11) Fennel Seed
Fennel Seed is a common herb used to promote good digestion, and ease gas and bloating. This Mediterranean herb can also be found in many medicinal formulas designed to help ease women through monthly fluctuations. Tea made from Fennel can also help produce milk for nursing mothers.
Official Latin Name: Foeniculum vulgare
Fennel Seed is also known by the names Finocchio and Carosella. The name Fennel is derived from the Latin, "foenum", meaning "hay" due to the finely divided leaves of the Fennel plant.
Ancient Greek athletes ate Fennel Seed so they would gain strength, but not weight.
During the Middle Ages, the seeds were chewed to stave off hunger during fasting periods, and also during long church sermons.
Eating the leaves has been a traditional tonic for the eyes, brain and enhanced memory.
The Fennel plant came originally from Europe, where it is still grown today. Fennel Seeds are also cultivated in many parts of North America, Asia, and Egypt.
The major constituents of Fennel, which include the terpenoid anethole, are found in the volatile oil. Anethole and other terpenoids inhibit spasms in smooth muscles, such as those in the intestinal tract, and this is thought to contribute to fennel's use as a carminative (gas-relieving and gastrointestinal tract cramp-relieving agent).
Related compounds to anethole may have mild estrogenic actions, although this has not been proven in humans.
Fennel is also thought to possess diuretic (increase in urine production), choleretic (increase in production of bile), pain-reducing, fever-reducing, and anti-microbial actions.
The seeds are used as a flavoring agent in many herbal medicines, and to help disperse flatulence.
The seeds, and roots, also help to open obstructions of the liver, spleen & gall bladder, and to ease painful swellings, in addition to helping with yellow jaundice, the gout and occasional cramps.
Fennel Seed was formerly an official drug in the United States, and was listed for the treatment of indigestion.
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