• used for chronic digestive problems, bloating, flatulence, and intestinal cramping
• used for infantile colic
• used to increase lactation
• used for anorexia
Fennel promotes gastrointestinal motility and hence approves the use of fennel for “dyspepsias such as mild, spastic gastrointestinal afflictions, fullness, flatulence.”
Echoing the Eclectic physicians of the early part of the last century, modern-day herbalist David Hoffmann notes that fennel not only “relieves flatulence and colic while stimulating digestion and appetite” but that it “may increase milk flow in nursing mothers.”
Expert Michael Castleman provides a nicely succinct explanation of fennel’s usefulness for digestive problems: “Like most other aromatic herbs, fennel relaxes the smooth muscle lining the digestive tract, meaning that it’s antispasmodic. It also expels gas and promotes the secretion of bile, which helps in the digestion of fats... In Germany, where herbal medicine is more mainstream than it is in the North America, fennel is used like caraway as a treatment for indigestion, gas pains, irritable bowel syndrome, and infant colic.”
The following indications for fennel are supported by clinical trials: Dyspeptic conditions of the upper gastrointestinal tract, including pain, nausea, belching and heartburn and infantile colic. Also, Fennel relaxes sphincters and decreases spasm of the gastrointestinal tract, exerts a slight oestrogenic activity and increases milk flow.”
Administration:
25-40 drops (0.8-1.3ml), three times daily, in a mouthful of water, between or after meals.
Contraindications and Cautions:
Do not use if you are pregnant. Do not use if you are allergic to plants of the Umbelliferae family (e.g. celery, carrot). Consult a health care practitioner before use if you are taking ciprofloxacin.
Available in bottle sizes of 50ml, 100ml, and 250 ml.
A NOTE ON TINCTURES
Tinctures are more readily absorbed by the body and have a high degree of bio-availability. As well, they have a long shelf life.
Sometimes people ask us why tinctures are alcohol-based. There are very good reasons. Alcohol is critically important in the extraction of an herb's medicinal ingredients. It also helps to stabilize and preserve them. Alcohol is the ideal carrier substance, conveying the therapeutic goodness of the herb to the body. In itself, too, science has proven that alcohol enhances the immune system and its defences.
As for the amount of alcohol taken in an average dose of tincture, you’ll be surprised to learn that it’s about the same as what you’d find in an overly ripe banana!
Tinctures remain the most practical way to take advantage of the amazing, health-giving power of herbs.
Ingredients:
Certified Organic
Fennel
(Foeniculum vulgare)
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