Dandelions as a Health Food

Filed in archive General Health on June 13, 2007

Don't you get sick of that weedy front lawn with hundreds of dancing yellow dandelions decorating your green grass. Then, a few days later, those yellow flowers turn to balls of fluffy white seeds. A gust of wind - and POOF - they're gone, off to seed your lawn and the neighbor's lawn for the following spring.

Wait! Don't be too hard on the lowly dandelion. Did you know it's one of the most nutritious foods around? According to an article by Mary Hanna at Esam is Serious:

The dandelion leaves have more iron that spinach and more carotene than carrots. That common dandelion weed is packed with minerals such as calcium, magnesium phosphorous, iron, zinc and selenium. Added to that, it supplies vitamins B1, B2, B3, C and E.

Alternative Nature Online Herbal lists these medicinal uses for the dandelion:

Dandelion is also used for the treatment of the gall bladder, kidney and urinary disorders, gallstones, jaundice, cirrhosis, hypoglycemia, dyspepsia with constipation, edema associated with high blood pressure and heart weakness, chronic joint and skin complaints, gout, eczema and acne. As a tonic, Dandelion strengthens the kidneys.