The Bearded skullcap is a medicinal plant that is one of the helmet herbs. In Chinese medicine, among other things, it is used to treat cancer.
Occurrence and cultivation of the bearded skullcap
The bearded skullcap is one of the hardy, perennial plants. A distinctive feature of the medicinal herb is the appendage that sits on the calyx and resembles a helmet. The name skullcap is derived from this property.
Another noticeable feature is the division of the stem into two parts. The violet hairy flowers with a white point on the lower lip are located on the upper half of the stem. The lower stem, however, is populated by light green, pointed, egg-shaped leaves.
In the broad section of the stem, the leaves are serrated, while on the upper side they are imperforate and smaller in shape. The bearded skullcap blooms in May and June. The plant can reach a height of up to 60 centimeters. Seeds emerge from the flowers between June and August.
The bearded skullcap is native to Asian countries such as China and Korea. There it thrives best on the banks of rivers and rice fields. Soils rich in nutrients and moist are important for the Asian medicinal plant.
Effect & application
The bearded skullcap has some useful ingredients as a medicinal plant. These are flavonoids such as scutellarin, apigenin, wogonin, carthamidin, isocarthamidin and peopleolin. Pheophorbide, Hexahydrafarnesylaeton, Neandrographolide, tannins, bitter substances and essential oils are also contained in the medicinal herb. The flavonoids are said to have an antimutagenic effect.
The upper herb of Ban Zhi Lian, which is mainly used by traditional Chinese medicine, is used for therapeutic purposes. This classifies the bearded skullcap as cooling, disinfecting, draining, dividing and detoxifying. Tea is one of the most common forms of administration of Scutellaria barbata. To prepare it, the user pours one or two teaspoons of dried leaves or cabbage with 250 milliliters of hot, boiled water.
The tea must steep for 15 minutes before straining. The recommended daily dose is three cups. Traditional Chinese medicine often mixes bearded skullcap with other herbal ingredients to treat cancer. These include, for example, turtle shell (Trionycis carapax), white peony root (Paeoniae Radix alba) and red salvia root (Salviae miltiorrhizae Radix) against liver cancer.
For stomach or colon cancer, Ban Zhi Lian is also mixed with Akebiae fructus and Hedyotis diffusae Herba. Another form of the bearded skullcap is tincture. Three to four milliliters of this are administered three times a day. External use is also possible. For this purpose, the fresh juice of the leaves can be used on smaller wounds.
Dried bearded skullcap is offered in this country in special TCM pharmacies and in herbal shops. Ban Zhi Lian is one of those plants that are not easy to get in Germany.
Importance for health, treatment & prevention
Skull herbs were already used in the Stone Age to treat ailments and diseases. In China, Ban Zhi Lian is used against a wide variety of ailments. These include pain, abscesses, enlarged liver, enlarged pancreas, swelling, inflamed insect bites, skin infections, ulcers, chronic hepatitis, and snake bites.
Other areas of application are hoarseness, schistosomiasis, boils, boils, lymphadenitis, inflammation of the lymph nodes, inflammation of the throat, myomas, schistosomiasis and fever. The bearded skullcap is of particular interest for the treatment and prevention of cancer. Studies by the University of San Francisco have confirmed that the Asian medicinal herb has a positive effect on cancer.
According to this, the glycolysis of cancer cells, which is extremely important for their supply of energy, is prevented by Ban Zhi Lian. The flavonoids contained in the plant are responsible for the cancer-inhibiting effects. Bearded skullcap is particularly effective in treating cancers such as liver cancer, lung cancer and stomach cancer. The use of the medicinal herb as an accompanying therapy for the treatment of cancer can be very useful.
Scutellaria barbata is also used in homeopathy. There the medicinal herb is used to treat cramps and high blood pressure. In certain amounts, the bearded skullcap also has a calming effect. The plant is useful for relaxing, calming down after nightmares or compensating for mood swings. Because of its calming properties, Scutellaria barbata is also used by some people as a marijuana substitute.
They either smoke the herb or breathe it in as a smoking mixture. However, consuming the plant too intensively in this way can have negative health consequences that affect the nervous system. This is noticeable through symptoms such as nausea, dizziness and confusion. Even hallucinations are possible.
It is not advisable to take bearded skullcap during pregnancy. It is therefore advisable to consult the doctor treating you before you plan to use it.
