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Pennyroyal herb
Introduction[Top] The official name for the Pennyroyal herb is mentha pulegium it is a plant in the mint genus, within the Lamiaceae family. It is native to many parts of Europe and Asia, it can also be found in the U.S and many other countries.Pennyroyal is the smallest of all the mint herbs. what pennyroyal is used for[Top] Pennyroyal's recorded use in history dates back from the 1st century AD. Pennyroyal was mentioned by the Roman naturalist Pliny as well as the Greek physician Dioscorides. Mentha pulegium was regularly used as a culinary herb by the Romans and Greeks. Ancient Greeks regularly put the herb in wine to flavor it. Nicholas Culpeper an English herbalist from the 17th century wrote about some of the uses for pennyroyal, these included digestion, venomous bites and women's ailments.Pennyroyal was one of the old home remedies used by African American slaves. It was also used in Native American herbal remedies. The early settlers in Virginia used it get rid of pests.Pennyroyal essential oil is used in aromatherapy. How pennyroyal is used[Top] Pennyroyal is available dried, fresh, as a tea or tincture and as an essential oil. Science says[Top] Research done by researchers in Korea discovered that pennyroyal was highly effective in killing off dust mites. Dust mites are a large cause of many allergies. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2532629/ Cautions and side effects[Top] Pennyroyal essential oil should never be taken internally as it is highly toxic. All manufactured types of pennyroyal in the U.S carry a label warning of its usage by pregnant woman. Pennyroyal may cause kidney and liver damage. Additional side effects include increased blood pressure, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and seizures.
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