- Region
- Europe
- Origin
- Europe, North Africa and temperate Asia. Artemisia absinthium
- Other names
- Absintalsem
Europe · Herb · № 63
Artemisia absinthium
Herb · Europe
Wormwood
Artemisia absinthium
One of the most bitter herbs; traditionally used to stimulate appetite and digestion and against intestinal worms. Clinical evidence is limited.
Safety notes
Contains thujone, which harms the nervous system at high or prolonged intake. Not for pregnancy, breastfeeding, epilepsy or children.
Cautions by tradition (3)
- Herbal medicine worldwide: Short-term only, not in pregnancy or breastfeeding.
- Kallawaya healing in Bolivia: Poisonous in large amounts; not in pregnancy.
- Curanderismo of northern Peru: Contains thujone: take internally only briefly and in small amounts. Not in pregnancy or with epilepsy.
Preparation
Used briefly and sparingly as tea or tincture; the taste is very bitter. No dosage is given here.
Use in traditions
Ody describes wormwood as a classic bitter of European herbalism. It gave its name to absinthe, a drink that became popular in 19th-century France and was later banned for many years.
Applications
Use by tradition
How different herbal traditions describe this herb. Amounts are traditional guidelines checked for obvious errors; they are not medical advice. For poisonous plants no dosage is given on purpose.
Herbal medicine worldwide
Attributed effects
Bitter digestive tonics, stimulate the uterus; wormwood anthelmintic; mugwort stimulates the nerves, regulates menstruation, antirheumatic.
Preparation and amount
Wormwood tea for hepatitis, jaundice, sluggish digestion and gastritis; tincture max. 3 ml a day; compress on bruises and insect bites; wash for scabies; mugwort as tea for menopausal complaints and as tincture for menstrual disorders.
Caution: Short-term only, not in pregnancy or breastfeeding.
Western herbalism
Attributed effects
Tonic, antiparasitic, stomachic, stimulating, strengthens the nerves; relieves an overfull stomach and sluggish digestion, expels gas, helps with food poisoning and gut infections, liniment for muscle pain.
Preparation and amount
Tea: ½–1 tsp per cup, 5–10 min, as needed (after a heavy meal); tincture 1–10 drops as needed; liniment with a cotton pad on the painful spot (2–3 times a day); strongly purgative, can cause dehydration.
Kallawaya healing in Bolivia
Attributed effects
Against intestinal worms, and a leaf chewed over an aching tooth.
Preparation and amount
Do not prepare or use it yourself.
Caution: Poisonous in large amounts; not in pregnancy.
Curanderismo of northern Peru
Attributed effects
Ajenco is used in cleansings against susto in children and against sorcery; as a short course of tea for painful or irregular periods.
Preparation and amount
Externally: a bunch of fresh leaves in a bath or a cleansing, with other herbs.
Caution: Contains thujone: take internally only briefly and in small amounts. Not in pregnancy or with epilepsy.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org
- Penelope Ody, The Complete Medicinal Herbal (1993; 2017)
- Rainer W. Bussmann & Douglas Sharon, Medicinal Plants of the Andes and the Amazon (2015)
- Joseph W. Bastien, Healers of the Andes: Kallawaya Herbalists and Their Medicinal Plants (1987)
- Louis Girault, Kallawaya. Guérisseurs itinérants des Andes (1984)