Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) is a grayish-white rustic shrub growing anywhere from 60-120 cm tall. With long leaves and yellow flowers, the wormwood shrub blooms from July to September in the dry, uncultivated lands of Eurasia and the Middle East. The leaves and high stalks of this plant are used to make medicinal extracts, and can be cultivated before flower-bloom.

Origin of Wormwood Extract

Wormwood extract was also used by the ancient Greeks, as well as 18th century Europeans, as vermouth or absinthe, an emerald-green "medicinal elixir/spirit." It gained its fame as the principle ingredient in the popular drink taken by French artists and Bohemians like Vincent Van Gogh. Historians date the origins of medicinal wormwood-use back to 1550 BC Ancient Egypt, although the shrubby perennial grows wild in Western Asia, Europe, and North Africa. The leaves and flowers are used to create an herbal oil extract for medicinal purposes. In traditional medicine cultures, wormwood was often used as a bitter digestive aid, with the powerful ability to fight off intestinal invaders such as pinworms and roundworms.2

Description & Benefits of the Chemical Components in Wormwood

True to its name, wormwood is most highly-prized for its use as an anti-parasitic. The active ingredients of wormwood come from the flowers and leaves of Artemesia absinthium. The essential oil of wormwood is rich in the plant phytotoxins known as thujone and isothujone. It also contains bitterish glucose, antioxidant tannins, chlorophyll and malic acid. The essential extracts are composed of tanacetone, azulene and cadinene, as well as the vitamins B6 and C.

Wormwood also contains bitter components known as absinthin and anabsinthin, both known to expedite the digestive process, as well as improve gallbladder and liver functioning.3 These bitter components work by triggering the release of enzymatic excretions and bile from the gallbladder and intestinal glands, involved in the effective digestion of food.4 Absinthin also shows biological activity as a powerful anti-inflammatory agent.6

A recent clinical trial shows that wormwood extract can aid in suppressing tumour necrosis in patients with Crohn's disease. This study also found that patients taking wormwood showed remission of symptoms and an accelerated healing response. Particularly interesting was that the use of wormwood not only aided the healing process, but also greatly improved the mood of these patients.

Other Benefits of Wormwood

Wormwood may play a therapeutic role in the following conditions:

• Powerful overall tonic.
• Acts as a natural antiseptic, antidiarrheic and antipyretic.
• May be used to aid kidney oedema, gout, anemia and any health condition involving excess water retention.
• Excellent cicatrizing agent.
• Used for ulcerations and wounds in the essential oil form.
• External use for hemorrhoids and vaginitis.
• Cholesterol-lowering capacities- A known bile-mover, wormwood contributes to blood purification and the metabolization of fats.1
• Acts as a strong herbal purifier that support the body's natural cleansing process.
• Acts as a sedative.
• May aid in the relief of fever.
• Aids in expelling worms from the intestinal tract.
• Acts as an insect repellent when used in diluted form as a spray.3
• Stimulates overall digestion.
• Improves liver and gallbladder function, and aids in reducing gallbladder inflammation.
• Acts as an effective aid for indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome and heartburn, particularly when combined with other digestive herbs such as peppermint and ginger.
• Improves poor appetite.
• Stimulates and regulates menstruation.

Why Take Wormwood?

Wormwood works to establish an environment in the body that is inhospitable to potential invaders. These harmful organisms are attracted to unhealthy, toxin-ridden digestive systems weakened by years of dietary neglect.

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