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Naturopathy Beware of wild garlic picking

The medicinal plant wild garlic is often confused with poison plants

21.03.2011

Spring has begun, in many places people gather wild wild garlic. Wild garlic is considered a medicinal herb in natural medicine and possesses a whole arsenal of positive active ingredients. However, if you are not well enough, you may experience a dangerous poisoning by confusing the plant.

Poisonous plants are similar to wild garlic
Throughout the woods, a slightly sweet garlic fragrance is currently perceptible. Traditionally, wild garlic grows in spring. Many people therefore set out to harvest wild wild garlic. But when collecting caution is necessary, because many people have already mistaken wild garlic with Herbstzeitlosen or lily of the valley, as the three plant species are barely distinguishable. Herbstzeitlosen and lilies of the valley are highly toxic and can cause severe poisoning. The Baden-Württemberg State Minister for Economic Affairs, Rudolf Köberle (CDU), warned: "The leaves are easily confused with the poisonous leaves of autumnal timbers or lilies of the valley for botanical laypeople, ignorance or negligence can have tragic, sometimes deadly, consequences.“ Both poisonous plants store substances in their leaves that lead to life-threatening poisoning after inadvertent consumption. First symptoms of „False wild garlic“ are nausea and vomiting, cardiovascular complaints, blood in the stool. After a few hours, the symptoms described can occur. Affected persons should immediately call an emergency physician at the first sign. Even by boiling or drying the leaves, the toxic hazard is not eliminated.

Recognize the difference between wild garlic
In order to distinguish leaves of the Herbstzeitlosen or lilies of the valley from those of the wild garlic, one should grate a leaf of the plant between the fingers. If it is wild garlic, a typical garlic smell is released. In the case of poisonous plants, no typical fragrance can be detected. But even this method is not one hundred percent sure. If you have previously tested a wild garlic plant, your fingers still smell of wild garlic. This could give the impression involuntarily that the tested leaves are bear's garlic. Therefore, if in doubt, you should rather leave the plant or ask an expert for advice.

Fox tapeworm eggs adhere to the wild growth
Not only the delimitation of the wild garlic plant poses dangers to health. On the leaves there could be eggs of the fox tapeworm. However, the tapeworm eggs are rendered harmless by thorough washing of the leaves and by boiling at least 60 degrees Celsius. Storing in the freezer does not kill any eggs.

Wild garlic: centuries-old medicinal plant
Already Hildegard von Bingen knew about the healing power of wild garlic. In this context, Bingen spoke of a "sprouting green force" and of "viriditas", the power „that grows everything and leaves it green“. The consumption of wild garlic helps according to the approaches of herbal medicine in the regeneration of intestinal flora and boosts the metabolism. Wild garlic is also used in naturopathy in a whole range of symptoms. The medicinal plant can relieve symptoms of asthma, fever and bronchitis. Since the activity of bile is stimulated, wild garlic can also be used for high blood pressure, because the active ingredients of wild garlic sustainably lower the cholesterol level. Wild garlic also contains important vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, manganese, magnesium, iron and sulfur. Similar to garlic, wild garlic has a slightly vessel-expanding property, cleanses the blood and develops an antibiotic effect after eating. Bear's garlic is suitable in salads, tinctures or pasta recipes. (Sb)