January 2026

Inner Ocean & Well Being

• The Inner Ocean – The Role Of Water In Growing Health
• Calendula – Wound Healing Magician
• Burdock – Nourishing & Moistening
• Red Clover – Finding Hormonal Balance

Burdock is a mild but effective herb that can  help clear skin irritation from the inside out. I use a handful of dried burdock root every time I make bone broth. It’s a long read, but I think beneficial, specifically because burdock grows everywhere, so you can access it for FREE.

Burdock – Herbal Ally For Blood, Lymph & Skin

In its 2nd growing year, burdock is an impressive bush that can tower over me. It develops its famous brambles that stick to your clothes or to your pet’s fur and are hell to get rid of. 

Burdock – A Herbal ID

Name: Burdock

Botanical name: Arctium lappa

Botanical Family: Asteraceae

Part used

Root and seeds. The seeds are used for acute conditions. They act faster, but their action does not last long. The roots are used for chronic conditions. 

Degree: 1st degree

Description

Burdock is a biennial plant. In its first year of growth, it forms a cluster of large leaves close to the ground. The leaves grow from a long (up to 2 feet)  taproot that resembles a brown skinned carrot. In the second year, burdock grows into a bush with smaller leaves and pink purple flowers. In the fall of the second year, the flowers are replaced by round, brown burrs that persist through the winter and spread their seeds the following spring. 

Growing Burdock:

Arctium is a wild plant found everywhere. There is no need to grow it in your garden. Look for it in the edges of woods. Burdock is a biennial plant. Harvest the root in the fall of the 1st year of growth, or the spring of the 2nd year of growth.

Energetic Architecture

Ruling Planet

Burdock is associated with Jupiter, the gas planet who lacks clear boundaries because of its radiating, expansive growth pattern. It is a plant that can easily become invasive if planted in your garden. Jupiter, like burdock, is associated with metabolism, the liver, and fat tissue. It is for large, boisterous people with a tendency toward obesity and diabetes, or for people who struggle with putting boundaries on their cravings, such as in addictions to alcohol, drugs, and food.

Ruling Element

Arctiumis a grounding herb associated with the Earth element. The taproot that digs deep into the Earth and draws up all these minerals to the surface. Through its actions on metabolism and digestion, it grounds us to the Earth.

Alchemical principle

As a grounding herb, burdock is associated with the Sal principle. It is a principle that combines the Elements of Earth and Water. Earth and Water can combine harmoniously when the water is in motion. When you combine Earth and Water without movement, you get exactly the murky, stagnant conditions that call for burdock. 

Psychological profile

Burdock would benefit the person who experiences a deep rooted fear of the physical aspects of life. A poor body image, a complex relationship with food, and fear of the unknown in life.  While fear can make them feel stagnant and stuck, burdock can help them build trust and expand their lives, bringing movement toward their goals. 

Taste

Arctium has a multi-layer complex taste (any time you experience a wide range of tastes in a plant, you can expect a broad spectrum of actions). Mild bitter, oily, nutty flavour, slightly pungent and sweet. 

Energetics

Temperature: The root is neutral to slightly cooling. The seed is neutral to slightly warming. 

Fluid element: its effect is two-fold. It is drying for the water element but moistening when it comes to oils.

Tone: Burdock is mildly astringent. 

Tissue States

Burdock can benefit people whose tissue state appears to be the opposite: the dry atrophic tissue state and the damp stagnation tissue state. 

The dry atrophy tissue state tends to manifest in the body as weakness and malnourishment, because the fluids that carriers of nutrients and clear out toxins are stagnant.  Burdock, when it acts as a bitter, enhances the liver’s bile production, helping with the absorption of fats. It also contains moisturizing oils. 

Damp stagnation tends to become a breeding ground for toxicity and infections, much like a boggy marsh that attracts mosquitoes. This tissue state calls for an alterative to move the fluids in the body and open the elimination pathways.

Special quality

While most alteratives are anabolic and drying, burdock holds within it the paradox of being able to be both anabolic and catabolic, and drying and moistening at the same time.

Pharmacology

• Lignans are mostly found in the seeds, but in small amounts in the root too. (anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidants, inhibit nitric oxide)
• Polyacetylene are found mostly in the root (antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic)
• Carbohydrates (inulin, pectin, and sugar) that relate to the sweet taste and nutrition
• moistening qualities of burdock.
• Proteins including Histidine (13%), Lycine (9.6%), Threonine (7.4%), Tryptophan (6.4%),  Isoleucine (6.4%), Phenylalaniine (5.7%), Valine (5.4), and Methionine (2.6%).
• Fatty acids
• Organic acids and phenolic acids such as caffeoylquinic acids(antioxidants and anti-inflammatories, neuroprotective, reduce memory loss)
• Sesquiterpene lactones (bitters, antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, lowering cholesterol)
• Volatile oils.
  

