Burdock (Arctium lappa)

Available either as a dried herb or herbal tincture.

Please note this is a nutritional, functional horse food supplement and not veterinary medicine. See Dr Kellon's Horse Sense - 'Nutrition is not 'Alternative' Therapy.

Tincture

Our human-grade, certified organic tinctures give you a ready-to-absorb potent source of phytonutrients at the highest-strength available, for immediate absorption straight into the bloodstream and to the body’s cells.

100% certified organic pure tincture: Arctium lappa (Burdock) Root, Decocted 1:3 35%, Organic Cultivated

Feed Guide

• Horse - 30-40ml / Pony - 15-20ml, daily in feed.
• Always shake the bottle to disperse any sediment.
• 3-year shelf-life.

Dried Herb

Certified organic dried herb: Arctium lappa (Burdock) Root , Organic Cultivated, Origin Poland

Feed Guide

• 5g/100kg bodyweight per day, thus for an average 500kg horse add 25g daily to feed.
• 1-year shelf-life.

Functional Nutritional Value

Constituents: Polysaccharides (inulin), lignans (arctigenin, diarctigenin, and arctiin), terpenes (ursolic acid and arctiopicrin), flavonoids (quercetin, quercetin, and luteolin), sterols (sitosterol-beta-D-glucopyranoside and beta sitosterol), fatty acids (linolenic acid), acetylenic compounds, phenolic compounds (caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, tannin), thiophenes (lappaphene-A and arctinal), amino acids (aspartic acid and arginine), vitamins (B1, B2, C, and A), and minerals (potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, sodium, zinc, copper, phosphorus).

NB. Our range of botanicals are all grown, harvested and dried without the use of agri-chemicals, non-irradiated and GMO free - see our Quality page for Quality Management & Certification Documents. Laboratory tested for identification and compliance to the British and European Pharmacopoeia standards, and are human grade.

Please be aware that if you're purchasing our dried botanicals for human use, our dried range is cut to appropriate sizes for feeding to horses.

More ...

Burdock is thought of as the greatest blood purifier on the planet, yet it also has a long history as a culinary plant as well.

A true wayside weed, we all know burdock for its sticky-like burrs that cling to every bit of clothing and fur of passers-by - of course it's trying to disperse its seeds but our long-haired border collie comes back from a walk with hundreds of them velcro'd to him - ooh, quick digress for a bit of burdock trivia - historically been used for rabid dog bites! The main species of burdock used in herbalism is Arctium lappa ; the lappa believed to come either from a word meaning 'to seize', generally thought to refer to the burr’s ability to cling onto fur, fluff and woolly sweaters.

Modern-day herbalism describes burdock as " a traditional herbal medicinal product used to increase the amount of urine to achieve flushing of the urinary tract as an adjuvant in minor urinary tract complaints ”, in other words, a kidney marker. The root is also indicated to soothe chronic skin conditions such as eczema, acne and psoriasis - more kidney markers. Generally it's thought of as an alterative, diuretic, and antilithic (preventer of kidney stones).

Now to eating it, and in the Far East it's a well-known culinary vegetable - Japanese cooks have been using it for over 1000 years and it's well used in Taiwan and China too, where the crisp, sweet, mild, and slightly pungent root is eaten both raw and cooked, often shredded with carrot and braised with soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and sesame oil.

Burdock root is especially useful to aiding digestion due to the root contains inulin , a prebiotic that feeds the gut microbiome, plus as a mild bitter it also tonifies the digestive system.

It is not entirely clear when the beneficial uses of burdock were first recorded, but the ancient Greeks called it arkeion , described in De Materia Medica of Dioscorides, who suggested it be taken together with pine kernels ( Pinus spp.) to “ help spitters of blood and corrupt matter ”! He used root pulp was externally applied to soothe painful joints, while the leaves were used to resolve old ulcers.

Interestingly, 12th-century abbess and herbalist Saint Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) described the root of burdock as useless; she preferred a warm wine decoction of the leaves (my kind of girl!), taken to expel urinary stones.

Alterative herbs are indicated when a gentle and gradual approach is needed through a cleansing action, and burdock’s alterative properties shine here as they help eliminate metabolic waste products, and help detoxify and normalise metabolic function. Along with other alterative herbs such as yellow dock ( Rumex crispus ), red clover ( Trifolium pratense ), and cleavers ( Galium aparine ), all collectively known as blood cleansers, burdock is used to calm skin eruptions and other external signs of internal disharmonies, again all kidney markers.

We extensively use Burdock in our blends - you'll find it in our GutBitters and JSTTonic , and many of our Immunity C.A.R.E blends.

Safety

• The European Medicines Agency (2010) does not advise taking burdock in any form if taking synthetic diuretics.
• It's suggested not to take during pregnancy or nursing because safety studies are limited and burdock root has shown spasmolytic activity on the uterine muscle in vivo (Barnes, 2007).