The pot marigold is a notch above many other flowering plants when it comes to its health benefits. Use it as a topical treatment for acne, skin inflammation, dermatitis, or even hemorrhoids. Drink tea made from this variety of marigold to soothe an inflamed stomach lining and treat ulcers. If fungal infections are an issue, that's something calendula can help with too. And if that's not enough, antibacterial and antiseptic properties make it a natural remedy for wounds and cuts while also helping aid healing.
The marigold has possibly caught your eye with its vibrant color, but did you know the pot marigold or Calendula officinalis is also renowned for its health benefits? This plant is a registered homeopathic drug and has applications in natural remedies ranging from treating wounds and fighting inflammation and fungal infections to protecting your vision. The marigold is known to be anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and antiseptic. In addition, it also has wound-healing properties.1 Here's a roundup of all its benefits so you can keep this herbal and homeopathic remedy handy at home.
A note of caution here: the benefits mentioned refer specifically to those of the calendula and not the ornamental marigolds belonging to the Tagetes genus like the Mexican marigold or African marigold. Those have limited benefits and are mainly used as dried herbs in cooking in some parts of South America and to ward off insects.
Apply calendula cream on the affected skin and spots to aid healing and to prevent further breakouts on the inflamed skin.
Depending on where the fungal infection is, you can apply a calendula tincture blended with ointments or creams. Drinking calendula tea made from the flower petals should also help.
If you are currently breastfeeding your baby.
If you are allergic to ragweed and plants in this family like chrysanthemums or daisies, you could be allergic to calendula or marigolds as well.
If you have recently had or are scheduled to have surgery. Combining it with medications given for surgery could cause excessive drowsiness.
If you are taking any kind of sedatives. The drug interactions could cause excessive drowsiness. This effect can also result from taking calendula along with St. John's wort, California poppy, hops, and other sedative herbal remedies and supplements.
1, 3, 11, 22. ↑ Arora, Disha, Anita Rani, and Anupam Sharma. "A review on phytochemistry and ethnopharmacological aspects of genus Calendula." Pharmacognosy reviews 7, no. 14 (2013): 179.
2, 4, 9. ↑ Calendula. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
5. ↑ Mishra, Priyanka. "Treatment of Acne with Herbal Remedie–Calendula officinalis: An Overview." International Journal of Pharmaceutical & Biological Archive 2, no. 4 (2011).
6. ↑ Chakraborthy, G. S. "Antimicrobial activity of the leaf extracts of Calendula officinalis (Linn)." J Herb Med Toxicol 2, no. 2 (2008): 65-66.
7. ↑ Calendula. National Center for Homeopathy.
8. ↑ Amoian, B., A. A. Moghadamnia, M. Mazandarani, M. M. Amoian, and S. Mehrmanesh. "The effect of calendula extract toothpaste on the plaque index and bleeding in gingivitis." J Med Plant 4 (2010): 132-140.
10. ↑ Choudhry, Namrta, and M. B. Siddiqui. "Care For Your Eyes… Naturally." (2011).
12. ↑ Gazim, Zilda Cristiane, Claudia Moraes Rezende, Sandra Regina Fraga, Terezinha Inez Estivaleti Svidzinski, and Diógenes Aparicio Garcia Cortez. "Antifungal activity of the essential oil from Calendula officinalis L.(Asteraceae) growing in Brazil." Brazilian Journal of Microbiology 39, no. 1 (2008): 61-63.
13. ↑ Efstratiou, Efstratios, Abdullah I. Hussain, Poonam S. Nigam, John E. Moore, Muhammad A. Ayub, and Juluri R. Rao. "Antimicrobial activity of Calendula officinalis petal extracts against fungi, as well as Gram-negative and Gram-positive clinical pathogens." Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 18, no. 3 (2012): 173-176.
14. ↑ Preethi, Korengath C., and Ramadasan Kuttan. "Wound healing activity of flower extract of Calendula offlcinalis." Journal of basic and clinical physiology and pharmacology 20, no. 1 (2009): 73-80.
15. ↑ Calendula. University of Maryland Medical Center.
16, 19. ↑ Calendula. University of Maryland Medical Center.
17. ↑ Fuchs, S. M., S. Schliemann-Willers, T. W. Fischer, and P. Elsner. "Protective effects of different marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) and rosemary cream preparations against sodium-lauryl-sulfate-induced irritant contact dermatitis." Skin pharmacology and physiology 18, no. 4 (2005): 195-200.
18. ↑ Tabassum, Nahida, and Mariya Hamdani. "Plants used to treat skin diseases." Pharmacognosy reviews 8, no. 15 (2014): 52.
20. ↑ moghaddasi Mohammad, Sharrif, and Hamed Haddad Kashanisup. "Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis) medicinal usage and cultivation." Scientific Research and essays 7, no. 14 (2012): 1468-1472.
21. ↑ Abascal, Kathy, and Eric Yarnell. "Botanical treatments for hemorrhoids." Alternative & Complementary Therapies 11, no. 6 (2005): 285-289.
23. ↑ Bashir, Samra, Khalid H. Janbaz, Qaiser Jabeen, and Anwar H. Gilani. "Studies on spasmogenic and spasmolytic activities of Calendula officinalis flowers." Phytotherapy research 20, no. 10 (2006): 906-910.
24. ↑ Tanideh, Nader, Akram Jamshidzadeh, Masood Sepehrimanesh, Masood Hosseinzadeh, Omid Koohi-Hosseinabadi, Asma Najibi, Mozhdeh Raam, Sajad Daneshi, and Seyedeh-Leili Asadi-Yousefabad. "Healing acceleration of acetic acid-induced colitis by marigold (Calendula officinalis) in male rats." Saudi journal of gastroenterology: official journal of the Saudi Gastroenterology Association 22, no. 1 (2016): 50.
25. ↑ Sarrell, E. Michael, Avigdor Mandelberg, and Herman Avner Cohen. "Efficacy of naturopathic extracts in the management of ear pain associated with acute otitis media." Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine 155, no. 7 (2001): 796-799.