How far do you know about calamus root? Or may some of you haven’t seen or heard about calamus root yet. Well, in this discussion, we are going to talk about calamus root and its health benefits.
Calamus (Acorus calamus) is a tall green monocot of flowering grass. It is a popular plant with many names including beewort, bitter pepper root, flag root, gladdon, myrtle flag, sweet flag, sweet sedge and others. It has the rhizome which can be utilized as a traditional medicine since a long time ago by our ancestors.
The calamus plant originally comes from the Native American Indians. They utilize the calamus root as energy and spiritual tools. Besides that, calamus root was also utilized by the ancient Egyptian as an aphrodisiac- a love drug to increase libido.
However, the use of calamus root is not just about healing and spiritual uses, but it also includes culinary things. For instances, calamus root is commonly used to substitute the other herb and seasoning such as ginger and cinnamon. It is because the calamus root tasted sweet, sour, and heat qualities.
Well, that’s a little introduction about calamus plant and its usability. Then, now we will step to the main discussion, which talks about the health benefits of calamus root. After reading the review of calamus above, perhaps you already notice that calamus is used to be utilized as medicine, especially calamus root.
The Nutrition of Calamus Root
And, now you may wonder how calamus could be a medicine? The answer is, it can’t be apart from the substance which is contained by the calamus itself.
Here is the list of components contained by calamus root:
- acorenone,
- alpha calacorene,
- alpha aselinene,
- beta gurjunene,
- beta asarone,
- calamendiol,
- calamusenone,
- camphone,
- iso shyobunine, and
- shyobunone.
Those components lead the calamus root to become an interesting plant with a lot of health benefits for us as below:
1. Stimulate the Blood Circulation
The first health benefit of calamus root is to stimulate the blood circulation. The hot effect created by the oil atsiri of calamus root is able to smooth the blood circulation and nerves. It is useful for you if you have a pain and swelling which is associated with rheumatism, arthritis, and gout.
2. Relaxation
Besides calamus root is used to smooth the blood circulation, it also can be used as a relaxation. It is because the calamus root has a strong aroma which is able to calm the nervous spams. That’s why the calamus root is usually used to relief the disturbances and nervous afflictions.
3. Prevent Infections
The benefit of calamus root for health is also able to prevent the infections, either internally or externally. Due to its toxic substance, the calamus root can be an antibiotic which does not allow any biotic growth.
4. Enhance the quality of Memory
The efficacy of calamus root doesn’t stop till here, according to several sources, calamus root is also able to enhance the quality of memory, especially to those people who experience the brain injury or have lost memory due to aging, trauma or any other reason.
5. Treat Insomnia
The aroma of calamus root which is able to give a calming sensation can be useful to treat insomnia. This tranquilizing effect may help to relax your body and your mind which also connects to your sleep quality.
6. Treat the Sore Throat
If you have a bad sore throat, you can try to make a tea of calamus root. It can help you to relieve the pain caused by a sore throat.
7. Increase the Appetite
The lack of appetite can be done with using the calamus root and matsutake mushroom health benefits. Calamus root is believed that it is able to increase the appetite. Besides that, the calamus root also can lower the acidity of your stomach.
8. Respiratory Reliefs
Sometimes, there are certain diseases which can cause a trouble of the respiratory such as bronchitis, sinusitis etc. In order to treat them, you can use the calamus root. The calamus root is effective to relieve the respiratory by inhaling its aroma. It also can be treat with the benefits of exercise for circulatory and respiratory system.
9. Contain an Antioxidant and Anti Bacterial
As the health benefits arnica, the calamus root is also known to have an antioxidant and antibacterial property which are good to treat the pain of infection or inflammation.
10.Prevent Epilepsy
Epilepsy is one of the diseases which is caused by neuron system damage. One effort of how to prevent the epilepsy is to use the calamus root.
More Health Benefits of Calamus Root
Besides the health benefits of calamus root which are already listed above, here are several additionals related to the topic as below:
- Treat swelling
- Treat the skin diseases
- Treat Rheumatic pain
- Treat Neuralgia
- The headache reliefs
- Treat arthritis
- Treat convulsions
- Treat diarrhoea
- Treat dyspepsia
Recommendation Intake of Calamus Root
Use methods of Calamus root can be done in several ways, such as:
- Eaten as an herb
The native Americans are used to cut the calamus root into pieces and chew it instantly to take the effect.
- Made Tea
You can also enjoy the calamus root into a cup of tea for the benefits.
- Blended into powder
As the other herb plants, calamus root can be blended into powder. The Native Americans are usually combining it with tobacco in order to relieve a headache.
Even though the calamus root is included as one of the herbal medicine which contains a lot of benefits for health. You shouldn’t lower your attention to the caution of side effects which may happen to you after using/consuming the calamus root. The overdose of the oil can induce mild hallucinations.
Large doses of the root of calamus may increase stomach secretions. Calamus is considered to be mutagenic and due to genotoxic properties, use is not recommended in case of pregnant women. So, use it wisely!
Well, that’s the discussion of health benefits of calamus root which probably you are looking for. I hope it will be a worth information. Thanks for reading guys, please share!