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What is the herb pennyroyal used for?
Despite serious safety concerns, pennyroyal is used for colds, pneumonia, and other breathing problems. It is also used for stomach pains, gas, intestinal disorders, and liver and gallbladder problems. Women use it to start or regulate their menstrual periods, or to cause an abortion.
Can humans eat pennyroyal?
Pennyroyal is a traditional folk remedy, emmenagogue, abortifacient, and culinary herb, but is toxic to the liver and has caused some deaths.
Why is pennyroyal toxic?
Pennyroyal oil contains pulegone, which is highly toxic, particularly to the liver. Ingestion can lead initially to gastrointestinal distress such as nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Later on, it can lead to failure of the liver and kidneys, resulting in bleeding, seizures, multiple organ failure, and death.
What is pennyroyal look like?
Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium), looks like mint, smells like mint and even tastes like mint but unlike mint contains pulegone, an extremely poisonous compound that is toxic to the liver and acts as an abortificant. Pennyroyal has been used as a culinary herb for thousands of years.
What were pennyroyal pills?
Pennyroyal has always been associated with women’s bodies and sexuality: it was used in love potions, served as an obscene metaphor for female pubic hair, and was employed as a symbol of illicit sexuality. It has also been known since antiquity as a powerful abortifacient.
What was pennyroyal used for in the 1800s?
Pennyroyal tablets and “female pills,” sold to women in the 19th century. Women regulated their menstruation for centuries, and in many cases, ended pregnancies without drama or incident.
What is English pennyroyal?
European pennyroyal, also known as English pennyroyal, is a perennial mint native to Europe and Asia. The herb has naturalized throughout North America since its introduction to the continent by early European colonists.
Can you cook with pennyroyal?
Nutrition. Pennyroyal used to be a good deal in cooking, for teas, and for medicines. However, the latest studies show that it can have toxic effects on the liver and on women in particular, and so the recommendation is that it should not be consumed or taken internally in any way.
What pennyroyal means?
Definition of pennyroyal 1 : a European perennial mint (Mentha pulegium) with small aromatic leaves. 2 : an aromatic North American mint (Hedeoma pulegioides) that has blue or violet flowers borne in axillary tufts and yields an oil used in folk medicine or to drive away mosquitoes.
How do you use pennyroyal as an insect repellent?
Fill with crushed pennyroyal leaves, cover with an unscented oil (light olive, safflower or sunflower are all suitable). Place on a sunny windowsill for about three weeks, shaking every few days. Strain and use. Try sprinkling a few drops of pennyroyal oil into water to repel mosquitoes, or rub it on your skin.
How can you tell the difference between pennyroyal and other mints?
Pennyroyal has small oval leaves, greyish in colour. Flavour: Spearmint is generally a sweet flavour imparting a cool sensation to the mouth. Peppermint has a stronger menthol taste. Pennyroyal is strong with a medicinal flavour.
What is tincture of pennyroyal?
Pennyroyal has been found helpful in easing coughs and congestion from colds and other respiratory infections. An expectorant, it alleviates dry, hacking coughs and helps expel phlegm. As a diaphoretic, Pennyroyal herbal tincture may help to reduce fevers by inducing perspiration.
Does pennyroyal grow in the wild?
Wild pennyroyal(Piloblephes rigida) is a low-growing, evergreen, herbaceous to semi-woody shrub. It typically flowers in late winter through spring, but can bloom year-round. It occurs naturally in scrub, scrubby and pine flatwoods, sandhills, dry prairies and ruderal areas.
Can you grow pennyroyal indoors?
American pennyroyal can be grown indoors in troughs or outside in the kitchen garden. Pinch the terminal ends of the herb to stimulate bushiness and a more compact growing shape. Grow pennyroyal as a groundcover in sunny areas with junky soil.
Is pennyroyal a contraceptive?
Pennyroyal, we came to learn, is an abortifacient, an old friend to “luckless girls in need,” as the Nebraskan novelist Mari Sandoz once wrote. Too much of it can damage the liver and cause convulsions, coma or even death. A little less can end a pregnancy.
How much pennyroyal tea is too much?
Toxicology. The toxicity of pennyroyal oil is well recognized, with many documented reports of adverse events and fatalities. In humans, consumption of 10 mL of the oil has resulted in moderate to severe toxicity, with case reports of fatalities 1 to 2 hours after consumption of 15 mL.
Who wrote Penny Royal tea?
Is pennyroyal toxic to cats?
We now know that, whether it’s applied to the skin or ingested, pennyroyal oil is toxic to cats and dogs. The oil comes from two species of pennyroyal plants, which are in the mint family. Pennyroyal oil also can cause nerve damage, seizures, hemorrhage, anemia and respiratory impairment.
Is mint toxic to humans?
Like many herbs, mint can adversely affect some people. According to a 2019 review , mint commonly acts as a trigger for GERD symptoms. Taking peppermint oil in large doses can be toxic . It is essential to stick to the recommended doses of peppermint oil.
How did pennyroyal get its name?
It is named for a wild mint that grows in the area. It is also called the “Mississippian Plateau,” for the Mississippian geologic age in which it was formed. The Pennyroyal is bordered by the Pottsville Escarpment in the east.
What does pennyroyal mint look like?
The plant features long, weed-like stalks with vibrant green leaves and tight purple blooms. When crushed, pennyroyal’s leaves emit a fragrance similar to that of spearmint.
