Cloves seed Syzygium aromaticum seeds
Common Names: Lavanga, Carophyllus, Clovos, Mother Cloves
Cloves are not only a culinary staple, but they should also be in every medicine cabinet as an old-time pain reliever, digestive aid and warming stimulant. Try Cloves as a breath freshener and, perhaps, even an aphrodisiac.
Beneficial Uses:
Cloves are used mainly to support healthy digestive function and is thought to relieve digestive upsets, vomiting and nausea.
Oil of Cloves apparently reduces the sensation of bloating and gas pressure within the stomach that frequently troubles people with peptic ulcers and gastroenteritis. Clove is considered a warming herb that improves the assimilation and digestion of foods.
In Ayurvedic medicine, ancient healers used Cloves to heal respiratory ailments. The herb is said to clear excess mucus from the lungs and relieve asthma, coughs and colds.
Long used as a pain reliever, Clove oil is said to possess powerful analgesic properties. Eugenol, its active ingredient, comprises from sixty- to ninety percent of this herb and is thought to be responsible for its pain-killing properties. Oil of Cloves has been used around the world to relieve pain from toothache and dental treatments and remains one of the major pain relieving agents still used by dentists to ease periodontal disease and toothache. Used externally, Oil of Cloves also eases neuralgia and rheumatism.
Clove oil is considered by some to be one of the most powerful germicidal agents in the herbal kingdom. Its antiseptic, antibacterial properties help in the treatment of food poisoning by killing many types of bacteria, including pseudomonas aeruginosa, shigella (all species), staph and strep – all of which may be involved in food poisoning. Its disinfectant properties make it a fine mouthwash, breath freshener and toothpaste ingredient.
Cloves are said to be antiparasitic, and its antimicrobial properties destroy intestinal parasites, thus supporting its traditional use by the chinese in treating diarrhea and intestinal worms.
Reputed to have antiviral and antifungal properties, Clove oil is said to increase the efficacy of "acyclovir," a drug used to treat the viral infections underlying Bell's palsy, chronic fatigue syndrome and herpes. It is also thought to be beneficial in counteracting the fungus that causes athlete's foot.
Consuming Cloves is thought to produce an aphrodisiac effect.
Contraindications:
Clove oil is not recommended for pregnant or nursing women or for children. People over sixty-five years of age should start with lower doses and then increase. Until further research is completed, anyone with a history of cancer should not use therapeutic amounts of Clove. Clove oil is very strong and may cause irritation if used in its pure form.
