Boldo, An Excellent Ally to Fight Urinary Conditions
There are many natural alternatives to fight urinary tract diseases. They range from teas and food recipes to prophylaxis. On this occasion, we’re going to talk about how you can treat these conditions with boldo. This plant is well-known in the field of folk medicine due to its many healing properties.
What is boldo?
Boldo is a plant native to the Andean region. Thanks to its medicinal properties, the indigenous cultures of South America have been using it as a medicinal plant for a long time.
Its essential oils such as ascaridole and eucalyptol, as well as its flavonoids and tannins, make it very useful. Its digestive, diuretic, antioxidant, sedative, and expectorant properties stand out from the rest.
Boldo benefits
This plant offers many health benefits. Some of them are that it:
- Helps the digestive system work properly in cases of constipation or indigestion.
- Favors the expulsion of gases.
- Increases the secretion of saliva in cases of people who suffer from dry mouth.
- Is depurative, since it favors the elimination of toxins and protects the liver.
- Aids in the recovery from dislocations and rheumatism.
- Stimulates the gallbladder to expel gallstones.
- Helps expel liquids from the body. Thus, it’s very effective in treating cystitis, nephritis, and other urinary conditions.
However, although boldo has all these benefits, it’s important to remember that you shouldn’t take it for more than four weeks. Consuming too much boldo can have negative side effects.
Since it’s a laxative, you shouldn’t take it if you’re suffering from diarrhea. Similarly, you shouldn’t take it during pregnancy or lactation since it has a lot of alkaloids.
What are urinary conditions?
Urinary tract diseases are usually caused by infections in the kidneys, bladder, prostate, ureters, or urethra. These conditions are the second most common type of infection in the population.
Such conditions occur when pathogens enter the urinary tract, either through the lower urinary tract or through the bloodstream, and reach the kidneys. These infections are often asymptomatic, meaning they’re more difficult to diagnose.
If you have any of these symptoms, you could be suffering from a urinary tract infection:
- Burning or painful urination
- Pressure or pain in the lower abdomen
- Fever, fatigue, or shivers
- Frequent urge to urinate
- Foul smelling or cloudy or dark urine
Anyone can suffer from these infections, although women are more likely to have them than men. The chances of getting a urinary tract infection increase if the person:
- Requires external equipment to drain the bladder.
- Suffers from diabetes.
- Has a spinal cord injury.
Discover: 6 Tips to Eliminate Kidney Stones
Boldo to fight urinary conditions
As we already mentioned, boldo is well-known for its many properties that can heal several conditions. In the case of urinary tract diseases, boldo tea can help.
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons of boldo tea (30 g)
- 1 cup of water (250 ml)
What to do
- Add a few boldo leaves to a pot of water and bring to a boil.
- Once it boils, remove from heat and let stand so it can cool a bit.
- It’s recommended to drink this infusion about 2 or 3 times a day for one week.
- Another option may be to use boldo tea as a base for other fruit drinks.
Remember that although this drink is a totally natural home remedy, you should never ignore a doctor’s opinion at any sign of a urinary tract infection. Specialists are the only people who can actually diagnose you after doing certain lab tests.
After diagnosing you, they can prescribe a treatment. However, don’t disregard remedies made from plants such as boldo, as they are helpful compliments to medical treatment.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Ugalde-Valencia, D., Hernández-Juárez, M. G., Ruiz-Rodríguez, M. A., & Villarreal-Ríos, E. (2012). Infecciones del tracto genital y urinario como factores de riesgo para parto pretérmino en adolescentes. Revista Chilena de Obstetricia y Ginecología. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0717-75262012000500003
- Muñoz-Velázquez, E. E., Rivas-Díaz, K., Guadalupe, M., Loarca-Piña, F., Mendoza-Díaz, S., Reynoso-Camacho, R., & Ramos-Gómez, M. (2012). Comparación del contenido fenólico, capacidad antioxidante y actividad antiinflamatoria de infusiones herbales comerciales* Comparison of phenolic content, antioxidant capacity and anti-inflamatory activity of commercial herbal infusions. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Agrícolas.
