Ortosiphon or kidney tea is an evergreen-covered shrub that has been used in traditional herbal medicine for over 70 years.
Most often, leaves or upper parts of shoots are used as phyto-raw materials of orthosiphon, which can be harvested 2-4 times a year.
Useful properties of orthosiphon
Orthosiphon staminate has a very mild diuretic effect, which is due to the chemical composition of the phyto-raw material of this plant. Kidney tea herb is rich in phytoactive substances such as tannins, organic acids, saponins, fatty oil. But the greatest pharmacotherapeutic effect is exerted by the bitter glycoside of renal tea: orthosiphonin.
Kidney tea is used for phytotherapeutic measures for diseases that are accompanied by the development of edema. So, staminate orthosiphon can be used for diseases of the coronary organs: heart failure, arterial hypertension, atherosclerosis, pulmonary edema caused by coronary disorders. Due to the fact that kidney tea is able to have a choleretic effect, it is used for cholecystitis, cholelithiasis, gastritis with low acidity, liver diseases.
Ortosiphon has a beneficial effect on the genitourinary system of the body. So, due to its ability to provide a mild diuretic and anti-inflammatory effect, which helps to improve the filtration function of the kidneys and glomerular filtration, it is advisable to use orthosiphon for:
- cystitis,
- urethritis,
- kidney stone disease,
- pyelonephritis,
- glomerulonephritis.
However, orthosiphon has the greatest phytotherapeutic effect when combined with other medicinal herbs.
So, the leaves of orthosiphon are part of the renal and hepatic collections. The combined use of bearberry and orthosiphon is effective for disinfecting and relieving inflammation in the bladder.
Having bought the leaves of orthosiphon, you can independently prepare medicinal infusions or decoctions of kidney tea.