A precursor to toothpaste
Sheep-Sorrel (Rumex acetosella, Sourweed or Field-sorrel) is a herbaceous perennial of the Polygonaceae family, growing to about 70cm in woodland and meadows throughout the temperate zones of Europe and North America. It has soft, arrow-shaped leaves, a powerfully invasive rhizome and terminal maroon flowers on erect stems. The common name, acetosella, comes from the Greek meaning pungent or sour tasting. All parts of the plant have a strong lemon flavour. Discorides recommended it as a liver tonic and John Evelyn writes… ‘Sorrel sharpens the appetite, assuages heat, cools the liver, strengthens the heart. It is an anti-scorbutic, resisting putrefaction’. Similarly, Culpeper suggests ‘It is of great use against the scurvy if eaten in spring as salad’.
The plant, which is regarded as a pernicious weed by horticulturists, contains beta-carotene, anthra-quinones, glycosides, rutin, polysaccharides, the vitamins A, B complex, C, D, E, K, P and U; the minerals calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, silicon, iron, sulphur, copper, iodine, manganese and zinc; the acids, malic, oxalic and tartaric. Quite an impressive weed. This makes it antioxidant, anti-diarrhoea, anti-inflammatory, diuretic, anti-scorbutic, anti-tumour and cellular regenerative, as well as being a very effective vermifuge.
The Native American tribes, the Ojibwa and the Chippewa, used poultices made from sorrel to treat topical tumours, infected cysts, eczema, herpes, hives, urticaria and other skin rashes. It is claimed that it will increase white blood cells and ‘T’ cells, this is probably due to the effect of the beta-carotene. An infusion, made from the root, is said to purify the liver, and has proved effective in reducing the swelling of the pancreas. In pre-toothpaste Europe it was chewed to overcome halitosis and cure gingivitis.
The curative properties of this plant in relation to cancer treatments, have given rise to decades of dispute. In the early 20th century, in Canada, a qualified nurse, Rene Caisse, treated hundreds of terminally ill patients with a treatment she called ‘Essiac’(her name spelt backwards). She obtained the remedy from a patient who had been cured of cancer by applying a remedy of an Ojibwa medicine-man. She set up in private practice in Ontario and treated numerous sufferers, many of whom were referred by their physicians and were in a terminal condition, beyond the help of medical science. Caisse claimed that if there was severe damage to the vital organs, she could not effect a cure, but would be able to prolong life and make it pain-free. In other cases, patients treated with ‘Essiac’ lived out a full life. Her compounds include other herbs, but the sorrel is the most prominent. Caisse and her followers were persecuted by the medical establishment, but today the National Cancer Institute of the United States recognises that Sheep-sorrel may have anti-cancer properties.
The leaves may be cooked and eaten as an alternative to spinach and a sauce made from the leaves, sugar and vinegar gives piquancy to plain meat dishes. The root yields a bright green dye.
Caution: sorrel should not be consumed in large quantities nor taken by those prone to kidney stones or suffering from arthritis.
Next week almond