Specific Indication

Dry scaly skin, dry scalp,  dry cracked tongue and decreased digestion with constipation and dry stool. 

Actions

Foundational actions are associated with the energetic pattern and can be experienced viscerally in the body.

Burdock’s foundational action is bitter

Primary actions relate to organs, systems, or tissues.

• Alterative – Burdock root is a gentle, broad spectrum alterative that was used extensively in the Western tradition. It influences the liver, bowel, kidneys, and urinary tract, the blood, lymph, and skin. Burdock’s other actions are manifestations of its alterative nature in different systems of the body.
• Diuretic – The root increases kidney output, which helps clean the blood. Hence the name “blood purifier.”
• Diaphoretic – Burdock seeds, due to their volatile aromatic oils, have an action that induces sweating through the skin.
• Lymphagogue – stimulates lymph flow
• Mucilant
• Nutritive tonic that is rich with oils, proteins, and carbohydrates, specifically inulin that acts as a prebiotic (feeding the gut microbiome) and supports digestion and absorption.

While most alteratives are more on the anabolic side of metabolism, breaking down toxins and removing them from the blood, Burdock is unique in that it is both anabolic (bitter) and catabolic (nutritive)

While most alteratives are more on the anabolic side of metabolism, breaking down toxins and removing them from the blood, Burdock is unique in that it is both anabolic (bitter) and catabolic (nutritive)

Organ Affinities

Liver and digestive tract; kidneys and urinary tract (as a tonic); the extracellular fluid (meaning the interstitial fluid); blood and lymph; the skin; and the mucosal membrane. 

Clinical Patterns

Burdock’s main action is as an alterative that manifests in different areas of the body and in different conditions, from mild conditions such as liver stagnation or skin irritations to more severe and chronic conditions such as cancer and diabetes. Burdock’s gentle yet consistent ability to alter the fluid element is the key to its healing gift. 

Elingwood observes that burdock roots have a direct influence on the blood and the mucosal  membrane. Through its influence on the mucosal membrane, it can provide relief for irritated tissue and ulcers in the digestive tract, kidneys, and lungs. 

Digestive insufficiency

Burdock brings nourishment and balance. For dryness in the gut that leads to constipation and absorption issues. Burdock is a restorative tonic for people who are too thin, weak, or have degenerative conditions. Herbalist David Hoffman reports using burdock to improve appetite in people with anorexia nervosa. Can be used as a conjunction with carminatives and/or bitters. 

The bitter taste suggests its ability to increase bile secretion, which improves the breakdown and absorption of fats.

The root of burdock is rich in inulin, a carbohydrate that is not absorbed through the gut wall but acts as a prebiotic, feeding the gut microbiome. It is beneficial for people who use antibiotics; their microbiome is reduced in numbers and variety. Use burdock in conjunction with fermented foods and probiotics. 

Burdock for leaky gut

In leaky gut, the integrity of the boundaries between the gut lumen and the blood and lymph is disrupted. The contents of the gut, including partially digested food, metabolic waste products, dead cells, and pathogens, leak into the blood and lymph, triggering an immune response. 

Burdock has a dual role in healing the gut. On the one hand, it is a vulnerary herb with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that promote collagen/hyaluronic acid production. It can promote the healing of the gut lining tissue.

As a mucilant, burdock can help cool and soothe gut tissue irritation.

Liver stagnation

• It receives nutrients and waste products from the gut via the portal hepatic vein 
• The liver sends bile to the gut via the gallbladder and gall ducts.
• It sends nutrients to the entire body (anabolic) through the hepatic vein.

Burdock supports bile production and nutrient absorption, promoting smooth flow between in the hepatic portal vein and in the billiard duct system. 

Arctium supports bile production and nutrient absorption, promoting smooth flow in both pathways. 

What we call today “liver stagnation” is what the “old doctor” called  “bad blood.” It can present as fatigue, weakness, headaches, stiff muscles and joints, skin irritation, eczema, and dry, itchy skin. In its extreme, it could be jaundice. 

Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654) used burdock for dog bites and what he called “the biting of any serpent,” which I assume is snakes. 

Herbalist Jim McDonald writes about the liver condition where burdock would be beneficial:

“I like to have people imagine a wood stove that hasn’t been cleaned well; ash is inhibiting the efficient combustion of wood in the stove itself, and the chimney is slowly accumulating a suffocating and flammable glaze of creosote. One can imagine that, as such a state manifests, a person would suffer from an increasingly diminished sense of well-being – nothing that they could put their finger on, or that could be diagnosed and treated by their family doctor, but that nonetheless prevents them from feeling truly healthy and vibrant.”

