Anti-inflammatory herb ~ Honeysuckle flower

One of my home grown herbs ~Japanese Honeysuckle in my herb garden is blooming with beautiful flowers. I noticed the white flowers bloom and then it turns to yellow flowers in 2 – 3 days. Then it falls off within a week. 

We normally can get Honeysuckle in most of the Traditional Chinese medicine stores; it is selling in dried form. 

 Dried Honeysuckle

 

This Honeysuckle flowers is commonly used to treat excessive heat like fever, sore throat, influenza, mouth ulcer and skin infections.To promote longevity and health and many more medicinal value in it.

What is Honeysuckle?

• It is known as “Jin Yin Hua” 金银花 in chinese.

• Scientific name: Flos Lonicerae Japonicae , Lonicera Japonica,

• It has powerful antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.

• Its nature is cold.Usually it is paired with other herbs in warm in nature.

• Its meridian channels to lung, heart and stomach.

• It has natural inhibitors agent to kill the germs, Helps in releasing poisoning, expels heat to reducing fever, treats sore throat and ulcers, for clearing skin infection and lungs.

The whole plant is very useful which is high medicinal value as an alternative herb for acute chronic illnesses, whole plant from the flower and buds can be infused as herbal tea, or mixture the stems with other herbs as natural medicine.

Honeysuckles properties consist high in Calcium, Magnesium, zink and Potassium; and its pharmaceutical chemistry ingredients: chlorogenic acid, luteolin, stigmasterol, ginnol, caffeic acid, tannin, linoleic acid, myristic acid and etc. 

Common used of its flower, flower buds and stems with many medicinal and anti-inflammatory effects and its benefits:

The whole plant of honeysuckle has medicinal property of anti-inflammatory Astringent, Anti-bacterial, Diuretic, calming, expectorant and Antispasmodic.  

• Honeysuckle leaves can be boiled into herbal soup, or edible as green vegetable to lower cholesterol and high blood pressure. 
• The stems can used to boil into soup for treating acute arthritis, hepatitis and mumps. 
• For upper respiratory tract problem, and dysentery, cold and skin problem, mix the stem and flower buds to cook as medicinal herb tea. 
• The flower is sweet, edible which can be cooked or infused as herbal tea as natural cough syrup as an expectorant for bad coughs and asthma. It is natural antibiotic in alternative natural healing.

• When mixing Honeysuckle flowers with chrysanthemum, it makes good soothing herb tea for tired and itchy sore eyes. 

• Honeysuckle with Lo Han Guo gives antibiotic and soothing effect to painful tonsillitis and sore throat.  
• Honeysuckle, mulberry leave with mung bean soup. It has an auxiliary in disintoxication or with curative process as a cooling herbs soup, which has certain effect in get rid of Lead-poisoning. 

For external usage: 

Boil the Honey suckle and take the herbal solutions, to wash the infected areas gently for treating heat rashes, eczema, skin boils, hypertension, arteriosclerosis, diabetes, nephritis has its auxiliary function.

Note: 

Take precaution of the side effect and contraindication when using Honeysuckle for the following health condition:

1) Do not take Honeysuckle before and after any surgery, for those under medication like blood thinning should avoid taking Honeysuckle, which may cause bleeding and bruising. 

2) Do not take with empty stomach it may cause gastrointestinal upset. Or those with weak spleen problem and gastric problem. 

3) Some may cause of skin contact dermatitis problem with Honeysuckle sap, it is quite similarity to my skin contact dermatitis with Oyster plant, it cause blister and itchy to certain people with sensitive and allergic skin condition like me.