Condition
Treatment Support
digestive stimulant, nervine
Application
tincture, capsule
Wild Lettuce
(Lactuca virosa)
Also know as Lettuce Opium
Botanical Information
An annual weed from the Aster family with abundant milky juice. Leaves similar to garden lettuce but with narrower leaves and bristles on the undersurface of the midrib.
Working with Wild Lettuce
Part(s) Used
Herb
Herb Forms
Tincture of the fresh plant, dried juice in capsule form, bulk herb.
Wild lettuce is a mild sedative and nervine and has been used in children’s cough medicines and in various remedies for nervous irritability. Because of its safety of use and calming effects, it is a good children’s remedy. Wild lettuce is most often combined with other sedative herbs.
It loses its potency rapidly, so most commercial preparations are very mild. One way wild lettuce can be really effective is as a dried fresh-plant juice. It is a common garden and field weed throughout the northern hemisphere. Take the fresh green tops, juice them, pour the juice into a dehydrator tray for making fruit leather, dry the juice under low heat (under 100 deg.), then break the resulting herb "wafer" up into small flakes. Take 2-3 pinches of the wild lettuce dried juice flakes as needed. The flakes can also be stuffed into capsules if the bitter, salty taste is objectionable.
Wild Lettuce has a taste of BITTER, SALTY and a temperature of COOL.
Cautions
Contraindicated in glaucoma and prostate enlargement.
Conditions treated with Wild Lettuce
Condition
Treatment Support
Application
Condition
Treatment Support
digestive stimulant, nervine
Application
tincture
Condition
Treatment Support
nervine, calmative
Application
tincture
Condition
Treatment Support
sedative
Application
tincture, capsule
The information given here is designed to help you make informed choices about your health. The information is drawn from numerous sources—both traditional medicine practice, from the clinical experience of many herbalists currently practicing, and supported by decades of scientific research from the author. The research most consulted includes human clinical trials that help to determine the most effective and safe herbs for various needs, the best doses, and types of preparations.
The information offered in this database is not intended as a substitute for any that may have been prescribed by your health practitioner or physician.
