of hypertension problems involve congestion/stagnation/heat starting in the Liver network and spreading to affect other networks including Kidney and Spleen (sometimes). This is where having a good herbalist who can analyze your personal conditions comes in handy.
    I rarely give a simple (1 herb regimen) for chronic problems. The idea in herbology is to feed all the affected networks and their relationship to one another.
    Be safe. For the most affective tincture, it's best to make the tincture/extract from fresh mistletoe BEFORE it flowers.

    HerbDoctor

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