Garden Lettuce

Garden lettuce is a very well known vegetable used in salads and grown all over the world. It belongs to the plant family Asteraceae or Compositae. Being an edible biennial, it is normally picked even before the flowers and seeds appear on the plant. With the advances in the field of agriculture, tissue culture and plant genetics, many new varieties have been developed. The matured plants develops a stem with alternate leaves and panicled head with yellow flowers. The seeds are small.



MEDICINAL USE:
*Soothing pain, works against spasms, promotes the discharge of phlegm, helps in digestion,
  headache, scabies, leucoderma or unpigmented patches of the skin, ophthalmia or eye infection,
  helps the bowels to move properly, and removes poison from the body.
*Insomnia.
*Helps in preventing hair loss.
*Kidney problems,painful menstruation, hemorrhoid or the enlarged vein in or near the anus, goitre,
  skin diseases, anaemia, constipation, stomachache, rheumatism, cough and bronchitis.
*Kidney stone and gallstone.
*Hysteria, weakness of the nervous system or neurasthenia and epilepsy.
*Swelling and inflammation.

HOW TO USED:
*The consumption of the lettuce takes care of pain, works against spasms, promotes the discharge of
  phlegm, helps in digestion, headache, scabies, leucoderma or unpigmented patches of the skin,
  opthalmia or eye infection, helps the bowels to move properly and removes poison from the body.
*For insomnia, crush 40 grams of lettuce stem and boil in 1 litre of water. Drink one cup before
  retiring.
*The oil extracted from the seeds and applied on the scalp helps in preventing hair loss.
*The fresh raw leaves are eaten as salad to take care of kidney problems, painful menstruation,
  hemorrhoid of the enlarged vein in or near the anus, goitre, skin diseases, anemia, constipation,
  stomachache, rheumatism, cough and bronchitis.
*A decoction can also be made for the above diseases in the proportion of 50 to 80 grams for 1 litre
  of water and 4 to 5 cups are taken a day.
*For kidney and gallstone, a glassful of this decoction should be taken before the mail in the
  morning.
*The fresh juice of the leaves and stem is good for hysteria, neurasthenia and epilepsy.
*Externally used, the hot cataplasm or poultice of the plant helps in reducing swelling and
  inflammation.

PARTS USED:
*The whole plant.

DOSE:
As recommended above.

Normal Dosage For:

Adults: 4 or 5 cups a day.
Aged 6 to 9 years: 2 cups a day
Aged 2 to 5 years: 1 cup a day
1 to 2 years: 1/2 cup a day
Below 1 year: 1/4 or less cup a day

A Useful Table for Quick Measurements:
1 tbsp = 5 grams (green herb)
1 dessertspoon = 2 grams (dry herb)
1 teaspoon = 25 drops
1 cup = 16 tbsp


1 litre = 7 or 8 cups