APRON STRINGS

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Sweet Annie {Wormwood}


“The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water — the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.” (Rev 8:10–11)

What is it?

It’s  Sweet Artemisia annua … you may also know it as sweet wormwood, sweet annie, sweet sagewort or annual wormwood … It’s a Chinese herb, a common type of wormwood native to Asia ..Sweet Annie (Artemisia annua) is also called sweet wormwood, annual mugwort, sweet sagewort, or annual wormwood. 

It is native to Asia but has become naturalized in scattered parts of North America. Its’ very feathery fern like leaves appears early spring and has small bright yellow flowers in late summer, on a straight single stalk with alternating branches, sometimes reaching heights of 6’.


This annual readily reseeds itself (but easily pulled out) in the garden and can become a nuisance if not controlled. Insects or wind cross pollinates this plant. It is easy to grow and prefers sunny, well drained (even sandy) locations and is not prone to many diseases other than root rot from overly wet soil.

This plant is airy, gracefully branching and very aromatic-- I love this one in the garden-- I will let some of it go to seed for spreading and will harvest some for wreaths...beautiful against our 8 foot fence for color and grows to about  4 ft tall... It will not stand well in high winds, so you should staked it when not planted against a building or fence. I plant Cosmos with it for colorful blooms.



Preserving Wormwood By preserving in the glycerin which you can get at Walmart in the first aid section, it retains a green color and a "softness".  And best part is, it still smells wonderful! Make wreaths with it for winter enjoyment.


I mix 3 parts of water with 1 part of glycerin in a glass container and add the freshly cut stems.  Don't overcrowd the stems.  In approx. 1 week, I remove the sweet annie when there isn't anymore water in the container, let cut ends dry.

Why do I grow Sweet Annie Wormwood?

Wormwood can be used on every type of cancer. It has been an ancient Chinese remedy for over two millennia for normalizing digestive complaints . It is found to be safe, easy to use and affordable. And, has great promise in the treatment of cancer.DO NOT USE THIS IF PREGNANT...it has been known to induce labor!

 Artemisinin is extracted from wormwood and is FDA approved for the treatment of malaria.Cancer cells and bacteria accumulate iron far more than normal cells. Artemisinin works in the presence of iron to create free radicals that kill cells that hoard iron. Leukemia cells concentrate iron 1000 times normal lymphocytes and breast cancer concentrates iron 15 times a normal breast cell.

There are three forms of wormwood extract: artemisinin, artesunate, and artemether. It can be given either orally or rectally by suppository.  I dry mine and put it in the blender to make a powder, then fill gelatin caps .

It should be taken several days on and several off if taken by mouth because of intestinal tolerance. It is non-toxic and has been used on over 4000 patients without problems.

Combining wormwood and iron is much more effective in killing cancer cells and when cancer cells send signal to the body that indicate their need for iron and protein, they are unaware that the toxic compound artemisinin [wormwood]  is lurking on their surface along with iron and protein. On the inside of the cancer tumor, iron reacts with toxic artemisinin to release poisonous molecules known as free radicals.

 When there is enough accumulation of free radicals, the cancer cell dies.The herb is frequently eaten as a salad in Asia , dried and consumed, or made in a form of tea..Dried wormwood leaves do not lose their artemisinin fast {per CDC website}. In proper storage conditions, the artemisinin is present in almost whole amounts even after one year of storage.

The recipe is to place approximately 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of the dried tea leaves into a cup and then pour one cup of hot water over the leaves. Do not boil the water, I recommend water that has not quite reached the boiling point to protect the active compounds in the leaves from damage. The leaves are strong and bitter tasting, so you will likely want to add a sweetener of some sort. Let the tea steep for several minutes to ensure the active compounds are extracted from the Artemisia Annua leaves  . The tea is best digested on a full stomach. The tea can also be mixed with other herbal teas including peppermint to improve taste.