Spring Cleaning Herbally Begins With Wild, Raw Greens and More

Spring Cleaning Herbally Begins With Wild, Raw Greens and More

Real, aggressive cleansing of the body of toxins and other noxious accumulations should ideally be done in the spring. That’s what wild nature indicates, as the most potent natural cleansing agents rise up in the spring and early summer. These agents are the wild, raw fresh greens, particularly wild dandelion but also wild nettle, burdock, and chickweed.
Here is the curious issue. These wild greens only work if they are raw. Cooking them destroys their highly potent cleansing action.
So, there are two choices with wild greens. They must either be eaten fresh and raw after being picked or extracted, then the raw juice or liquor must be consumed.
If the greens are allowed to stand for too long of a period, this, too impacts their nutritional value. They should be eaten immediately. Too, if picked for extraction purposes, this also must be done quickly.
Use of the plant for cleansing and purging dates back thousands of years. In 19th century Europe and America it was regarded as a universal tonic or “cure-all.” For early physicians ti became established as an official or chief medicine, thus explaining the name Taraxicum officinalis. Being so highly regarded it was added to the standard US Pharmacopoeia, 1831, as a broad-spectrum tonic and also as a well-respected diuretic.
Surely, some of the medicinal properties of wild greens relates to nutritional density. For instance, dandelions and nettles are top sources of a wide range of minerals, including calcium, potassium, magnesium, and iron, while also being dense sources of vitamin A, as beta carotene, and the B complex. There is even a form of vitamin D present in the plant.
While dandelion, nettles, and burdock are nutrient powerhouses, the issue of description, here, that is the toxin purging power, is the result of other substances. These powers arise from various phenolic compounds, flavonoids, waxes, and resins as well as latex-like substances. A rather complete list of these novel compounds is found on Drugs.com:
Dandelions contain acids including caffeic, p-hydroxyphenyl-acetic, chlorogenic, oleic, palmitic acids, and the fatty acids linoleic and linolenic. Other acids found are gallic and ascorbic acids.
The plant also contains terpenoids, sesquiterpenes, responsible for the bitter taste, triterpenes (beta-amyrin, taraxol and taraxerol), luteolin and the glycoside apigenin. Other reported constituents in dandelion include choline, inulin, pectin, glutin, gum, resin, sterols (β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, taraxasterol, homotaraxasterol) coumestrol, and (natural) sugars.
What a vast amount of natural, highly biologically active compounds it is. No wonder wild dandelion is a universal remedy.
Regarding nettles, it has a different profile of bio-active compounds, being exceptionally rich in tannic acid compounds. Other key compounds in wild nettle leaves include quercitin, carbonic acid, formic acid. A wide range of carotenoids have been found, including beta-carotene, violaxanthin, xanthophylls, zeaxanthin, luteoxanthin, and lutein epoxide.
The profile of burdock is equally unique, with the main compounds including caffeoylquinic acid derivatives, lignans, primarily arctiin, and a wide range of flavonids as well as the phenolic compounds caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, and cynarin. It is the latter compounds which are highly potent for assisting liver function, notably in the synthesis and production of bile.
Combinations of wild, raw extracts of these three spring greens are particularly potent. What a powerful, thorough complex such extracts represent. Surely, these wild greens can be picked in the raw, cleansed, and eaten. They can also be juiced.

For those who are unable to do so the raw, wild extracts are available. These are known as the greens flushing agent, as drops under the tongue. Such drops consist of extracts of remote-source, wild northern Canadian dandelion, burdock, and nettles leaves. Such potency is also available as the total body purging agent, which is a complex of such wild, raw greens in raw black seed oil and extra virgin olive oil, along with spice oil extracts. Yet another form available is the complex of wild, raw dandelion leaf extract plus wild cold-extracted, and raw, dandelion root: a most potent complex.
Who needs to be cleansed? In fact, all humans would benefit from such a process, especially in respect to wild, raw greens or their freshly made, raw extracts. Conditions where such cleansing is particularly crucial include:

• chronic constipation
• irritable bowel/spastic colon
• liver conditions
• gallbladder conditions
• overall congestion
• skin disorders such as psoriasis and eczema
• parasitic infestation
• chronic digestive disorders
• obesity
• circulatory disorders

By taking such wild, raw greens extracts there will be major cleansing for the spring and, in fact, any time of the year. The energetic nature of the waxes, resins, latex-like substances, phenolic compounds, carotenoids, gums, terpenoids, and various nutrients remains fully intact in the raw. By taking such extracts or the freshly picked wild, raw greens there will be cleansing. Has anyone ever seen a constipated moose or bear in the woods? How about an obese, bloated deer or moose or any other wild animal which feasts on edible greens?
One ‘warning:’ a major side effect of such cleansing is in people who are bloated in the abdominal region natural weight loss, especially when using the total purging agent. What a much-sought after side effect it is for those who have heavy weight in the abdominal region. Of note, the weight loss only occurs if a person needs to lose weight!
Too, commercial greens, even the organic ones, though still powerful do not have this exceedingly potent action, as seen in wild greens.
ONE NOTE: When foraging for any wild edible plants, including dandelion leaves, be fully aware of the surrounds. Make sure never to pick from areas which might be tainted with toxic chemicals, including roadsides and roadside ditches. Dandelions concentrate toxic compounds, including heavy metals.
Sources:
http://hungry-again.com/eating-dandelion-greens/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19375261
Ferracane R1, Graziani G, Gallo M, Fogliano V, Ritieni A.J. 2010 Jan 20;51(2):399-404. doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2009.03.018. Epub 2009 Mar 25.
Metabolic profile of the bioactive compounds of burdock (Arctium lappa) seeds, roots and leaves. Pharm Biomed Anal