The liver is a metabolically active organ that stores a lot of heat and emotions. It is associated with anger and irritability. If you stimulate the liver too fast, it can be really taxing and emotional. Burdock is a gentle remedy that gets things moving slowly without pushing too hard. 

Chronic skin conditions

Burdock is a good ally for skin conditions, such as eczema psoriasis, acne, and boils. 

Many people, when faced with skin conditions, reach out for topical salves and balms. While these might help relieve some symptoms, they do not address the root cause. In many chronic skin conditions, there is a deep level of toxicity and stagnation within the body. Often, in the context of food allergies, when the organs of detoxification are not effective enough at eliminating toxins, they are ultimately pushed out through the skin. 

The shape this elimination will take, whether a dry, scaly eczema or an oily acne, depends on the constitution of the person. You want to treat skin conditions internally. Burdock root will work on the liver, blood, and lymph. Burdock seeds will work faster; the volatile oil stimulates a diaphoretic action and regulates the sebaceous glands (The skin glands that secrete oils. Found mainly on the face and are the culprit behind acne.)

Herbalist Nicholas Culpeper used burdock in wine for ulcers and sores. It was used to treat skin irritation from the inside out and as a cooling topical from the outside in.

Kidney insufficiency

One of the primary roles of the kidneys is to regulate the mineral to fluid balance. Imbalance in fluid metabolism happens when kidney function is compromised. The imbalance presents water retention; edema, puffy, swollen joints, and high blood pressure. We might see minerals deposited by the fluids in the joints, which can cause gout. Burdock seed was predominantly used for this type of arthritic deposit and hardening of the joints, as well as for kidney stones. By increasing urination, burdock helps the body eliminate these waste products and prevents inflammation. 

Insulin resistance and Diabetic

Burdock contains inulin, a type of carbohydrate that does not cross the gut lining; therefore, it is not absorbed into the blood or increases blood glucose. Studies in vivo and in vitro show that inulin decreases blood glucose levels and increases cells’ sensitivity to insulin. 

Since burdock has a mild hypoglycemic effect, it can prevent sugar spikes. However, if someone is taking hypoglycemic pharmaceuticals, make sure that their blood sugar does not drop too much. 

Cancer cytotoxic

Burdock was one of the herbs included in classic cancer formulas. Research on some lignans in burdock, specifically arctigenin, shows that it can decrease cancer cell proliferation and increase apoptosis in cancer cells but not in healthy cells. Arctium should be used in relatively large doses and for a long period of time to support people with cancer.

Studies found that “Different fractions of T. vulgaris and A. lappa inhibited proliferation and reduced cell viability of leukemia and have a  potent cytotoxic activity against hematologic malignancies.”

Balancing hormones

Burdock nourishes the pituitary gland and helps prevent dramatic fluctuations in hormone levels. Herbalist Jim McDonald uses Bardock with clients who have metabolic conditions accompanied by mood swings. For sex and infertility conditions that are due to stress and exhaustion. 

Pre-eclampsia

Pre-eclampsia is a condition of fluid retention and high blood pressure during pregnancy. Burdock should not be used in the first and second trimester of pregnancy but it could be used in the third trimester for reducing high blood pressure due to water retention due to its diuretic action. 

Burdock has also been used after pregnancy for a uterine prolapse. It was used as an astringent to tone the uterus. 

Preparation and dosage

Arctium should be used over a prolonged period of time. It yields its effect when used as part of a diet.

“The liver is like a sleeping guard dog, you do not want to wake it up too fast” – Herbalist Paul Bergner

When working with someone on detox, you want to build the process gradually. Start with a low dose and gradually increase. 

Burdock decoction: 1 tbsp per cup; decoct for 30 minutes or longer. 

Tincture: Many of the constituents in burdock are water-soluble (lignans, carbohydrate, phenolic acid, and sesquiterpene lactones); therefore, the preferred extraction method is in water. If you do decide to tincture burdock, use a low alcohol percentage.

Tincture the root dry 1:2, 35-45%A

Tincture the root fresh 1:, 45%A

Tincture dosage (root) 1-5 ml three times daily. You can start low at 15 drops (½ ml) and build from there,

Tincture the seed 1:2 65%A

Tincture dosage (seed) 1-2 ml three times daily. 

Safety consideration

Burdock is a generally safe plant. 

We do want to avoid its use in pregnancy. The seed can be used in the 3rd trimester. 

Burdock may cause a reaction in people sensitive to the Asteraceae family.

Arctium promotes bile production and kidney output; its sum effect on the body is drying. If used for a long time, it should be balanced with a demulcent herb. 

Recipes for remedies