Looking for Comfrey leaves

[Sallubrious]

Yesterday I had an accident and broke my big toe, so I'm looking for a source of Comfrey leaves to make tea out of.

My other leg is fucked too so I'm struggling to get around. I didn't realise how much I needed that toe until I broke it.

My Comfey has just woken up from winter so there's not enough leaves on it to start fleecing it at the moment.

Maybe someone from a warmer climate has some plants with enough leaves on them to pick a few ?

I'd prefer an organic source but I'll take what I can get at the moment.

[IndianDreaming]

I have root pieces - I can send you some if you like.

[Sallubrious]

Thanks for the offer ID, I'm really after a source of leaves at the moment though.

The root makes a good salve, but from what I've read there's a bit of controversy surrounding ingesting the roots.

The controversy involves the associated pyrrolizidine alkaloids which are said to be found in higher levels in the root. Some suggest the alkaloids are in their N-oxide form and are excreted withouht harm so it's a bit of grey area.

Most of the associated research was done by injecting juvenile rats with massive doses and found to cause harm, but most of that research is almost irrelevant to an adult human eating a small dose.

People have been poisoned by PA's but there's a lot of people that have eaten Comfrey for years without harm, so like I said it's a grey area.

[IndianDreaming]

No worries - I've drank it a bit, I usually have St Mary's Thistle and Dandelion Root with it though to help counteract the liver issues.

[bullit]

is it safe too drink??? many naturopathic dudes say dont fuken drink that shit??

[Sallubrious]

is it safe too drink??? many naturopathic dudes say dont fuken drink that shit??

It's been used for around 2000 years without causing any harm, in fact quite the opposite it's been proven to be very safe.

It's a herb that can be very healing and seems to have been deemed as a threat to big pharma. The "scientific" basis for banning it for internal use was based on studies where mega doses of PA's were injected into the vulnerable livers of juvenile rats and other irrelevant studies involving other plants.

All quotes taken from http://www.herbsarespecial.com.au/free-herb-information/comfrey.html

Another report, is of trials by Dr. Clare Anderson, from the Laboratory of Pharmakinetics and Toxicology, School of Medicine, University College, London, with testing forty long-term comfrey consumers, who then submitted for liver function tests. All were found to have perfectly fit livers! One of these was Emsie du Plessis, who I came to know, by letter and ‘phone. She had eaten quantities of raw comfrey, since 1960. Her story, she wrote at 78 years of age. "A few years ago, I felt a little below par, not really sick, but not my usual self. I was watering the garden on a hot day and I felt dizzy. So I thought, ‘This is it – the beginning of the end, for an oldie like me’. I went to the doctor and he examined me and found that I was a bit anemic and that I should go to the hospital for a full blood test. On the way home, I decided to postpone my visit to the hospital for 3-4 weeks, and to step up my comfrey eating, to 3-4 leaves, every day. When I returned to my doctor, he said, ‘Come in – this is a social call, your blood is perfect’. If the alkaloid damaged my liver, during that time, then I would like to think that allantoin is one of the world’s most powerful, natural healers." I am grateful to Emsie for giving me numerous books and research information on comfrey, from the HDRA.

Forster Savage is possibly the best authority on the subject in Australia he was responsible for importing the first plants into the country in the 1950's.

"I was perhaps responsible for 95% of the comfrey in Australia, having introduced the plant to this country in 1954, and having used the plant in great quantities, since then; I am, perhaps, competent to speak about it and to make a few comments on the …remarks about comfrey made by the CSIRO scientist …"To say that two leaves, eaten daily - over a couple of years - will cause serious disease, is simply not true. In our house, we have eaten 70 leaves, or thereabouts, daily, for 24 years: in the form of comfrey tea, liquidised in a vitamiser as a green drink, and in salads. I also fed comfrey to my farm animals. Knowing the power of comfrey to restore a worn out animal quickly, and make her milk again, I once bought an old cow at the Dandenong Market, when farming in Victoria. It had been discarded by some farmer, as worn out. I put her on comfrey, giving her 90 lbs of wilted comfrey (wilted to increase the cow’s intake of comfrey’s extraordinary nutrients), and 90 lbs made a pretty big heap, about 4 feet high. This poor, old, creature took to the comfrey, without hesitation … she was starving for minerals and her instincts gave her a craving for comfrey. When she began to eat, she would eat off the heap of leaves for a couple of hours, then sit down for an hour or so. Later, she would continue eating, until every leaf was gone. If Dr. Culvenor’s words were true, imagine the poison she would be taking into her body, with this quantity of comfrey daily. If comfrey attacked the liver, then this cow would have died, because she was in a worn out condition. Instead, she doubled her milk output, within a week, and in a fortnight, trebled it. The remarkable thing, was that the cream that settled overnight, was some 3/4 inch thick and the separation of cream from the milk was so perfect, that the cream could be lifted off, with none remaining. I fed comfrey to calves, as much as they could eat, again with only gratifying results. I fed pigs, entirely on comfrey and grain, as much comfrey as they could eat, and the quality of those pigs was legendary, in the district. The fame of comfrey spread far and wide, for my farm was visited by 6,000 farmers from around Australia and from overseas. Finally, I well remember the enthusiastic remarks of the butcher who regularly killed our comfrey-fed calves. He told us that he had never before, seen such healthy livers … that, mind you, after being reared on a herb that was supposed to cause liver diseases!"

I've eaten Comfrey for almost 15 years and my liver function tests have always been normal.

The way it was banned has many parallels to the legislation that just passed in NSW

It is evident that there are many others, besides Andrew Hughes, who consider the legislation, which restricted comfrey, to be quite outrageous. Classified in the Poisons Schedule defining comfrey as a substance or preparation, which is of such extreme danger to life, as to warrant limitation of its distribution to qualified persons (registered doctors), and which requires special precautions in manufacture or use. Natural health practitioners and the public, wrote thousands of letters of protest and signed petitions, asking Members of Parliament to remove comfrey from the Poisons Schedule and make it available to the public again, without prescription. They were told that they would have to prove the safety and efficacy of comfrey, if they wanted to use it. They were also told that they could submit all the evidence they wished, but the decision would not be changed.

Edited October 8, 2013 by Sally

[TommyChesnutt]

Good luck with your big toe Sally.

having a broken bone isn't very comfry

[Sallubrious]

Thanks for your sentiment Hunnicutt

Yeah having a bunch of torn ligaments in the knee on the other leg doesn't help much either, I didn't realise how much I rely on the broken big toe to compensate for the rooted leg on the other side.

I've developed an awkward double limp/swagger, all I need now is a hunch in my back to complete the look.

[IndianDreaming]

^ The bells!!! The bells!!!

[etherealdrifter]

[Stillman]

I got a plant how would I post it do you think it might ferment in the post.

[Stillman]

I can post it Monday.

pm me.

[Sallubrious]

Thanks for the offer Stillman but there's no need now. I've been offered some by another member.

I pumped some seasol into my plant the other day and gave it a few good drenchings and it's starting to kick in again. We just had a 37 degree day so it thinks it's in the middle of summer.

So the leaves from the other bloke should give enough until mine is ready to start fleecing it.

Cheers mate, much appreciated.