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Broadleaf Plantain: Food & Medicine Beneath Your Feet

Broadleaf plantain is a common weed that many people tend to easily recognize yet there is nothing common about this plant. It is a good source of nutrition as well as a multitude of health benefits.
Broadleaf Plantain: Food and Medicine Beneath Your Feet
Plantain (pronounced plan-tin) is a perennial leafy plant in the Plantaginaceae family that often behaves as an annual or biennial plant. Interestingly it has a cousin named the narrow leaf plantain (or ribwort) that shares almost the same nutrients and medicinal factors. Broadleaf plantain’s botanical name is Plantago major and the narrow leaf plantain is Plantago lanceolate. There are other plantains but they are not as commonly widespread as these two varieties.

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Broadleaf plantain was used as food about 4,000 years ago in Europe and there is some indication that this plant was cultivated. As people left Europe to explore and settle in what is now North America, they took many seeds with them (including plantain) so that they could continue using the food and medicine they were accustomed to.  Some records indicate that various Native people called this plant “The footstep of the white,” because it ultimately ended up growing in areas where the Europeans had been.

For centuries plantain was well-recognized as a medicinal plant. In the late 1500’s Shakespeare made mention of this amazing plant in “Romeo and Juliet.”  In Act I, Scene II he wrote:

BENVOLIO
Tut, man, one fire burns out another’s burning,
One pain is lessened by another’s anguish;
Turn giddy, and be holp by backward turning;
One desperate grief cures with another’s languishing:
Take thou some new infection to thy eye,
And the rank poison of the old will die.

ROMEO
Your plantain-leaf is excellent for that.

BENVOLIO
For what, I pray thee?

ROMEO
For your broken shin.

 

Plantain Nutrition

There is an abundance of goodness in the plantain. It contains seven flavonoids, beta-carotene, crude fibre, dietary fibre, fat, protein, and carbohydrates. It also contains vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C, and K.  Plantain also contains calcium, chromium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc.

Young leaves can be eaten raw but as they get older they tend to become bitter and quite tedious to prepare because the fibrous strands are best removed before use. Some people blanch the leaves in boiling water before using them in salads in order to make them tender.

Plantain can be used to make a tea and use this tea to prepare rice, quinoa or couscous.

 

Plantain as Herbal Medicine

Plantain is best recognized as the plant that you make a poultice using your teeth and apply it to a fresh cut to stop the infection and stop bleeding. There is truly a plethora of health benefits when using plantain as herbal medicine.

This plant is apparently the best in the field of blood poisoning treatment. Michael Tierra, L.Ac., O.M.D. (one of the forerunners of the North American Natural Health movement) states that plantain is an herb that will “dry excess moisture and remove excess fat where toxins are retained.”

Plantain is an alternative meaning it cleans and corrects impure conditions in the blood. It is also a diuretic so it is useful for bladder and kidney problems and it helps reduce water retention.

Susan Weed, director of the Wise Woman Center in New York has always praised plantain for its virtues. It stops itching from insects, stinging nettle, and it can help to draw out poisons from snake bites. (Although keep in mind it is imperative to seek medical help if you have been bitten by a poisonous snake.) Plantain has also been known to help alleviate the pain of poison ivy.

Those with skin disorders have found relief by using plantain; in fact, some herbalists rate plantain over aloe and other herbs when it comes to treating skin problems. Dr. James A. Duke wrote in his incredible book “The Green Pharmacy” that plantain tea (or juice) is a popular folk remedy for treating burns.

Plantain roots can be powdered and used on toothaches.  Using a fresh root by chewing it can bring relief.

Russian scientists have discovered that plantain and its cousin psyllium are both useful for weight loss. According to Herbal Legacy, “Those taking 3 grams of plantain with water 30 minutes before eating lost more weight than women not using this herb. Plantain contains mucilage which acts as an appetite suppressant while reducing the intestinal absorption of fat and bile.  It also lowers LDL cholesterol and the triglyceride levels in the blood. Plantain usually lowers blood sugar.”

Finally, the seeds can be used on a salad or stored as herbal medicine. The seeds are nature’s “Metamucil”.

 

Identifying Plantain

Broadleaf plantain has green, oval to egg-shaped leaves that grow in a rosette. These leaves have thick stems that meet at a base. When these stems are broken, they reveal string-like veins that resemble those in celery. Long-pointed, green, petite flowers grow from the base; these also contain a small pod housing dark seeds.

Nutrition Label: Plantain
The leaves grow in a rosette and can range from 3” to 10” in length. Plantain leaves have stems that contain string-like veins and these veins are seen on the leaf. There are five to seven prominent parallel veins from the base. Leaves are generally broadly lance-shaped to egg-shaped, are hairless or sparsely short haired.

