Plantain is a natural diuretic, refrigerant, deobstruent and somewhat astringent. It works on kidney, bladder, lung and liver. Plantain is most known as a strong diuretic for increasing urine output. It has been used as an important herb in the traditional medicine to treat kidney and urinary problems, such as prostatitis, cloudy and bloody urine and kidney stones.
Herbalists also use plantain in inflammation of the skin, malignant ulcers, intermittent fever, lung and intestine problems, such as wet cough, dysentery, etc.
Why plantain can be used to treat so many diseases? This is because that plantain has diuretic, anti-inflammatory and cooling properties. Many ‘hot’ (or feverish) diseases, can be treated by using diuretic – urine carries the body’s waste products and water (the water carries heat) to outside the body. An increasing urine output can carry more heat out of the body, and cool down the body. For many other ‘wet’ diseases, such as wet cough, skin ulcers, dysentery, using diuretic can carry fluid out of the affected area, dry it up, therefore can improve the symptoms. When you have a problem with both symptoms of ‘hot’ and ‘wet’, plantain may be a good remedy for you.
Please note: If you have kidney failure, internal injuries, or underlying weakness, you should not use plantain.
