Yarrow for Weight Loss, PMS

If you are looking for a natural, gentle way to enhance your weight loss efforts and/or to ease symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), an attractive flowering herb called yarrow may come to your rescue. This daisy-like plant is also known as old man’s pepper, nosebleed, and woundwort.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), according to legend, was discovered by the ancient Greek hero Achilles (hence the genus name), who used the leaves of the herb to stop the bleeding of his wounded soldiers. The herb is believed to have originated about three millennia ago in Europe and Asia, and today it can also be found growing with abandon throughout North America as well.

Benefits of Yarrow

Ancient peoples used different parts of the herb to treat various medical conditions, including heavy menstrual bleeding, poor circulation, inflammation, fever, and gastrointestinal problems. The leaves appear to have been the part of the herb most used, as they were applied to wounds to stop bleeding, chewed to relieve tooth pain, and steeped in water to prepare infusions (teas) to treat a variety of ailments.

Today, yarrow is often valued as a diuretic to help with weight loss, fluid retention, menstrual cramps, heavy menstrual bleeding, indigestion, and bloating, as an antispasmodic to relieve muscle spasms, and as an astringent, which makes it helpful for tightening and firming tissues. Yarrow can also be used in a sitz bath to relieve painful menstrual cramps.

Yarrow has many constituents that are responsible for the herb’s healing properties. Some of those substances include sesquiterpene lactones (stimulants), an alkaloid called achilleine (anti-hemorrhage), flavonoids (anti-spasmodic), tannins (astringent), camphor (pain reliever), coumarins (anti-inflammatory), and terpinen-4-ol (diuretic).

Using Yarrow

Talk to your health-care professional before using yarrow. Suggested doses for help with weight loss, symptoms of PMS, indigestion, and pain relief are as follows.

• Dried flowers or herb: 2 to 4 grams in an infusion, taken three to four times daily
• Capsules: 300 to 325 mg of dried herb twice daily
• Tincture (1:5 ratio, 40% ethanol): 2 to 4 mL three times daily, in water
• Extract (1:1 ratio, 25% ethanol): 1 to 2 mL (approximately 28 to 56 drops) three times daily in water

If you grow yarrow or have access to it in the wild, you can gather the stems, leaves, and flower heads in bloom and dry them for later use. Along with using the dried herb for infusions (tea), you can also use as a flavoring, as it resembles sage.

Prolonged use of yarrow may make your skin hypersensitive to sunlight, so be sure to wear sunscreen and take other preventive measures if you use yarrow regularly. Also, do not use yarrow if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you are allergic to any plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae), as you may experience allergy symptoms.

Yarrow

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