Plantain is found in almost every state and province throughout the U.S. and Canada. It has even been found growing at the altitude of 7,200’ in California. Like many weeds, it inhabits disturbed areas such as agricultural land, pathways, lawns, gardens, and parkland. It prefers well-drained soils that are neutral or alkaline and does not like heavily shaded areas.

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Baked Plantain


★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

  • Author: Karen Stephenson
Print Recipe
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Ingredients

Scale
  • Fresh large plantain leaves (washed and dried)
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 cup water
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp. wheat germ
  • 2 tbsp. spiked salt (or a variety of spices of your choosing)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Combine the flour, water, egg, wheat germ and spices into a bowl and mix well. Dip leaves into the batter and place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Be sure to not to overlap for best results.
  3. Bake 5 -10 minutes if the leaves used are very large. If the plantain leaves are smaller then start watching them at about the 3-4 minute mark to ensure they do not burn.
  4. Serve warm or once cooled!

Did you make this recipe?

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Sources:

Anne Roared Samuelsen – The traditional uses, chemical constituents and biological activities or Plantago major L.  Journal or Ethnopharmacology 71 (2000) 1-21

EdibleWildFood.com :

https://www.ediblewildfood.com/baked-plantain.aspx

https://www.ediblewildfood.com/broadleaf-plantain.aspx

Herbal Legacy: https://www.herballegacy.com/Ahlborn_Medicinal.html

Naturally Wise: https://www.natuurlijkerwijs.com

Comments

  1. does garcinia max work says

    I’m not sure where you are getting your
    info, but great topic. I needs to spend some time learning more or
    understanding more. Thanks for fantastic info
    I was looking for this info for my mission.

    Reply
  2. John says

    I’m a person who has had some knowledge handed down but most I’ve read and read and digested myself. I used plantain on a spider bite and within 12 hours the redness , swelling ,itch and complaining was gone and in fact I never heard another word from him afterwards about the bite. Great plant. I’m going to try it on a very common skin condition . If it works maybe I can get myself out of the poorhouse . ✝

    Reply
  3. Geraldine Sosa says

    Plantain looks similar to Llanten are they one and the same plant.?

    Reply
  4. Judy Schulz says

    Will this plant reduce pain from shingles? Any studies you know of?
    Is there something that will repell mosquitos?

    Reply
    • Pam Sterio says

      Lavender and lemon and eucalyptus repells mosquitos. I just got the essential oils for these 3 and added them to a non sented lotion.

      Reply
      • Michael Zimmerman says

        I don’t use anything i try not to eat sugar products and they don’t bother me

        Reply
  5. Pam Sterio says

    Lavender and lemon and eucalyptus repells mosquitos. I just got the essential oils for these 3 and added them to a non sented lotion.

    Reply
  6. sandra s seastrom says

    is there any side affects to using plantain? could it help with arthritis, heart, lungs, COPD,

    Reply
  7. Susan says

    Plantain makes an excellent pulverized poultice to treat any skin eruption or infection. I have used it to treat diabetic foot ulcers with great success for the patient. I believe it has natural antibiotic action and purifies the infection. I have used it also on a nasty abscess on a horse with good results. Just found some broadleaf variety today up a canyon with hot springs in northern Baja,Mexico.

    Reply
  8. Mary says

    I’m 64 years old and I remember as a child my mom and grandma would pick this with dandelion greens for our dinner. They would cook it dow season with bacon grease or make a salad .loved it then and now

    Reply
  9. Alex says

    I have been using this plant for many years. My mom used to give me this as ice tea, when I was a little boy, before and after a surgery because I don’t heal well. My skin “creates” keloids. Also, one of my uncles was diagnosed with prostate cancer and I remember that as soon as he learned that this plant might be good for that he started to eat it and drink it every day for a month or more, and the result was cancer free. Now, 40 years later, I am drinking my ice tea from time to time and passing this knowledge to my kids. I understand that this plant is also good for ulcers

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  10. Rebecca Kiffiak says

    Am looking foward trying this produce I have very asthma just need to find the plants.

    Reply
  11. Lena Romanoff says

    I tried the recipe and really liked it. Please share more recipes. Can I freeze the leaves to use as a tea or in stews or is it best to dry it?
    Can you recommend a reputable company for essential oils? Too many choices and price ranges. Thank you.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

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Lauren
Lauren

Hi! I’m Lauren. I am a mom, writer, and creator of Mom Prepares. I am passionate about building community among women who support each other in parenthood, health, business & life in general.

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