Borage and Silica

Silica Content in Borage

Borage, Borago officinalis, or Bugloss,  is the next best thing to Comfrey for its wondrous healing properties.

Borage, like Comfrey, has an especially high silica content. Silica helps hair, nails, teeth and bone to grow. So drinking a daily cup of weak borage tea, or adding the odd leaf or flowers to your salad will provide extra silicic acid to aid the growth of your hair and nails, and help keep your teeth and bones strong.

Borage Tea Hair Rinse

Borage tea can be used as a hair rinse after shampooing to aid hair growth and give a shine to the hair.  Using borage as a rinse means that your hair roots will benefit immediately from the silica and other minerals in borage: once the rinse is applied to the scalp, the minerals in the tea are absorbed readily into the pores of the scalp where they nourish the hair  and vitalise the blood stream.

For Inflammation Of Internal Organs

Borage tea hs a therapeutic function on the  liver, uterus, lungs, stomach and bowels. It helps form healthy tissue on mucous membranes. It has been used to treat  inflammation resulting from pleurisy, peritonitis, and as a calmative for the nerves. It is also helpful in treating conditions of the bowel such as colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome. For these conditions you would take a therapeutic dose for a period of up to three days only. See dose at bottom of page under ‘Childbirth’.

For Varicose Veins

Borage can be used as a poultice to help  varicose veins. Simply pour boiling water over borage leaves. Use enough water  in a saucepan to cover a cupful of leaves. Simmer for three minutes.  Stand aside until cool, then lightly squeeze the borage leaves and pat out into a shape which will cover the sore area on the legs. Put a piece of plastic over the poultice and lightly bind with a bandage. Leave on for half an hour with the legs raised level with the buttocks.

Borage  tea will help with the problem of haemorrhoids, which are a type of swollen vein. The tea helps reduce inflammation when taken internally. Borage ointment can be applied externally to ease pain and reduce swelling on veins and haemorrhoids.

Recipe For Borage Ointment

To make a Borage ointment for this purpose, use half a cup of tightly packed, chopped borage leaves. Put 100 mls of glycerine into a small heat-proof bowl, put over a small saucepan of boiling water and steam for half an hour. Let cool, then strain. Store in a small corked bottle, or one which has a good screw top lid. Use as an ointment when needed.

Skin Tonic For The Bath

Borage leaves and barley, one cup of each, can be simmered together for an hour. Cool the liquid and add to the bathwater for a soothing, silica-rich soak.  This improves the skin.

For Childbirth and To Increase Milk Flow

Borage tea helps to reduce the pain of childbirth in much the same way as raspberry tea does. Borage tea made from leaves and flowers helps to stimulate the milk flow in nursing mothers. For either of these specific requirements, you would normally take a stronger tea for a three day period.

The dose: One teaspoon of dried flowers and one teaspoon of dried leaves infused in a cupful of boiling water taken twice daily for three days. Stop if milk flow has begun. For childbirth, begin the borage treatment as soon as you think labor has begun. Borage taken during labor will help with milk flow after baby is born.

Note: Do not continue with this dose of borage for longer than three days. Long term use of borage on a daily basis is not advised.